Heller 1/72nd F6F-5 Hellcat

[Matt308]

Is that a wonderful trick or what?!!?

 

[Wayne Little]

looks great, Matt! Blue looks fine on my monitor.

....Don't forget, being an older kit, test those decals Matt just in case they don't want to stay together, maybe a coat of clear to be sure?

 

[Matt308]

Allright, machinegun barrels and stainless cooling sleeves next. A paperclip and the flat surface rubbing routine... and you have a perfectly straight piece of metal.

Cut to length. Insert in holes drilled in leading edge of the wing, paint the ends black, glue, and tone down the "bright" metal a bit and we are in business.

 

[Matt308]

Some prep work on my reflector sight that was plastic in the kit. Cut off the original, sand flat, and use a angle file to make the slot for the reflector. The reflector is made from some clear bottle styrene cut to shape.

 

[Wayne Little]

 

[Matt308]

....Don't forget, being an older kit, test those decals Matt just in case they don't want to stay together, maybe a coat of clear to be sure?

Thanks Wayne. You guys have been wonderful in your tips that I now have in my repertoire. Like Njaco said, I'm twice the modeler that I was before picking up your guys' tips and suggestions. Anyway, I did make a test and they hold together wonderfully. I think I lucked out. In fact, here are some preliminary appliques.

The 32 on the sides of the fuselage were spaced too far apart. So I had to cut each "32" into thirds and cinch them up a bit. Here is how they are going on. The underlying grey (or silvering) completely disappeared. Much to my relief I might add. I was very worried that I was going to have to live with much silvering. Otherwise the decals were quite nice. Thin. Resilient. And molded with the panel lines rather nicely.

 

[Wurger]

The number "two" looks like being too big.Was it of the shape in reality?

Anyway she looks great.

 

[Airframes]

Looking great Matt. BTW, the fluorescent light will be reflecting in the green band, and the flash in the blue band, hence the appearance of the tone/shade of the paint. To avoid this, switch off the fluorescent lamp and, if possible, use a normal lamp and no flash, adjusting the camera's white balance accordingly.

 

[Matt308]

You camera nazis. I know, as a young Padowan, I have much to learn. My wife is the camera pro. She's got the Nikon D80, all the lenses and schooling to boot. Me. I'm just using a crappy 3x optical zoom compact. I do appreciate the help though, Airframes. I'm just hopeless.

Oh, and Wurger, regarding the large 32... yes that is appropriate best I can tell from the pics of the actual 32 that I have seen. I don't know what possessed the US Navy in 1945 (maybe carrier deck ops), but this bird is literally bleeding the number 32 all over her. Let's count:

Big 32 on the fuselage sides below the cockpit = 2

Little white 32 on each side of the nose cowling = 2

Little black 32 in the lower white band on each side of the tail = 2

Little white 32 on the front of each landing gear door facing forward = 2

That's eight "32"s. Largest about 5ft tall. Smallest about 8-10 inches tall. You can't miss that she's number 32 that's for sure!!

 

[Ivan1GFP]

Hi Matt308,

That Hellcat sure is coming together beautifully. I think I must have been visualizing the tail gear wrong as a loose part because it looks pretty close when installed. There are the scale effects, but hard to avoid that in 1/72.

The paint job you put on that bird is better than any *I* have done to date. I just bought a compressor and air brush within the last year and have never used it. Not even quite sure where to begin.

You are absolutely right about the tubing diameters. I know I made up a few of various sizes but don't know where they are at the moment to measure them.

Your method for straightening wires is a great idea. Another keeper! BTW, thanks for interrupting the build periodically to take the photos. I've been there for other projects and realise what a terribly distractor that can be.

- Ivan.

 

[Matt308]

No worries. The interruptions are all part of my narcissistic want to be on stage.

All negative comments will be duly ignored.

Really guys, thanks for the comments and positive encouragement. Makes me enjoy getting back into modeling and let's me find some solace from my professional life.

 

[Maglar]

Good goings Matt, that paint job looks realistic, it has the satin paint "steel" look. Anyways, keep pushing!

 

[Wurger]

Oh, and Wurger, regarding the large 32... yes that is appropriate best I can tell from the pics of the actual 32 that I have seen. I don't know what possessed the US Navy in 1945 (maybe carrier deck ops), but this bird is literally bleeding the number 32 all over her. Let's count:

Big 32 on the fuselage sides below the cockpit = 2

Little white 32 on each side of the nose cowling = 2

Little black 32 in the lower white band on each side of the tail = 2

Little white 32 on the front of each landing gear door facing forward = 2

That's eight "32"s. Largest about 5ft tall. Smallest about 8-10 inches tall. You can't miss that she's number 32 that's for sure!!

So OK.

 

[rochie]

wow Matt your really cranking this one out, looks superb too !

 

[Screaming Eagle]

Looking great Matt!

 

[Matt308]

Decals on.

 

[Matt308]

Closeups of the .50BMGs, stainless cooling sleeves and weathering from a few rounds down range.

 

[Matt308]

Overall weathering applied very gently. I didn't want her to look like a war weary bird. All pics I have of 32 were mostly of a clean ship.

 

[Matt308]

Gunsight next. Reflector is made from clear polystyrene from a 2 liter bottle cut to shape.

 

[Matt308]

Next... time to get the aerials done. I had cut them off while manipulating the model during sanding/painting/etc. Now I put them back into order. The fuselage aerial was salvaged. I drilled holes where both aerials resided. The VHF aerial behind the cockpit was tapered and glued back in place. The vertical fin VHF aerial was scrapped and replaced with copper wire.

Sorry for the crappy pics.