All the models I've
seen of the F6-F3/6 Hellcat were done in U.S Navy colours and ensignia. When I
came across the 1/32 nd scale Hasegawa kit, I decided to do something
different. I did some research and found that the Royal Navy used the F6F-3
amongst others in a series of attacks on the German Pocket battleship, the Tirpitz,
from April to August 1944.
The kit is rather
pleasant to work with, but lacked somewhat in regard to cockpit detail. In
general the kit parts fitted well, except for the canopy, which needed some
careful attention. The raised rivets also created a bit of a problem as it
would be destroyed along the seam lines. I started by detailing the R-2800
engine, replacing the
pushrods with copper wire, adding plugwires, the crossflow tubes between the
cylinder heads and scratchbuilt the inlet and outlet manifolds and exhaust pipes
from solder wire. I opened the side panels between the firewall and the manifold
and scratchbuilt the gearbox, engine mounts, oil reservoir from pieces of plastic card,
copper wire and leadfoil. I scratchbuilt the entire cockpit from plastic card,
copper wire and leadfoil. I built the cockpit and rest of the engine as a
complete unit using the Squadron "Walkaround" as reference. I
scratchbuilt the radio and battery as well and placed it in position behind the
pilot's seat. The seatbelts were made from leadfoil and the buckles were
scratchbuilt from wire.
No aftermarket parts
were used in this model. The gunsight was scratchbuilt, the instruments were hand
drawn and the gun cover panels were scratchbuilt, as well as the gun barrels,
which was made from aluminium tubing. The aircraft was sanded down and all the
rivets replaced by hand.
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The Hellcat was
painted with a double action airbrush using Humbrol enamels. The paint was
thinned out and applied in very thin layers, interlaced with streaking and other
weathering effects.
Oil streaks were
applied by using pastels wetted down with pure turpentine with a 10/0 brush. The
decals were of poor quality and did not sit well on the model. Subsequently the
roundels on both the top of the wings and underneath were masked and sprayed
on.
The invasion stripes
were masked and sprayed on. The aircraft was weathered using an airbrush,
Humbrol enamels, some oils and pastels. The remaining decals were set using
decal setting solution. Silvering occurred on some of the decals but I was lucky
to get rid of it by puncturing
the decal and adding more decal setting solution. The canopy frame was done with
leadfoil. The canopy was masked and sprayed, then dipped in "Future"
and left to dry. The radio antenna was made from stretched sprue, painted and
then attached.
The cut-out nose
panels were given ribbing from plastic card. All the interior areas were painted
with Testors Zinc Chromate. Humbrol 140 Matt gull grey and 141 Light sea grey
were used for the camouflage pattern. Matt white and matt black was used
extensively to help in
shading the panels as well as the invasion stripes.
The flaps were set in the down
position and the rudder was cut out and off set, in line with the position of
the rudder pedals. The interior of the cockpit was given as wash with oils and
subtle chipmarks were applied with a silver pencil.
This was the first aircraft I
built in this scale. I have built a couple of 1/72 nd scale aircraft in my
younger days as well as the odd 1/48 scale aircraft. Given the availability of
aftermarket kits as well as the cost involved, I tried to build a realistic
model using inexpensive
materials, and feel rather proud of the end result.
Tappie
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images below to see larger images
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