1/72 Academy Hellcat

Gallery Article by Derrick Davis

 

The Academy Hellcat was a great kit to build. The fit was perfect on all parts and the detail is great.

I decided the build the F6F-5 with the two 1000 lb bombs, but without the drop tank. The cockpit was done in MM interior Green. The seat harness was made out of strips of scrap HO scale locomotive decals.

 

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I airbrushed the entire kit with MM Flat Sea Blue. Then hand brushed Future before & after the decals.

With the dark blue surfaces & large pieces of clear decal film between the white stars & bars and the recessed panel lines, this was the build to find out if my techniques for applying decals were that good or not.

I had to use lots of Solvaset & kept repeating the tapping process with a Q-tip that the Future "whitened" in several spots.

The "whitened" Future disappeared when the final coat  of Future was applied.  I do zero research into the aircraft & just followed the manufacturers instruction on decal placements.   I think the overall results turned out pretty good. I hope someone finds this build of some short of interest.

Derrick Davis

      

Photos and text © by Derrick Davis