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Greetings all - and all the best for coming year. Airfix 1/24th Hellcat II NF (F6F-5N), KD127, 892 NAS, Drem, Scotland, mid-1945. Here's my first completion of 2024 which nearly made 2023 but the cold, wet weather was against me for the final varnish coat! The Airfix 1/24th Hellcat is well known and documented so I'll save the background information but suffice to say it's one of the most enjoyable builds I've ever done - it's an absolute beauty of a kit and I loved building it. Whist there are some nice marking options in the box, I decided to go off-piste a little and do something different, hence buying the excellent Aerocraft set to make this into a Royal Navy night-fighter variant: The level of detail is sublime out of the box, and it went together beautifully with virtually no fit issues whatsoever. What I will say though, is tolerances are very tight indeed and the parts benefit from having their mating surfaces sanded slightly to cater for the thickness of the paint. The gun bays, for example, have a lot of the wing structure to add and thus very careful test-fitting was required to get that satisfying 'click' as it all goes together. The engine is a small model in itself - it took a total of three weeks to get it together and painted. Airfix give you a very detailed construction guide and this enables the builder to add the mass of wiring associated with the ignition harness - I used some aftermarket braided wiring and the effort was well worth it. The surface detailing is some of the best I've ever seen and gives a wonderful 3D effect - when you catch the right light it looks so realistic: Considering this was built OOB with the only additions being the seatbelts (I felt the kit examples were a little over-scaled), the ignition wiring and conversion set, it's exceptional value and quite a presence on the modelling desk. Paints were all Xtracolor enamels and I kept weathering effects to virtually none - these were, in reality, high gloss Dark Sea Blue and pretty clean. The stressed skin effect does most of the work for you to be fair, and other than some light exhaust staining I kept this in line with period photos of late-war Royal Navy Hellcats. To anyone considering building this, a few observations of the build process which may come in useful: As mentioned above, tolerances are very tight - gentle sanding of gluing surfaces and test-fits are a must and it will be very easy for things to become misaligned, especially in the gun bays; If you can, build the engine and main airframe as separate parts and bring them together after painting. I installed the engine as a completed unit prior to the main airframe being painted and this resulted in some very complex masking around the exhausts! The main canopy was quite a bit wider/flared at the base than the runners it is supposed to sit on. I had to coat the inside of the canopy with some Future (to avoid 'fogging') and then attach it with CA glue; The wing tip light lenses are slightly too large for the apertures they sit in - in hindsight I should have test-fitted these earlier in the build and not after painting! Be really careful when following the instructions as to whether you are doing wings folded or extended - the build sequence is very different between the two! Anyway, that's enough waffle from me! All the best, Tom

I welcome everyone with my next crafts - F6F-5 and F6F-3 (aka Hellcat Mk.1) from Grumman. Eduard's set has been known for a long time, so I tried to collect all the more or less significant additions/alterations in the photo, so as not to write a lot of boring text. Perhaps the most unpleasant thing about the kit is the need to rework the landing gear niches and rear pillar, correct the joints of the steering elements (given as jointing), and reduce the thickness of the canopy. The rest of the improvements are standard. At the same time, I assembled two models from the Double Kit - the F6F-5 and the British Hellcat Mk.1 (aka F6F-3), so many of the operations are identical. Decals for the F6F-5 are from Techmod, for the Hellcat Mk.1 - standard ones from the kit. The identification marks are mostly painted. Two words about stands: – For the F6F-5, a mock-up of a hangar catapult was made, the kind that were used at one time on American aircraft carriers. I made it myself, mainly from polystyrene. The manufacturing process is also shown in the attached photographs. - For the Hellcat Mk.1, the base from the Eureka XXL was taken as a basis; all that remained was to paint it. Sorry for the automatic translation, enjoy watching.

It only took me 37 years or so to finish this kit! One night in the 1980s boy-me thought it would be a good idea to dry an enamel painted Matchbox Hellcat in front of a fan heater. Of course what I came back to was somewhat worse than battle damage. Fast forward to 2023 and having returned to modelling I thought it would make a good mission to finally build this kit. This is the result! Freehand three-colour camo using SMS and Gunze acrylic lacquers and weathering with oils. The decals are from Print Scale and I'm glad I read the words of caution here before using them, but with care they were fine. The deck crew figure is a 3D print from Reedoak and the carrier base is from Kelik. I replaced the original wheels with a nice resin set from Barracuda (I've made a rookie error with these, but live and learn!). I tried my hand at a little extra detailing around the fuel tank, using 1mm styrene tube and 1mm tape. Overall this was a joy to build and very satisfying. The plastic said 1973 so I'm counting this as 50th anniversary build Happy New Year!

My idea is to show an abandoned airfield in the Pacific theater with a severely damaged F6 F3N Hellcat used to cannibalize parts for other aircraft. In this project I want to work for the first time at 1/32 scale and show the interiors of the device, as well as parts of the deck damaged by anti-aircraft artillery. I want to work on it without aftermarkets, just scracth...we'll see what comes out... https://www.scalemates.com/es/profiles/mate.php?id=65564&p=albums&album=102721&i=16#3 ...and i start with the surgery.... https://www.scalemates.com/es/profiles/mate.php?id=65564&p=albums&album=102720#2 ...some scratch to the breakfast... I am working without following the instructions very much because if I close the fuselage it will be impossible for me to paint and adjust parts. So I'm almost finishing parts and then I'll put them together. And the engine... Now beging the working into the wings... ...and finishing higligths of the engine...

About the aircraft: What is there to write: Hellcat - the successor of the Wildcat and the slayer of Zeros over the Pacific 🙂 About the copy: In 1955, George Kreitzberg purchased the aircraft and converted it first to an agro plane (field sprayer) and then to a firefighting plane. Each tank contained more than 1,100 liters of fire extinguishing agent so all in all it wasn't bad! Unfortunately, the planes (because there were two such Hellcats) did not make a dizzying career. Something was wrong with the positioning of the tanks and accurate targeting. Well - such is the role of pioneers About the model: The base was Eduard's kit "Hellcat F6F-3" in 1/72 scale. Underwing tanks are selfmade. Own decals, Bilmodel paints. Livery based on photos from Warbirds International. Hellcat with a younger brother Wildcat (sprayer). My collection of Grumman's Navy planes: Wildcat (sprayer), Hellcat (sprayer / fire bomber) & Avenger (fire bomber)

Hello. My very first time posting on here, so go gentle with me. Like so many model makers I have accrued quite the stash over the years and in mine was a poorly started Airfix Hellcat I had bought back in the 80’s. Some of the parts were missing, but I love the Fleet Air Arm livery on the Hellcat in the box art. I happen to find an Academy Hellcat I had bought in the early 90’s so I thought I’d put the two together. The Academy 1:72 kit isn’t great, but I think it went together better than the old Airfix kit would have. https://www.flickr.com/photos/199168357@N03/53197617733/in/album-72177720311301613

Hi Gang, After some deliberation have decided that I will be building an Eduard Grumman Hellcat Mk.I (F6F-3) in 1/48th Scale So far have got a Techmod Decal set for the aircraft and am planning to use the scheme for 800 Naval Air Squadron aboard HMS Emperor in September 1944, I fancy doing an aircraft with the Invasion Stripes in the Extra Dark Sea Grey/ Dark Slate Grey/ Sky scheme. Am off on my hollibobs next week so the build will begin when I return. I intend picking up one of the new Eduard Brassin Look Instrument Panels, some Eduard Resin Tyres and a set of Master Brass Barrels for the aircraft too. Many regards Matt

With the summer heatwave apocalypse month of January coming to an end, I can actually start thinking about model building again. A bit late to this party, but my entry: Only AM will be some PE belts. Sprues still bagged. Not going to lie, the fuselage size came as a surprise for some reason. Didn't expect it to be so chonky! The 2 marking options I'm undecided on. I am leaning more towards the French Indochina one. But still some time before decals to make up my mind. Updates to follow shortly!

Greetings one and all. Been a while since I built anything, and even longer since I posted a WIP.... So, with no further waffle - progress so far on a build of many (well... two at least) firsts - 1st WWII USN airframe... 1st Eduard kit (I know, I know... I only just crawled from under my rock....) Obligatory box art shot... Photoetch gets taped down to a kitchen tile - this prevents (for the most part at least) pinging of tiny bits of metal shrapnel into the ether.. 1 I still maintain my position that photo etch is the work of Beelzebub... Still... should look OK when wrapped around the seat (I hope) Cockpit beginning to take shape... OOOOH... another first... first time using Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500 Black as a primer... Thinned 4:1 with Mr. Color Levelling Thinner. Gives a cracking base for colour and dries super fast Winner!! On the down side - don't try to clean out your airbrush with IPA... The resulting crud looked like coffee grounds, and took me the better part of an hour to clean out of my H&S Evolution 🤬🤬 Tally Ho Chaps and Chapettes... More soon!

ust looking through my build pics and realised I'd missed out some of the finished engine before mounting. Since it's almost a model in itself I thought I'd include a few.... Important to say, I only ever use post production to try and recreate what I see with my eye, but on the photo. Never, ever any removal of faults, errors or anything else. It's warts and all. Thanks again for looking.

The P&W 2800 double wasp 10W is a little model all in itself and I think I spent more time researching this than most other models in their entirety. So to business. I'm sure most know that the crankcase of the engine is far to large in diameter to allow the various push rod rings and cylinder blocks to pass over it so lots of flexi file work needed as almost 1mm needs to come off across the diameter. I baulked at paying £9 for a resin one cast from a reduced master, after all this is what modelling's all about. While Airfix seem to have reduced the ejector pin marks, they've made up for it in seam lines so quite a bit of scraping and sanding needed. Once that's done, the cylinders need painting. The bottom halves I did in steel and the top halves in aluminium. I've used Vallejo Metal Colors as I think they're excellent. Quick drying, no mess and no smell and lovely coverage. The push rods were painted gloss black with aluminium ends. The crankcase colour was a first attempt at a mix but it had far too much blue in it. I read it should be Grumman grey but since the engine is made by Pratt & Whitney, not Grumman, I couldn't see that being the case and went for the engine grey specified. I finally settled on a mix of 4:3:1 of Mr Color Aqueous RLM 75 Dark Grey: Tamiya Flat White: Tamiya Blue. It seemed to be not too far away from some of the reference material. You can also see on this photo that I've removed the basic plastic links provided on the parts and replaced them, as they were originally, with rubber hose. The jubilee clips are thin strips of tinfoil. The oil flange is flat black suitably chipped and oil stained. Once everything fits onto the crankcase properly, it's time for the ignition wiring. I used 0.6mm braided cord from Hiroboy along with 1:24 sparkplugs in metal. I was a bit mean to spend a small fortune on scale nuts for the ends of the sparkplugs so I used 1mm evergreen hexagonal rod, drilled and painted silver then sliced into thin slivers and slipped over the end of the sparkplug before the ignition wire was attached. The intake pipes are gunmetal then brushed with copper and duraluminium till I was happy with the effect. The exhaust pipes go on very easily as long as you mark them up when they come off the sprues, otherwise it's a happy half hour mixing and matching. (me? never ) Paintwise, I followed a plan of painting them Tamiya red/brown then airbrushing with a very dilute solution of black/red brown as well as metallics and a light grey around the pipe ends. The heavy wear and chipping on the supercharger intakes is seen on many reference photos and was achieved by spraying first with a coat of duraluminium followed by chipping solution then a top coat of zinc chromate green. It's then a simple task to remove the green layer to the desired effect. Oil effects (which don't show too well on the photos) are sprayed on as a mix of black/redbrown mixed with Alclad Aqua Gloss varnish and diluted with IPA. The oil tank cap is yellow and my eyes were given a great workout by deciding to put the "US 19 Gal" writing on there in individual wet decals Some pics of the engine ready to mount are below, I'll be needing to add a fair bit of non supplied pipework when the time comes but next it's onward and upward to the cockpit. Thanks for looking.

This model was begun as part of the 2021 F6F Hellcat STGB. Finally, it is finished. Another abandoned project done. Construction details in the link below. I hope that you enjoy these images of the completed model. Don

My second finished kit. Top notch Eduard quality. Easy cartograph decals. Any mistakes and inaccuracies are my fault, not Eduard's 😇 lost one gunbarrel, used piece of copper instead. Don't be judgemental please it's my second build and the learning curve is long. Enjoy guys.

Hi everyone, Here is the last kit I finished for 2021 which has been collecting a little dust before I could get some photos. It is the 1/72 Hellcat Mk I/II Dual Combo Profi Pack from Eduard painted in one of the kit schemes being 1844 SQN from HMS Indomitable. The kit which went together in typical Eduard fashion (meaning any mistakes are all mine) and was painted in my trusty Humbrol enamels. After a little research here in regards to ANA colours, I went with Humbrol 155 Olive Drab, 125 US Dark Grey and 90 Sky which looks alright to me. I went a little too heavy with the weathering in some spots, but apart from that I'm pretty happy with it. Sending everyone best wishes for a successful 2022 at their work bench! JayGee.

Nightfighter Hellcat Kit: Eduard 1/72 F6F-5N Nightfighter (Profipack) (#7079) Scale: 1/72 Paints: Vallejo Model Air, Vallejo Metal Colour Weathering: Flory Models, Tamiya & AK Marvellous kit built straight from the box. Painted with Vallejo Model Air colours and weathered using Flory Models washes Some extras with other Navy/Marines planes:

Saw a bit of this 1950s film this morning, good images of Hellcat drone targets and Loon missiles as Glen Ford tries to make a diy missile submarine behind the Admiral's back. Lots of jeeps charging about as well. Don

Hi all, After what seemed like forever (though actually just 4 months, because I got sidetracked by other projects) I managed to finish Academy's 1/72 Hellcat, the kit itself isn’t bad at all, the shapes look good and the detail is pretty good too, though there are some downsides too, some of the pieces are a little thick, some putty is needed in some places and the cockpit detail is a little lacking, but overall, a pretty good kit. The kit is mostly OOB except for some Eduard photo-etched (used in the cockpit and engine) and resin wheels, and replacement gun barrels made out of brass tubes. I also added a resin pilot figure, which I painted, to add some scale to the build . The model was painted using gunze, AK real colors and mig acrylics. I used Illiad's millestone decals for this build, the decals where pretty thin and tend to break a lot. The weathering was done using mig enamel washes, and for the exhaust burns, I used Tamiya weathering powders. I am still learning a lot about modelling, especially aircraft modelling, so I took this kit as a challenge to expand my modelling skills; this is only my third aircraft model and, this was also my first-time doing exhaust burns. I hope you enjoy it! Comments and constructive criticism welcome! Next up an Airfix and Tamiya 1/72 P-51D mustang! My Dad helped me take a pic of the underside.

Hi all, I assembled the eduard kit to make this F6F-5N (Night fighter version) White 21, fitted with an AN/APS-6 radar, deployed aboard the carrier USS Enterprise CV-6 between December 24, 1944 and May 31, 1945 Together with Night Torpedo Squadron 90, Night Fighter Squadron 90 made up Night Air Group 90. In intensive action over Luzon, Formosa, Tokyo, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Kyushu, VF(N)-90 claimed 42 enemy planes destroyed, four more damaged or destroyed, and was the second most successful VF(N) squadron in World War II Source: www.asisbiz.com Source: www.asisbiz.com I hope you like it by Rodolfo Masti, on Flickr by Rodolfo Masti, on Flickr by Rodolfo Masti, on Flickr by Rodolfo Masti, on Flickr by Rodolfo Masti, on Flickr by Rodolfo Masti, on Flickr by Rodolfo Masti, on Flickr by Rodolfo Masti, on Flickr by Rodolfo Masti, on Flickr by Rodolfo Masti, on Flickr

Hello, this is my latest finished model (build for the Grumman F6F Hellcat STGB) Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat BuNo 78669 maj. Bruce Porter, CO of VMF(N)-542 Yontan airfield, Okinawa, May 1945 Eduard 1/72nd OOB except for Eduard Brassin resin wheels

Hi Folks! Isn't it great that August is finally here and we can all get started on our Hellcat builds...What do you mean, everyone else started in June? I jest of course. I'm fully aware that I'm a little late getting started with this but I'm taking a new approach here. In my previous group build, I suffered a major mojo loss as the end of the build approached meaning that it was unclear until the 59th minute of the 11th hour of the build whether I'd actually get the thing over the line in time. For this build, I decided to get the period of demotivation out of the way early. Besides, an unexpected heatwave (and in Scotland, any heatwave is unexpected) had rendered my man-cave under the eaves of the house hot enough to boil a badger's bum so there wasn't much incentive to head up there. It was so hot even the cats were complaining. With the return of normal meteorological service, i.e. fog interspersed with torrential rain, I've finally got this puppy under way. Having been a little over confident in my last group build, I'm setting my sights much lower for this one and am tackling the Weekend edition of the Eduard 1/72 F6F-5. This one in fact This will be my first attempt at an Eduard kit. I own several of their products, all 1/48 WW1 fighters for some reason, but the combination of minute PE parts and rigging instructions they offer has always led to me shaking my head and gently, but firmly, closing the boxes, every time I contemplate starting one. No PE or rigging with this one so let's see how we get on! I'm sure most of you are familiar with this kit but here's a sprue shot anyway. At first sight, things look very promising with crisp sharp detailing and no flash or warped mouldings in sight. A little different to some Airfix kits I've tackled recently. The kit comes with two marking options and 2(!) decal sheets, the second packed with a worrying amount of stencils. I'll be doing the option on the right hand page above for no better reason than I'm also building a F4U which features a yellow ring around the front of the cowling and I thought the white ring on the Hellcat would match nicely. I have actually made some progress on this and am now at the stage where the cockpit is more or less complete, the multiple instrument panel decals provided being a great aid in making the office look sufficiently busy. Being the Weekend edition, the kit comes with decals to represent the seat belts. I was worried that these would appear a little two-dimensional so I thought I would be clever (never a good sign) and stick the belt decals to my favourite belt manufacturing material, tin foil sandwiched between two strips of Tamiya masking tape. How did this go? Well lets just say that the canopy is going to be firmly closed on this one. Next task is to close up the fuselage. While doing a dry fit, I was somewhat alarmed to notice that the fuselage halves feature no location pins whatsoever. Getting a decent join may pose a stern challenge to my modelling skills. More developments soon, hopefully. Thanks for reading, Craig.

US Navy F6F Hellcat Pilot & Mechanic (F72371) 1:72 CMK by Special Hobby Quite often its great to have a figure, or couple of figures to add to a finished model on a base to bring it more to life. This set from CMK is for a Hellcat pilot & mechanic; though it can be used for a variety of USN WWII aircraft. The set arrives in the usual yellow-themed CMK blister pack, with the instructions sandwiched between the resin parts and the header card. Inside are the two figures. The casting is up to the usual high standards from CMK/Special Hobby with minimal clean up being needed. The hands for the mechanic figure are mouled away from the arms so as not to interfere with the mould and will need to be removed and added, apart from that no other work is needed. Conclusion Detail is excellent, and will add a great touch to any 1/72 WWII USN model. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

This Group Build, like most, has snuck up on me and left me the pleasant task of gathering a kit. I decided to try out Cyberhobby's 1/72 F6F-3. I think it debuted about the same time as the Eduard kit, and has gotten lost in its shadow. I've built two of the Eduard kits, and I'm curious about this one. The kit comes with the option to fold the wings, and I think I'll take advantage. I'm considering an early F6F-3 in tri-color scheme based on open source pics of James Flatley's 1943 Yorktown Air Group. I've decided to go with a 'Grumman Grey' facsimile, Vallejo FS 36300 Light Grey, as the main interior colour and Interior Green for the cockpit. The Cyberhobby engine is very nice and comes with a complex exhaust system and auxiliaries. I went to a lot of trouble to paint this tank (extinguisher?) only to realize it's going to be hidden by the seat, so this is its debut and its goodbye: Seat in place It's almost certainly the wrong colour, but adds a little variety anyway.

I'll be building this kit, once I get some time to start... My first time building an Eduard kit, hopefully it will go together well - nicely comes with some PE and masks, so pretty cheap if you're into pimping up your build. Not too many pieces, 3 sprues in a kind of khaki colour... Here's the PE (there's actually another piece for the engine not visible here, on the reverse of the cardboard) and the decals - 4 options, I'm not sure which version I'll go for - one of the US variants, possibly the one on the box cover. Clear parts seem nice and erm - clear... Instructions are a multi-coloured booklet, hopefully nothing too taxing, there's not really that many bits! The only thing extra I might add is a resin pilot, I think I have one somewhere if he'll fit! Roll on the fretting about realistic colouring!

And we’re off!!! I am probably bitting off more than I can chew but I want to try and build two Hellcats in this Group Build. Both aircraft were flown by Pilots who went on to become Aces whilst flying with 1844 Naval Air Squadron FAA aboard HMS Indomitable. Trouble with two is that I’m a slow builder with not much time but we’ll give it a go.. I’m using the Eduard 1/48 Hellcat MkI & MkII kit(s). I won’t bore you with the sprue shots, just the box opening (after all there are several of this kit being built). I am going to attempt both the MkI and MkII though. I’m starting with the MkI first. The specific aircraft I am building is FN411/R5°E. This aircraft was used by Sub Lieutenant Edward (Tug) Wilson to destroy two Ki-45s on 12.01.45 during air strikes over Nicobar Islands (Operation Millet). SLt Wilson was a Volunteer in the South African Naval Force serving with the FAA. Once I have the cockpit safely installed in the fuselage I will start on the MkII. This will be another 1844 aircraft flown by a distant cousin of mine Sub Lieutenant William (Bill) Atkinson during Operation Iceberg again building and installing the cockpit in the fuselage before moving the two aircraft along in parallel. The build starts in the Cockpit and I have gone with the coloured etch for the panels (you get decals as well but I’ll save them for a couple of weekend editions I have). So this is my day’s work (stopping for the GP)... Thanks for stopping by.

I'm thinking of making a Grumman Hellcat later this year so doing a bit of research in advance to ensure I have what I need based upon either the F3 or F5 from Eduard in 72nd scale which seems to be the go to kits in this scale. I'm happy with most details as the MDF guide I have seems to be pretty comprehensive but I have one question regarding the tail/arrestor hook arrangement as this is proving to be a little elusive. I'd hoped to model the kit with the arrestor hook deployed but from all the pics/diagrams I've seen there is nothing showing it deployed when stationary, only in action photos when one is in the process of landing. I've looked at the sprue shots and instructions of the kits (I haven't bought it as yet) and the arrestor hook is not provided as a separate item and barely seems to be represented by just a small 'bump' at the base of the tail. As Eduard kits are normally very highly detailed I would have expected the hook to available as a separate piece as it is quite important, however if it is never seen unless during the process of landing then I can see why and I can then build the kit accordingly but just want to check first. Regards Colin.