discussion Joe's 1/72 Academy Grumman F6F Hellcat

[flyjoe180]

I've drilled those six gun ports out:


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And then primed the beast in grey:


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And added some white to the sections that will be masked off for the carrier markings:


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The painting stage won't take too long, it's one colour all over.

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[flyjoe180]

So much for the paint stage not taking too long. I really shouldn't pre-empt such things. Whether it was a bad tinlet or the cold prevented it from drying properly, my initial paint job has dried weirdly with patches all over it. I'll try again after a light sanding.

 

[Neil]

Looking good though Joe, nice clean lines and will no doubt come up a treat with the sea blue scheme.

 

[colin m]

Dried patchy - or instant post shading out of the gun ?

 

[flyjoe180]

Dried patchy - or instant post shading out of the gun ?

A bit of both, it dried with varying surface effects giving what can only be called an eclectic finish. I sprayed another coat on last night after a light sanding and seems to have come out okay this time. No idea what happened the first time.

 

[Guest]

Just right Joe. Now I know what they look like in detail. Just reading a book by a Carrier Aircraft Pilot during WW11. Just to day he has transferred from his previous carrier aircraft to the HellCat.


Remarkable story. Quite interesting to read about his opinion of the Seafire mad compared to the US carrier aircraft. He had service on a couple of carriers with a Seafire group. Previous to the Hellcat he had spent about 2 years flying Wildcats.


Look forward to your work Joe as I progress thro. this book.


Laurie

 

[flyjoe180]

Well, my masking of the white areas failed somewhat and the decals that went over the areas I had masked crumbled. I knew this was not going to be easy.


Anyway, here is the initial (re) paint. It looks more grey in this photo than in reality. The wheels are just popped on with a dry fit to allow the landing gear doors to remain off the ground whilst drying. And also to get the same colour as the airframe, into the wheel hubs.


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Blurry photo sorry, but this is a better representation of the colour (it looks brighter here than in reality, can't win with the dark sea blue!)


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I've given up the decals as they crumbled. So masked off the areas to be painted white and have gone back to ye holy brush work. I found another set of Hellcat stars and bars, so might get away with double layering those to stop the opacity issue (assuming they don't break up). The numbers will have to do. If I had time and money I'd get a stencil set for it and paint the white insignia but at present I have little of either for this model.

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[flyjoe180]

Update. I had an accident with the Hellcat (I dropped it). Had to reattach the landing gear legs and part of the tail section was damaged.


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So it has required some rebuilding. In a test of patience and the will to carry on, I've sanded back the paint work after repairs. It's currently in the drying stage in overall sea blue again. I've had enough of the white unit markings so I'm simplifying the build finish or I'll be late getting this to the finish line. So I'm now going for a machine from VF-85 (Sky Pirates) coded simply 'Z' and numbered '69' on the tail. This converts this build to a F6F-5P, the P standing for Photo Reconnaissance. I'll add the camera as required.


The new scheme:


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[flyjoe180]

Been busy with work and other things and I've just realised there is only a few days to go to the end of this GB . So I'm off to apply some decals and do some touch ups and add the final pieces. I'll update later today with progress photos.

 

[Guest]

I'm glad you've revived this thread, Joe. Somehow I missed it first time around, so it's been good to catch up with it. Also (ulterior motive coming up) I have the Eduard Hellcat near the top of the stash, so I might learn something.

 

[flyjoe180]

I'm glad you've revived this thread, Joe. Somehow I missed it first time around, so it's been good to catch up with it. Also (ulterior motive coming up) I have the Eduard Hellcat near the top of the stash, so I might learn something.

Thanks Doug. The Eduard kit will no doubt be light years ahead of this Academy kit, which is suspiciously similar to the ancient Hasegawa offering. Look forward to seeing your one on the bench soon.


And back two steps yet again, in overall Gloss Sea Blue. I used Humbrol Midnight Blue (15) with a very small amount of green (30) to get the desired colour. The original mix was Oxford blue (104) with the green but this looked much better on my experimental paint model (an old Messerschmitt) so on it went.


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As it was already glossy there was no need to apply a gloss varnish, so the decals went straight onto the surface using Humbrol Decalfix:


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The decals were horrible as usual from Academy. The national insignia was actually not too bad, but the various placards and stencils are rubbish by modern standards. The step line and propeller markings came from the spare decal bag. The 'Z' code came from an Xtradecal sheet, the letter code from a Ventura Decals sheet. The black camera cover was made by me.

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[flyjoe180]

Next the navigation and under-side identification lights were painted, the main landing gear wheels fitted and some exhaust staining and light weathering was then applied. After a semi-gloss varnish the rockets were fitted and the propeller set.


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I'm calling this done now. I won't have time to add anything further before the GB ends, so this is it. Watch out for the finished thread. Thanks for following and commenting to those of you who have done so, much appreciated.

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[flyjoe180]

Completed thread here: http://www.scale-models.co.uk/threads/joes-1-72-academy-grumman-f6f-hellcat.31661/