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F6F-5 Hellcat in Indochina - rivetting again and again


dutik

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Guest Peterpools

Awesome start on the front office and I feel your pain with the PE for sure. Wouldn't it be great if the parts actually came detailed right out of the box?

Keep 'em cominmg

Peter

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Well, this is a cool one for this GB. Since it was part of the War, so why not. I have the same kit so I'll be following along. Keep ^ the good work ;)

 

Maybe you could need some references?

 

Virtual cockpit of a Mark-3

 

Tech manual cockpit layouts

 

Thats what I used for the cockpit; and my only references so far. There are some online reviews available as well as a few build reports pointing out to some minor corrections to be made, which look to be sufficient to make the kit into a decent replica of the bird.

 

- dutik

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Mikropainting and pigments done.

Glued side paneels and rear bulkhed to the floor. Added som chunks of styrene to make the joints stronger:

 

hellcat0010u8xvt.jpg

 

Dryfit:

 

hellcat0007xilo3.jpg

 

Making the seatbelts now. Next step is to glue the front bulkhead and the whole cokpit into one fuselage half.

 

Regards

- dutik

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Glued the tub into the fuselage. Some minor putty and sanding at front and aft bulkhead. More PE ahead to be applied!

Also added the tail wheel mount. If I got done with the PE I am ready to close the fuselage:

 

hellcat00080rjol.jpg

 

Full workload IRL, as expected, so going at a lower pace now...

 

- dutik

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Had the late shift today, so I glued the fuselage in the morning. Removed most of the tape in the evening. Looks good. Used by advice from the form for the first time Tamiya extra thin cement that worked like a charm. Some minor gaps at the seams to be filled. Added some strip styrene inside to strenghten the joints. Overall fit was very nice:

 

hellcat0011e2jnz.jpg

 

The strip styrene at the pit opening was used to fill a short shot at the spine and a larger gap above the instrument paneel. The only bad fit here. All internal bulkheads and the tub fit very nice in contrast. Will add some putty when cured.

 

Of course I goofed while construction: Master plan was to add the pedestal at the floor after gluing the fuselage halfes, but before adding the foremost bulkhead (inserted from below, where the opening for the wing is). Well, when dryfitting the bulkhead I was that pleased from the good fit I glued it in place ...without having the pedestal build in before. Doh! Tried to fit the pedestal with the bulkhead in place, but it didn't work properly. So I had to remove the bulkhead using some force to add the pedestal and to fit the bulkhead again. OK, it worked without damaging anything else...

 

 

Guess I will be ready to putty and sand at Friday.

- dutik

 

p.s. Painted the first parts Sea Blue. Not visible at the photo - its the tail wheel leg.

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Had the late shift today, so I glued the fuselage in the morning. Removed most of the tape in the evening. Looks good. Used by advice from the form for the first time Tamiya extra thin cement that worked like a charm. Some minor gaps at the seams to be filled. Added some strip styrene inside to strenghten the joints. Overall fit was very nice:

 

hellcat0011e2jnz.jpg

 

The strip styrene at the pit opening was used to fill a short shot at the spine and a larger gap above the instrument paneel. The only bad fit here. All internal bulkheads and the tub fit very nice in contrast. Will add some putty when cured.

 

Of course I goofed while construction: Master plan was to add the pedestal at the floor after gluing the fuselage halfes, but before adding the foremost bulkhead (inserted from below, where the opening for the wing is). Well, when dryfitting the bulkhead I was that pleased from the good fit I glued it in place ...without having the pedestal build in before. Doh! Tried to fit the pedestal with the bulkhead in place, but it didn't work properly. So I had to remove the bulkhead using some force to add the pedestal and to fit the bulkhead again. OK, it worked without damaging anything else...

 

 

Guess I will be ready to putty and sand at Friday.

- dutik

 

p.s. Painted the first parts Sea Blue. Not visible at the photo - its the tail wheel leg.

Great news on your progress Dutik! Can't wait to see some more pictures! Keep up the great work my friend  :)

 Paul  

Edited by av8shunmodels
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Did some work, but not a lot of well visible progress. Cleaned, sanded, polished all seams. Shot a good amount of superglue and filler into the fuselage and at the lower side of the tub to strenghten all joints. Don't want to face cracking seams during handling the kit or -Good Lord!- after the kit was finished. Repainted the cockpit openeing where necessary. Want to add the front paneel, some rivets, seat and stick at the weekend.

 

Building the engine now. Lots of parts, details are ok. Its the same engine aus with the Corsair kits, and it has the known oddity of a very large space between the front and rear cylinders. But I never had the intention to use the clear hood option, so nothing to worry about. Left off any interior parts that shall be invisible once glued to the fuselage. Still a gazillion of parts to use. Drilled holes for ignition wires into the cylinder heads. Also want to add some gizmos to the front installations to make them look more busy. Magnetos and else.

 

Here we are:

 

hellcat0012wgjme.jpg

 

Enjoy!

- dutik

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