Just to be the sandbur under the saddle.....
How about a Hercules or Merlin powered F5F Skyrocket for the FAA? It's in the right weight range (3600kg empty/4600kg loaded), pre-engineered for carrier stress - with folding wings to boot, and could have been adapted for attack use.
There was a Bristol project that looked almost identical to the Skyrocket - the Type 153A - drawn up around 1936.
It was offered to the same spec as Whirlwind. IIRC, I've got the bits to do one in 72nd, starting with - ironically - a Whirlwind fuselage and a Fairey Battle wing.