This Hellcat has
been finished as an aircraft on the USS Lexington in September 1943. The red
surrounding the national insignia was only on for a month or so before being
removed. They say because it can be confused with the Japanese insignia, but I
think its because it looks like a target! But it stands out beautifully on the
two-tone blue colour-scheme and even on the off-white underside so I had to go
for it.
This kit has been
made totally OOB. I airbrushed the model using Tamiya and Xtracrylix paints
and it is finished with a semi-gloss varnish made from Finish and Tamiya Flat
Base at a 15-1 ratio. For the decals I used Micro-Set and Micro-Sol for the big
ones to blend in with the superbly crafted 'fish-scale' moulding of the main
fuselage skin and with the wings recessed panel lines.
Click on
images below to see larger images
This kit was such a joy to
work on. Every part is well tooled and the etched parts are what you would
expect from Eduard. This is the first model that I have taken seriously
and although I have experimented on some aspects, I didn't try weathering
too much (except for the underside that has a khaki pre-shade applied) as
I wanted the final result to be the very best I could manage.
Huge thanks to my
Dad, Graham, for all his advice and support.
Terry
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