J4F Widgeon
The Grumman J4F
Widgeon got its start as the G-44 Widgeon, a utility amphibian flying
boat designed for commercial purposes. It flew for the first time in
July of 1940. The first production model was however a three seat
anti-submarine patrol and utility model designated the J4F-1 for the
U.S.Coast Guard. Twenty five were delivered in 1941. The J4F-1 could
only carry one depth bomb attached to a rack under the starboard wing
root and with the crew reduced to two still could not maintain altitude
with one engine, making it unsuitable for use at any distance from the
shore. Nevertheless in 1942 a J4F-1 of Coast Guard Squadron 212 sank
the U-166 just off the Mississippi Delta. Sixteen similar aircraft were
delivered to the Army Air Corps under the designation OA-14 and a
further 135 were built for the Navy as J4F-2's, these being used
primarily as five seat utility transports. Fifteen were transfered to
the Royal Navy under Lend-Lease and were originally known as Gosling I
in British service. These were later renamed Widgeon I and served in
the communications role, primarily in the West Indies during 1943 -
1945. One additional J4F-2 was allotted to the Foreign Commission in
Miami and several other aircraft of this type were delivered to the
Portuguese Naval Air Service and the Brazilian Air Force. In U.S. Navy
service the J4F-2 served principally as a light personnel transport and
as an instrument trainer.
The Kit
The
Classic Airframes J4F Widgeon comes in a two part top open box with
nice artwork on the top. Inside the box is one large zip lock bag with
all the injection molded parts in gray and included in the bag is a
smaller zip lock bag with the resin parts. A separate zip lock bag in
the box contains the clear parts. My kit apparently had a rough trip
and numerous parts had separated from the sprues. None fortunately
seemed damaged or worse the wear. The parts are molded in gray similar
to that of other recent kits from CA. All the parts in my kit exhibited
a light amount of flash. The surface detail features recessed panel
lines and fasteners and raised detail where applicable such as rib tape
on the fabric surfaces. The exterior surfaces feature a smooth glossy
finish while some of the interior parts and other small parts had a
smooth but flat finish. The parts had no sink holes or other major
surface irregularities. The ADF loop in my kit was split across the
middle apparently the result of sprue movement during shipping. Two
different shaped bow pieces are supplied in the kit with no
explanation other than one is X ed out. Both were off the sprue in my
kit so some research will be needed to figure out which one is to be
used. There are two bombs supplied with the kit which was only capable
of carrying one. The landing gear is nicely detailed as is the
interior. Altogether there are 84 parts molded in gray. See photos
below.
The clear parts are relatively thin and clear with nicely molded frame
lines, altogether there are 11 clear parts. See photo below.
As is fairly common with CA kits it includes to resin parts. In this
kit it includes two weighted wheels, two engine fronts, two gear wells,
pilots seats, four cabin seats and booth style seat. All parts are
crisply molded in gray with minimal flash. I found no bubbles or short
shots on any of the parts. All together the are 13 resin parts bring
the kit total to 108 parts See photo below.
The decals are thin, in register and have a glossy finish with minimal
clear material. The colors look good and appear to be opaque. Even the
smallest print is readable. Marking are provided for four aircraft, two
Coast guard, one two tone the other natural metal, one Navy in a three
color scheme and one Royal Navy scheme, see photo below.
The instructions are printed on an A4 size sheet folded in half with a
half sheet inserted in the middle creating six pages. The first page
has a brief history and specifications. following that there are 17
assembly steps plus a page with a parts map, symbols used and colors
with color names only. A separate A4 sheet folded in half has the
exterior painting information, each section containing the marking
information for each of the four aircraft markings supplied. Color call
outs on this page includes color name and FS number.
After Market Goodies
Nothing available at the moment but I suspect they won't be long in coming.
Conclusions
This
appears to be an excellent kit and will go nicely with the Goose. Like
all limited run kits there are no alignment pins and test fitting
before each assembly step is a must. I wouldn't recommend the kit to
beginners but with the relatively low parts count it might make a good
first limited run kit for someone with a few main stream kits under his
belt.
Links to kit build or reviews
Another in box review can be found here.
References
"War Planes of the Second World War Volume 5, Flying Boats" by William Green
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Updated 7/27/08