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1/72 Eduard F6F-5 - "59" burns - FINISHED!


don f

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Hello fellow Hellcat enthusiasts,

 

My entry was intended to be a BPF Hellcat II that was one of my abandoned projects.  After looking over this model, so little needed to be done.  I've changed tack and pulled another Hellcat from the pile, the 1/72 Eduard F6F-5.  Here's the aircraft that I plan to model.  Aboard the USS Randolph, the aircraft was involved in a spectacular landing incident.  59 burns on landing.

 

Fundekals produced a set of decals for this F6F-5. To use some of my collection of aftermarket items, here's what I plan to use.

 

P1010426.jpg

 

To begin, I wanted to make a change to the grin.  The only requirement was to have the modified cowl ring fit the kit aft cowling without modification.  No rebuilding the kit cowling or fuselage.  Here's the start.

 

P1010423.jpg

 

Modified part fitted to the aft cowlings.  Stock parts on the left.

 

P1010425.jpg

 

More to come.

 

Don

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by don f
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  • 2 weeks later...

This Hellcat is the first Eduard kit that I've started.  So, I took a break from working on my abandoned projects to work on a project that isn't a decade or more old.  Here's the progress thus far.

 

The vanes added to the nose cowl.  Two slots were made to allow the splitter plates to be inserted.  Small shims were used to hold the plates in place while adjustments were made.  After the final positions were determined, CA was used to fix the plates in place.  Shims were removed and the gaps filled with CA and dental resin paste.

 

Engine-nose-cowl-shims.jpg

 

Engine-nose-cowl-vanes.jpg

 

The excess material was trimmed off.  The filler was sanded to shape.

 

Now the alighting gear.

 

Alignment marks were made on the struts to assist in getting the gear struts straight after reassembly.  The struts were cut and small 0.025" plastic rods inserted to provide a stronger join.

 

P9050400.jpg

 

Shortened strut on the left, original kit part on the right.

 

P9050401.jpg

 

The shape of the gear doors was corrected.  Kit part on the right, the corrected is on the left.

 

MLG-Door-Mod.jpg

 

After the modifying the gear struts, the doors needed to be modified to match.  A 0.050" strip of plastic tape served as a guide for making the cuts to remove the excess length.

 

 

P9050402.jpg

 

The kit part on the left, modified door on the left.

 

P9050403.jpg

 

All done with the alighting gear and doors.

 

P9050405.jpg

 

The wings were assembled because I knocked off two of the little aileron hinges.

 

P9050404.jpg

 

These are all the fixes that I'll make to this kit.  Now, time to move on to the the cockpit.  Hopefully, those Eduard pre-painted cockpit parts and PE will be easy to work with.  I've seen the work of others using these parts.  The parts seems to be easy to install.

 

Don

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  • 2 weeks later...

A short update.  The interior green has been applied to the fuselage and cockpit parts.  And the paint was used as a primer coat for the nose cowl.

 

P9060406.jpg

 

Work on the cockpit was completed using some of the Eduard PE parts.  I did not like the PE engine control quadrant.  The thin PE quadrant lacked 3D appearance so I made a new one from laminated scraps of the plastic sheet.

 

New-engine-control-quadrant.jpg

 

The PE seat belts are nicely finished.  They looked stiff and could not be easily re-positioned.   To use some of my aftermarket sets, I used aluminum foil and a Waldron PE set to make new lap and shoulder belts.  The sides of the seat were thinned as well.

 

Seat-installed.jpg

 

Here's the completed cockpit.

 

Cockpit-Eduard-instrument-panel.jpg

 

The fuselage has been assembled.  Now on to final assembly and a first coat of primer.

 

Don

 

 

 

 

 

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I have to confess I struggled with the PE belts on mine as well. Mostly that I couldn't get the lap straps to adhere to the red rectangles at all, I just ended up with a mess. I cut my losses at that point and went with the decals. Not as nice overall, but much better for my sanity & temper

 

James

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On 9/15/2021 at 8:08 AM, 81-er said:

I have to confess I struggled with the PE belts on mine as well. Mostly that I couldn't get the lap straps to adhere to the red rectangles at all, I just ended up with a mess. I cut my losses at that point and went with the decals. Not as nice overall, but much better for my sanity & temper

 

James

 

Agree with you about the PE seat belts.  Less frustration for me just to make belts from decals or strips of aluminum foil.

 

Don

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Major components are assembled.  Primer applied.  Getting close to painting the top coat.

 

20210918-163139.jpg

 

Exhaust pipes drilled out.

 

20210918-163743.jpg

 

20210918-164015.jpg

 

After assembling the fuselage, the rear cockpit bulkhead had a gap all around the top.  I'm not sure if this gap resulted from me failing to dry fit or if that's the way the kit goes together.

 

20210918-170915.jpg

 

A silver of plastic sheet was cut and shaved to fit the gap.  The strip was glued into the gap.

 

20210918-173010.jpg

 

After the glue cured, the excess plastic was scraped off and the paint touched up.  Not perfect, but better.

 

20210918-200333.jpg

 

Hopefully, there will not be many rounds of filling, sanding, priming and repeat.  The kit went together very nicely with a minimum of adjustments and tinkering.

 

Don

 

 

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I know its a "little detail" but I really like the way you've draped one of the harness belts across the side of the seat, a very nice touch and one that I'm going to shamelessly steal from you in future builds!

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

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  • 4 weeks later...

I was unable to complete my Hellcat in time.  After a long delay, I've started working on the project again.  I do not want this kit to end up as another abandoned project.

 

The model was sanded to remove putty and primed again.  Very little additional putty was needed.  The model will be built without HVAR's.  The kit provides HVAR's with chunky, rectangular launchers.  The wing has corresponding large rectangular openings to accept the rocket launchers.  The rocket launchers were thin.  Thin rectangular pieces about half the width of the existing openings were inserted and glued into each opening.

 

Rocket-launcher-holes-prepped.jpg

 

New rocket launchers were made from strips of 0.015" plastic.  The individual posts were glued in placed and sanded to the correct length.

 

Rocket-launchers-installed.jpg

 

Much better.  With all the PE parts in the kit, I wish that Eduard had provided the launchers in brass or stainless with some detail etched in.

 

After the windscreen was installed, the Eduard kit masks were applied.  I've never used Eduard masks and hope that they work well.  The MLG, tail wheel, small gear doors were glued in place and a first coat of blue has been applied.

 

PA110399.jpg

 

The plan is to mask and apply the white markings this weekend.  I'll continue to post updates here until the model is ready for inspection.

 

Don

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 7 months later...

I'm ashamed that my work on this Hellcat ceased in October of 2021.  This project should be included in my list of abandoned projects.  I have resolved to complete this project.  Here's the process thus far.

 

Eduard produced a very nice kit of the Hellcat.  Curiously, the centerline fuel tank lacked the detail found in the other parts of the kit.  The flange joining the tank halves is missing along with the filler cap and access panels.  This was easy to remedy by using stretched sprue to make the flange.  The filler cap and access panels were scribed.

 

Centerline-tank-details-added.jpg

 

Here's the finished item.

 

Centerline-tank-above.jpg

 

Centerline-tank-profile.jpg

 

After finishing the tank, I realized that I should have removed the molded on straps and replaced them with strips of aluminum to better match the PE strap section connecting to the fuselage.  I'll leave it as is.

 

The painted and gloss coated model.  My usual GSB paint mix was dry in the bottle.  So, I used GSB from a bottle of Floquil Maritime pre-mix.  This paint turned out to be very dark and glossy.  This was lightened by shading with Floquil Flat GSB  from a my Floquil Military paints.  The white geometric markings were masked and painted.  Here is the model with top coat and gloss coat applied.

 

Painted-and-Gloss-left.jpg

 

Painted-and-gloss-applied-right.jpg

 

After curing, the Fundekals decals were applied.  These decals were a pleasure to use.

 

Decals-Applied-Gloss-Coated.jpg

 

Decals-Applied.jpg

 

The prop and Barracuda resin wheels are finished and ready.  I applied the final semi-gloss top coat today.  Soon as this varnish cures, the exhaust stains will be applied and final finishing steps completed.  I'll post the images of the finished model in the Ready for Inspection page.

 

Don

 

 

 

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Looking good. It's a very good and simple little kit, isn't it? Your tweaking of the cowling makes it look even better.

 

Alas mine (F6-F3 three tone camo) ended on the shelf of doom as the Gunze insignia white paint on the underside never cured.

BTW I also got a gap around the top of the rear cockpit bulkhead.

 

Cheers.

Pat.

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On 5/25/2022 at 11:37 PM, stevehnz said:

Worth the wait, that looks really good. :)

Steve.

 

Thanks Steve.  I'm eager to get this one on the shelf and move on to my next project.  Abandoned Project #6 - 1/72 Tamiya Corsair III.

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On 5/26/2022 at 5:09 AM, PattheCat said:

Looking good. It's a very good and simple little kit, isn't it? Your tweaking of the cowling makes it look even better.

 

Alas mine (F6-F3 three tone camo) ended on the shelf of doom as the Gunze insignia white paint on the underside never cured.

BTW I also got a gap around the top of the rear cockpit bulkhead.

 

Cheers.

Pat.

 

Hi Pat,

 

Thank you.  This was my first Eduard kit.  Many lessons were learned.  My next Eduard Hellcat will not built in the way that I built this one.  And I feel your frustration with paints that will not cure.  I've stripped a couple back to bare plastic and started over on a couple of models.

 

Don

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  • 3 weeks later...

Finished with this project!  I did not use the Technics R-2800. I'll reserve this for another project. The modified engine cowling was removed and replaced with a stock kit part. The modified part offered no significant improvement over the kit part. I plan to cut the modified apart and change the shape of the grin.

 

Aftermarket and replacement parts:

 

- Prop from  a Tamiya F4U-1 kit.

 

- Barracudacast resin wheels with diamond tread tires.

 

- Fundekals decals.

 

Many lessons learned.  I'll post more pictures in Ready for Inspection.

 

Eduard-72-Hellcat-Done.jpg

 

 

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  • don f changed the title to 1/72 Eduard F6F-5 - "59" burns - FINISHED!

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