1/48 F6F-5N Hellcat
This is the Eduard Weekend Edition kit built with a few add ones. The model represents the Hellcat flown by VMF(N)-533's Captain Robert Baird on Okinawa in the summer of 1945. Baird became the Marines' first night fighter ace with this plane. Assembly is smooth and proceeds fast with these kits. The cockpit is nicely detailed and looks great with some careful dry brushing and the use of the kit provided decals. I used Eduard belts not included in the kit. The cowling is assembled from three parts , two sides and a front piece. Many have been frustrated by fit/step issues with this assembly. I glue it in stages starting with one side piece at the top of the cowl ring. Some slight bending will get you good fits on the sides. Repeat the process on the other half and you should have good smooth joins on top and both sides. You will however have a tiny gap on the bottom of the cowl. Temporarily fit the cowl to the completed fuselage and carefully fill the gap with CA. Hit it with accelerator, remove the cowl and sand the CA down. This whole problem is caused by the cowling sides being about .25mm too short. It's an easy fix and shouldn't discourage anyone from building this kit as it really is superior to the Hasegawa Hellcat in every other way except propeller shape. The Eduard blades are a bit wide but I can live with them. The other area of this kit that needs help is the wheels. Eduard's plastic wheels in the Weekend kit are too narrow and have no tread detail. I used a set of Aires wheels on this one. This kit came with a nice resin radome that fit very well to the starboard wing. It also features a set of resin guns that include the 20mm cannons on this plane. I used the kit plastic .50 cals for the center and outer guns. I removed the 20mm barrels from the resin castings and installed them late in the game for a better fit and less chance of breaking them. One final addition was straps for the belly tank made from scrap PE. The kit includes no straps.
I painted the model with a 40 year old tin of a Humbrol Authentics GSB. This was such great paint, I'm glad I still have a number of these! The decals came from the kit and are outstanding. They might be the best decals I've ever used. Nothing silvered in the slightest and I used no setting solution anywhere except on the black codes over the lap joints. This was just because the large area of clear decal film made me nervous. I probably didn't need it. Final finish was a 4:1 mix of Testors Glosscote and Dullcote thinned 3:2 clearcote to lacquer thinner.
One hell of a Hellcat! Looks great!
Thanks, Robert!
Great results on the finish! GSB can be tricky. 40yo paint aside, thank you for sharing your varnish mixture to produce these results.
Thanks, Andrew. The trick with GSB is to get the right sheen and not to over weather it.
I just finished up a post-war "-1" Bearcat that I glossed up, but I didn't want to leave it that shiny, so I dusted the upper horizontal surfaces with thinned matt varnish to ever-so-lightly cut the sheen. It produced something I'm happy with, but in the artistic sense.. Not sure about realism. I may post it soon if possible. My usual camera is acting up..
I have this same kit I am using as a teaching kit for adding LED's and fiber optic lighting. Here is the dash. It is on hold as I was doing it for our IPMS monthly meeting but the current virus situation has delayed our meeting so it sits.
4 attached images. Click to enlarge.
David, That IP looks sweet.. I hope you will provide some insight/how-to's when the time comes?
Yes I will. As soon as I finish I plan on doing a tutorial on how to do it. It will include how to do it, where to get the material, and how to wire it all up.
That’s really cool, David.
Great Hellcat, John!
You did an amazing job on this. Got to love this Humbrol!
All the best!
Thanks, Spiro! Nothing like real enamel with lead!
Good looking Cat John @j-healy. You should add another photo of it sitting next to one of your P-47's to give it some scale and size comparison.
"Liked"
Thanks, James! Both big planes with those R-2800s up front.
That's a handsome Hellcat! Nicely done.
Thanks, Greg!
sooooo purdy
Thanks, Bob!
Nice job on the Hellcat John. I think I know which kit I'll choose now to round out my Grumman Cat lineup!
Thanks, Josh. Another plus to the Eduard kit is the fact that it comes with both opened and closed canopies. The Hasegawa kit can only be finished closed with what’s in the box.
Great job on this John!
Thanks, Dale!
Very nice work (as usual) John. Super result.
Thanks, Tom!
Nice looking kitty John, she really looks good.
Thanks, Tom.