1/48 Hasegawa F6F Hellcat

by Alan Williamson

--------------------

 

Kit: Hasegawa F6F Hellcat 09600

Additions: Aires F6F Hellcat cockpit 4270

                    AeroMaster decals Hellcats pt.II 48-600

Constructions:

I had been looking for a Hellcat for the past couple of years at my local Hobby shops, but could not find anything. That was until I came across Calum on E-bay a few years back when I brought my first Hasegawa F-14.  I now buy most of my kits from Calum and Craig rather then the ever lacking hobby shops in Adelaide. I sent Calum an E-mail to ask if he could get a hold of the Hasegawa F6F and in his next order it came in. When it arrived via post I opened it up, and had a look at the only available F6F at the time was the Hellcat marked with French Navy decals.  My next step was to send Craig at Aeroworks an E-mail to order the decals 48-600 and the Aires cockpit 4270.  Once every thing had arrived it was time to start assembling the kit. I had a few problems with the Aires cockpit, superglue can be a challenge to work with and that of the fiddley parts of the resin.  However I managed to get the cockpit finished and ready to place into the fuselage. The overall assembly of the kit went together with little fuss, I always seem to have a problem closing the fuselage halves together when I add an aftermarket cockpit to a kit.  Normally I'm left with a slight gap in the fuselage halves that I need to fill with putty. Which can cause complications down the track not always but in this assemble it did.

Picture 03 and 04 is the finished Aires cockpit painted in Model Master interior green. I then when over the cockpit with the Tamyia weathering powders to give the cockpit a dirty and rag tag look. 

Click on images below to see larger images

Before paint I gave the cockpit window a dry fit to make sure it would fit when it was time to glue into place.  All seem to dry fit well. It was now time to paint.

Painting:

I used Model Master enamels and started with a cote of Aluminium paint over the Hellcat followed up with a cote of gloss clear.  Its was now time to add some colour.  The underneath was painted in flat white, with the fuselage painted in Intermediate blue and Sea blue.  After the paint had dried, I used some medium grade wet rub paper and went to work over the fuselage and wings until the aluminium coat was exposed.  The kit was now ready for a coat of gloss paint. 

Click on images below to see larger images

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

Decals and Finish

I used the decals to represent Hellcat F6F-3 of VF-27 onboard USS Princeton 1944.  Once the decals were on, I covered the kit in another coat of gloss clear followed up with the pastel wash to high light the panel lines.  Finishing off with a matt clear to seal in the pastel wash.  All that was left was to add the remaining parts such as landing gear, drop tank and cockpit window, however the cockpit window would not fit which was a real pain in the backside.  After some mucking about I got the cockpit windows to fit into place, not as good as I would have liked though some touch was needed around the windows to try and blend the paint which half worked. That is that, the Hellcat was finished.  I got the Carrier base from Craig its the Eduard 1/48 U.S. Navy Essex Class Carrier deck 8802.

Click on images below to see larger images

  

  

  

  

  

  

Thanks

  • Calum for getting a hold of the Hellcat, you can visit Calum at gib@gibstuff.net for a list of kits for sale or drop Calum E-mail.

  • Craig from Aeroworks, you can get in contact with Craig at aeroworks@iprimus.com.au for a list of gear for sale.

  • Steve Bamford for all his great work with this web page.

Alan

Photos and text © by Alan Williamson