Thank you all! And you're correct Spiros! Also I found that with the new nozzle in the brush it certainly behaves different to the worn out one (before I wrecked it) previously so it took a loot of spraying on my hand and a testbed kit to see how much pressure was needed, but on the plus side the actual lines were a lot more controlled than on the previous nozzle.
Decals
Today was all about decals, earlier in the week I realised I didn't actually have the stencil decals for the F6F so I've ordered them and am waiting, but nonetheless the actually easily seeable ones are currently on and just going through various gauntlets of decal solution. Decals are the old Eduard ones so no removable film here!
I'm still not 100% on the cowl flap on the right hand side, looking at the reference photograph I can't help but notice that the camouflage line doesn't line up when the cowl flaps are closed, but maybe I'll just go over it and make it more uniform so it looks a bit nicer.
The Second Hellcat
Like Quasimodo, the second Hellcat is hard to spot but only comes out at night when it's dark. Look away if you are a particular fan of Grumman.
I figured it's now far enough along to give an update on the general plan of this diorama build, whether I actually go ahead and make it or not (as dioramas are scary things) I can at least show what's been pulled apart.
Obviously the noticeable part is the wing, this was a pain to do as the plastic on this kit is strangely thick which means it's very strong and difficult to cut or saw through. I don't envy the modeller who decides to build this with aftermarket folded wings. Styrene was used to try and provide some detail, it's not really realistically placed but will look far better than just a hollow wing.
On the underside its been given some hot candle treatment, this allowed the nose and belly to be bent a bit to show some sort of impact damage. The right wing was cracked to also show possible damage from the crashed landing.
I'm still tweaking things but I'll likely give it a primer soon to judge before doing more, mostly the tweaks will be making the cracked wing better, as well as trying to make the bullet damage a bit more realistic. I kept damage to the model centred around the engine as that is shown in the 'reference' artwork, and adding major damage to the wings or control surfaces would make the diorama of having the pilot be alive less reasonable. With the engine been damaged it could be inferred that pilot was unhindered in regards to making a controlled wheels-up landing, with the wing damage coming from the landing rather than combat.
And with that, here's the artwork that inspired it. Good old Combat Flight Simulator 2, I remember learning how aircraft were controlled and how to fly them under the guidance of my Grandad before normally ending the short sortie with a crashed Corsair on the screen, either way a diorama take on the intro from that game has been on my to-do list. Perhaps unsurpsingly there is a lack of reference photos of crashed Hellcats out there, at least ones that are crashed on a runway and not a floating ship with lots of things to crash into on the way down the deck.
In regards to our pilot, I have a little box with every pilot figure I have shoved in it, meaning I probably have about 5 of the standing pilots that come with Tamiya Corsairs that are meant to be standing on the wing leaning against the fuselage. A little bit of surgery later and we have a guy somewhat holding an injured arm, some more work is needing doing on his legs but he'll get there.
