**** DONE: 1/48 F6F-3N Hellcat - Night War of WWII
Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules
Crimea_River
Marshal
Great work man.
- Thread starter
- #83
JKim
Senior Master Sergeant
Time to put the Hellcat together! The tail fins go on first. No alignment pins or tongue/groove arrangement. The fins and wings go into cut-outs in the fuselage. Fit is very positive and it doesn't look like there will be a problem maintaining proper alignment.
Before the wings go on, there is a seam on the radome/wing joint that I want to fix up a little. I don't need to eradicate the joint altogether since this is probably a bolt-on type of addition.
The wings go on one side at a time. I used Tamiya Regular liquid cement at the base of the joint and then seeped in Tamiya Extra Thin around the perimeter after the wings were set in place.
Fit is very good and positive with hardly any gaps.
Milliput was used to fill in the small gaps between the joints.
The big cat has all of its main components in place. Now I can start thinking about how I want to handle the painting.
Before the wings go on, there is a seam on the radome/wing joint that I want to fix up a little. I don't need to eradicate the joint altogether since this is probably a bolt-on type of addition.
The wings go on one side at a time. I used Tamiya Regular liquid cement at the base of the joint and then seeped in Tamiya Extra Thin around the perimeter after the wings were set in place.
Fit is very good and positive with hardly any gaps.
Milliput was used to fill in the small gaps between the joints.
The big cat has all of its main components in place. Now I can start thinking about how I want to handle the painting.
Very nice indeed !
Great work so far John!
Night Fighter Nut
Master Sergeant
Marvelous. 
Crimea_River
Marshal
Sure is.
- Thread starter
- #89
JKim
Senior Master Sergeant
Hit a road bump that's going to slow me down for a few days. Not model-related thankfully but my Iwata airbrush is out of commission. More on that later.
Now that the airframe of the Hellcat is basically complete, I can start on the painting. Since cowling is a snap-on fit, I popped off the exhaust pipes and will add them later... one less thing to retouch. I've decided to add some multi-layer chipping effects on the upper wing and fuselage. A base coat of gloss black is laid down in preparation for the Alclad metal shade.
Alclad Polished Aluminum goes on top of that. I experienced some "burning" of the Alclad... spots that came out with a "rough" texture due to uneven application. Not a big deal when its on the bottom of the chipping layer so I'm ignoring it.
A couple of coats of aerosol hairpray decanted into the cup of the airbrush is applied and left to dry before putting on the zinc chromate.
The chromate layer is chipped using a water-damped paintbrush. I did the chipping on the same day as the chromate was painted on and the chromate came off VERY easily so I had to be careful and not get too aggressive with the wet brushing.
After the zinc chromate has been chipped, another layer of hairspray goes on top of that. Once dry, I can start my preshading. First are the panel lines in black.
I gave my Iwata airbrush a full cleaning after this step. When I tried to re-attach the tiny fluid nozzle using the supplied tool, it sheared off completely, dropping to the floor. To my horror, the threaded part was left in the airbrush. I found an appropriately sized drill bit and carefully backed the broken thread out of the airbrush without damaging the threads... big sigh of relief.
Obviously, the nozzle is toast and needs to be replaced and they ain't exactly cheap. It's gonna cost $30-$40 to replace and delay my build for at least a couple of days.
More on that later.Now that the airframe of the Hellcat is basically complete, I can start on the painting. Since cowling is a snap-on fit, I popped off the exhaust pipes and will add them later... one less thing to retouch. I've decided to add some multi-layer chipping effects on the upper wing and fuselage. A base coat of gloss black is laid down in preparation for the Alclad metal shade.
Alclad Polished Aluminum goes on top of that. I experienced some "burning" of the Alclad... spots that came out with a "rough" texture due to uneven application. Not a big deal when its on the bottom of the chipping layer so I'm ignoring it.
A couple of coats of aerosol hairpray decanted into the cup of the airbrush is applied and left to dry before putting on the zinc chromate.
The chromate layer is chipped using a water-damped paintbrush. I did the chipping on the same day as the chromate was painted on and the chromate came off VERY easily so I had to be careful and not get too aggressive with the wet brushing.
After the zinc chromate has been chipped, another layer of hairspray goes on top of that. Once dry, I can start my preshading. First are the panel lines in black.
I gave my Iwata airbrush a full cleaning after this step. When I tried to re-attach the tiny fluid nozzle using the supplied tool, it sheared off completely, dropping to the floor. To my horror, the threaded part was left in the airbrush. I found an appropriately sized drill bit and carefully backed the broken thread out of the airbrush without damaging the threads... big sigh of relief.
Obviously, the nozzle is toast and needs to be replaced and they ain't exactly cheap. It's gonna cost $30-$40 to replace and delay my build for at least a couple of days.
Crimea_River
Marshal
That's a defective part in my opinion. They should replace it for free. Check your warranty.
I haven't had a broken tip like that before....bummer john.
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Very nice work so far John, and I agree with Andy about the airbrush tip.
Looks great so far John!
- Thread starter
- #96
JKim
Senior Master Sergeant
Perhaps Andy but I can't wait around for a warranty replacement. FWIW, the Iwata website specifically excludes the needle and the nozzle from the 5-year warranty. I may just mail the pieces in to customer service to see what they think. But in the meantime, I've ordered a replacement using USPS Priority shipping... hopefully it will get me up and running by the weekend. I can finish up my preshading with the Paasche V but I'd rather wait for my Iwata to do the main camo colors.
Crimea_River
Marshal
Well thanks anyway for the heads up. I have the identical brush and it seems possible that if the threads get plugged with dried paint, the nozzle can be torqued off at the base of the thread. Next time, I may just dip the tip assembly into some lacquer thinner for about 15 minutes before unscrewing the nozzle.
- Thread starter
- #98
JKim
Senior Master Sergeant
Definitely the prudent thing to do. I'll also be VERY careful when handling the nozzle from now on. And just to note... it sheared off when I was screwing it back on and so I wasn't applying much pressure to it at all when it broke.
- Thread starter
- #99
JKim
Senior Master Sergeant
Oh... here is something that I forgot to report on. I picked up a bottle of Hataka Thinner and the US Navy paint set for the tri-color paint scheme.
I've done some preliminary tests using the Hataka Thinner and unfortunately have run into the same type of inconsistency that I was experiencing during the Spitfire IXc build. Even using the Hataka Thinner, the Hataka paints are very inconsistent and clog often.
70% iso alcohol seems to be best choice out of all of the thinners I've tried and I think I can wring out a good result out of the Insignia White and probably the Intermediate Blue. Least confident with the Sea Blue but can probably get by if I mask the borders. Due to the spotty spray, I'll have to rule out using these Hataka paints for freehand camo work.
I've only used the Hataka paints with my Iwata HP-C Plus. Since the Iwata is temporarily out of action, I may try the Hataka paints using my Paasche V and H airbrushes to see if that makes a difference. But my V is equipped with a very fine needle and nozzle (not ideal for camo application) and my H is single action only (can't control paint flow, which is critical when using my particular method of pre-shading).
I've done some preliminary tests using the Hataka Thinner and unfortunately have run into the same type of inconsistency that I was experiencing during the Spitfire IXc build. Even using the Hataka Thinner, the Hataka paints are very inconsistent and clog often.
70% iso alcohol seems to be best choice out of all of the thinners I've tried and I think I can wring out a good result out of the Insignia White and probably the Intermediate Blue. Least confident with the Sea Blue but can probably get by if I mask the borders. Due to the spotty spray, I'll have to rule out using these Hataka paints for freehand camo work.
I've only used the Hataka paints with my Iwata HP-C Plus. Since the Iwata is temporarily out of action, I may try the Hataka paints using my Paasche V and H airbrushes to see if that makes a difference. But my V is equipped with a very fine needle and nozzle (not ideal for camo application) and my H is single action only (can't control paint flow, which is critical when using my particular method of pre-shading).
- Thread starter
- #100
JKim
Senior Master Sergeant
2nd stage of pre-shading has been completed. Ready for camo...
