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Building the 1/24 th Airfix Hellcat ?


Erwin

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Hi all,

 

Today I recieved the big Cat that I bought from Jack .

When I opened the box and saw all those parts,cold sweat ran down my back.

I'm not the world's best inner-detail painter.So,I fear that I will end up closing all the pannels and be left with loads of spare parts.

 

But then I recalled my topic on "demo-models".

This  looks for me to be the best option to show all that detail.

Build it unpainted.

 

My big dilemma now is to build it with wings straight,folded wings or one folded and one straight.

 

Any tips,broblem solving,etc... are welcome

 

 

Edited by Erwin
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Erwin.....how did you  guess that was exactly the reason why i sold it to you????  Just kidding mate, the box is indeed full, to the fullest, with parts that go "anywhere" and it would indeed take quite some time and effort to do it justice painted, but i think your idea on "demo-models" wouldn't be such a bad one.

In fact, now that you mention it, i myself could have been very pleased to build it that way.

Now, if there are no problems anymore concerning painted details, you might want to build it with all the hatches present in a open position, and like you said yourself, the wing part partly on one side straight, and on the other in a folded position......

 

Looking forward to you presentation, have fun building........

 

Jack.

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I built one, the fit is precise...very very precise! some pieces will not come apart after a dry fit type of precise.

Take your time and keep an eye out down the road ahead in your construction and it'll be a very nice build, Airfix did a great job on the tooling...it's precise. Did I mention that?

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I've had a good look at the instructions.

As I see it,much of the inner detail can't be seen ones the fuselage,wings and cowling is closed.

 

So,I shall try my best at painting it all.

If it doesn't turn out decent,I can still close all the pannels.

 

I had the same dilemma with the 1/24 Mosquito.

In the end I closed it all.

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57 minutes ago, James Rademaker said:

How about some pictures of the kit. You have mentioned the great detail of the model, I’d love to see what it looks like before and after you finish the project.

 

Regards,

Jim

Here's a nice review.

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235056983-grumman-f6f-5-hellcat-a19004-124/

Edited by Erwin
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Now that I've started the kit (WIP board) ,I must say that it's not at all so difficult to build.

The instructions are very good.

 

I decided to go for fully painted,standing with wings straight,flaps down .U.S. markings

That's the easiest scheme for my brush painting.Overall blue.

Edited by Erwin
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I have built this kit and it's awesome! I am partial to the Hellcat though as my father flew them during the war. there were 2 different drop-tanks that could be carried, the one with the vertical seam was a early version, the horizontal seam being later, both are correct, it's your choice. The only quibbles I have with the kit is my engine core was slightly slightly oversized as has been reported on other build reviews. i just enlarged the openings on the parts that fit over it. I've chatted with others that didn't have this problem. my main gripe is the texture of the plastic. I fully painted my example so I had to sand, prime, sand, prime, sand sand sand. Th Glossy Sea Blue paint scheme will highlight this, the British camo scheme not so much. My canopy hood was badly splayed out as well and I cracked it. I've put in a spares inquiry to Airfix 2 months ago and havent heard anything back. It's a great kit at a reasonable price! enjoy

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First problem in this otherwise perfect kit.

 

The canopy is molded to wide.It's 3 mm from the fuselage on both sides.

I fear it will crack if I force it to be glued closed to the fuselage.

 

Any tips ?

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