1/72 Airfix Grumman Hellcat F6F-3

[Dermo245]

Just finished this old girl for the 'A kit you built as a kid' Group Build here. If you haven't seen it, it's a great plastic-filled nostalgia trip of kits we built when we were younger.

Along with Spitfires, Hurricanes & 109s (and the odd bomber), the Hellcat was one of those kits I slapped together at the kitchen table many years ago.

 

If you're interested, the build thread is here but to recap:

 

Kit: Airfix 02023 1/72 Grumman Hellcat F6F-3. First release 1967, this is the 1995 boxing
Build: Mostly OOB with tape for seatbelts and some plastic boxes in the cockpit. Sanded down all the rivets!
Paint: Revell Acrylics with airbrush. Klear, Flory Models Wash. 4B pencil and pastels. W&N Matt Varnish
Decals: From the kit, all seven of them! Marking are for Lt James Flatley, Commander Air Group (CAG) of Air Group 5 USS Yorktown, August 1943. 

 

Yes, the gun barrels are missing and hopefully to be replaced with some Albion Alloy this week. The weathering is probably not to everyone's tastes but I wanted to try out a heavily-weathered Pacific veteran. I'm happy how the weathering worked and like how the three colour scheme blended together.

 

Airfix Hellcat_fuselage_10 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr

 

Airfix Hellcat_fuselage_12 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr

 

Airfix Hellcat_fuselage_13 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr

 

Airfix Hellcat_fuselage_11 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr

 

Airfix Hellcat_fuselage_14 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr

 

While building this, I found out the '00' markings started in WW2 for the CAG bird on a carrier and that the tradition continues to today. So had a bit of fun and photographed it with an F-14D 'Bullet 100' of VF-2 (Revell kit).

 

Grumman Fighters by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr

 

Thanks for looking, keep building models and stay safe.

Cheers,

Dermot

 

 

Edited May 24, 2020 by Dermo245
Fixing photo links

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Awesome work Dermot, love the weathering

 

[Aces High]

Very nicely done!

[Bangor Lad]

Great work. I love what can be achieved with an older kit. You've done a marvellous job which has inspired me to look into the stash for one!

[Sky Keg]

Very nice Dermot!!!!!! Cmdr Flatley`s Hellcat is a great choice for a beat up and extremely weathered subject.  Great job nursing that old tooled kit into something impressive.  

 

Mike