F6F-3/5 1/48 Hellcat

[Spec7]

This is a Hasegawa  Hellcat and an Aires full detail set.

I picked up the detail set half price, probably because its aimed at the F6F-5 and that’s is no longer available from Hasegawa however by the time you have cut the front off a F6F-3 its pretty much an F-5  anyway. The detail set is quite old and has some daunting pouring blocks attached to most pieces. It covers a full engine installation, cockpit and gun bays with a PE sheet.

People assume because it’s a resin up grade that it will be better than the kit parts but that remains to be seen. I’ve seen these kits in the past where the mouldings are so poor they are unusable however with things like engines there isn’t really a kit alternative.

 

 

Strangely after ordering the Hase F6F-3 1/48 kit from Hannants I got an email the next day from a book company telling me that I could pre order their book aimed at modellers of the F6F…coincidence ?? who knows.

 

 

Anyway,as you can see I bought the book which arrived a few days later. It’s pretty comprehensive, particularly on technical details, production numbers factory numbers and model details but lacks much in the way of colour photos that might help the modeler. It does however have a 7-8 page gate fold 1/48 set of plans in the back.

First step is to remove the pouring blocks, then I can dry fit the resin parts and see if they are better than the kit plastic parts.

Oh and I forgot to say, I want to try and build a FAA example, these were called Hellcat MkII Over here and are basically an F-5 version, some used a Malcolm Hood but thats not a currently available option.

It also looks like I am looking at a mix of dark green and yellow/ green (as in zinc chromate) to get roughly the right airframe/cockpit colour.

 

Cutting the fuse-large is a bit drastic but has to be done. You need to go really carefully and cut to fit the resin parts..there are no lines to follow but this is half done to show whats needed

 

 

I mentioned that not all resin is a step up

This shows the basic cockpits, given the amount of work needed to get the rein to fit is it worth it (its particularly hard to see in this cockpit as the sides are  angled)

I think the answer will be to detail the std parts using some of the resin parts like the seat and throttle quadrant.

 

 

and just for fun......................here are the resin gun barrells...no wonder the poor pilot never hit anything

 

 

I feel some  Albion brass tube coming on...:-)

 

Hope this interests  some and you enjoy

spec

 

[CJP]

Interesting stuff - just shows the value of modellers like yourself posting builds like this - I've certainly seen some resin and white metal aftermarket that makes you wonder

CJP

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

I can highly recommend the Master barrels for the F6F - especially for -3s with the open cooling jackets. The value in them compared to Albion tubing is perhaps less obvious on the later style associated with -5s which have solid cooling jackets.

[Duncan B]

The engine parts look fantastic but I'm not so convinced that the cockpit parts are a huge step forward from the kit parts. I don't have that book but can recommend the recently updated and re-released Detail & Scale Grumman Hellcat book for full colour photos etc, you can buy an online version of the book that includes even more photos than the printed version which is a great idea.

 

Duncan B

[spartacus2000]

Hi if you need some pics of my hellcat you can click HERE and for the tread in italian here for tread

Good work

Edited July 12, 2020 by spartacus2000

[Spec7]

I will show this, not very exciting at this stage but if anyone wants to have a go at this upgrade it will save them working it out as the instructions are virtually non existent

 

 

You need to cut away the wing root as much as you can without going so wide that it shows from the outside so basically withing a thickness of plastic.

 

Then cut away the corresponding wing root in the fuselage halves , , also not a considerable amount of the fuselage  has been cut away front, bottom where the cowling joins

 

 

And this is what you are aiming for, it takes a lot of dry build, disassemble ,cut,, and dry build again to get this right but this bulk head will be extremely important because everything hangs off this forward so a few degrees out might not notice now but when the engine is fitted it could be sticking up in the air or drooping..

 

 

Thats basically the cutting done (apart from the gun bays which are just squares and shown by panel lines) so now i can get on and build as normal.