Marking Mystery Solved
Herewith is a small story about how apparently well-researched decal sheets just can’t be trusted. You have to do your research and take nothing for granted.
The question is, how did I go from scorning the pre-existing, yellow-ringed placement of the national insignia on the Franklin Mint Torch F4F-4,
to this, , which I was sure was right?
The "wolfpack decals sure looked impressive,
and when I checked the instruction sheet, I was blown away by their diagrams showing plain insignias placed at different locations on the lower wings based on which aircraft you were modeling.
WOW! I thought. I’ll get this right by following diagram 1.
Sadly, no, as the foregoing photos show, together with that info from Yellow Wings decals about the reason for the Torch yellow borders on the fuselage sides and lower wings. Plus, there is ample evidence that the SBDs on the Santee had the yellow rings on the lower wings, so logically, there was no way VF-9’s Wildcats flying off the same ship wouldn’t have them.
So, where was I going to get yellow-bordered national insignia that the photos suggest stretched from near the “edge of the leading edge” to the border of the ailerons?
Well, why do you think I got those Superscale Torch decals?
But again, sadly, no, they seemed too small to me. So now what do I do?
I had one more resource to tap into, and if you have an interest in exotic, oddball schemes from Operation Torch, this is the set to get.
So I started to look it over.
At this point, I think it’s a bit of a toss-up between the Sea Hurricane ones on the first sheet and the thin-bordered ones for the SBD’s on the second sheet.
Let me close by showing you, from the chaos of the work table, that at least the lower wings are ready for the ones I choose.
Before I apply the decals, I plan to spray a lighter shade of blue-grey on the control surfaces, as previously mentioned. One question, however. Should the lower ailerons and elevators also have a lighter shade? Part of me says yes, because of the fabric vs metal contrast, but OTOH, the lower surfaces weren’t exposed to as much sunlight as the upper surfaces were.
Your thoughts, anyone?