Hi Guys,
Here's my entry of what Simon would have built if he had received it before he passed. The Academy Hellcat re-boxed by Airfix.
It's been mothballed for years together with the AFV Hellcat and held together with white glue for easy access to the interior for painting. I don't know which was more accurate but major mods were done to the structure of the Academy kit mainly the side sponsons, rear curvature and nothing else.
Even as a mothballed kit, the Hellcat is only 40% finished if you include installing the details like the stowage, mantlet water proofing, accessories and painting and weathering. I have left the turret detachable for painting the exposed interior. Here's what it looks like dismantled with a whole sprue to add the accessories...no PE or resin as I'm going to do the Simon thingy of scratching and improvising.
My work will be helped by this little booklet I have that's been with me for donkey ages and was lucky to get it at an old books sale. The basic images have given me an idea where to make the corrections.
I was going to start by doing some scratching to the radio compartment area in the rear bustle. Apparently this simple box actually looks like what it is if you check out the reference in the next image showing the standard radio.
What I can do is add junction boxes and some stowage cans and wires just to make it look busy...just like the reference below.
So far Academy has given most of the parts for the loaders and gunners position with one or two minor things to add.
The bar that runs over the turret comes in a few configurations. The one that Academy supplies is bent upwards...I rather like the straight version seen here.
The gunsight isn't in the right place and should be about parallel with the gun barrel but since I'm going to cover the mantlet with weather proofing canvas I can reposition it without much surgery.
The magazine holder can be made with thin plastic card and perforated. The kit part is just a large gap.
The aerial guard is also out of position and can be moved.
The gun locking mechanism needs a bit of scratchery.
No gunsight given at all at the gunners position so scratchery need here also.
The grill is wrong on the Academy kit. It's suppose to be square and not diamond shaped. The AFV kit does a better grill presentation. The fuel caps are in the wrong place so needs shifting. The rear hatch is not prominent enough.
In the end there is quite a lot of work. Simon would have used 10 percent of the kit, basically the road wheels as they have the right number of nuts.
the kit is actually not too bad, I mean with the right stowage and some little corrections will look like a Hellcat.
I will have to get together two part putty, gauze, tissue, white glue, CA, wire, driveway dirt, pewter but in this case I will be using copper sheet and one or two drops of blood if I'm not careful and start.
I hope this makes the finish line.
Cheers,
Richard
Here's my entry of what Simon would have built if he had received it before he passed. The Academy Hellcat re-boxed by Airfix.
It's been mothballed for years together with the AFV Hellcat and held together with white glue for easy access to the interior for painting. I don't know which was more accurate but major mods were done to the structure of the Academy kit mainly the side sponsons, rear curvature and nothing else.
Even as a mothballed kit, the Hellcat is only 40% finished if you include installing the details like the stowage, mantlet water proofing, accessories and painting and weathering. I have left the turret detachable for painting the exposed interior. Here's what it looks like dismantled with a whole sprue to add the accessories...no PE or resin as I'm going to do the Simon thingy of scratching and improvising.
My work will be helped by this little booklet I have that's been with me for donkey ages and was lucky to get it at an old books sale. The basic images have given me an idea where to make the corrections.
I was going to start by doing some scratching to the radio compartment area in the rear bustle. Apparently this simple box actually looks like what it is if you check out the reference in the next image showing the standard radio.
What I can do is add junction boxes and some stowage cans and wires just to make it look busy...just like the reference below.
So far Academy has given most of the parts for the loaders and gunners position with one or two minor things to add.
The bar that runs over the turret comes in a few configurations. The one that Academy supplies is bent upwards...I rather like the straight version seen here.
The gunsight isn't in the right place and should be about parallel with the gun barrel but since I'm going to cover the mantlet with weather proofing canvas I can reposition it without much surgery.
The magazine holder can be made with thin plastic card and perforated. The kit part is just a large gap.
The aerial guard is also out of position and can be moved.
The gun locking mechanism needs a bit of scratchery.
No gunsight given at all at the gunners position so scratchery need here also.
The grill is wrong on the Academy kit. It's suppose to be square and not diamond shaped. The AFV kit does a better grill presentation. The fuel caps are in the wrong place so needs shifting. The rear hatch is not prominent enough.
In the end there is quite a lot of work. Simon would have used 10 percent of the kit, basically the road wheels as they have the right number of nuts.
the kit is actually not too bad, I mean with the right stowage and some little corrections will look like a Hellcat.
I will have to get together two part putty, gauze, tissue, white glue, CA, wire, driveway dirt, pewter but in this case I will be using copper sheet and one or two drops of blood if I'm not careful and start.
I hope this makes the finish line.
Cheers,
Richard
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