Joe's 1/72 Academy Grumman F6F Hellcat

[flyjoe180]

I'm glad you've revived this thread, Joe. Somehow I missed it first time around, so it's been good to catch up with it. Also (ulterior motive coming up) I have the Eduard Hellcat near the top of the stash, so I might learn something.

Thanks Doug. The Eduard kit will no doubt be light years ahead of this Academy kit, which is suspiciously similar to the ancient Hasegawa offering. Look forward to seeing your one on the bench soon.


And back two steps yet again, in overall Gloss Sea Blue. I used Humbrol Midnight Blue (15) with a very small amount of green (30) to get the desired colour. The original mix was Oxford blue (104) with the green but this looked much better on my experimental paint model (an old Messerschmitt) so on it went.


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As it was already glossy there was no need to apply a gloss varnish, so the decals went straight onto the surface using Humbrol Decalfix:


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The decals were horrible as usual from Academy. The national insignia was actually not too bad, but the various placards and stencils are rubbish by modern standards. The step line and propeller markings came from the spare decal bag. The 'Z' code came from an Xtradecal sheet, the letter code from a Ventura Decals sheet. The black camera cover was made by me.

[flyjoe180]

Next the navigation and under-side identification lights were painted, the main landing gear wheels fitted and some exhaust staining and light weathering was then applied. After a semi-gloss varnish the rockets were fitted and the propeller set.


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I'm calling this done now. I won't have time to add anything further before the GB ends, so this is it. Watch out for the finished thread. Thanks for following and commenting to those of you who have done so, much appreciated.

[flyjoe180]

Completed thread here: http://www.scale-models.co.uk/thread...hellcat.31661/