ltdann

Cessna Skymaster 2

In your photo of your model with the pre-shading done, the wing is upside down. The guns should be down, not up when the wing is in the folded position. You probably know that though

So this is supposed to be the number 1 F6F-5. I obtained this photo from the Grumman archives. The other photo is a 800 Sqn F6F-5 with the blown hood. https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235041054-difference-between-a-late-f6f-3-and-f6f-5-cowling/ https://imgur.com/7HLepqp Rich

So the first F6F-5 was tri-color. There is a photo of this plane in the Squadron Walk Around. At one point it also sported a blown (Malcolm type) canopy, which you can see in the photo in the book. The blown hood was engineered by Grumman, but only a handful of these were produced. Most of these were assigned to No 800 Sqn, Fleet Air Arm. Rich

Please don't put drop tanks on this beautiful rendition of the F4F-3. They did not have provisions for them. They typically had two 110 lb bomb racks much further out on the wing

What CAD package are you using? Rich

There are a couple of things he could do and still stay in the WWI theme. Mate up some Liberty engines with the Felixstowe and you can do an H-16. No American subjects have been kitted either. A good JN-4 would be something. A Thomas Morse S-4C would also be most welcome. How about a Macchi M.5? R Dann

1. Grumman F3F-1/2/3 2. Grumman G-22 Gulfhawk II 3.Grumman F2F-1 4. Boeing F4B/P-12 series 5. Douglas B-18/A/B 6. Northrop BT 7. Northrop A-17 8. Good F2A series 9. Good P-35 series 10. Martin T4M

I have discovered a significant change to the F3F-3 from the F3F-2 that I never noticed or understood, until now. If you look closely at a 3/4 view of the aircraft from the tail looking forward, there is a crescent shaped opening that starts near the aft cabane strut and goes all the way down to the wing fillet fairing. Grumman attempted to clean up the design by fairing the cowling and fuselage a bit more closely. In essence, the fuselage is wider on the -3 from the aft cabane strut all the way to the cowling. That crescent shaped opening also eliminated the need for CO2 vents in the accessory section and near the horizontal tails. The cowl was also slightly different, and the exhausts are faired. Rich Dann

You might check your main landing gear, they look like they might be reversed

PLEASE do not put the drop tanks on this beautiful build. F4F-3s did not have the capability to carry drop tanks. They had a bomb rack capable of a 110 lb bomb much further outboard on the wing. The tanks and plumbing were not incorporated until the F4F-4. Rich

On Navy H-60s, which have hydraulically folding blades, each blade is denoted by a color stripe (red, blue, yellow and black). During the fold sequence, the rotor head will index to the correct position (same every time) prior to the blades actually folding. Not sure which blade is where when this takes place. Ltdann

I like the rotor brake handle. That is the locked position. Brings back memories!

Vincent Meens is now starting to sell the ascent stage parts on Shapeways. I believe that he is going to have the option to have a full interior. Rich

Finally finished coating the landing pads with foil. All struts now installed. Still need to attach plume deflectors, engine bell, landing gear uplocks, egress platform and radar shield. Rich