The November 2009 issue of FineScale Modeler includes Adding Detail, a special supplement with tips on detailing to improve your models. Bart Cusumano converts a Tamiya’s 1/48 scale F2A-2 kit into a Marine Corps fighter in this special section. Here is a little history of Brewster’s Buffalo and a gallery of the fighter in action. The following essay and images can only be found on FineScale.com.
Brewster’s little fighter, the F2A Buffalo, became the U.S. Navy’s first monoplane fighter when it entered service in 1939. The aircraft was initially liked by pilots – Pappy Boyington praised the Buffalo’s maneuverability – but added equipment and fuel on later versions taxed performance and the aircraft was already considered obsolete by the Navy and relegated to training squadrons in 1941. Two frontline Marine Corps squadrons equipped with F2A-3s deployed to the Pacific – one at Palmyra Atoll, the other at Midway – as World War II began.

When a Japanese taskforce set sights on the American base at Midway Island in June 1942, a Marine fighter group, VMF-221, made up the remote garrison’s air defenses. The unit’s roster included 20 F2A-3 Buffalos and six Grumman F4F-3 Wildcats.

On the morning of June 4, the squadron intercepted an incoming raid of Val bombers escorted by A6M Zeros. By the end of the combat all of the Buffalos had been shot down, crash landed, or landed with engine trouble or battle damage. Only three remained serviceable after the battle.

The performance of the Zero far outmatched the Buffalo and the only routes of escape for Marine pilots were very steep dives or high-speed Split-S. The Brewster’s performance was further hampered by gun jams.

Several of the surviving pilots were as critical of the Buffalo as they were in awe of the Zero. The F2A-3 flown by 2nd Lt. Charles Murphy Kunz was so badly shot up he returned to base with his radio and hydraulics out as well as a glancing bullet wound to the head. In his combat report (transcribed at http://www.warbirdforum.com/vmf221b.htm), Kunz noted: “In my opinion the (Zero) fighter has been far underestimated. I think it is probably one of the finest fighters in the present war. As for the F2A-3, … it should be in Miami as a training plane, rather than used as a first line fighter.

Even more damning are the comments of Capt. Philip Renee White. After describing the Buffalo as “not a combat airplane” and “inferior to the planes we are fighting in every respect,” White adds: “It is my belief that any commander that orders pilots out for combat in a F2A-3 should consider the pilot as lost before leaving the ground.”

The Buffalo fared little better in Commonwealth and Dutch service in Asia, but had a long and distinguished combat career in Finnish service against the Soviet air force during the Continuation War.

For more information about the Buffalo online, check the following Web sites:
Annals of the Brewster Buffalo
Brewster F2A
Brewster F2A Buffalo
Brewster Buffalo