1/48 Grumman F6F-3 "Hellcat", Eduard Profipack

[Fuad]

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! Let me present you my next model.

"...The pace of operations continued through early April with the squadron airborne and hunting for targets of opportunity almost every day, the tally of destroyed enemy assets included ammunition dumps, barges, tractors and trucks, a sawmill, small watercraft and suspected gunboats, cranes and docking machinery. All of these attacks were delivered by strafing, though in a few cases the pilots preceded their strafing runs by dropping their fuel tanks on the target first. The Japanese returned fire with great accuracy and the squadron operations log recorded damage sustained on almost every sortie, as well as the damage they inflicted; on the 10th April Lt. Lochridge’s Hellcat “Lolly” was damaged by small arms fire while attacking a pair of 60′ barges..."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Scooby]

Very nice, spectacular build!

 

I have this on my to-do list.

[sroubos]

Stunning paintwork as well as weathering, you could teach a class!

[Pete in a shed]

So precise in every process of the build. Superb work Fuad.

Pete

[georgeusa]

Really, really nice Hellcat.  I like the sublime weathering that is not too heavy but does show Pacific use.  This must have been a Marine aircraft as it has nose art.  The Navy was very strict about no personal markings on their aircraft as the Navy emphasized their aircraft was property of the Navy and not an individual pilot's mount.  That is why the shark mouth Hellcat's were only shark mouthed for a very limited time.  Since a just recently acquired the Eduard dual Hellcat Mk I/Mk. II boxing I am curious as to the build of these kits.  What was your experience like?

[Robert_]

Wow. Awesome stuff, thanks for sharing. 

[Sharpscale]

Some brilliant work has gone into that Hellcat, well done. Are you able to share any insight on the wash/weathering techniques for the undercarriage?

[Baldy]

Beautifully built, painted and finished Fuad. Like others, I love the weathering!

 

12 minutes ago, georgeusa said:

This must have been a Marine aircraft as it has nose art.  The Navy was very strict about no personal markings on their aircraft as the Navy emphasized their aircraft was property of the Navy and not an individual pilot's mount.

Contrary to this - I believe this was a US Navy unit. If it were a MC unit it would surely be VMF-34?

 

 

Cheers

 

Malcolm

[GP2705]

What the Hell /cat 

[SAT69]

8 hours ago, sroubos said:

Stunning paintwork as well as weathering, you could teach a class!

Yes he could!

[Fuad]

21 hours ago, georgeusa said:

Really, really nice Hellcat.  I like the sublime weathering that is not too heavy but does show Pacific use.  This must have been a Marine aircraft as it has nose art.  The Navy was very strict about no personal markings on their aircraft as the Navy emphasized their aircraft was property of the Navy and not an individual pilot's mount.  That is why the shark mouth Hellcat's were only shark mouthed for a very limited time.  Since a just recently acquired the Eduard dual Hellcat Mk I/Mk. II boxing I am curious as to the build of these kits.  What was your experience like?

This is a model from "Eduard" - a global manufacturer of very high quality models. There are no problems with assembly. There are minor inaccuracies in detailing, but for me it is acceptable. I'm not such a meticulous adherent of absolute conformity to the prototype. For example, the suspension tank of these aircraft had a pronounced weld along the entire length, because the tank consisted of two stamped parts. This is not on the model. But you can not hang the tank at all, because. they were hung only during long-range missions. On the available historical photo - there is no hanging tank. Also, the riveting on the model is given only partially - I made most of the riveting myself. But this is also a matter of personal preference, since on a real plane the riveting is almost invisible at all.

[Fuad]

22 hours ago, Sharpscale said:

Some brilliant work has gone into that Hellcat, well done. Are you able to share any insight on the wash/weathering techniques for the undercarriage?

Everything is quite primitive here - I just apply a slightly diluted "Tamiya X-19 Smoke" with a soft brush. All other washes are MIG or AK standard washes, gray on top and brown for light surfaces. Yes, this is a bit exaggerated, of course, in life everything is not so contrasting. But this performance is more "pleasant" to the eye.

[Fuad]

22 hours ago, Baldy said:

Beautifully built, painted and finished Fuad. Like others, I love the weathering!

 

Contrary to this - I believe this was a US Navy unit. If it were a MC unit it would surely be VMF-34?

 

 

Cheers

 

Malcolm

Here our colleague did a very good job on this topic.