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Hellcat!


big matt

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Hey Brian, bummer about the warped wing. I got lucky with mine I guess. My understanding was Obsureco was out of business. Unfortunate.

 

Baby steps.

 

I started a little work on the prop. I chose to tweak the Trumpy Corsair hub and add Jerry Rutman's blades. I liked the shape better than the kit parts.

 

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Here they are side by side. Kit offering on the right.

 

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I added a little bolt detail and the spring clips for the spinner.

 

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That's it for now. Still waiting on some cockpit parts before there is much of anything worth reporting.

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Another spellbinding update!

 

I chose to use the Fotocut instrument panel for this build. It came with a nickel silver etched panel, the black parts surrounding the instruments came that way with placards engraved and the film parts. All I had to do was paint the instrument film back with the colors I wanted and paint the main panel a suitable Grumman greenish shade and add a "t" handle and mag switch. The center scope is close enough for the -3N radar and voila, instrument panel. I still need to play with it a bit and add the landing gear handle but easy-peasy. I am still getting used to this spartan cockpit after slaving on the Phantom. Lots more bells and whistles.

 

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That's it for now.

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Guest Peterpools

Hi Matt

Just catching up on builds and enjoying your build of the Iron Works Gang Hellcat. Said to say. I remember when the kit first came out, so that must put me in the gray haired group.

ow about going into a little more detail on how you re-scribed all the panel lines, as that's still one area I'm pretty weak in. :thumbsup:

Nice choice on the paddles and hub detail as well. Panel is looking real good at this stage.

Being a Long Island boy my whole life (moved to Long Island in 1956) and growing up on a few miles from both Bethpage (Grumman's) and Farmingdale (Republic)plants, anything they built is on my favorite list.

Looking forward to following along and picking up tips and techniques along the road. :piliot:

 

 

Peter

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Thanks for looking in Peter. I am fond of the "Cats" too. I have an evil pln for a USN Bearcat and have a Trumpy Wildcat in the stash. As far as the scribing goes, I think you should check out LSP Kevin's excellent tutorial in the tips and techniques section. It will tell you all you need to know, much better than I could do.

 

http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=32316

 

Back to work on the beast.

 

I am scratching a cockpit so I decided it better have a floor first. The pattern was marked out on a sheet of styrene that I cut.

 

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Next the detail was built up using various sizes of strip to get the foot troughs and other structures.

 

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The Hasegawa kit has the floor too high. I lowered it to what seemed about right. The Trumpy kit actually has the floor pretty close. Thanks for the loaner kit Alfonso!

 

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Here we have the floor in place and the sills positioned.

 

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The panel does not follow the contour of the fuselage. I made a thin backing sheet to take up the slack and the gap will not be noticeable when the cockpit is in place.

 

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Next up is the rear bulkhead. This is the back of it. I am not too sure of the exact layout back here but I will busy it up a bit. Just getting basic shapes in now.

 

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The front.

 

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I offset the seat belt bar and added a separate armor plate. The cutouts were for improved visibility out the rear windows, ya right...

 

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Next up will be some plumbing and other junk. I am nervous about the front panel and rudder pedals. I need to sleep on it a bit.

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

Matt

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Guest Peterpools

Matt

Awesome work on the front office. Nice to see each step in the detailing and building process explained so well.

BTW, thanks for the link on the scribing tutorial ... some super stuff. :thumbsup:

 

Peter

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Thanks for the great encouragement guys! It really helps when I try to make .020" t handles and they get stuck to my face somehow!

 

Phil, I have not forgotten and you are right about the Mossie. I have a new devious master plan in place. Stay tuned! :evil_laugh:

 

Ok, back to work.

 

Not much here but I had to work with the front console. It is not connected to the instrument panel as the kit part would have you believe. It was a sheet metal curved panel that housed the cockpit climate controls, the gun chargers and the gun selector switch. There may have been other stuff there on other dash numbers. The panel seems to be different in three of my b/n reference aircraft. I guess nothing is easy.

 

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I decided to make this piece in plastic as I had the Waldron template and it just seemed an easy way out. The rudder pedals are going to be suspended from the rear of this panel.

 

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I think the foil thing to the left of where the seat will be is a compact life raft? Maybe??? It is in the pic I have but has no explanation. Anyone??? Bueller?

 

Here she is with the rear bulkhead placed and the seat rack fixed. I have a nice etched seat to put in here when I get around to painting and belts.

 

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That's it for now. There is a big ol' Phantom that needs some attention...

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