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1/24 Airfix F6F-5 Hellcat "Kicked Up A Notch": New eBook Now Available!


chuck540z3

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January 4/22

 

 

Happy New Year everyone!

 

 

Since my last update, I have been spending a lot of time dealing with the many parts in Steps 186 to 222.  Other than usual clean-up, most of these parts have seam lines that don’t exist that should be filled, so there’s a lot of work to just get them ready for paint.  I also found out as you shall soon see, that the parts for Steps 193 and Step 200 do not fit at all, so in hindsight I wish I had tried to modify these parts before committing to paint, so that I might have had a chance at a better outcome.

 

 

3mM2Al.jpg

 

 

All parts were painted according to the instructions, but I did modify the main Part K-5 according to some references, where the majority of the lower half has metal plating covering the surface to dissipate heat from the many exhaust pipes next to this main wall.  Although it looks quite bright in this pic, it is really a dull steel color instead.

 

 

FpC2PA.jpg

 

 

I found that the curved vents that are installed in Steps 209 and 210 did not fit very well at all and stuck out too far.  Since there is almost no play in the parts that they attach to, I’m calling this a kit flaw, but thankfully it can be modified enough to make it workable, albeit not perfect.  The fix is to shorten the neck that attaches to the main engine core, while sanding the inside edge of where the vent attaches to the outside edge of Part K-5.  Here is the modified port side part assembly on the right and the unmodified starboard side on the left.

 

 

Dsx6ka.jpg

 

 

This pic from the rear shows why the vent necks need to be shortened, to allow for the outside vents to fit flush with the outside edges in front of them so that cowlings can fit snugly.  This pic also shows the assembly of the parts K-4/K-12 in Step 199 do not fit when installed in Step 200, notwithstanding the warning diagram to get Part K-5 parallel to the exhaust pipes, rather than touch them.  This diagram makes no sense to me at all, since if K-5 is glued to the back of the engine properly, it must be parallel and further, no amount of angle one way or the other will get this Y-shaped assembly to fit properly, even with some sanding of the main opening.  To make matters worse, installing this part scratches the main engine support rails which must be installed first, rubbing the paint off of them, so the whole assembly is a real mess to work with.  What you see here is, as we modelers often say, “good enough” and thankfully it’s on the bottom at the back of the engine, which is unlikely to be seen again.

 

 

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Thankfully the rest of the parts aft of the engine were installed with no drama and things fit pretty good overall.  Here it is with just a hint of a brown wash to dirty it up a bit.

 

 

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Another angle of the outside vent fit, which is now flush, but a bit low and not really fixable.  Again, good enough!

 

 

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Top view.  This view confirms that any spark plugs attached to the rear of both cylinder heads is a waste of time.  Even if I twist this assembly all over the place, I can’t see the spark plugs any longer from any view at the back.  With that hindsight, I would install spark plugs on the front of the cylinders only and just leave holes in the back of all cylinders to thread the wires into.

 

 

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Although you can’t see it very well, this is why I painted the lower parts of K-5 in Alclad Steel.  I bet the heat from those exhausts are extreme and will cook any paint nearby.

 

 

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A few more views for a reference.

 

 

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Dry fit into the front of the fuselage.  The fit is a bit fiddly, but very doable and with some glue, will be pretty strong.

 

 

2LbbBg.jpg

 

 

The front cowling parts M11 and M12 in Steps 220-221 fit together fairly well, but after looking at several reference pics, that join does not exist and there is a panel line up higher, about mid-way, which I scribed and filled with a dark wash to show it off better.

 

 

8aYGeJ.jpg

 

 

The join was filled with CA glue and sanded smooth, along with the rest of the cowling which is quite rough, like most of the larger pieces in this kit.

 

 

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The fit to the front of the engine was near perfect, so no worries there.

 

 

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I’m really glad to get this engine stuff behind me, because it’s a ton of work and I’m really getting tired of handling it and removing paint as a result, even with gloves.  I will touch it up when I install it towards the end of the build, and likely dirty it up a bit more so that it’s not so clean.

 

 

Next step is the fuselage firewall and figuring out which cowling panels will be added or left off.  Depending on cowling fit, I may not even paint them if they don’t fit perfectly when dry fit.

 

 

 

 

Cheers,

Chuck

Edited by chuck540z3
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  • chuck540z3 changed the title to 1/24 Airfix F6F-5 Hellcat "Kicked Up A Notch" Jan 4/22: Rear Engine Bits Done
26 minutes ago, GMK said:

Impressive work, Chuck! 
 

With the worst of the engine behind you, do you anticipate any other potential points of friction with this kit?

 

Thanks for sharing. 

 

Thank you, and no, mostly because I don't think many of the cowlings will be used.  There's no point doing all this work to the engine and then covering it up, although it they fit OK- or at least some of them- I will make them up and paint them, just 'cause.  I need to do some mods at the wing root if I want to use the rear bottom cowling, because the panel next to the wing root at the front is one piece for top and bottom, not 2 parts like the kit.  This will keep things open so that you can see more of the firewall plumbing and it matches many reference pics I have of the engine when exposed.

 

Cheers,

Chuck

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2 hours ago, chuck540z3 said:

 

Thank you, and no, mostly because I don't think many of the cowlings will be used.  There's no point doing all this work to the engine and then covering it up, although it they fit OK- or at least some of them- I will make them up and paint them, just 'cause.  I need to do some mods at the wing root if I want to use the rear bottom cowling, because the panel next to the wing root at the front is one piece for top and bottom, not 2 parts like the kit.  This will keep things open so that you can see more of the firewall plumbing and it matches many reference pics I have of the engine when exposed.

 

Cheers,

Chuck


Thanks for replying. 
 

At the risk of spamming you with questions, *how* do you get your primed parts to look like a CGI screengrab?! I always do an actual double take when reading.  Every piece of your presentation oozes quality. 

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Absolutely stunned at the pics of your build.  You know what I am thinking!!! 

 

Tell me - is the engine and cowlings actually supported by the engine mount truss alone?  I mean - the real aircraft is that way, but I was unaware of any model where that was done.  My Corsair will have an engine mount truss, but I will not rely on it to support the engine (the local fuselage will).

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Great job done on the engine, Chuck.

Your mounting tips are as always very useful, one thing, the rocket covers were usually painted black on the r2800 8-10, only in the new cylinders with the differently shaped covers were not painted. I don't know how much of the engine you will leave visible and how much it can be visible even when closed, but I think that a little more work will not slow down your work plans. I am waiting for an update.

Greetings

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1 hour ago, GMK said:


Thanks for replying. 
 

At the risk of spamming you with questions, *how* do you get your primed parts to look like a CGI screengrab?! I always do an actual double take when reading.  Every piece of your presentation oozes quality. 

 

Thanks, but I'm not sure how to answer.  What's a CGI?  In any case, I always try to do my best at modeling and photography, which compliment each other.  Clean close up pics reveal every tiny flaw, which forces me to be extra careful before posting them, which hopefully results in a better model than I would otherwise create. 

 

 

18 minutes ago, JayW said:

Absolutely stunned at the pics of your build.  You know what I am thinking!!! 

 

Tell me - is the engine and cowlings actually supported by the engine mount truss alone?  I mean - the real aircraft is that way, but I was unaware of any model where that was done.  My Corsair will have an engine mount truss, but I will not rely on it to support the engine (the local fuselage will).

 

Thanks Jay.  The engine truss complex has a 5 longitudinal cross members at the front I haven't added yet for the front cowls to lie on, but cowling fit at the rear depends solely on the the notches you see at the top on the pic below.  The cowl at the rear top is narrow, so it shouldn't be much of a distraction to leave it on and hide those notches, but for other cowlings left off, I should pay attention to what the real deal has underneath and maybe modify a few things to make it look more accurate.

 

2LbbBg.jpg

 

Cheers,

Chuck

 

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14 minutes ago, spartacus2000 said:

Great job done on the engine, Chuck.

Your mounting tips are as always very useful, one thing, the rocket covers were usually painted black on the r2800 8-10, only in the new cylinders with the differently shaped covers were not painted. I don't know how much of the engine you will leave visible and how much it can be visible even when closed, but I think that a little more work will not slow down your work plans. I am waiting for an update.

Greetings

 

Thanks- and too late!  I wish I had known that before, because the rocker covers are split on this kit and come out looking quite choppy when assembled together, so I filled in the gaps with CA glue.  If they were also painted black as you suggest, it would hide even more and probably look a little cleaner.  I could still paint the front cylinder bank covers but the rear ones will be very tough, since they are half-buried by the cylinder shields now.  I'll see what I can do and thanks for the tip.

 

Cheers,

Chuck

Edited by chuck540z3
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