Airfix Hellcat

[locust]

I am having trouble with how to weather the Blue skin on the Hellcat any help would be appreciated.

 

Graham

[Grey Beema]

The 6 Hellcats of 1844 NAS 5th NFW that transferred from HMS Indomitable to HMS Furious in 1945 to provide Night Fighter and Recce coverage were described as "dog eared" and were always struck down immediately so as not to detract from the look of the new shiney Corsairs...  

 

However, the two photo recon Hellcats were polished to within an inch of there lives (and disarmed) to make them faster..

Edited October 9, 2019 by Grey Beema

[Troy Smith]

9 hours ago, locust said:

I am having trouble with how to weather the Blue skin on the Hellcat any help would be appreciated.

 

Graham

 

 

First, You might want to edit your thread heading to "Ways to weather USN Gloss Sea Blue"  as that is what you are really asking.   Just for clarity when looking at the forum, as that is what you then read.

 

Alo, depends how old the airframe is for starters. Mant WW2 planes had very short lives, so never got weathered! 

 

WW2 era Gloss Sea Blue ANA 623 (the color changed in 1947 to the FS 15042 color.  ANA 623 is NOT the same color) did fade with age, which is the formula was changed.

 

see for more 

 

there is this great shot of a Corsair in GSB, with a bit of wear and leaks and stains.  

 

maybe a base oil wash, , and some ground pastel chalk on top, a pale grey, as this will fade out and give salt blown air look.   

 

As with anything new, test on scrap first!

 

The paint was tough, and chip got touched up in the war.

 

again, a Corsair, this is an F4U-4, in 1946 in the med on USS Randolph.

The Navy was being run down at this point,  and planes lasted a lot longer when not at war!

 

 

 

The F4U-4 came into service in 1945, so this airframe is at most 2 years old,  and shows how ANA 623 weathers,  but a 3 month old Hellcat would look more like the F4U-1 "80" above.

 

If I find any good Hellcat shots I'll add them, I just knew where to find the Corsair shots, and they are the same paint

 

HTH