Hobbyboss 1/48 F8F-2 Bearcat

[aur0ra145]

Howdy all!

I decided on a 1/48 F8F-2 Bearcat for my first entry into the GB. The Bearcat was the last of the Grumman piston-engine cats to ever be produced. Even though orders were filled before then end of WWII it never saw combat service in that war. Today, modified Bearcats are popular with air racing venues.

The kit itself looks to be of good quality, with recessed panel lines and good exterior detail.

I haven't really got a game plan going into this build yet. It'll be painted a Dark Blue color with a semi-gloss top coat. However, I'm going to keep an eye out for after market decal options. There is a possibility of having the wings folded; but, the kit would require cutting jagged lines down the wings to achieve that effect.

[aur0ra145]

Got some of the bits primed in Ultimate black. Small bits went well. However, the dark blue over the black makes the blue parts looks black. Like terribly difficult to discern that they're not black. Soooooooooooooooooooooo, it's either gray or white primer. Haven't decided which yet. Probably gray. OR, I could black base and do a bunch of highlighting. But at that point it may be easier to just pre-shade the gray.

I'm also not too crazy about the color callouts so far. It wants a yellow zinc chromate for the wheel wells and gear doors. However, when I saw the F8F at the museum it was all dark blue. Which, could have been an issue with ease of restoration. Modern day photos of flying aircraft have a white/gray color (which is the current aviation standard as zinc chromate is highly toxic and a carcinogen) and a few have green zinc colorations (probably not the toxic kind, but just painted that color.) I think I may just leave the yellow zinc color and have it as a conversation piece about the build.

[aur0ra145]

Got the prop painted, needs a few touch ups. Then decals.

[aur0ra145]

Few more bits done. Fuselage put together. It went together, eh. Also, I snapped off the tailwheel on accident when trying to get the fuselage together. Sooooo, that'll be fun to deal with later.

You can see the extra dark blue color with the black primer. I think I've decided on gray at this point. Yellow pieces can be seen here too.

[Tomcat64]

That's coming along quickly - I love that deep blue colour on the Pacific theatre aircraft.

[aur0ra145]

Trying something new. These are the paints I've used thus far. Instead of listing it all off, this will help me later determine what all I used for a build. I usually do this in the albums I make on Imgur; but, it can get clunky as for which stage of the build what was used.

[aur0ra145]

So, there are gaps on the horizontal stabs that needed to be filled....

I elected to use my Vallejo acrylic based filler because I hate the Tamiya smell (and last model it just sort of shed after painting .) So, the needle tip was clogged. I tried to use a needle to clear it. Thought I'd gotten it all out and attempted to squeeze out the filler. Well. I squeezed too hard. I heard a "POP" and then heard the sound of wet globs landing. Yup, the tube burst out the back. It had gotten on my shirt, my jeans, my chair and my hair... Wonderful. Amazingly, it missed my bench, phone, laptop, floor and model. So I guess it's not all bad.

What I've learned:

1. Don't force filler out of the tube.
2. Vallejo acrylic filler mostly cleans up with water.
3. Don't wear nice shirts when modeling or wear an apron.
4. Vallejo acrylic filler tubes are filled by the bottom, then it's folded over a few times and NOT secured by stamping/glueing.
5. When squeezing a rather difficult tube, apply pressure to the folded up end and not in the middle of the tube.
6. Always have paper towels and a paper plate within reach when modeling.

After getting that cleaned up I filled the stabs with the filler. I just took some of the globs and applied it. Other spots that needed filling I used CA glue. Got the canopy masked with Montex masks. I prefer the Eduard; but, they weren't available for this model. The canopy itself is really nice and thick which I'm a fan of. However, there is a seam line in the middle of it which doesn't seem correct and the aft canopy bow is not accounted for in the Montex masks.

Got everything primed that needs it and gloss coated the prop for decals.




Damaged tail wheel mount.

[aur0ra145]

The decals for the prop are incorrect. It has 4 of the diamond manufacturer things; however, it doesn't have all the stencils for information stuff. But, I do have some extra decals from a B-25 that I'll use instead.

[aur0ra145]

On second thought. My own source pictures don't show yellow stenciling on the prop. So there's that.

Got the body painted. Did a few details and painted tip of vert stab red. Currently waiting for Aqua Gloss to dry before decals.

[DrSprue]

Love the color!

[aur0ra145]

Starting on the decals. It's coming along nicely. Should be finished by the end of the weekend.

[papatika]

Looking great so far!
Keep up the good work!

Attila

[Tomcat64]

Yep that's looking great!

[aur0ra145]

It's done! (Well, as done as I'm going to be with it. May revisit sometime down the road.) Zero weathering done on this one. These planes weren't in service for long so why would they be dirty?!

The MM Dark Sea Blue is a very good color for this. I'm very pleased!

[DrSprue]

Man thats cool!!

[pourquoi61]

Very nice indeed.
Love it.

[papatika]

I love it! Great job dude!