gingerbob Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 (edited) Place-holder. Probably Wildcat, Hellcat, or Bearcat... Oh, but what about that TF-9J? [Edit: Probably too ambitious for me now, but we'll see...] Edited November 2, 2018 by gingerbob further indecision 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEMPESTMK5 Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 Good evening Gingerbob Welcome to the Gb and I think you know what Enzo would say ''Build them both'' Cheers Patrice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted October 23, 2018 Author Share Posted October 23, 2018 (edited) OK, I think I've arrived at a decision. As a start, I'm going for ultra-conservative: 1/48 Hasegawa F6F Hellcat. Probably a -3, though possibly a -5, or possibly an Enzo edition [we should pitch that term to Eduard]. Out of Box? Knowing me, probably not strictly, but "in spirit" perhaps! Pics and such perhaps tomorrow. Later... Here's what I'm wanting to do, assuming that I go with a -3. I think the image was posted on Hyperscale. Might have even been BM. Anyway, the bar-less insignia on a 3-tone scheme seems unusual, and I like the absence of numbers or what-have-you to break up the basic paint job. Don't know what's taped on at the top point of the star, but I'll assume it is temporary! If anyone can shed further light on this, I'd love to hear. Possibly no guns? Edited October 24, 2018 by gingerbob add image and comments 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEMPESTMK5 Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 Good morning Gingerbob Nice choice ... I am looking forward to see the start of your build .. Cheers Patrice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 (edited) Went to a "build night" last night, which our local club does once or twice a month. But I didn't feel organized enough to take the Hellcat, so I grabbed a Tamiya F4F-4 and a Hobby Boss FM-2, thinking I might be able to start exploring the gear assembly tangle. What I actually did, though, is start into a Special Hobby 48th T-2 Buckeye. I'd been thinking about this the other day, and when perusing the stacks saw it again. I bought it second-hand, and (as I re-discovered once there) it came with virtually everything clipped off the (absent) sprues. There was a dizzying pile of bits to sift through, but prepping and gluing things like control surfaces and intake trunk sections was the perfect activity for these events, and helped to reduce the seeming chaos. Fear not, though, I see this as a "putter along with it" build, and will return my attention to the 'cat forthwith... Just to stay legal, here's the starting point: Funky box, no? I also have an F6F-5, and may possibly switch along the way, or double up. Note the Obscureco (I think) cowl on the right- much better maw, and open cowl flaps, but it is technically a -5 cowl. We'll see what becomes of such things... Oh, I was looking at Detail & Scale, and there was a head-on shot of the XF6F-1 prototype (R-2600 engine) and the Hasegawa grin actually looks remarkably like it. Edited October 26, 2018 by gingerbob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted November 2, 2018 Author Share Posted November 2, 2018 Still haven't actually begun construction, but yesterday I was ransacking my friend's stash, and came home with an Eduard -3. (I also had the chance to admire his built Hasegawa -5, which was encouraging!) So, the possibilities keep expanding, and I've enough decal sheets to keep me occupied. Research has continued a bit as well- I needed to refresh my memory about what changed when, etc. Great to see all the action in this GB! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnl42 Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 On 10/23/2018 at 2:46 PM, gingerbob said: That's an interesting photo. I suppose it's a "final assembly" stage in Bethpage? If you look at the fuselage antenna insulator, below the rear canopy corner and just above the color demarcation, it looks like the antenna wire is hanging free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted November 2, 2018 Author Share Posted November 2, 2018 (edited) Hmm, you might be right about the insulator- I had assumed that was the handgrip (which the black line leads to from the lower step). Is that a whip antenna, or possibly a "lead", coming up just above the point of the star? Also, note the (apparent) white line on the wing trailing edge, straight back from a reddish spot. Might it be a bit of white from the underside of the (diagonally split) flap showing? It seems about the right place for the split for wing folding, and about the right angle to "see through". [Edit: Oops, got the angle reversed- it slants upward toward the fuselage. Still, it could be a glimpse into the underside of the little "tooth" covering that gap where the split is?] I found one photo (in Ginter) that showed a similar (or same?) appearance, at the "coming out party" for the Hellcat, August '43 [per caption], just as it was entering combat. I have also found a few more examples of similarly marked aircraft, one of which was the prototype -3N. Still, the combination of 3-tone scheme and "circle/star" was pretty short lived. (edit) I just watched the "Meet the Hellcat" video on YouTube, and most of it was using a grey example, with the fairings over the guns, but a few shots showed the 3-tone, still with circle insignia, and no fairings (that I noticed) over the guns. Edited November 2, 2018 by gingerbob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted December 7, 2018 Author Share Posted December 7, 2018 Well, I'm still around, keeping up with everybody else's builds. Haven't done what would be considered actual beginning of the Hellcat build(s), but I just brought home a Hobby Boss one, which as most of you will know is really a "folded wing conversion kit" with some other spare parts. Perhaps some actual action soon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted February 5, 2019 Author Share Posted February 5, 2019 Well chaps, another Group Build spectacular failure. I simply got sidetracked, and then life sidetracked my sidetracks. Sorry to drop away, and thanks for the Grummany projects! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEMPESTMK5 Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 24 minutes ago, gingerbob said: Well chaps, another Group Build spectacular failure. I simply got sidetracked, and then life sidetracked my sidetracks. Sorry to drop away, and thanks for the Grummany projects! Hi gingerbob Too bad but "that 's life" as they say and I think you are not the only one , I had initially planned to build several Grumman ''products'' for this Gb and merely succeded in building 1 Airfix Wildcat and 1 Eduard Hellcat .. We will try to do better for the next Grumman Gb .. Cheers Patrice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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