Beazer Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 My entry into the Navy Build. Its actually the Eduard Hellcat Mk.I/II Profipack kit combined with this weekend kit to make the Nightfighter version. I wanted the special muzzles and the radar pod but wanted more white and a white fuel tank so Im quite torn as to which version I should do. Also contemplating getting a totally different set of decals for Bruce Porters machine with the fancy nose art. Decisions, Decisions. Hoping to continue on and have this done in short order while testing my glossing ability. If I get this done and have time I may consider an RCAF F-101b but time will tell. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueNosers352nd Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 Of those two choices, I'd say #21 on the left. More going on there visually! My 2 cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob85 Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 A hellcat, my favourite choice, and something a bit different from the norm in a night fighter scheme! Brilliant Rob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beazer Posted February 13, 2020 Author Share Posted February 13, 2020 9 hours ago, BlueNosers352nd said: Of those two choices, I'd say #21 on the left. More going on there visually! My 2 cents. I know but I want those 20mm cannons! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beazer Posted February 14, 2020 Author Share Posted February 14, 2020 Laying on the interior colour and then building the cockpit up. The resin seat that I stole from a different Hellcat kit shattered so I doubt I’ll end up using it but I would like something a bit better than the kit version. We will see how it looks with the PE seatbelts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beazer Posted February 18, 2020 Author Share Posted February 18, 2020 Interior Pe added and detail painting and final result to follow. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beazer Posted February 20, 2020 Author Share Posted February 20, 2020 Fuselage closed up, engine finished. Decided not to fiddle with the PE for the engine as its fiddly and I just make a mess of it. Plus I still have 3 other hellcats it can go on. I decided to go with option A as the brass barrels i have also had the shorter mgs but with flashiders. The 20mm will probably go on the Black Kiwi bird I plan to one day build. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beazer Posted March 2, 2020 Author Share Posted March 2, 2020 Long awaited update. For some crazy reason I decided to glue almost everything together and then I’ll prime and paint. Not sure how smart that is considering how gloss applies. Shocked how easily the brass barrels installed. Only had to widen the outermost holes for the barrel casing. Even the PE straps for the external fuel tank went on super easy. I pretty much planned on scrapping them as soon as one of them flung away. Added the landing gear parts and just have to double check that colour, interior green or the fuselage colour. Can’t recall. Priming up next. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andwil Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 AFAIK the landing gear and wells would be the fuselage colour. AW 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 Nice work so far. Have you sourced different decals for it yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beazer Posted March 2, 2020 Author Share Posted March 2, 2020 8 hours ago, Andwil said: AFAIK the landing gear and wells would be the fuselage colour. AW Thank You. 1 hour ago, Col. said: Nice work so far. Have you sourced different decals for it yet? Havent really been able to find much if anything although I didnt do a really good look. I'll be going with the decals provided in the kit for #21 VF(N)-90 on the Enterprise. The picture on the left at the top. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beazer Posted March 3, 2020 Author Share Posted March 3, 2020 Primed 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beazer Posted March 3, 2020 Author Share Posted March 3, 2020 First coat of Glossy Sea Blue 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob85 Posted March 3, 2020 Share Posted March 3, 2020 Progressing very nicely, very smooth paint you have there. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beazer Posted March 5, 2020 Author Share Posted March 5, 2020 Interesting how the angle and light plays tricks on our eyes. Did a second coat with less than desirable results but powered forward and glossed the bird. Did a long evening of stencilling and decals that are now on. Tomorrow I will probably do some light weathering and then most likely try and take the sheen down a bit with a semi gloss coat to seal everything up. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beazer Posted March 6, 2020 Author Share Posted March 6, 2020 Everything’s assembled. Tidying everything up finishing the exhaust with pastels and should be completed by tomorrow. The sheen I had a lot of trouble trying to get right. Ultimately used a combination of future and flat base. I didn’t want a super glossy finish but just enough to show it off as a navy plane next to my others since I like dead flat on everything else. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beazer Posted March 6, 2020 Author Share Posted March 6, 2020 Gotta say I was quite intimidated with attempting this dark "glossy' Hellcat as I've seen some very good finishes and was worried how it would hold up with weathering. In the end I didn't weather it enough due to me being overly cautious and not wanting to ruin a good thing. Definitely was able to experiment (out of necessity) with new sealing coats to great success aside from extra cleaning of the airbrush. Stencilling was a pain but adds so much to this especially with the white contrast and really helps to make it stand out from the blue. Aside from the 2nd paint coat getting a little grainy (my fault) and the Prop breaking during pics (thankfully it was a super easy repair) it was a mostly painless build that is refreshing after dealing with the paint issues on my last couple and its now nicely displayed next to the FAA MK.II in the almost full display cabinet. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helios16v Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 That turned out lovely. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 Well done Grumman. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ale85 Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 Lovely build! Ciao Ale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andwil Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 A real beauty. AW 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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