F6F-5N

[TimW 1,315]

I'm in with Trumpeter's Hellcat night fighter.

 

Limited progress to date, as I've been out of town for two weeks on work-related travel.

 

Tim W.

[DaveJ 36]

I'm in with Trumpeter's Hellcat night fighter.

 

Limited progress to date, as I've been out of town for two weeks on work-related travel.

 

Tim W.

 

Cool! Welcome aboard Tim!

[Azgaron 1,340]

Cool a Hellcat night fighter!

 

Cheers,

 

Azgaron

[TimW 1,315]

Finally got things going again this weekend; the pit is nearly done and pictures will soon follow.

 

I did some research and plan to do the Marine night fighter (hey, it has the cool girly decal on the cowling!)

 

Seems like this particular aircraft had the windows behind the pilot as well as 6 x .50 cals and not the 20mm, so there will be some minor deviations from the kit instructions.

 

Not sure how/if I'll bother too much trying to fix the famous "bulge" in the fuselage, but we'll see how that goes.

 

Tim W.

[TimW 1,315]

First shots. The main office. I haven't gone too nuts with the detailing, apart from a full replacement of the kit supplied harness, which is pretty lame--Trump could have done a bit better than that!

[TimW 1,315]

And from the front. I've finished the radios and tail wheel assembly, but now for the engine. Probably won't be done before November, what with some more travel coming up.

 

TW

[Azgaron 1,340]

Nice work so far Tim! Looking good!

 

Cheers,

 

Azgaron

[John B 29]

Keep it going Tim. Looking goooooood!

 

J.B.

[ChrisS 172]

Ahhh here is the other night fighter!

 

Great start Tim! Looking forward to seeing this one progress!

[TimW 1,315]

Progress being made... hope to have more engine/interior pix by next week as I'm out of town this weekend for a bit of living history/reenacting at Pt Gloucester, Virginia (across the river from Yorktown).

 

Tim W.

[DaveJ 36]

Hi Tim..

 

Any progress? I've been looking forward to seeing how this one goes together....

[TimW 1,315]

Hi Tim..

 

Any progress? I've been looking forward to seeing how this one goes together....

 

Progress has been mixed. Due to a computer glitch, I have pix accumulating I can't post yet... but soon (I hope).

 

I found the engine to be a massive pain in the behind, particularly the exhaust pipes (which I think are too thin), and don't line up well with the rest of the motor at all.

 

As my engine cowling will not be removable, I'm not to worried about getting all the "behind the engine" stuff right. You'd think Trump would have figured out a better way to do this by now.

 

That said, the fuselage is together and I'm now working on the wings/gun bays. Nothing new or spectacular there apart from if you want to have open gun bays and want to have the 20mm cannons, you'll have to replace the .50 cal body the kit provides at present.

 

I'm doing a 6 x .50 cal bird per research/existing photos so this hasn't been an issue for me yet.

 

Regards,

 

Tim W.

[TimW 1,315]

So after a near three month computer/broken internet connection fiasco, I'm baaaaaaaack!

 

Pictures of my now completed F6F coming soon, after I get back from some work-related travel lasting a couple of days.

 

Tim W.

[TimW 1,315]

Done! Nothing out of the ordinary, apart from the chart/checklist I added stuck up on the cockpit dash.

 

This aircraft is in the markings of VMF(N)-541.

[TimW 1,315]

Here's another. Light was a bit off on this one, but I'm still learning.