Well I'm back as my great 1/32 scale experiment wasn't exactly the success I had hoped it would be. As I found out the world of 1/32 scale has its limitations; subject matter, quality of non-Tamiya kits, and price were some of the issues I ran into. So after two 6 month long builds, I decided that 1/48s scale is where I should be.

And honestly, I missed my friends here on Aeroscale, so I decided to come back and become an active member once again. Being a life long Grumman devotee, My 1st 1/48 scale build is the Eduard Limited edition F6F-3 Profipak:



Included is a beautiful set of decals for 5 aircraft printed by Cartograf



As with most builds, I started with the cockpit cleaning up parts. Then I primed them with Mig Ammo Black Acrylic primer.




The PE IP is extremely well done which consists of a instrument plate and a top plate with nicely done bezels.  I've been using Pledge for the lenses, but this time I just wasn't happy with the results so I added a final coat of Tamiya X-22 Clear Gloss. Now they looked like glass lenses. Unfortunately, in the pictures it's really hard to tell. 



  Grumman's painted their F6F-3 interiors after the 1st 100 or so Interior Green which includes the IP. The problem is that the PE parts are painted what looks like Bronze Green, but it's nowhere close to Interior Green ANA 611 which is very close to FS 34151.  I used MRP ANA 611 Interior Green straight from the bottle after my brother suggested a working flow rate of 12-10 psi as I was experiencing some spitting at 14-15 ps1.  After dark wash the colors should blend closer together.  I did have an issue with all the little PE knobs and levers. I just can't work with them as they're way to small for this one eyed near sighted old man. So I made sprue levers and white glue knobs painted black.  I also managed to loose the gun sight glass on my Workbench, so I punched out a disc from plastic sheet, then a 2nd disc which I cut in half, glued to the other one, then filed a flat surface to glue it to the base of the site. Looks good enough
 
Next up was the belts and Harnesses. I'm always leery of PE ones as they don't bend very well, and always pop off with the slight touch. the Eduard ones are each made with separate pull straps that really look quite nice. I glued everything with Gorilla Thin CCA glue, and the parts really stuck in place almost on touch. At 1st I scrapped the paint off where I was going to glue them to, then I tried right on the paint, and it glued up just fine.  In the larger then life size picture below, I can see where I need to touch up the headrest area. In real life I just never saw this run. 



Next I turned my attention to the fuselage halves. I painted them ANA 611 Interior Green, then when dry, I masked off the rear area just behind the seat bulkhead and painted the area FS 36440 which is the accepted match for Grumman Gray, which then was a standard practice for their aircraft interiors and inside the cowl. 



Then I dry fitted the cockpit tub to see how it fits, and it fits the fuselage like a glove. Hopefully when close up the fuselage halves, the fit will be perfect on both sides. From the reviews I've read, there shouldn't be any issues. I gave the pit and cockpit side walls a dirty black wash, then installed the pit



I also brushed on some of the MRP Interior paint to help blend in the IP. It helped some, but the color difference is still there. The rear compartment right behind the cockpit firewall has been painted Grumman Gray. the accepted color match is FS 36440. Even when the fuselage halves are closed up, looking through the rear cockpit windows, the Grumman Gray is clearly visible. 



I decided to modify the rear wheel assembly so that I can install it as a finishing item, rather then now. This will allow me to work on the seam running through the rear wheel well, and let me paint it as a separate component without having to mask it or try to paint it after installation.  So I installed the rear cockpit windows on both sides which fit perfectly, and closed up the fuselage. The fit is just outstanding to say the least.  
 
As I assumed, once the fuselage halves are closed up, there isn't that much of the cockpit that one can easily see, but enough to make the detailing and careful paint worth while.








 

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my build to date. It's always much appreciated

Joel
 

What a real and pleasant surprise- Welcome back ! Richard

Richard,
Thanks so much for the warm welcome. It's great to be back. Missed you guys and 1/48 scale as well.

Joel

Great to have you back, Joel! Welcome aboard again, my friend!
I'll follow you build for sure as I have some Hellcats in my stash who are waiting to be build. Both USN and FAA.

Happy modelling
Torsten

Torsten,

It's great to be back, that's for sure. Missed my friends more then 1/48s scale. So please forgive me.

As usual, looking forward to your builds, especially a Hellcat.

Joel

Hi Joel, welcome back! Your build is looking good thus far. I built this kit a few years ago and it went together pretty well and looked good when complete. As I recall, the only issue I had was getting the horizontal tail planes to align properly, but it was not that big of an issue.

Ernest

Joel, indeed glad to see you back in here!!

Hope you had'nt had other issues than the scale-matter.
Thanks for sharing your new project, very good startup.
BTW: nice new "Avatar"

Thomas

I have not made my mind up yet for a Hellcat next year. Maybe, maybe not. I have a few ...
At the moment I have something Lockheed on my bench for the ANZAC Campaign. Just added new pics in the thread. Afterwards I'll go for some earthlings, a Land Rover and a Leopard.

Torsten

Ernest,
Thanks for the warm welcome, it's much appreciated.

After some of the 1/32 scal kits I've tackled (not counting Tamiya kits), the Hellcat is a precision instrument in terms of fidelity to detail, fit, and accuracy. The fuselage did need a touch of filler as did the wings and tail horizontal stabs (next update), but I made a simple jig and got everything pretty well aligned for a one eyed old coot like me.

Joel

Thomas,
Thanks so much for your welcome home, it's really appreciated. Only issues was related to 1/32 scale kits. Everything else was and is just fine.

Joel

Looking forward on following along on your build Joel . Have the F-5 late sitting as a shelf Queen ( hey someone has to rule over the others ) So this might get me motivated , yeah right !

Nice job on the pit . I can see how matching the interior green with the etch parts is challenging . Which scheme are you going with ?



Terri

Hi Terri,
Thanks so much for stopping by and checking on my Hellcat build, as it's always a pleasure having you along for the journey.

As for which aircraft I'm modeling, it's the #19 flown by Lt. alexander Vraciu of VF-6 USS Intrepid Feb 1944. At this point he was already a Ace, and went on to achieve a total of 19 kills with two additional tours of duty.

Joel

I finally got enough work done for the next update.

After the fuselage was glued together, I filled any small depressions that was caused by the Tamiya Extra Thin as the fit was 100% perfect.  I then sanded the centerline seam, and it was time to face the music and re-scribe all the recessed panel lines I had sanded off.  I'm about the worst re-scriber you have ever seen, and almost always cause more damage then I fix through the process. But since this model is going to be an entrant in the 2018 IPMS Noreastcon & Mosquitocon, the basics had to be perfect.  Amazing, but this time I got it right. I still  have to seal and polish the re-rescribing, but the hard part is over.





I also noticed that the rear cockpit bulkhead needed a little filling, so using Vallejo White Acrylic putty, I took care of the issue.  Since the putty doesn't require sanding, just a damp Qtip, it was the perfect choice for this job.





  Next up was constructing the centerline gas tank which is so prominent on the Hellcat.  The tank glues up perfectly, but there is a plug for the two supporting rods that require some work to blend into the surface of the tank. The rods make it nearly impossible to do correctly, so I cut them off.  Then glued the part into the tank. When dry I sanded to shape, then puttied with Bondo Glazing, followed by a coat of CCA Gel.  Every recess is sealed for a perfectly smooth fit.





In real life the tank has a raised bead around the centerline. Eduard didn't mold one, so I had to make one myself. I just used stretched sprue and glued it in place with Tamiya Extra Thin. The hardest part is keeping it straight and true around the tank. I got close but it's not perfect.



Next if turned my attention back to the tank supports. I drilled two holes for replacements made from Evergreen rod. Both the tank and rods are just dry fitted. Once I got the rod positions correct, I glued them in place, but not the tank, as it will be attached at the end of the build.



  there are two sets of anti sway straps which at molded only on the bottom half of the tank, and the upper straps are PE parts. I cut one out to test fit it, and naturally it popped out of the tweezers  and the carpet monster had his 1st snack of the session. So I decided to make them out of thin strips tank to fuselage for now. When I install the tank at the end of the build, I'm planning on cutting those straps in half, and with thin pieces of lead wire flatten each end and the middle to represent the tightening clamps.  But for now, this is where the tank is at.





I had already glued up the main wings, and didn't much care for the insert with the MGs, so once again I cut them off, making the process so much easier. I'll replace them with some spare Quckboost MGs I have in my spares box.  I've always had issues with the wing tip lenses, and this time was no different.  I drilled a hole in each tip, then painted each one the appropriate color, then the base silver. When dry I glued the lenses on with Extra Thin, then a coating of CCA Gel. I sanded and polished to a smooth finish which passed my finger nail test.



The engine cowling is made up of a right/left halves, and a cowling. The fit was pretty good, but not perfect. Most of the issues were from me. I ended up having to sand and polish all the seams, then re-scribe the seams. Hopefully they look ok. this picture was taken before the final sanding and polishing, so some sanding marks are visible. Eduard has a really nice PE grill which I CCA glued into place.



A good cleaning and washing with Iso Alcohol, and it's priming time. Since my Cat will be [painted as a well maintained operational aircraft, paint fading from weather, & water needs to be duplicated. So I opted for the Black Basing primer method to help with color modulation.

1st comes a flat black base coat applied unevenly with Mig Ammo Acrylic Black Primer.





then the mottled effect with Mig Ammo Acrylic Gray primer.







Thanks for stopping by and checking out my build to date, it's always much appreciated.

Joel

Hi Joel

Nice job! I'm a big fan of acrylic putties like that too for tasks where you risk damage by sanding. They are real life-savers at times.

Is the dust on the windows behind the headrest on the inside? If so, do you have a plan to tackle it? Maybe via the slot for the drop-tank?

All the best

Rowan

Rowan,
Yep, it's a ton of sanding dust. It does look a lot worse in the pictures then in real life where it's hardly noticeable. And I'm going to try and clean it out with a can of compressed air that I use to maintain my computer equipment through the tank hole as you suggested.

And thanks my friend for stopping by, it's much appreciated.

Joel

Nice attention to the details Joel . looking forward to seeing how the camo turns out .



Terri

Really great progress Joel, I didn't notice your new build and you're practically finished but it's good to see you back at Aeroscale.
Looking forward to seeing the fruits of your black basing technique again.
Have you decided which of the five schemes you're going to go with?

That mottling effect seems very promising. I look forward to see the end result.

Terri,

Thanks so much for stopping by, it's always much appreciated. So far the kit has been an absolute joy to build. boy did I miss 1/48 scale as 1/32 scale just wasn't what I was expecting.

Joel

Hey Paul,
Yeah I'm back, as I missed my friends and 1/48 scale. I'm taking the build at a slower pace, and enjoying it more. Only at the bench about 3 or 4 days per week, not the 4 or 5 I use to be at it.

I'm planning on doing the D scheme: Lt. alexander Vracu VF-6 USS. Intrepid Feb,1944.

Tomorrow I'm planning on masking and then starting the top side colors.

Joel

Drabslab,
thanks for stopping by, it's always appreciated.

I've done a few black basing paint schemes, and the results have far exceeded my expectations. the trick is how much to thin the paint and how may coats you apply really varies the fading effects. I've found that I've had to just walk away for a several hours to a day or so, so that the paint cured, and my eyes saw it in a different light. the little by little always seems to fool me. It's easy to add another layer or two, but impossible to remove one.

Here's my 1/32 scale Scooter. the black basing is a secondary to the weathering and staining, but it's there if you look close enough. Up close and personal it really shows up.



in this shot it shows up much better



And here's Trumpeter's 1/32 scale F4F-3 Wildcat. the random blotchy effect does indeed show up nicely.




Joel

Nice work thus far Joel! I hate rescribing across the fuselage top and bottom as well. It looks like you got your panel lines darn good, I always manage to mess up one or two and have to putty and redo. The scratch building of the drop tank looks real good. Finally, the black basing technique looks like it will turn out very nice on this build. I went back and forth on the Dauntless I am building in the PTO campaign, and opted not to black base. I'm going to try to use some fading and shadowing on the base coat, much like how I paint the faces of my figures, and see how that method works out.

Ernest

Ernest,
this was the 1st time that I actually succeeded in scribing with only one error! I was amazed. The trick for me was using various methods and tools for different parts of the fuselage. For the spine I used an Micro Ultra saw blade and rolled it lightly from side to side following a triple layer of masking tape. then I cleaned up the recessed line with my UMM-USA #1 scriber with the flat blade.

As for paint fading for a few years I've used the base color with some white and worked just the centers of the panels. I don't have your figure painting skills which should serve you very well.

I really must stop by the PTO campaign and check it out.

Joel

Hi Joel, I'm not sure how good my figure painting skills are, but I am going to apply some of the techniques I use and see how it looks on an aircraft. By the way, your "Scooter" looks fantastic!

Ernest

Yep, that is more than true, I must try that black base system myself :-)