Chris FFZ Posted August 25, 2011 Posted August 25, 2011 (edited) After what seems like forever i have finally started to work on this kit, so let's see what we have. First, the overall shot: You will notice it says 'french navy' on the box, but its a standard Hellcat kit with french decals, and I have after market techmod decals for it. Let's take a closer look at the sprue shots: Unlike my normal practice, no pilot figure for this one so I will have to scratch build some detail into the cockpit which if it goes well I will leave open, otherwise I'll close it to hide my shoddy work! The techmod decals as always are quite nice and have sevearl planes to choose from, I will build McCambell's 'Minsi III'. Edited September 18, 2011 by Chris FFZ
Chris FFZ Posted August 25, 2011 Author Posted August 25, 2011 Some history on David McCambell http://www.sma-alumni.org/navyace.htm
Bertie McBoatface Posted August 25, 2011 Posted August 25, 2011 Mmmmmmm, Hasegawa moulding! Look at those delicious undercarriage bays! I like to see the history too. Please keep that up Chris.
Chris FFZ Posted August 25, 2011 Author Posted August 25, 2011 Mmmmmmm, Hasegawa moulding! Look at those delicious undercarriage bays!I like to see the history too. Please keep that up Chris. But will our hero be able to do them justice, THAT is the question! Looking at the sprues the cockpit is a bit sparten, so some reference material is consulted to get an idea for some scratch for the cockpit area.
Chris FFZ Posted August 27, 2011 Author Posted August 27, 2011 (edited) Having done all the prep i can for the hurricane, i sat down to work on the Hellcat, and so today's update; The photos and painting I have of Captain McCambell's Hellcat clearly show the windows of the F6F-3, even though he was flying a F6F-5. It turns out he had one of the first F6F-5s, so the kit will have to be modified to include the windows. Luckily Hasegawa made the kit with this area already recessed 'in case' of this kind of thing: taking a sharp xacto knife, I began to scribe the opening, eventually braking through, and it was a tad rough around the edges. A fine nail file was then used to 'clean' the rough edges of the cut outs and they now look fine. The next step was to paint the interior green color. I first lightly brushed in a medium dark green and when this had dried I used the more standard interior green. I considered zinc cromate but McCambell's plane clearly had a darker interior. The next thing will be black and silver for the controls and building up the cockpit. Seatbelts are molded on so i may just paint these, otherwise i will scratch build some. Edited August 27, 2011 by Chris FFZ
Chris FFZ Posted August 29, 2011 Author Posted August 29, 2011 Today's update; Spent the day doing the prelim cockpit painting and adding the instrument decals. This came out quite well: I was not as pleased with the pilot seat, and am now leaning towards scratch building seat belts. The various panels were painted black and control knobs were painted white, yellow and red: A few reference works have giving me conflicting data on what the opening behind The pilot seat area looks like where the window cut outs are, have to look deeper into this.
Chris FFZ Posted August 31, 2011 Author Posted August 31, 2011 Today's update; After several days of circulation problems in my hands and feet, i felt ok enough to work on the project, which my arthiritic hands still gave me some trouble with. I decided to scratch build seat belts for the project, but first I wanted to spray the fuselage blue so I could get an idea what can be seen through the little window cutouts (not much). Satisfied no extensive scratch is needed behind the pilot, it was time to tackle the belts. First, tamiya tape was cut to fit the belts on my cutting board with an exacto knife. These were then attached using elmer's white glue to the roll bar behind the seat and drapped over the chair. Next, some sprue is streched to make buckle details. Four pieces are cut for the shoulder belts, and a 'v' shape for the seat belt, whcih I saw used on some expensive eduard belts that cost more then the kit! Again using elmer's, these bits of plastic are placed on the shoulder and seat belts and allowed to dry. When this dried modelmaster lt tan (as per a photo of McCambell i have) is used to paint the belts, with burnt umber to represent the detail work (again copied from the eduard picture) and lastly silver for the metal bits I made. After this had dried, the cockpit was finally assembled and set aside to dry over night. I will do any touch-ups after this has dried, but I think it came out pretty well.
Bertie McBoatface Posted August 31, 2011 Posted August 31, 2011 For a man with arthritis you certainly produce the goods. Your seatbelt technique is well worth srealing!
Chris FFZ Posted August 31, 2011 Author Posted August 31, 2011 (edited) Thanks Don, its really a product of cheapness, i refuse to pay ungodly sums for detail parts for model kits. The old fogey in me won't do it. Edited August 31, 2011 by Chris FFZ
Bertie McBoatface Posted August 31, 2011 Posted August 31, 2011 Thanks Don, its really a product of cheapness, i refuse to pay ungodly sums for detail parts for model kits.The old fogey in me won't do it. And your way is more three-dimensional too.
Raptor Posted August 31, 2011 Posted August 31, 2011 Hi One other point about McCampbell's aircraft - I believe I've read on a couple of occasions that it flew without any radios on the day of the action! Cheers
Chris FFZ Posted September 1, 2011 Author Posted September 1, 2011 Today's update: the cockpit wall details and the unit itsdelf is joined to the fuselage which are also glued together. next the wings are built, no putty needed at all on this kit. i have long ago decided the plane would be 'clean', no tanks or weapons load, as if she just came back from a mission. The wings are joined, this was super easy and a perfect fit. Next the cockpit and the windows as well as the wheel wells are covered in first tissue and then tape, and the base color is sprayed on. This is all set aside to dry, and i want to wait at least 12 hours before going near it. The next phase is gloss cote for decals, we are in the home strech!
Chris FFZ Posted September 2, 2011 Author Posted September 2, 2011 Today's update; The engine is assembled, this is just 4 parts and since the cowling hides most of it, no extra work will be done here. Hasegawa even supplies a decal for the wright engine, a nice little touch. Next the tail white line for the USS essex airgroup is masked and painted. When dry, the plane is gloss coted for decals.
smuts Posted September 3, 2011 Posted September 3, 2011 nice cat, like what you did with the belts....do like the blue cats too Andy
Chris FFZ Posted September 3, 2011 Author Posted September 3, 2011 Thanks smuts, i apprecaite the comments. Today's update; The day was spent decaling, this plane had a lot of stencils that were nearly unreadable until i put them on the plane, so i was forced to use a magnifying glass to try and read if they were upside down or not! for some reason i could not get a good focus without the flash, these pictures show the correct blue color; With the flash on, it looks too light but now the focus is correct! I also touched up under the engine cowl. I may give it a cote of semi gloss as its too shiney for an active fighter, but she looks damn good this way!
Chris FFZ Posted September 4, 2011 Author Posted September 4, 2011 Today's update; Not alot, i redid the plane is semi-gloss giving it a much more realistic look, and finished and attached the propellar. Unfortunetly I had some storm damage from last week and my masks and the kit's canopy are lost, its floating somewhere in the long island sound i estimate. So squadron canopy and masks ordered as replacements.
Bertie McBoatface Posted September 4, 2011 Posted September 4, 2011 Unfortunetly I had some storm damage from last week and my masks and the kit's canopy are lost, its floating somewhere in the long island sound i estimate. That's masterfully understated! I hope things aren't too bad for you. I was glad to see the satin varnish on. That gloss was way too glossy for me. Looks good now though.
Wayne Posted September 4, 2011 Posted September 4, 2011 That's looking really good Chris. Sorry to hear about your storm damage. Hope everything is ok on your side of the world now! Wayne
Chris FFZ Posted September 4, 2011 Author Posted September 4, 2011 Thanks fellas, it rained pretty badly here after the hurricane, flooded my basement workshop.
Chris FFZ Posted September 5, 2011 Author Posted September 5, 2011 Since I have to wait, the only work done on the hellcat was adding decals to the prop.
Chris FFZ Posted September 11, 2011 Author Posted September 11, 2011 A little work done this week, the landing gear was attached, almost done now.
Bertie McBoatface Posted September 12, 2011 Posted September 12, 2011 She's coming together. Keep it up, Chris.
Chris FFZ Posted September 15, 2011 Author Posted September 15, 2011 Cut out the canopy, and masked it using eduard masks. First lt green is applied, as that is what the inside should look like. Then the canopy was sprayed and satin finished, and applied using white glue, it came out ok.
Bertie McBoatface Posted September 15, 2011 Posted September 15, 2011 Looks good now. I like the victory flags against the deep blue, very striking. He was a very busy fighter pilot!
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