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Eduard 1/48 F6F-5 Late, 10,000th Hellcat, BuNo. 78854 - FINISHED!


dnl42

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I have the Eduard 1/48 F6F-5 and HB 1/48 F6F-5N in my stash. I have read comments about HB's over-large canopy; comparing the 2 canopies does indeed show a substantial difference.

The HB sliding portion is 22.3 mm wide by 16.5 mm long. Eduard's closed sliding portion is 17.7 mm wide by 14.4 mm long, which matches the 1/48 drawing in Aircraft Monograph 20, F6F Hellcat by A Jarski & W. Pajdosz. My other reference, of course, is Naval Fighters 92, Grumman F6F Hellcat by C. Meyer and S. Ginter. Don't forget, Meyer flew the F6F as project pilot.

 

With that, I'm going with the Eduard kit. The Eduard PE I have is for HB, so that won't be used. I have the D-Mold F6F-5 cowling for Hasegawa--I'll see if it's useful.

f6f-start01.jpg

 

The sprues are probably well known, but here they are

f6f-montage1.jpg

f6f-montage2.jpg

The masks are for the canopy and wheels. I'm currently leaning to ‘Death and Destruction’, BuNo 72534, ENS Donald McPherson, D,  Bill Kingston, Jr., and Lyttleton Ward, VF-83, USS Essex, May 5th, 1945

 

 

 

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I see @Thom216 is working on the Encore rebox of this kit and particularly the same markings. With that,  I'm now looking at the 10,000th Hellcat or perhaps McCampbell's Minsi III.

Edited by dnl42
misspelled McCampbell's name...
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27 minutes ago, dnl42 said:

I see @Thom216 is working on the Encore rebox of this kit and particularly the same markings. With that,  I'm now looking at the 10,000th Hellcat or perhaps McCambell's Minsi III.

I saw that too. No reason we can't have two for Death n Destruction.😈

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Hm, McCampbell's Minsi III is an early F6F-5, with side windows. The Eduard kit includes the clear plastic, but I'd have to cut the openings in the fuselage sides. In any event, I have decals for both (Techmod & LF Models) on order, so I'll decide later.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • dnl42 changed the title to Eduard 1/48 F6F-5 Late, 10,000th Hellcat, BuNo. 78854

Thanks @Thom216!

 

Finally, the painting and sticking has commenced!

 

I first thinned the seat sides and back. Looking over the cockpit after it was assembled, I should have rounded off the back vertical sides of the seat...

f6f-seat3.jpg

 

 

Here's the cockpit. Quite a few very small bits in this, which is good, but a Very Bad(TM) interior green color match.

f6f-cockpit0.jpg

 

The final cockpit, with most of the small bits still attached.

f6f-cockpit2.jpg

 

And here's the fuselage closed up

f6f-fuselage.jpg

 

 

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Thanks @shortCummins, @Cookenbacher, @Thom216, and @Alan P! I did try to get the levers posed as shown in the Pilot's Manual.

 

BTW, I found that the best way to attache the port-side console levers. one aft and one forward, was to drill #80 holes into the plastic at the appropriate angles. I also had the canopy slide lock lever (PE45) in the correct position (forward on the dial, not down as shown in Eduard's instructions), but it decided to wander off at some point. :huh:

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The belly tank is done. The forward braces were a surprisingly sloppy fit; I needed to add a 10 mil shim. More problematic though was the missing equatorial seam. I've applied Archer Finer Transfers Resin Panel Lines decals. They're intended to repair raised panel line details. We'll see how it looks under paint.

f6f-bellytank.jpg

We'll also see how long those forward braces last--Albion tubing replacements may well be in the offing.

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Thanks @shortCummins and @Grey Beema!

 

The Archer resin decals work very well in general. This standing seam should be a little sharper and stand a little prouder, but I think it will do.

 

Eduard's supports may well be replaced. I did so on their 1/48 Lysander III SD. The Albion version looked much better and was mechanically secure.

JRP-Tank1.jpg

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The cowling. Quite a bit of careful hand clamping was needed to get the sides aligned with the front.

f6f-cowling0.jpg

 

FWIW, here's the difference between the Eduard and D-Mold cowlings; the D-Mold is intended for the Hasegawa

f6f-cowling1.jpg

 

Thanks for looking... :bye:

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Thanks @Roberto! I even managed to get it into the fuselage with all the small bits attached! :yahoo:

 

I need some advice.

 

First, what are your thoughts on the cowling interior, light gray, interior green, or ZCY?

https://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Hellcat/VBF87/pages/Grumman-F6F-5-Hellcat-VBF-87-White-76-named-10,000th-Hellcat-CV-14-USS-Ticonderoga-June-1945-03.html

 

Second, the above photo clearly shows a dark propeller hub, while all the others (hit Previous and Next) show a white hub? :blink:

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52 minutes ago, dnl42 said:

Thanks @Roberto! I even managed to get it into the fuselage with all the small bits attached! :yahoo:

 

I need some advice.

 

First, what are your thoughts on the cowling interior, light gray, interior green, or ZCY?

https://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Hellcat/VBF87/pages/Grumman-F6F-5-Hellcat-VBF-87-White-76-named-10,000th-Hellcat-CV-14-USS-Ticonderoga-June-1945-03.html

 

Second, the above photo clearly shows a dark propeller hub, while all the others (hit Previous and Next) show a white hub? :blink:

if it was my model I'd opt for a white hub if only to add an extra bit of visual interest.

 

looking good so far

rgds

John(shortCummins)

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Sovereign Hobbies has some great paint guides:

 

https://www.sovereignhobbies.co.uk/pages/us-navy-usmc-aircraft-colours-around-ww2

 

Since this is a very late -5, I'd go with Yellow Zinc Chromate for the cowl interior. For what it's worth,  I've seen a color photo of -5 with a YZC panel 'frames' and cowl interior, and I've seen a pic of a -3 with light grey in the same places.

 

Your Hellcat is looking excellent - I really like your solution for the drop tank seam, I used plasticard and it's definitely over-scaled looking.

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@shortCummins, thanks for the input. I will indeed go with white and that's shown on TICONDEROGA. 

@Cookenbacher, I have a copy of that  photo on disk.

 

While looking for that color photo, I found I also have a photo of the engine and nose being built for this aircraft. The interior and exterior are the same light color. I expect that's the primer, so I'm going to with ZCY.

 

Thanks for the input!

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