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GRUMMAN F6F-5 HELLCAT (Heller 1/72)


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GRUMMAN F6F-5 HELLCAT

Heller 1/72


Hi all


I had this very old Heller kit sitting in my stash for over 30 years. Due it's age it was not engraved panel lines, so I decided to use it as a practice for my first ever try to engrave panel lines in a kit. It was not perfect but I've learned a lot.


I had some issues with some seams that were hard do cover even after several re-dos with super glue.


I've used only acrylic paints, mostly Gunze Acqueous Paint.


The decals were another challenge, due it's age they broke apart once in the water. Luckly I had two set of the decals, so I sprayed a coat of Lacquer clear coat and applied as usual. However, the decals were very transparent so I decided to double up them using the other set of decals, it was not perfect but better than originally.


Weathering was made using Tamiya accent panel lines, watercolours pencils and pastels.


Overall it looked good but not standing a chance in a model show.


I've tried to represent an aircraft part of the Flottille 1F operating on the French Aircraft Carrier Arromanches in Indochina circa early 50's.


Reference photos:

F6F_11F9pliage_des_ailesCouthuresphpfh.j

 

hellcat_dbp__drphph.jpg

 

Hellcat%2525201F5.jpg

 


The model

 

FrenchF6F-5-1.jpg

 

FrenchF6F-5-2.jpg

 

FrenchF6F-5-3.jpg

 

FrenchF6F-5-4.jpg

 

FrenchF6F-5-5.jpg

 

FrenchF6F-5-6.jpg

 

FrenchF6F-5-7.jpg

 

FrenchF6F-5-8.jpg

 

FrenchF6F-5-9.jpg

 

FrenchF6F-5-10.jpg

 

FrenchF6F-5-11.jpg

 

Cheers

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Looks good, I may build Hasegawa´s model if I ever find it in 1:48, 72nd is too small for me now.

How did you get those nicely lit photos?

Edited by Sturmovik
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2 hours ago, Sturmovik said:

Looks good, I may build Hasegawa´s model if I ever find it in 1:48, 72nd is too small for me now.

How did you get those nicely lit photos?

I use a camera in manual settings and in a tripod. Nothing fancy

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Nice job Paulo

 

I know what it's like when decals don't behave....I've just had the opposite ....my old Revell Do335 had decals like leather!!!!

 

Love the overall Gloss Blue version with the reverse panel lines looks very smart

 

Nice chipping too looks very much like the reference photos.

 

Congrats!

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Great work on an old kit!

Must admit, engraving panel lines myself has always sounded like a lot of hard work.

But your work demonstrates how it pays off well.

:goodjob:

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It looks every bit a Hellcat to me. Very nice work on it, Heller kits have really stood up to the test of time and it shows how far ahead they were at the time. 

 

Duncan B

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It looks like you did a great job on those panel lines, can you offer any advice to those of us who are about to tackle scribing for the first time, based on your experiences?

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Lovely F6F-5 there. Like you I have never fully re-scribed a kit, and that often puts me off older kits, despite the fact they are otherwise often pretty good. I will follow your example now and tackle something for practice. If it ends up like yours has, I'll be pretty chuffed!

 

Well done.

 

Terry

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11 hours ago, ArmouredSprue said:

I've used only acrylic paints, mostly Gunze Acqueous Paint.

A quick question. What reference did you use for the overall Blue?

 

Thanks

 

Terry

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Firstly thanks all for the kind words. Looking closer it's not that good mainly due the decals, but hey! A kit looks better built than in box sitting in my stash.

 

1 hour ago, AeroNautique said:

It looks like you did a great job on those panel lines, can you offer any advice to those of us who are about to tackle scribing for the first time, based on your experiences?

Mate, I'm not going to fool you, it's a very tedious work. But you have that old kit getting dusty in your stash and you are putting it aside because it's not engraved panel, I really suggest you to give it a try.

 

The steps I've followed are:

  1. It's advisable to have a printout with correct panel lines to be used as a guideline. If not just use the original panel lines.
  2. it's easier if you do it before assembling the parts, however you will need both parts to constantly check your progress and also to match the lines on both sides.
  3. detach the part from the sprue and clean it from any flash or sprue gates like you would normally do
  4. using a 400 grit sandpaper sand all the raised lines, you'll notice that the lines mark will show up even after being sanded. You can use them as guide or you can draw new lines using a pencil according with your printed.
  5. Now the fun part. You can use mechanical pencil .5mm with a metal pin inserted, or a Tamiya or Trumpeter scriber or a photo etch saw or even the back of a scalpel blade.
  6. You'll need something to guide the blade when scribing, I used a Dyno tape for curved surfaces and a metal ruler for straight lines. When using the metal ruler I glued a piece of double face adhesive tape to make sure the ruler would not move.
  7. Position the guide (dyne tape or metal ruler) e=in the exact position and then using he scribing tool make very gentle passes until it start to engrave the plastic. The secret is to be patient and work with several light passes instead a single one, to minimize the chance of mistake or the scribe to come out of the guide.
  8. If the scribe comes out os the guide, don't panic. Put some CA glue on it, wait for about 5 minutes to set (or use a CA setting solution to speed up the process), sand it flush and start the engraving again.
  9. After finishing the engraving line in one part (a wing for example) sand it thoroughly using a 1000 grit and than 1200 grit sandpaper always wet until you make sure there was no raised plastic on the border of the scribed line.
  10. Than using Tamiya extra thin glue, run the brush almost clear from glue inside the lines just to eliminate the sanded dust inside, and
  11. Voilá! It's done! For the small details like fuel tank openings, air vents etc, you need to use a photo etched template for those items.

That's abou it, if you have any other question, please let me know and I'll try to explain better.

 

Cheers

Paulo

 

 

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25 minutes ago, Terry1954 said:

A quick question. What reference did you use for the overall Blue?

 

Thanks

 

Terry

My research showed the French used a colour referred as Deep Sea Blue, close to FS15042

I had in my stash Gunze H326 FS15044, so I did mix 2:H326 + 1:H77 tire black and it was very close to FS15042.

 

I hope it answer your question.

Cheers

Paulo

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7 minutes ago, ArmouredSprue said:

I hope it answer your question.

It does indeed Paulo, thanks very much for that. I have an Italeri F4U-7 Corsair in the stash and one plan is on that being French navy.

 

Cheers

 

Terry

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Cheers all!

 

it was fun but tedious to say the least.

 

But I'll definitely try it again. I still have a Hasegawa P-38 with raised panel lines that I'll try to fix in a future.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Wonderful job. I admire your patience and skill in doing those panel lines. Personally, I'd just go out and buy the Eduard Hellcat! 

 

You've produced a real gem.

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