dnl42 Posted August 25, 2021 Share Posted August 25, 2021 That engine is fabulous! I'd buy a kit of just that engine. Would love a Merlin, too. Airfix? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandie Dinmont Posted August 25, 2021 Share Posted August 25, 2021 That engine is a work of art Alan! Will it be on display in the finished model? It would be a shame to hide it away. Craig. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81-er Posted August 25, 2021 Share Posted August 25, 2021 That engine really is superb, chalk me up as another who'd be happy to just display that engine without the rest of the kit James 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted August 25, 2021 Author Share Posted August 25, 2021 6 hours ago, Dandie Dinmont said: That engine is a work of art Alan! Will it be on display in the finished model? It would be a shame to hide it away. Craig. Yeah the kit has removable panels, should be very visible 5 hours ago, 81-er said: That engine really is superb, chalk me up as another who'd be happy to just display that engine without the rest of the kit James It's certainly the centrepiece of the kit, a lot of work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonkin Posted August 26, 2021 Share Posted August 26, 2021 Beautiful work so far Alan. I've just bought this kit myself so will be following along with interest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted August 26, 2021 Author Share Posted August 26, 2021 On 8/25/2021 at 1:56 AM, dnl42 said: That engine is fabulous! I'd buy a kit of just that engine. Would love a Merlin, too. Airfix? Thanks, and there's probably a market out there for standalone 1/24 aero engines, you might be onto something! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted August 26, 2021 Author Share Posted August 26, 2021 5 hours ago, Bonkin said: Beautiful work so far Alan. I've just bought this kit myself so will be following along with interest. Thanks very much. You won't be disappointed - but make sure you give yourself plenty of time to build it! It's not an ideal groupbuild subject... The wings are finished. Can't get enough of this superb surface detail! This kit is just monstrous. It's a big, chunky and heavy beast! Here it is next to a 1/32 Spitfire Mk.IX. The Hellcat stabs are half as big as the wings of the Spit The good news: it's all sanded back smooth, seams are puttied and finished and the masking is done ready for some primer. I've dipped the canopy parts and they're ready to be masked and fitted. I should get this painted over the bank holiday weekend Alan 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted August 26, 2021 Author Share Posted August 26, 2021 Meanwhile, the engine assembly is finished: I have knocked quite a few bits off, which will need repairing. Also, I broke with the instructions (again! I'm really losing track of this, which is very bad!) to fully assemble the ducting before fitting it to the rest of the airframe. Can't really gauge the size of this - it makes a complete handful if I hold it. Although the whole thing fits together beautifully, it's a pretty intimidating part of the build! Everything forward of the exhausts is MRP, Mr Metal Color and Alclad paint; the exhausts backwards are all Colourcoats enamel. I'm telling ya, I spared no expense! This might be the best thing I've ever built. Certainly this is one of the best kits I've ever seen. Honestly, get one. You won't regret it! Alan 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted August 26, 2021 Share Posted August 26, 2021 5 hours ago, Alan P said: Honestly, get one. You won't regret it! I wish you wouldn't say that, I know someone who would make sure I would regret it. I'm really enjoying following this Alan, if nothing else, it is very instructive about Hellcats. You Colin Grey Spitfire looks pretty darn nice too. Steve. 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Posted August 26, 2021 Share Posted August 26, 2021 Coming along wonderfully !! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted August 29, 2021 Author Share Posted August 29, 2021 After a lot of building and painting parts, it suddenly struck me that this is well on the way to being finished! Fixed the landing gear in place. Also filled a lot of gaps with CA glue and epoxy, this is now one very sturdy model. Very pleased it all lines up nicely! With so many components trying to fit in these cramped sub-assemblies, there's always the worry it won't sit together properly. Luckily the fit of the parts is excellent. Radar pod fitted Three-part piece by Aerocraft, fits nicely but needs a bit of filler to fair it in. Really feels like the final straight now, I also assembled the (giant) prop and primed all the engine and fuselage panels. Just need to not mess up the painting now... 😬 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted August 29, 2021 Author Share Posted August 29, 2021 Primer on: I'll have a proper look at it tomorrow under decent light but this stage was quite exciting! Alan 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 That's looking fantastic Alan, the engine is incredible! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81-er Posted September 1, 2021 Share Posted September 1, 2021 That's absolutely magnificent James 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted September 1, 2021 Author Share Posted September 1, 2021 On 8/30/2021 at 3:59 AM, Cookenbacher said: That's looking fantastic Alan, the engine is incredible! 5 hours ago, 81-er said: That's absolutely magnificent James Thank you very much gents! Just paused work on this for a while as I'm waiting on some more paint. Hoping to get a similar finish to this F8F Bearcat I did last year. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom216 Posted September 4, 2021 Share Posted September 4, 2021 @Alan P That is one gorg-e-ous looking engine. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted September 6, 2021 Author Share Posted September 6, 2021 We have paint! Look at that skin detail, I'm totally gobsmacked how good this kit production is. I will be adding some filter colouring to this, so it looks a bit monochrome for now, but I love the look of the kit under paint. I think if anyone was so inclined, you could make a super-realistic Hellcat from this kit. I'm finding it a challenge just out of the box due to the complexity, but if you chose to superdetail it as well it could be a genuine masterpiece. It's almost too big to photograph in my 60x60cm lightbox, but the surface detail is just I'm using Mr Color C365 Glossy Sea Blue which is actually FS15042, the 'greyer' postwar GSB. I mistakenly thought they would do what all the other paint manufacturers do which is lump ANA 623 and FS15042 together as the WW2 bluey GSB, but they've absolutely nailed the postwar colour, good for them! 😬 This means I will need to go over this with some thinned Vallejo GSB, which is one of the aforementioned hybrid GSBs, about halfway between the two. This paintjob took about 1.5 jars of Mr Color using a TR-1 trigger airbrush with a 0.5mm tip - big scale modelling isn't cheap! 😬 I also have the 1/32 F7F Tigercat to do one day so I know where to go for paint... It suddenly struck me that this is almost finished now! Not many useable parts left in the box now. Alan 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberto Posted September 6, 2021 Share Posted September 6, 2021 Nice painting... this beast is huge 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted September 6, 2021 Share Posted September 6, 2021 (edited) 32 minutes ago, Alan P said: - big scale modelling isn't cheap! 😬 Excellent work but one of two reasons I rarely build bigger than 1/48, cost and storage requirements. Edited September 6, 2021 by Corsairfoxfouruncle 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81-er Posted September 7, 2021 Share Posted September 7, 2021 That really is one hell of a kit, I'm enjoying watching your progress very much James 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted September 11, 2021 Author Share Posted September 11, 2021 Thanks James @81-er it's been fun for me too Engine and prop are just about finished now. Tried a little test-fit - very rough mounting as the locator pegs are a very tight fit as usual for this kit...don't want them to get stuck Demonstrates how the fuselage is 1/3 engine, what a beast! Might look a bit wonky for now but that's because the lower mounting pegs aren't pushed all the way into the locating holes. Finished off the day with a gloss coat, so that means decals tomorrow! Alan 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted September 11, 2021 Share Posted September 11, 2021 This is quality work Alan, and great to follow too. Dare I say it's even tempting me to digress from 1/72?! Would be quite a jump, but the quality of your work and the kit itself makes me feel like I'm missing out.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted September 11, 2021 Author Share Posted September 11, 2021 26 minutes ago, Seamus said: This is quality work Alan, and great to follow too. Dare I say it's even tempting me to digress from 1/72?! Would be quite a jump, but the quality of your work and the kit itself makes me feel like I'm missing out.... Shaun I would LOVE to see what you could do with a 1/24 kit 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnl42 Posted September 11, 2021 Share Posted September 11, 2021 Dang, that looks gorgeous! Oh, and a hint on mounting the belly tank on my half-pint build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted September 12, 2021 Author Share Posted September 12, 2021 10 hours ago, dnl42 said: Dang, that looks gorgeous! Oh, and a hint on mounting the belly tank on my half-pint build. Thanks again! 👍 I have a general question...were the nav lights on the aircraft clear covers over tinted bulbs, or were the covers themselves coloured red or green 🤔 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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