**** DONE: 1/48 Hellcat Mk. II - Aircraft in Foreign Service WWII

[Crimea_River]

Username: Crimea River
First name: Andy
Category: Judge – Non competing
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Eduard
Model Type: Hellcat MkI/II Dual Combo
Aftermarket addons: Minimal as the kit comes with PE upgrades

I've decided to throw another entry into this GB and, for this build, I'll use the other half of the Eduard Dual Combo kit in my stash. The first half was built in the Invasion Stripes GB a few years back and I recall the kit going together very well without so much as a sniff of putty. This, combined with a simple paint scheme should allow me to easily finish this build along with my P-40 well before the end of the GB. I don't plan on adding anything beyond what the kit already provides as there are plenty of addons already in the kit.

My model will depict Hellcat Mk. II s/n JZ796 of 808 Squadron FAA flown by Sub-Lieutenant Oscar Lorenzo of Argentina from HMS Khedive in operations in the East Indies in mid 1945.

 

[Wildcat]

Cool! I like RN Hellcats

 

[ozhawk40]

That's a great kit alright, should be good to see an RN version CR.

Cheers

Peter

 

[Wurger]

 

[Wayne Little]

Andy....are you sure you're not going to add any extra stuff....? Not sure you can control yourself good sir.....

 

[woody]

Nice one Andy looking forward to your build.

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks everyone. I got a start on this one yesterday and will post some pick later today.

Andy....are you sure you're not going to add any extra stuff....? Not sure you can control yourself good sir.....

Really not much to add Wayne. The kit comes with a full cockpit PE set plus external detail PE set, including engine wires.

 

[fubar57]

Picked up the single American version with all the goodies a couple of weeks ago for a song. Will be following your build with great interest.

Geo

 

[dneid]

Oh, I am looking forward to this one, Andy. I have my eyes on an Eduard F6F.

 

[Airframes]

Good one Andy. And no added plumbing, wiring etc? Yeah, right ... and Jan is a teetotaller !

 

[Lucky13]

Good one Andy. And no added plumbing, wiring etc? Yeah, right ... and Jan is a teetotaller !

.....could at least have told me that, before I started drinking!

 

[Crimea_River]

Well, so far no added parts, just all OOB. Cockpit has been painted and some of the PE has been installed:

I've not yet finished off the reflector sight for fear of breaking off the delicate clear part so this will be added later. There's lots more PE to go on the port console and I'll show a close-up of that when its done, probably tomorrow.

 

[fubar57]

Innards are shaping up nicely. Starting to get itchy about grabbing my kit now.

Geo

 

[dneid]

Damned nice looking there, Andy. How do you get those fiddly little PE handles to sit out so nicely? I seem to have a real knack for gluing mine to my fingertip.

 

[Airframes]

Nice!
And I'm with Dale - with my hands, the chances of fitting such small parts are less than zero!

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks guys. Really just lots of patience and a good pair of sharp tweezers. The other thing is that I use a thicker CA than the really runny stuff and this dispenses into a bead into which you can dip the end of the part. Even so, I often need to try two or three times to get them properly placed. I also left some of the more ridiculously small pieces off.

 

[Wayne Little]

Looks great Andy!

 

[Crimea_River]

Cheers Wayne.

 

[Crimea_River]

The port console was finished this morning after which I glued it into the cockpit tub.

Before mating the fuselage halves, I drilled out the lightening holes in the tail wheel.

The engine parts are shown below complete with the PE ignition wires. Although these are flat, their representation of the wires will be sufficient for the restricted view of the engine from the front.

Here is the engine painted and partly completed.

This model is going together very quickly. I've already glued the wings together and tomorrow I should be able to get the major assemblies all together. Thanks for following along guys.

 

[Wayne Little]

Top stuff man...