Airfix 1/24 F6F-5 Hellcat - Love this kit despite its challenges

[NoAirbrushDave]

Just finished this big bird.  In this scale there's a lot of room to add fun, additional details, such as the ground handling tag and arming wire (held on with a Fahnestock clip) on the bomb fuses, electric connections to the gun solenoids, the oil tank cap chain (Image 7746) and the pilot's oxygen hose (5932).  Disappointingly, no decal for the Pratt & Whitney eagle logo on the engine nose was provided so, although I could have ordered one, I freehanded it with a one hair brush (7770).  I had planned on an overall wash to diminish the haze from the weathering putty, which is inappropriate for a carrier plane, but I ended up just liking the look even though this kind of dirt would be more typical of a Corsair stationed on Vella Lavella.  I solved the challenge of painting the un-maskable yellow stripes on the tapered parts of the bombs by putting together a kind of mini lathe to spin them with a small motor and just touch the brush on - instant straight line.  Like I said:  fun.

[FullArmor]

This is STUNNING! Literally. I had to stare this few minutes to get words🤯.

Lots of detail. And like those added wires and pipes...which are all different...and look realistic.

But man i like your weathering style!👍 Some would say "a little too much"...but no...not me...this is best i have seen! Good work.

This almost gets me building planes instead of building tanks...almost...

[NoAirbrushDave]

Thanks a lot, Full.  Tanks models are great.  I did the drivable, motorized Tiger when I was 14 - some 50 years ago.

[Martinnfb]

Absolutely fantastic, thank you for sharing Dave, Welcome to the forum. 

Cheers

Martin

[KevinM]

Nice one Dave the belts look like the real mccoy as does everything else.

[NoAirbrushDave]

The seat belts are made from common blue painters masking tape, painted tan.  It's flexible, has a nice texture and sticks to itself after being fed through a buckle.  The paper belts that came with the Airscale seat belt upgrade kit were not usable at all, but the photo-etched metal parts were good, including the stitching tool.  I made one of the belts hang down to the floor, and probably should've had others do the same.  No one crosses them on the seat before getting out of the plane, except airline cleaning crews.

[DocRob]

Fantastic build, paintjob and weathering, Dave. Welcome to LSM, where you clearly fit, building this clearly Large scale kit. I especially like the coherent weathering, which looks very plausible.

Cheers Rob 

[NoAirbrushDave]

Thanks, Rob.  MrWeatheringPaste 'White Mud' is magic.  Brings out all the rivets and panel lines, giving much more interest to otherwise plain surfaces like wings.  As I mentioned in my remarks, this kind of treatment is not right at all for a carrier plane and I had every intention of washing over it to dim the effect way down, but ....couldn't bring myself to do it.  Speaking of paint job, I have never used or even owned an airbrush, as my handle suggests.  I think it makes models look exactly like models, and not shrunken down artifacts of history.  I'm a huge fan of Ian Toll's pacific war trilogy.  One of the best books ever written - on any subject.  Recommend.

[NoAirbrushDave]

It took some fiddling with the magnetos, but I got the engine started.

[KevinM]

23 hours ago, NoAirbrushDave said:

It took some fiddling with the magnetos, but I got the engine started.

Nice!