Academy F6F Hellcat II FAA 1839 Sqn

[rafalbert]

This is a placeholder as I need to finish some of my other builds first, but I will be building the Academy kit with old Tally Ho decals to finish it as a FAA machine. Hopefully it will be a simple build after all my other recent builds and I am looking forward to getting started.

 

Dave

 

 

[Col.]

Having not seen the Academy kit build I'm interested to seeing your thoughts on it Dave  

[rafalbert]

Right, now the Bison is finished I can crack on with this wee beastie. I am impressed with the sprue layout in that Academy seem to have arranged parts for specific areas together rather than all over the place as is often the case. The cockpit is surprisingly pretty well detailed for it's age and price, with the walls being separate pieces. The rear windows needed to be cut out to allow the kit to be modelled as different versions so needed a bit of cleaning. I need to touch up some of the green before closing the fuselage but I am leaving it clean rather than weathered to keep this a quick build.

 

 

[Grey Beema]

Looking good so far.  Looking forward to this..

 

What is the serial/aircraft number on that MkI?  I’ll have a quick look at it’s history.  From what I can gather 5NFW (1839 & 1844) would pool aircraft especially through extended periods of operations..

 

You might need to put the little shroud over the exhaust on the cowling for this aircraft..

[rafalbert]

On 7/24/2021 at 8:56 AM, Grey Beema said:

Looking good so far.  Looking forward to this..

 

What is the serial/aircraft number on that MkI?  I’ll have a quick look at it’s history.  From what I can gather 5NFW (1839 & 1844) would pool aircraft especially through extended periods of operations..

 

You might need to put the little shroud over the exhaust on the cowling for this aircraft..

The serial for this one is JV141, any help you can give would be gratefully accepted!

 

This has gone together generally well but the cowling was a terrible fit. I know they are not a flush fit but this had a large step between the top of the fuselage and the top of the cowling which required a bit of surgery to make it look at least reasonable. It was a shame as the rest went together ok, just needing a bit of filler in places. The other issue is that I managed to get a gluey thumbprint on the rear starboard window, a schoolboy error! 🤦🏼‍♂️

 

 

[Grey Beema]

From Sturtivant & Burrows Aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm 1939-1945.

 

“JV141 was assigned to 1844 NAS Sept ‘44.  1839 NAS (‘5G’, ‘R5G’, ‘W116’) July ‘44.

Ki44 shot down, pilot bailed out, own engine hit by AA, Palembang 0800-0830 24.01.45 (SLt RF Mackie RNZN).”

 

1839 Aircraft in 5th Naval Fighter Wing we’re assigned the ‘5’ Squadron number, and would have carried this marking (5°G) in operations in October “Operation Millet”(?).  

 

From what I can figure out the Air Wing designation letter ‘R’ was applied for operations in Jan ‘45 when the BPF was officially formed, I guess this is because more carriers came together and thus identifying the air wings became more important.  For Operation Meridian One 24.01.45 SLt Mackie was flying JV141.

 

On adoption of the BPF Roundel in April ‘45 the aircraft would have been remarked as W 116 (W (HMS Indomitable) on tail, 116 as side number).  By May ‘45 W116 was worn by JW867 so I would guess JV141 had been replaced by a newer MkII by that time..

 

@Graham Boak @iang  Anything I have got wrong or you want to add?

 

 

 

 

 

[iang]

I think JV141 was replaced before Operation Iceberg commenced.  Admiralty reports for the first day of operations (March 26, 1945), list W/116 as JW867, so I'm puzzled where Iceberg service history for JV141 comes from.

[Col.]

On 8/6/2021 at 8:56 PM, rafalbert said:

...I managed to get a gluey thumbprint on the rear starboard window, a schoolboy error! 🤦🏼‍♂️

Good work getting the cowling tamed.

We're all capable of the gluey fingerprint though; hands up who's all done that here! Erm, hold on, I need to get this part unstuck from my finger first...

[rafalbert]

Sorry guys, I am done building for a while. Since my Nimrod incident, I have managed to screw up every model I have built so I am walking away from them for a few weeks and not participating in any more GBs until I can get past this. Good luck with your builds guys and thank you for letting me play up until now 👍

[Grey Beema]

12 hours ago, rafalbert said:

Sorry guys, I am done building for a while. Since my Nimrod incident, I have managed to screw up every model I have built so I am walking away from them for a few weeks and not participating in any more GBs until I can get past this. Good luck with your builds guys and thank you for letting me play up until now 👍

That’s a shame but I know where you are coming from.  I quite often step away from building, which is probably why I only complete 4-5 models per year.  It’s a hobby, if your not enjoying it step away for a bit but, please come back soon..

[shortCummins]

16 hours ago, rafalbert said:

Sorry guys, I am done building for a while. Since my Nimrod incident, I have managed to screw up every model I have built so I am walking away from them for a few weeks and not participating in any more GBs until I can get past this. Good luck with your builds guys and thank you for letting me play up until now 👍

I agree its a shame but sometimes its the lessor of two evils and if your not enjoying the build then its best to leave it for a while.

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)