Whofan Posted November 6, 2021 Share Posted November 6, 2021 (edited) I've mentioned before that my father served aboard HMS Ocean during the Korean War as a yeoman of signals. I've already made the representative 3 aircraft - Firefly Mks 1 and 5 and the Sea Fury which flew off Ocean while Dad was on board, with the Dragonfly to follow. But ....... HMS Ocean did, for various periods before Dad joined the ship, fly several other aircraft, including a squadron of Hellcat night fighters during the winter of 1946 on patrol in the Meditterranean, and Seafires for a while before 1951. Following a discussion I'd seen on BM about Hellcat nightfighters, I thought why not? Not strictly my Dad's time, but it's an unusual paint scheme - all over glossy sea blue, flying off Ocean - and that alone clinched the deal. This was the original picture that sparked off my build; With a full and frank (!) discussion here; I cheated. I ended up using a serial I don't think was used on a real hellcat on the Meditterraneab deployment. the kit decals provided all but the O - 5B, and the B on The u/c doors. The model is the Eduard 1/72 profipak, and build was really nice and smooth, with really little filler to have to use. Oh, except I had some difficulty with the canopy, I suspect I have inadvertently used the wrong pieces with each other. I did get to a point in the p/e where I thought no, my life is too precious to keep trying to put this especially as some of them were microns in size. If you want a nice hellcat in 1/72, which I assume is both pretty close on shape and size, this Eduard one is it. The bright silver dot in the windscreen is the kit gunsight; "glass" picked out with molotoe chrome pen. The gun barrels are master, and need a dab of glossy sea blue, uless an FAA specialist comes forward and says different. 😉 The radar radome is a quickboost resin replacement. Glossy finish achieved with brush painted Colourcoats glossy sea blue and Xtracrylic gloss varnish. I'm rather pleased with this one. Onward to the next build, a toss up between the Yak 11 moose trainer in Austrian airforce livery, or the airfix 1/32 SD.Kfz 251. Or perhaps something else ! Edited November 12, 2021 by Whofan 40 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold55 Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 So nice to see this as I saw a Hellcat fling yesterday in Arizona. These are brutes and yours looks perfect! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 Lovely model! I had no idea the FAA operated NF Hellcats (or even, really, Hellcats in the postwar period) so I have learnt something 😎 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinChipmunkfan Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 Nice tribute to your father's naval career and the ship he sailed in/on?- which is it? Colin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 Nice one there @Whofan, I had a rewarding (I think ) meander through that linked thread too, I dimly recall it in the day but enjoyed re-reading it. The combination of GSB & C style roundels looks good & I can see something like this in my future I hope. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whofan Posted November 7, 2021 Author Share Posted November 7, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, ColinChipmunkfan said: Nice tribute to your father's naval career and the ship he sailed in/on?- which is it? Colin Thanks for the kind words, and thanks too @stevehnz, I'll look out for that ! The ship was the carrier, HMS Ocean, and he served in it from summer 1951 to summer 1953, which included the carrier's deployments in the Korean war. I also have several dragonfly helicopters to model one that flew SAR off Ocean, and the Heller Arromanche, which was HMS Colossus, Ocean's sister ship, that with some minor modifications will become a 1/400 HMS Ocean. I'm also (slowly) building aircraft that flew in the Austrian Airforce, as my late mother in law is Austrian, so I have two personal projects in the go. Edited November 7, 2021 by Whofan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted November 10, 2021 Share Posted November 10, 2021 Well done. An interesting conversion with family connections is a very nice idea. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted November 10, 2021 Share Posted November 10, 2021 Excellent, glad it all came together in the end 😊 a fine subject, loving the shiny finish 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whofan Posted November 11, 2021 Author Share Posted November 11, 2021 10 hours ago, Alan P said: Excellent, glad it all came together in the end 😊 a fine subject, loving the shiny finish 👍 Cheers Alan, I hoped to emulate the finish in the photo. @Bertie Psmith, thanks for this. I've still got a couple of other builds for my Ocean project, hopefully they'll go together as easily as this did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 (edited) I was aware that the FAA had some F6F-5N's, but had never seen any photos- that is a very attractive scheme that is more 'colorful' with the codes and roundels than a USN sea blue -5N. Very nice model. I did not know that Special Hobby did a 1/72 Hellcat- is it a reboxed Edujard kit? Mike Edited November 13, 2021 by 72modeler added text 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meatbox8 Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 Very nice and interesting too for me as I hadn't realised the FAA ever operated -5N. I wonder if these aircraft were returned to the US or whether they were simply rolled off the deck in to the sea as seemed to happen with so many unwanted lend-lease aircraft. The thought of so many Corsairs, Hellcats and Avengers siting on the botom of the sea is quite tantalising. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whofan Posted November 12, 2021 Author Share Posted November 12, 2021 (edited) On 11/11/2021 at 16:27, 72modeler said: I was aware that the FAA had some F6F-5N's, but had never seen any photos- that is a very attractive scheme that is more 'colorful' with the codes and roundels than a USN sea blue -5N. Very model. I did not know that Special Hobby did a 1/72 Hellcat- is it a reboxed Eduard kit? Mike Mike, My apologies, it is an Eduard kit, not Special Hobby. I've no idea how I made that boo boo! I have edited my original post. Edited November 12, 2021 by Whofan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whofan Posted November 12, 2021 Author Share Posted November 12, 2021 (edited) On 11/11/2021 at 17:04, Meatbox8 said: Very nice and interesting too for me as I hadn't realised the FAA ever operated -5N. I wonder if these aircraft were returned to the US or whether they were simply rolled off the deck in to the sea as seemed to happen with so many unwanted lend-lease aircraft. The thought of so many Corsairs, Hellcats and Avengers siting on the botom of the sea is quite tantalising. Again, My knowledge is patchy on this, but given they were used after the war I suspect they might not have been lend lease. I am positive there be BM'er's who'll know!! And there's an idea for a diorama, lend lease planes on the seabed...... Edited November 12, 2021 by Whofan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 All Hellcats in the RN were Lend-Lease. The US seem to have been a bit relaxed about limited use of some of their types postwar, although these were usually the transports or bombers used as transports to bring the troops home. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whofan Posted November 12, 2021 Author Share Posted November 12, 2021 59 minutes ago, Graham Boak said: All Hellcats in the RN were Lend-Lease. The US seem to have been a bit relaxed about limited use of some of their types postwar, although these were usually the transports or bombers used as transports to bring the troops home. I was right! Thanks for that, Grahame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfman Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 Lovely build and finish ! Wulfman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnl42 Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 Well done, bravo! And definitely more colorful than a US sibling. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djos Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 Very interesting decal version, i like it a lot. Nice looking Hellcat Regards DJordje 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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