Enzo the Magnificent Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 (edited) Here we go with two Eduard 1/48 Hellcats. One will be an F6F-5K drone using the Alley Cat decal sheet. The other will be a Fleet Air Arm Hellcat II, using the Freightdog "Brits At Sea" decal sheet. The kits will be from the Eduard FAA Dual Combo boxing. This has to be the best value kit ever! Two complete profipack kits in one box, including PE. There are parts for a Mk 1 and Mk 2 (aka F6F-3 and F6F-5). All this for about 18 quid! Of course, both these kits won't be coming from the same box as they are both F6F-5s. I've already built a Mk1 from one box and I have another couple of boxes in The Stash, so I'm good for Hellcats for a while! These are the fuselage and wing sprues, which are specifc to the F6F-5. The kit has different sprues for the -3 version. The remaining sprues are common to both versions. Weapons won't be used on the -5K but I may well put rockets on the Mk2. The PE provides two sets of cockpit parts for the -3 (upper) and -5 (lower) Here are the aftermarket bits. The wheels in the kit are really only suitable for the prototypes so they will be replaced by resin wheels. The CMK set will go on the Mk2 and the Ultracast set with block tread will go on the -5K. The decal sheets are also shown. The -5K will be the red and orange Point Mugu aircraft while the Mk2 will have the blue and white checks on the cowling. Edited October 19, 2013 by Enzo Matrix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted July 28, 2013 Author Share Posted July 28, 2013 Parts for both cockpits. One is assembled, the other still in its seperate components. The pre-painted PE in the dual-combo boxing has a very strange representation of interior green, so this was carefully painted over. Two shots of a cockpit assembly installed ready for the fuselage to be closed up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 (edited) Great work so far, that PE really looks the part. I've heard that before about Eduard's pre-painted etch-tut, seems their printing ain't that good! Edited July 30, 2013 by Vulcanicity spleling 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arniec Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Yep, I will have to follow this one as well. Cheers, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted July 31, 2013 Author Share Posted July 31, 2013 I've heard that before about Eduard's pre-painted etch-tut, seems their printing ain't that good! The printing as such is excellent. It's just that the green colour is a little off. But it's not a big deal. I just splashed around a bit of the paint I used for the cockpit itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted August 5, 2013 Author Share Posted August 5, 2013 Moving on to the wings. I always feel that the Hellcat looks good with the flaps dropped, although I'm not sure if they were routinely parked that way. But I'm doing it anyway... The first thing to do is build up the rear face of the wing with some 1mm square strip. Also added is a bit of 20thou platic card representing the wing uppersurface where it divided the inner and outer flaps. The flaps on a Hellcat are of the Fowler type so some flap tracks were added from Evergreen 1.5mm L-channel strip. The very inner section of the kit flap parts were sawn off and added to the wing root. These will be smoothed in with putty. Here are the two kits with main assembly complete. The one with the white cowling will be the FAA aircraft. The white is Alclad2 white primer, which is perfectly good when used as a top coat. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Nicw work on the flaps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 Looking nice, two at once double the fun, the interiors look great! I know my flu must be bad....took me a while to work out with GB you were building , first thought FAA but why a USN post war test aircraft, then though USN GB but why an FAA aircraft....... Finally read the GB topic ........going to have a little lie down now!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted August 13, 2013 Author Share Posted August 13, 2013 I know my flu must be bad....took me a while to work out with GB you were building , first thought FAA but why a USN post war test aircraft, then though USN GB but why an FAA aircraft....... Finally read the GB topic ........going to have a little lie down now!! I'm building for three GBs at the moment and many of the builds are interchangeable. For instance, the USN Hellcat in the Splendid Cats GB would fit in the USN GB. The FAA Helcat would fit in the FAA GB. And the F9F Panther which I am building in the USN GB would also fit here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arniec Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 I'm building for three GBs at the moment and many of the builds are interchangeable. For instance, the USN Hellcat in the Splendid Cats GB would fit in the USN GB. The FAA Helcat would fit in the FAA GB. And the F9F Panther which I am building in the USN GB would also fit here! So you are not the only luni around here. I have also 3 builds for 3 GB's. I must think before I sign up to a new GB. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted August 13, 2013 Author Share Posted August 13, 2013 So you are not the only luni around here. Nope. That's why I feel so at home on BM. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 So you are not the only luni around here. I have also 3 builds for 3 GB's. I must think before I sign up to a new GB. Cheers, and I've also got three GB 's on the go...plus i'm away and can only watch at the moment!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted August 18, 2013 Author Share Posted August 18, 2013 Here's where things start to get interesting. The orange is Model Master International Orange enamel. I don't often use enamel these days. I will spray some very thin coats so that it doesn't take an age to dry. The white bands have been sprayed with Alclad2 white primer and then masked with Precision masking tape. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Great stuff, the orange looks like a challenging colour to spray, to say the least! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted August 26, 2013 Author Share Posted August 26, 2013 Moving forward... some touchups needed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 15, 2013 Author Share Posted September 15, 2013 Stickers on! They're starting to look a bit better. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 Super stuff! You've really pulled the orange/red scheme off beautifully 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_W Posted September 26, 2013 Share Posted September 26, 2013 The orange/red is stunning. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted October 4, 2013 Author Share Posted October 4, 2013 Small parts of both models pretty much complete and ready for installation. Photos show that this aircraft had heavy exhaust staining. So I need to add some more... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 Wow the red/orange one is certainly bright, almost need sunnies to look at it! Great job though and such an interesting colour scheme! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Excellent progress! Almost seems a shame to cover up the Dayglo with filth... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted October 19, 2013 Author Share Posted October 19, 2013 Finished! More photos shortly when they are uploaded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted October 19, 2013 Author Share Posted October 19, 2013 That didn't take as long as I expected. Firstly, the Hellcat Mk.II 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted October 19, 2013 Author Share Posted October 19, 2013 And now the F6F-5K drone These two take my score for the year to 13! My target was to complete one a month. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paganpete Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Superb Enzo!! Love the drone - so good! Pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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