Crane Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 (edited) To improve my skills I purchased this inexpensive Academy Hellcat kit. It is my first ever 1/72 scale kit and I was pleasantly surprised by the detail. I put my Spitfire builds on hold, and worked solely on the Hellcat, which has become my first completed build in over 15 years. I tested new paints, weathering pastels/enamels, decal solutions and glues. It was a great learning experience and I enjoyed every step of the way. Thanks to everyone here for answering my Hellcat specific questions. Feel free to comment (I am anticipating dings for too much weathering!). I will take it as constructive criticism. I have 4 more Hellcat models on standby and want to improve my skills. It is 'out of the box' and what I would call a 'what if', in the sense that I didn't try to copy any known existing Hellcat (as far as markings). One last note - I got very lucky with my photos. Up until last week my pictures were terrible, but somehow, moving my spray booth (which also serves as my light box) to another location corrected lighting issues and I am very pleased with the results. The bottom 4 pictures were taken with my new macro lens, and you can see some difference in the levels. Edited May 13, 2019 by Crane wording error 54 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisTheBear Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 Nice! Won't ding the weathering as I alwYs do mine pristine. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 Great result. I certainly don't think that there is too much weathering! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantome Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 Lovely work! Curious... what paints did you use? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Law Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 Well done Hellcat. I like the way you did the salt effect on the fuselage. I think your weathering effects are just right. The Model likes like a 1/48 scale one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ad-4N Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 Fanciful scheme or not, I like it. I think the weathering is great. The only area where I would throttle it back a bit is the gray weathering area above the wing roots. Maybe tone it down a bit. Top notch job, my man. But then again, what I say and a $1.38 will get you a coke. 😁 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 That looks dang fine to me. Not over-weathered at all. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmouredSprue Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 I really like it overall. The weathering is just right apart from that grey area above wing root as mentioned above. Vert well done mate 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crane Posted May 14, 2019 Author Share Posted May 14, 2019 16 hours ago, Phantome said: Lovely work! Curious... what paints did you use? Mr. Paint for blues and white (not straight, I mixed to lighten the blues) Gunze for gloss and flat clear hobby store water base acrylics for details Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crane Posted May 14, 2019 Author Share Posted May 14, 2019 11 hours ago, Greg Law said: Well done Hellcat. I like the way you did the salt effect on the fuselage. I think your weathering effects are just right. The Model likes like a 1/48 scale one. Thank you. The kit's details are nice and I worked 'em. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 Nice job on that indeed, your colours look excellent to me. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobo Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 That is a great result Crane! I'm finding that sometimes less is a lot more. Rather than getting bogged down with aftermarket stuff, a clean build out of the box can be a lot more rewarding - not to mention a lot more quicker to build. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapam Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 That's a great-looking Hellcat! I think the weathering is bang-on, too. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightersweep Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 On 5/13/2019 at 11:13 AM, Crane said: To improve my skills I purchased this inexpensive Academy Hellcat kit. Sorry, but am I missing something here. Exactly which of your skills need improving?? 🙂 Lovely build and great painting and weathering. Hard to believe it's 1/72 really. Steve 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Joyce Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 I think everything about the build looks great--the paintwork, decaling, and weathering. My only nitpick would be to tone down the gunpowder stains a wee bit, something that I think is often overdone anyways (occasionally by yours truly as well). Smokeless powder has been in use for over 100 years! Cheers, Mark 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 Very nice Hellcat. Excellent finish IMHO. Terry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sky Keg Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 The muscular brute looks real good. Nice results especially on the weathering. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crane Posted September 22, 2019 Author Share Posted September 22, 2019 Update: I went to the Penncon show yesterday and entered the Hellcat. As I was packing up, the judges called out my name! I was really surprised. My model was sitting at the end of the last table. I didn't even think they looked at it. It was very exciting to have my work recognized with a bronze, especially amongst all the entries that were works of art IMO. I will have pics of the show up soon, linked in my sig with the rest. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisTheBear Posted September 22, 2019 Share Posted September 22, 2019 Oh, excellent! Deserved indeed! DennisThe Bear 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted September 22, 2019 Share Posted September 22, 2019 NICE! Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark4700 Posted September 22, 2019 Share Posted September 22, 2019 Very nice. Weathering looks spot on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3DStewart Posted September 22, 2019 Share Posted September 22, 2019 Excellent work. Now that you've flirted with the dark scale are you hooked? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mig88 Posted September 22, 2019 Share Posted September 22, 2019 Very nicely done indeed!! Miguel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 Congratulations! The weathering looks spot on to me. You do need to come on over to the dark side... Best Regards, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Dyck Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 My congratulations! Very nice model and very cool presentation! Cheers Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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