Martin's Stripy 'Cat *** DNF ***

[Martin R]

My main (and perhaps only) build for this GB will be the Airfix / Otaki / Arii F6F-3 Hellcat Mk I, as shown on the box art of the Airfix boxing of this kit:



Here are the sprues:



And a close up of the sprue containing the cockpit pieces shows the detail available from this '70s kit. It's no Hasegawa or Eduard, but it's not too shabby at all:

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Which is not to say it couldn't be improved:



Quickboost F6F-5 engine (shhhh! if you don't tell anyone, neither will I). Given the engineering of the kit, it's going to be fun trying to place the engine in the correct place in the cowling. I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to do this yet, and . . .



. . . the Airwaves set for this kit. I'm not too experienced with PE; usually it sticks to my fingers rather than where I want it to go. Time will tell how much of this I will use.

Here's the canopy, which looks pretty clear even without any klear.



And here are the decals. They look good on the sheet, but experience of the Airfix 1/48th Scale Mk VIII Spitfire from the same era suggests that they may be dull with iffy colour density. Time will tell!



I've got a couple more pieces of AM to arrive. Pics when I get my mitts on 'em.

I'm quite looking forward to starting this. It looks a relatively simple, quite well detailed kit, which can be improved or not as the spirit takes me. The painting, however, may be more complicated. More soon.

regards,

Martin

[Stuart]

Nice choice Martin - looks like it'll be a nice build!

[Martin R]

I'm hoping so, Stuart.

There's a bit of a warp in the fuselage parts in that the rear fuse fits or the front fuse fits, but not both at the same time. Hopefully, nothing that Tamiya extra thin, tape, and a staged approach can't fix.

regards,

Martin

[DazDaMan]

Ooh, I do like the Hellcat. Never built one, though!

[Arcwelder]

I love Hellcats.. I always think of them as the short, brawny guy surrounded by sleek Corsairs. Kind of the Joe Pesci of the flight deck..

[Martin R]

I love Hellcats.. I always think of them as the short, brawny guy surrounded by sleek Corsairs. Kind of the Joe Pesci of the flight deck..

[Martin R]

So, as its the first of the month, I thought I'd better start. Wing halves are now joined. Bingo! Down from 2 sprues to just 1 in one night. Not bad. Then, the one piece canopy has had a Klear bath and is now drying off - for at least a day. Finally, I started renewing my hate-hate relationship with PE and some of the larger cockpit bits have been added (IP and fuselage sides). I think most of the etch is likely to be used (no, not the levers and silly stuff like that, but rudder pedals, seat straps, etc.).

Oh, and my 1/48th Techmod decals arrived for FAA Hellcats. This sheet looks seriously nice, and I'll show a photo of it tomorrow, hopefully. Still awaiting my resin exhaust pipes (yep, I could probably scratch build something representative, but . . .).

[Martin R]

The kit contains rather nicely moulded underwing pylons and bombs to go on them. However, I was under the impression that the F6F-3 didn't have these; I'm also not sure that the FAA example from HMS Emperor in the Med that I'm planning to do would have been used as a Fighter-bomber in support of Operation Dragoon. Can anyone confirm or deny?

[Martin R]

More AM for the 'cat. Firstly, Quickboost exhaust pipes:



Secondly, the rather nice looking Techmod FAA Hellcat sheet I found at Hannants':

[Martin R]

And have I made any progress? Well, yes, a little. I have been trying out some of the Airwaves PE and have got some stuff added into the fuselage sides and cockpit pieces. Spot the supports for exhaust pipes in the first shot.







I had to scrape off the moulded-on seat belts and tidy up with some Tamiya Extra Thin before adding the seat belts.

And here are the exhaust pipes. I'm happy with how they've gone on, as there was just a big gaping hole beforehand. Painting should be interesting though . . .



Next, I need to add some more to the cockpit, do some priming, then start the painting . . .

regards,

Martin

[Stuart]

Nice work with that PE Martin, it really makes a difference.

[Martin R]

Nice work with that PE Martin, it really makes a difference.

Thanks, Stu. Hopefully, it'll look good after a coat of paint.

[Martin R]

I did a bit more tonight, both priming and beginning to paint previously assembled pieces, and putting together the PE sidewalls. No disasters to report yet, I'm pleased to add.

The other thing I did was trace around the kit engine bulkhead with a fairly thick pencil on a piece of styrene sheet, giving a slightly bigger template of the same shape. This was then positioned at the back of the cowling, significantly further back than the kit bulkhead (hence why I cut it a bit bigger), and glued it in with some plastic bits supporting it round the edges. It's almost edge on in the pic, but it is there. Once cut to size and with the fuse halves joined, this will form the basis of the mount for the QB engine.



I hope to do a bit more of the cockpit tomorrow evening. I want to give it a wash and dry-brushing to pop out the detail that is there.

[TomW]

Shaping up quite nicely Martin Those Airwaves PE sets might not be as all singing and as all dancing as Eduards and the like but they are often the only aftermarket for older kits such as this. And they still look convincing.

Regards

Tom

[Martin R]

Shaping up quite nicely Martin Those Airwaves PE sets might not be as all singing and as all dancing as Eduards and the like but they are often the only aftermarket for older kits such as this. And they still look convincing.

Regards

Tom

Thanks, Tom.

By the time I've got the (1 piece) canopy on, you won't see any of it. Still, it's giving me experience of using more extensive PE sets, so it's all good.

regards,

Martin