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@opus999, @mark.au, @giemme, @The Spadgent, @SaminCam and all who liked-thank you all—means a lot coming from experienced builders like your selves—best, Erwin

I really like the Dominican Republic P-51D. I also really like the contrast between the YZC wells and the underside on this model—it’s even better that it is the most likely color combo this late in the P-51’s career. Well done! Best, Erwin

Opus, this turned out great. I really appreciate the great result given the rapid move through the interior which is a stretch to see—it’s great to see the best come out of this one! Best, Erwin

Bill, just joining up. Lots of fond Monogram memories and I have the Tamiya 1/72 Razorback in the stash—will be following with interest—best, Erwin

Johnny, that interior looks incredible!!! I think you are right about printed parts versus resin. The Flory wash really kicks this up a notch too—you got me hooked on this stuff—thank you Best, Erwin

Its been a while, but I got some forward movement to report on the Academy F6F-3 which I am building as VF-21's White K 21 aboard CV-10. Inspired by @elger's & @SaminCam's amazing heavy WW2 bombers and the internal framing they put into them, I decided to stretch my abilities a little and build the bulk heads, framing, armor support and water injection plumbing that will be slightly visible through the rear windows. Barely visible means my first try results will be mostly hidden, but I would have moved the ball a little further beyond photo etch--always a bit nervous posting given the awesome scratch I regularly see from @giemme, @billn53, @opus999, @The Spadgent, @elger and @SaminCam but you got to start somewhere. My hope is to use these lessons to eventually put some framing into my Academy B-17, B-29 and Hasegawa B-24s that are in the stash (not in cue). For my first shot at framing on the late F6F-3, I intend on using flattened .025 wire, paper clips for the plumbing and sanded down resin copy of the Eduard F6F cockpit are bulk head drilled out with the hole for the water injection pipes. First up is flattening wire and then aligning them with plans in the Airframe and Miniature book. I also used Academy's parts to help align the framing without impacting the fit of the cockpit. I also used flattened wire for framing that potentially be visible in the cockpit. I then black based my work for further painting. I sanded the resin casting of Eduard's cockpit bulkhead (it is significantly smaller than Academy's) and then drilled in the lightening hole which also allows the piping for the water ejection to move toward the engine. Finally I used Mission Models paints for the base coat as I learn this paint system. I thinned these about 60 paint/40 thinner--while I like the fact Mission Models paints to dont produce a lot of odors/fumes, I do find they get very finnicky if you are airbrushing them very thin. I do use their poly and thinner, but I think it is just the nature of their paint. The Eduard PE parts meant for their kit dropped in into the Academy kit fine with Microscale Krystal Klear for lenses. Here are some pics of how it built up Black based initial cockpit Colorcoats base coat and Eduard sills, instrument panel and modified Academy parts ready for weathering/drybrushing. I did not paint the plumbing on the side. According to Detail and Scale these were typically NMF until the aircraft was returned to depot maintenance and then frequently moved to training units. Since I am building an operational aircraft, I left these in the natural PE color expecting to tone it down with weathering. Weathered cockpit Reinforcement struts Plumbing in place For me it is better to build the Eduard Photo etch cockpit as an assembly and then put it in the aircraft--no belts as I intend to crew this aircraft Resin copy of Airfix's P-51D pilot painted to Tamiya's F4U 1/32 instructions worked great Here are the Tamiya paints for the figure I assembled the photo etch oil cooler and then assembled the wings--I agree with Airframe and Miniature, the oil cooler area is a weak point of the kit. Covered the oil cooler top with foil painted underside color Its beginning to look like a Hellcat with a gunsight Next up will be detailing the engine and painting the F6F-3 in the tri color scheme which is really 4. All thoughts welcome and thanks for looking! Best to all, Erwin

Looking forward to how you close this out—I admire your persistence and I am sure it will be rewarded—best, Erwin

Johnny, wow—amazing results and great holiday pics! I really appreciate the time you are making to build our knowledge of 3D printing to improve a kit—very useful—best, Erwin

I particularly like how the dark grey appears a little “splotchy”—very appropriate for this aircraft and era—well done, Erwin

Johnny great questions and I learned a lot from the forum—this is progressing nicely—best, Erwin

G, just catching up—really learned a lot from the canopy saga—it turned out great! I think you made the correct choice on the kit antennas vs PE—even on the WW2 aircraft in 1/72 they can look a little flat—best, Erwin

Brilliant, 1st in—I am looking forward to how sort this kit out—best, Erwin

Ed, just joining—way behind the power curve on this one—this is amazing work and a great education on the P-38–thanks for sharing—best, Erwin

Russ, looking good—I really like how you drilled out the tail gear holes—following your work with interest—best, Erwin

Martin, just catching up—this looks great—best, Erwin

Wow, draw dropping finish on the Thunderstreak and the next one is coming along well—following with interest—best, Erwin

Elger, what a great build—I don’t have much to add because I learn so much from your work—if I may, 2 quick questions and I apologize if I missed them in this catch up—what brand or mix did you use for Bronze Green and what grey did you use for the crankcase? Amazing work and thanks for sharing—best, Erwin

Joining along with interest, the more I learn about the aircraft and the kit, more I want to build one—the instigator is creating another build —Amazing results on the cockpit—best, Erwin

Thanks @Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies, G@giemme, and @Jackson Duvalier—I hope I don’t disappoint . Jackson, a very eagle eyed question—you are correct that a blue grey over light grey would pre-date what I will call an “early” F6F-3–my understanding is a small number of the first machines wore this initial scheme. I also think they initially had different landing gear covers—more boxy. I will be building the VF-8/8-F-14 USS Intrepid markings found in the box for a few reasons. 1) I think I will want to minimize mods to my 1st Eduard kit. 2) I would like to see the development of the 4 color scheme in my collection (Jamie’s website has great info on the various blues—frankly I think he provides the clearest explanations to build a foundation on this subject & some of the period painting instructions in the AK book are useful, but I needed Jamie’s instructions to begin wrapping my head around the subject of 3 er I mean 4 color schemes) 3) I get a chance to add an aircraft with the red surrounding the US national insignia and 4) I wanted a less weathered aircraft, so this airplane preping for combat fit the bill. My understanding is this aircraft likely had the intermediate blue on the wing root along with scalloped NS Sea Blue around the cockpit area. Linked below is a great picture of the real aircraft and a few from the same Squadron while training on the then new USS Intrepid. Also, the Detail and Scale book has a great picture of some early F6Fs on the ramp with the intermediate blue on the ramp (there is also a great pic of your scheme in the Detail and Scale book ) https://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Hellcat/F6F-5/pages/Grumman-F6F-5-Hellcat-VF-8-White-8F14-aboard-CV-11-USS-Intrepid-01.html https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:F6F-3_Hellcats_of_VF-8_in_flight_1943.jpg Now that I threw all that out there, the learning will start—hopefully I am close to what current research indicates on the colors worn by these early Hellcats. I find the color research fascinating on this period of USN schemes and always like to compare notes with folks on the forum. No pictures yet, but I created resin bulk heads for the area behind the rear windows (inspired by G’s phabulous F-4E resin work —I am now looking at those old Monogram F-4Cs and thinking about another F-4 in a late scheme when this is done—G will probably start campaigning now for a future F-4 build to get me out of prop-wash land & back with the phanatics ) Hope everyone is doing well Best, Erwin

After completing the F4F-4/IJN B5N2 Kate linked below, I decided I was still into building Pacific theater aircraft. I thus decided to turn my attention to the USN's Ace Maker--the F6F Hellcat. For this build, I am building Eduard's F6F-3 as an early Hellcat, Academy's F6F-3/5 as mid-war Hellcat and finally Eduard's F6F-5 as late war Hellcat. Inspiration for this particular build from came@CraigH 1/24 Airfix build, @Dermo245 early Hellcat, @Corsairfoxfouruncle's USS Essex builds and numerous visits looking at the shear size of the actual aircraft. Additionally, @opus999's Bearcat build got me energized to think about a USN dark blue F6F-5 that his aircraft was designed to replace. My primary resources beyond the bench of knowledge here are the following books Valiant Wings F6F in Airfame and Miniature, F6F in Action, F6F Walk Around, F6F in Detail and Scale, F6F Hellcat at War, F6F Hellcat vs Zero-Sen, and the Grumman F6F Hellcat (Kit Build) by Skalbania/Wasik. For a primer on colors, I used @Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies color coats website and I purchased a complete set of his USN WW2 colors--the painted lids are a nice touch, @Dana Bell's Corsair book for general USN color info and the AK Real Color's or WW2 book (though I understand this is a bit controversial to some, it does at least have good info to at least start thinking of issues). Hopefully with this research might feel better when someone notes a color error and then I can point to Johnny's @The Spadgent advice to just move on with it and enjoy I truly do learn from these points outs, so please dont hesitate to point out an issue--AMS is beginning to creep up on my model building walk and G's @giemme's miniature replicas are keeping it alive in a good way:-). As a scene setter here are links to the RFI and build threads--all the folks who helped me here I greatly thank Its almost a months old, but I would like to thank Mike @72modeler and @Jackson Duvalier for looking into some of my F6F-3 mid-Hellcat questions. Due to their help, I decided to tackle the Academy kit first as I thought it would be the hardest build as it needed the most scratch work to accomplish to bring up to today's standard. I decided to use the Academy kit as the basis for my mid-F6F-3 based on the points outs in the Valiant Wings book. I will use the Techmod decals for VF-1's White K-21 while assigned to the "new" USS Yorktwon, CV-10 to replace the Academy decals. I was attracted to this build based on my recently completed F4F-4 assigned to USS Yorktown, CV-5. Here is the link to the questions on this aircraft as well as a picture https://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Hellcat/VF1/pages/Grumman-F6F-3-Hellcat-VF-1-White-K21-aboard-CV-10-USS-Yorktown-II-1944-01.html I plan on using Eduard Photo Etch and Quickboost resin on all these engines. I am also going to use the Eduard Photo Etch exterior PE meant for the Cyber Hobby kit on the Academy build. Here is the pre-production shot of everything for the "-3s" together before production really heated up A major well earned crtique of the Academy kit is the prominent sink marks on wings and in the cockpit. I also filled in the holes for the rockets as the -3 did not carry these operationally int the time period I am replicating, I used Squadron White putty to fill these issues. Next up will be creating the bulkhead behind the rear windows, recreating the rear plumbing with paper clips and basic faming inspired by @billn53's recent small aircraft build. For what its worth, I also have an F6F-5 request for information if anyone has knowledge they would like to share. Thank you all for looking and all comments are appreciated Best, Erwin

@Lusitanian, thank you for the link, lots of great info there. Thanks to anyone who might have info on the kill markings or head rest armor. I was looking at an F6F-5 yesterday and it clearly had the canted armor, although it could have been adjustable—hard to verify from the angle—best to all, Erwin

Hello Team, I am settling down on building a 1/72 Eduard F6F-5 as F6F-5 White 69 from VF-20 and had a few questions I thought I would reach out and ask the bench of talent on here. Below my notes I will link some of the photos I have looked at. Regarding the aviator’s headrest armor—should this be flush with the bulk head or canted forward? Period photos seem to show both, Detail and Scale has it as as canted forward, the Airfix 1/24 armor is canted forward and finally the recently published Valint Wings book does not go into great detail about any difference and almost all photos have the armor flush with the bulkhead. (I think a Squadron Signal book says it was seen on both) Did all F6F-5s afford the option of moving the armor to suit the crew or was there a switch to canted vs flush armor in F6F-5 production? Given I am building Bu No 58468, thoughts on a starting machine with canted armor (if applicable) would be nice to know if folks are willing to share. Furball and Eduard seem to have kill markings on both sides of VF 20’s White 69 & 71 in their instructions—the period photos I found seem to show no kill markings on VF-20 machines. I understand that USN F6F-5 kill markings seems to be a bit of an art versus science, so I thought I would ask if anyone could inform the dialogue on VF-20. Finally, I plan on hanging rockets on this aircraft—would the forum go with overall grey with OD warheads? Would F6F-5’s typically carried bombs and rockets or was this not a standard load out? I understand the F6F-5 could be loaded with rockets and bombs—my question is more if they typically did carry both or one or the other. Thanks for looking and I apologize if I missed low hanging fruit info—I really do appreciate the fountain of knowledge on line here given the effort put into the great reference posts. Best, Erwin https://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Hellcat/VF20/pages/Grumman-F6F-5-Hellcat-VF-20-White-69-BuNo-58468-showing-flak-damage-CV-16-USS-Lexington-01.html https://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Hellcat/VF20/pages/Grumman-F6F-5-Hellcat-VF-20-White-70-and-69-launching-CAG-20-CV-6-USS-Enterprise-1944-01.html

@mark.au, @opus999, @Winenut, @Jackson Duvalier, @Wulfman, @giemme & all the likes— thank you all for compliments—very humbling given the bench of talent here—thank you all for pushing me to get a little better on this and every build—best, Erwin

Hello everyone, here is my RFI—that is very late—for my 1/72 F4F-4 and B5N2 builds. Given Johnny @The Spadgent is always encouraging me to grow from WIP to RFIs, I figured I would throw this build on this forum given how slowly I moved through these excellent kits over the course of the year. Overall I am quite pleased with the decals supplied by Airfix, Eduard’s photo etch and Quickboost's resin additions. I am very appreciative of the many folks who helped me research and build these extraordinary aircraft crewed by some of the bravest crews of the Pacific War at Midway. As I was told by xxx when getting I was getting ready for Typhoon build the period question board is an amazing resource. As for the kits, Airfix did a great job on both. While Arma Hobby’s F4F family probably has an edge on finer panel lines (For What Its Worth I did note that Arma captured the under wing landing light), Airfix did a really great job of capturing the landing gear. When I build the next Airfix F4F-4 in the stash, I will probably try install the forward oil tank. Also, I believe the Quickboost engine is a must—I did combine the magnetos with the kit cylinders but given this is I believe that most people currently consider Airfix B5N2 the leader in this scale. My only question about detail features offered in this kit remain the cylinders in the observer’s area. It would have been a nice touch for Airfix to make its research more readily available on what the different details are (I am now sure someone will point out a Workbench review I missed) For the F4F-4, I would like to thank the following for helping me comfortable with color schemes, bureau numbers, Grumman grey and a host of other details. @Dana Bell's F4F Aircraft Pictorial and the new F4F in Detail and Scale are absolute must have books for a Wildcat project. @Nick Millman SAM book is an amazing reference on IJN colors. I also would like to thank the following folks who helped me research this project: @Troy Smith, @expositor, @zegeye, @dov, @Blimpyboy, @fishplanebeer, @Greenshirt, @serial modeler, @Marco1965, @Graham Boak and @Denford I would also like to thank the following folks for their inputs in helping me actually build these aircraft as historically accurate as I could: @neil5208, @2996 Victor, @The Spadgent, @billn53, @Jackson Duvalier, @giemme, @dogsbody, @Fritag, @opus999, @alt-92, @Marco1965, @Convair, @mark.au, @ModelingEdmontonian, @RidgeRunner, @GlueDad, For the B5N2, I would like to thank the following for introducing me to the fascinating world of Imperial Japanese Thank you all for making a me little bit better at the hobby and getting me excited for my 3x F6F build (1x Academy F6F-3, 1x Eduard F6F-3 & 1x Eduard F6F-5)

Bar side, that’s a great diorama! CT7567 great info on A-10 vs F-4 schemes—cheers to all, Erwin