BobM's 1/48 Eduard F6F-5 Hellcat ProfiPACK Build

[BobM]

For this build I've chosen the Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat for my subject:


F6F-5's on the USS Franklin by Central Repository for Aviation Photos, on Flickr

America's "barroom brawler", the F6F, was developed as a successor to the earlier F4F Wildcat and as insurance in case the development of the F4U Corsair was unsuccessful. Ultimately the F4U had difficulties with carrier landings and was primarily deployed at USMC land bases while the F6F became the US Navy's dominant carrier-based fighter. With a kill to loss ratio of 5,156 to 270 it accounted for over half of the USN and USMC victories in the second half of the Pacific War.

For my build I'll be depicting Hellcat White 99, "Hanger Lilly", as piloted by Lieutenant Commander T. Hugh Winters, Jr. CO of Fighting Squadron Nineteen operating from the USS Lexington in late 1944. During this time Winters had 8 confirmed kills plus 1 unconfirmed. He also directed the aerial attacks leading to the sinking of 3 Japanese carriers. Winters retired from active duty in 1961 having obtained the rank of Captain. More can be learned of Capt. Winters and VF-19 by reading his book, "Skipper, Confessions of a Fighter Squadron Commander 1943-1944," (1985, Champlin Fighter Musem Press). (Full disclosure, I have not read his book.)



Of course a quick Google search will uncover many more complete references and photos of the F6F; here are a few:

Grumman F6F Hellcat - Wikipedia
F6F-5 Hellcat - WarThunder-Wiki
F6F-5 Hellcat | National Naval Aviation Museum

Oh, and if you have about 20 minutes and want to learn how to fly one, watch this:
[youtube]J5OPBxJm5fg[/youtube]

Not being a pilot or having seen anything like this before, I have a whole new respect for these guys...

Up next, a quick introduction to the kit, Eduard's 1:48 F6F-5 Hellcat LATE ProfiPACK edition #8224.

[BobM]

As the title of the thread and my first post state, I'll be building Eduard's 1:48 F6F-5 Hellcat LATE ProfiPACK edition:



More information about the kit, including links to the instruction sheet, kit variants and links to most reviews, can be found on its Scalemates page.

I settled on this kit using my standard method. First, upon the announcement of this GB, I knew I had to find a kit and join in. Next I searched for appropriate kits of subjects that fit the spirit of the GB. These kits need to be readily available and at an affordable price. Preferably there will be something about the kit to challenge me. I'm currently tending to say in the 1:48 WWII aircraft genre, but I think I'll be expanding that soon. Next I narrow the list, check reviews and make a final selection.

The factors that led me to this kit were: 1-I've been wanting to build an Eduard Kit, 2-I've been wanting to try photo etch, 3-I've been wanting to try resin parts, 4-I've been wanting to try precut canopy masks, 5-Hellcat fits the GB theme, and 6-Hellcat is a bad ass name and, apparently, a bad ass aircraft! This kit hit all points.

Here is what is in the box:


In the photo you should be able to pick out:

• 2 bags of colored sprues (one contains 2 large gray sprues and 1 small gray sprue; the other contains two medium sized sprues, one grey, one a khaki color, and also a very small grey sprue with what looks like the cowling, maybe for this version of the F6F).
• 1 bag with the clear sprue
• 1 small bag of photo etch with two "sprues", one unpainted, the other painted for the cockpit panels, seatbelts, etc.
• 1 small bag with the resin wheels
• 1 bag of decals with 1 large and 1 small decal sheets
• 1 bag with canopy and wheel masks
• 16 page instruction booklet

The sprues look real clean with nice detail; this kit is based on the 2008 new tool of the F6F-3 with new parts, presumably the cowling mentioned above. The instructions look well laid out and easy to follow; although with the photo etch it will hit my goal of adding a new challenge to my modeling skills.

When starting a kit that includes a variety of marking and paint schemes I like to select the version I will do before starting assembly. As usual, I have no knowledge of the history that is included in the box, so I usually pick the scheme that is the most "pleasing" to me; a highly subjective decision. Well, in this case, to be honest, all of the paint schemes are pretty boring, overall gloss sea blue. OK, some of the marking make some stand out a bit more than others. So which one caught my attention? The most boring! White 99. Why? Well, let's just say I'm a big LA Kings hockey fan; I'm sure all my Canadian friends will get that. If you don't, just type "hockey #99" into Google and hopefully you'll understand. Kinda lame, I know, but it helped make a decision.

Well, that's all I've got on the kit. It's a long weekend here in the states so I hope to get some bench time in later today and/or tomorrow so I can get started on the cockpit.

[Twokidsnosleep]

I am pulling up a chair right up front

[BobM]

I am pulling up a chair right up front

Glad to have you aboard Scott!

[BobM]

Update 1 - Building the Cockpit

Got a start on the cockpit over the long weekend. The kit comes with lots of PE detail, so the first step was to remove some of the molded detail and do some minor assembly before priming and painting.



I didn't assemble much of the cockpit since to would probably have made painting and adding PE difficult. This was primed with Stynylrez Black and painted with Tamiya XF-72 Cockpit Green.



Before adding PE I did a little bit of detail painting; of course the PE will add a lot more detail.



Then it was on to the PE. This was my first attempt, and maybe my last! The "big" pieces aren't too bad, but there was one piece I couldn't discern from an off cut sliver! I almost gave up on that one, but eventually got it "in place" (or at least somewhere near where the instructions point to). After what I think was a couple of hours I had completed the instrument panel and one seatbelt. Just one more seatbelt, the harness and the two sides of the cockpit to go! Here's the instrument panel; looks good but I need a day or two to rest before tackling any more!



It's a shame, most of this will probably end up hidden; why do I do this to myself.

Next up, finishing the cockpit PE and weathering it.

Thanks for tuning in!

[Twokidsnosleep]

Uh, yeah holy cow you are quick!!!
Motoring right along with cockpit and such. I am so much slower of a builder. You look like you just get on it and go.
I really like how systematic you are in decision making for kit choice.

#99 was LeMieux, right???
Best darn captain the Penguins ever had and a pretty good owner as well
I don't think he ever played for the Kings Do they even have a hockey team still???

[BobM]

Uh, yeah holy cow you are quick!!!
Motoring right along with cockpit and such. I am so much slower of a builder. You look like you just get on it and go.
I really like how systematic you are in decision making for kit choice.

I'm not sure if that's a gift or a curse! I have no patience and tend to work on one kit at a time, so at anytime things look like they go fast. A long, lazy, hot weekend helped.

#99 was LeMieux, right???
Best darn captain the Penguins ever had and a pretty good owner as well
I don't think he ever played for the Kings Do they even have a hockey team still???

He only wore 99 when he was knocked ass over tea kettle! Just the second greatest player of all time!

"We" had a couple of good years, will be interesting to see if they can get it back together this year. Somebody needs to knock those frozen birds down a few notches...

We have season seats, so that will cut into bench time starting in a few weeks.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Ha ha, good response
A over T was one of my mom's favourite sayings

My Canucks have been soooo bad since 2011 when they should have had the Cup...curse you Betman
I don't like Canuck ownership and management, so don't attend too many games...only freebies
We are busy enough with my son's hockey

[BobM]

Ha ha, good response
A over T was one of my mom's favourite sayings

My Canucks have been soooo bad since 2011 when they should have had the Cup...curse you Betman
I don't like Canuck ownership and management, so don't attend too many games...only freebies
We are busy enough with my son's hockey

I was gonna ask if you were near Vancouver. At the last All-Star game we won Sheraton rewards points and turned them into three free nights in Vancouver when the Kings were in town. Added a fourth night which was cheaper than flying back a day earlier! Had a great time. Really friendly folks there. Made me feel kinda bad about how we treat visiting Canuck fans, well, only a little.

[gaz45]

Very nice work so far mate

[Tomcat64]

The detail in the cockpit looks great Bob - well worth the effort of getting the PE to behave.

[DrSprue]

OOO It looks great so far Bob, mind if I join in to watch!

The cockpit looks really nice!

Was just looking at DCS Aviators videos last night watching all the Hellcats on the USS Enterprise going after the zero's!! man was that cool! Love that bird!

USS Enterprise Hammer's the Enemy -

If you havnt watched it, they got a cool playlist of Japan vs USA too!

[BobM]

Thanks for the kind words Gaz, Neil and Doc!

Now on to...

Update 2 - More PE

After the last update, I thought I had a little PE left to do... Well, it is little, which makes it take like 5 hours!

For those that might stumble on to this and haven't yet tried 1:48 scale PE, here's an example:



There are 6 pieces of PE here. Two are hard to see as they sit on top of that "console"; they are facing away. The most visible of the two is that small black bump sticking up which is one piece bent into a wedge shape. The black throttle, etc. controls are two more pieces one folded and CA glued to the other. There are still three control levers to add to that assembly!

But after something like 5 hours and a little detail painting, you end up with this:



The next step is to add some weathering. I want to keep it kind of light, so first was a good coat of Pledge Floor Shine (aka Future, aka Klear). After setting over night I hit it with Tamiya Black Panel Line Accent and some custom oil washes:



Agh! A piece of PE lost it's paint! You can see the little red piece on the back of the seat just to the left of harness. Hmm. I'll have to do something about that.

As for the cockpit, I think a coat of XF-86 Flat Clear is next, then maybe some Pledge in the dials. After that I can install it and close up the fuselage, never to be seen again...

In the meantime, while things were drying, I got a start on the wings and engine:



Nothing major here. Well there has been a bit of flash and some registration issues between sone of the mold halves, but nothing a little filing and sanding can't clean up.

Here is a photo of some of the detail on the wings...



'Til next time...

[BobM]

Update 3 - Cockpit Complete!

I'm so excited! After many hours of work, the cockpit is finally ready to install. As I said in the last post, the only thing left was a coat of XF-86 Flat Clear and Pledge on the dials. Well, the Pledge didn't work out so well. Sure, the dials were shiny compared to the rest of the instrument panel. But it dried so thin that even after several applications, you could still see the raised detail. So it did't look much like glass.

At this point I remembered reading somewhere that someone had been using clear UV activated glue for this. I just happen to have some; that works great! Just put some in a small cup, pick up a "dab" with a toothpick, "dab" it in the dial and activate with the UV light! Oh, just don't set your small cup in the lovely sun streaming in from the window next to your bench... You only get one dip before it cures!

Here are some photos of the final product. The best shot of some of the dials is probably the last one.













I'm kinda proud of this, can you tell?

[DrSprue]

Man that is really nice Bob. Working on mine ATM as well. A bit smaller than yours. This one your showing is really cool with great paintwork around it and the seat belts looks spot on, great idea with the UV glue as well!

[Tomcat64]

I'm kinda proud of this, can you tell?

I should hope you are! That's absolutely stunning work

[Twokidsnosleep]

Spectacular cockpit...good photography set ups as well

[gaz45]

Awesome work on the cockpit mate

[BobM]

Thanks Doc, Neil, Scott and Gaz! Much appreciated.

And Scott, thanks for noticing the photos. I've been working on improving that area; it looks like it might be paying off!

Progress has benn slow on the build, life getting in the way... The most recent is needing to get an EV charging station installed in the garage for my wife's new EV. That has turn in to cleaning up, and now reorganizing and rearranging, the garage. Hopefully it won't take more than two weekends...

[BobM]

Update 4 - Random Progress

Progress has been slower than I would like; one big cause was the tragedy in Vegas (see my Space SIG posts to see why). The other is the start of hockey season! But none the less, I've made progress.

The fuselage went together fairly well. A few seam line repairs and filling some small gaps in the wing roots was all that was needed. For the seam lines I mainly used sprue goo; for the wing roots I used thinned down Perfect Plastic Putty. With care the sprue goo makes the seam lines completely disappear; the hard part is that some small details (panel lines and rivets) can be lost. I recovered what I could with a Tamiya razor saw, a Trumpeter scribe and a needle for some of the rivets. Some of the detail on the bottom of the fuselage was just too fine, so it was lost; but not noticeable. PPP is great for the wing roots since it dries fast and any excess can easily be removed with a damp cotton bud even after it dries. It also comes out of panel lines and rivets really easily.

Here is the fuselage together before any "body work":


While sprue goo was drying and between sanding sessions, I worked on the engine. The gray is Stynylrez gray primer, the aluminum is Vallejo Metal Color Dull Aluminum. Some details, including the PE wiring harness, are painted black with Tamiya XF-1. After paint I applied a coat of Pledge Floor Finish followed by some weathering with Tamiya Black Panel Line Accent. All painting and weathering was done before assembly. Here is the completed engine:



When I was happy with the body work, everything got a coat of Stynylrez black primer. A stealth Hellcat?



Of course with the primer on, all the small defects in body work show up. There were just a few small ones that I fixed mostly with medium thick CA glue. That was the first I had tried that and it worked great. I then spot primed those areas and it was time for paint!

OK, the paint scheme for this version of the Hellcat is, on paper, the simplest you can imagine; all over Navy/Sea Blue. Well, I think this turned into my most difficult paint job to date; I've spent nearly all day (about 5 hours) on it. The problem was getting the color correct. The instructions call for Mr. Hobby H54 or Mr. Color C14 Navy Blue. Well, I'm a Tamiya guy so when I ordered the kit I used the iModelKit iPhone app to get the closest match; it suggested Tamiya XF-17 Sea Blue. WRONG! Sea Blue is more like Sea Green! But I went with it thinking that in the end it would be OK. I worked diligently trying some black basing techniques using fine mottling with the base color; which wasn't that much different from Stynylrez black. Then I lightened it slightly with XF-2 White and blended/mottled some more. Then a little more white for some post shading, trying to keep to the center of the panels. The technique was working great, but the color just got greener and greener. That's OK I thought, have faith; maybe a coat of Pledge will even it out, darken it and then the decals will go on just fine. Nope, WRONG again! The Pledge really made the green pop! I'm not sure if the picture does it "justice", but in person it was green!



So it was back to the drawing board and time for some hand color mixing. Basically I took what I had, added some XF-1 Black to get it darker again and XF-8 Flat Blue to get it, well blue! I kept experimenting on the cowling until I felt I had blue. Then I just over painted what I had, very lightly. After one coat I added a little white for some post shading, then a little more for some more variation. I followed this with Pledge and guess what... It's blue!



I'm not sure this is the "right" color, but it's my "right" color. The cover art shows a very blue blue, the instruction show a very black blue; mine is somewhere between. It is certainly better than the prior picture.

This will get a couple of days to completely cure, then I'll start on decals.

Thanks for following!
Bob

[Tomcat64]

Great to see you back at the bench Bob.

Nice work and perseverance in getting that Blue sorted out too

[BobM]

Great to see you back at the bench Bob.

Nice work and perseverance in getting that Blue sorted out too

Thanks Neil.

Still finding it hard to make time to hit the bench. Much of it due to pleasure (hockey), but this work thing has to go!!

But, between games this weekend, I did squeeze in some time. So...

Update 5 - Decals, Details and Rework

Most of the benchtime I did manage was dedicated to decals and stencils. As I stated in the last post I had applied a coat of Pledge And let it sit for a couple of days. If you saw my post on the “What did the postman deliver...” thread, you would have seen the Derwent Waterbrushes I bought for applying Micro-Set and Micro-Sol. As Paul and others have said, they work great! I even forgot to put them away and left them open, laying on the bench for over a day; no harm, no foul.

The main issue was that the Micro-Sol picked up some of the paint color onto the brush. I’m not sure if I didn’t apply enough Pledge or if it just didn’t stand up to the Micro-Sol. No damage from that, but... I left a puddle on a spot for too long and that made a bit of a mess, haven’t decide how to clean it up, but I don’t think it will be bad.

I’m about 90% done with the decals, I need to get back in the right frame of mind in order to finish. But, it’s looking more like a Hellcat all the time:


Earlier this evening I got a little time and was able to tackle two projects.

First, I used the included wheel masks to finish painting the resin wheels. They had been primed with Stynylrez black and painted with Tamiya XF-85 Rubber Black. I then masked the tires so the rims could be painted. There is no callout for the color of the rims, so I chose Vallejo Metal Color Dark Aluminum; love that stuff.


Finally, inspired by Scott, I stripped and started repainting the prop. For my first attempt I had primed with black, the masked for the tips which I re-primed with white and then painted yellow. Well, the paint ended up too thick and I removed the tape too soon, leaving an awful line between the black and yellow.

This time I primed just the tips with white and painted that with Tamiya XF-3 Flat Yellow.


After this dries, I’ll mask the tips and paint/prime with Stynylrez Black. Any “tips” on getting the “tips” even and square?

The hub will need a metallic color which I’ll brush paint, not sure what color I’ll use for that. Then I’ll coat with AquaGloss as it will need a few decals and I can see if that works better.

That’s it for now. I hope to get some work in before the weekend when we head out for a week of vacation.

[TommyKillander]

Excellent work, I think the colour look perfect - I would say "my right" too

Thanks for the headsup with the XF-17, much appreciated!

Keep up the good work, buddy!


Tommy

[BobM]

Excellent work, I think the colour look perfect - I would say "my right" too

Thanks for the headsup with the XF-17, much appreciated!

Keep up the good work, buddy!


Tommy

Thanks. I’m still not sure what went on with the color. I just did some more searches and many things point to XF-17. Maybe I got a bad batch? Maybe attempting to fade it with white turned it green? Maybe I mixed in a bunch of green?

I guess the moral of the story is to test your colors before painting!!

[sheppsea]

Fantastic work so far

[Tomcat64]

Great work Bob - that's definitely the right shape and colour

[pourquoi61]

Wow only had one outing with PE,not going there again.
Looking brilliant.

[BobM]

Great work Bob - that's definitely the right shape and colour

Wow only had one outing with PE,not going there again.
Looking brilliant.

Fantastic work so far

Thanks guys! Having a little trouble getting back to it. Lack time. Lack of energy. Other interests. I hope to make progress this weekend.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Great work Bob - that's definitely the right shape and colour

Wow only had one outing with PE,not going there again.
Looking brilliant.

Fantastic work so far

Thanks guys! Having a little trouble getting back to it. Lack time. Lack of energy. Other interests. I hope to make progress this weekend.

Seems lots of guys are having the same mojo bite...lots of work, no time, big model show to go to
It will be there when you are ready for it

[bfrd]

Great work. I love the way the color turned out! Correct or not, it looks perfect to me! I think my stash needs a Hellcat now!

[DrSprue]

The body, wheels, prop!! Just amazing!

[BobM]

The body, wheels, prop!! Just amazing!

Great work. I love the way the color turned out! Correct or not, it looks perfect to me! I think my stash needs a Hellcat now!

More thanks guys!

Finally getting some time in on this and I'm on the finishing stretch, so here's...

Update 6 - Decals Done, Final Assembly Started

I think one of the things that kept me from getting back to this (beside vacation and a lingering cold) was the thought of finishing the remaining decals/stencils. There weren't many left but all were the small "No Step", "Push", "Guns", etc. type decals; they are just a pain. I don't know how some of you do these kits that have hundreds of them... So the other night I sat down and pushed through them; turned out to go fast and wasn't as bad as anticipated.

Then it was time to start some of the final assembly. First was to mount the engine with a little CA glue. When I fit the cowling afterward, I noticed that my first attempt was a bit crooked, pointed way too high. Fortunately it "snapped" right off and I was much more careful with the second attempt.



Then a little more CA glue and the cowling was on. I temporarily fitted the freshly painted prop to check alignment. The prop is painted with Ultimate black, is there any other black? I'll leave this and just add clear coats and decals to finish it.



And a little better angle where you can get a peek into the engine; more hard work buried inside!



After that, landing gear; now it can stand on it's own! This photo is also after a good coat of AquaGloss; this looks like just the right sheen for one of these. I'm liking it without any additional weathering; the subtle variation I have in the paint are enough for me.



Finally here is the finished prop with decals and a coat of AquaGloss.



The only things left are to unmask the cockpit, fit the canopy and add a few clear/colored lenses for the various lights. The final reveal should be coming soon!

Thanks for "tuning in"!

[SkyPainter303]

Looking great! It's a bit more detailed than my 1/72 kits.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Awesome all around
Love the prop paint

[sheppsea]

I think one of the things that kept me from getting back to this (beside vacation and a lingering cold) was the thought of finishing the remaining decals/stencils. There weren't many left but all were the small "No Step", "Push", "Guns", etc. type decals; they are just a pain. I don't know how some of you do these kits that have hundreds of them... So the other night I sat down and pushed through them; turned out to go fast and wasn't as bad as anticipated.

I saw this video a few months ago on how to deal with those small decals and tried if on my last build and must admit found it a lot easier

[Tomcat64]

Great work Bob - that's looking very tidy!

[BobM]

[

Looking great! It's a bit more detailed than my 1/72 kits.

Awesome all around
Love the prop paint

I saw this video a few months ago on how to deal with those small decals and tried if on my last build and must admit found it a lot easier

Great work Bob - that's looking very tidy!

Thanks, thanks, thanks and thanks! Always great to here from you guys.

Sheppsea, apparently I watched that video some time ago, but completely forgot about it... I guess that's why there is always a next time!

OK, this is....

Final Update - Declaring Victory!

When I left off the biggest remaining tasks were the various lights and the canopy. I applied the windscreen with PVA glue and the rear portion open with UV activated glue. The lights were painted with Tamiya Clear Red, Green and Yellow as needed and dropped into place with PVA glue. There are two tiny lights that run along the "spine" and they were a real challenge to get it. I ended up drilling them out ever so slightly to finally get them in. Oh, before installing them, I painted the inside with some Vallejo Model Color Silver; that helps keep them a bit brighter.

That's about it, I'll leave you with a shot of the completed model; if you can find it in the bench debris that is typical at this stage of the build.



I'll add one more post with the link to the reveal when that is ready; should be shortly as I already have the pics!

Thanks for all the interest and comments!

[BobM]

And the reveal thread is up!

Thanks again!!

[Twokidsnosleep]

Looks good Bob looking forward to the reveal
Sorry about the heartbreak the other night...Canucks didn't give up for a change!!!!!
Hee Hee Hee

[BobM]

Looks good Bob looking forward to the reveal
Sorry about the heartbreak the other night...Canucks didn't give up for a change!!!!!
Hee Hee Hee

Yeah, that was ugly. Ten great minutes then Kings took the night off and Canucks decided to play. Weathered the 2nd period storm then a couple of bad bounces. Kings couldn't mount another 3rd period comeback. Oh well, 3 more chances to come...

[Twokidsnosleep]

Looks good Bob looking forward to the reveal
Sorry about the heartbreak the other night...Canucks didn't give up for a change!!!!!
Hee Hee Hee

Yeah, that was ugly. Ten great minutes then Kings took the night off and Canucks decided to play. Weathered the 2nd period storm then a couple of bad bounces. Kings couldn't mount another 3rd period comeback. Oh well, 3 more chances to come...

I have to get my ribbings in while I can...Kings have started strong and will have a good season. Canucks are up and down and young but improving.
My boy is 6W-1L so far and has replaced the other guy twice and in one helped spur a come from behind win
Hockey has been a fun, positive experience so far this season for him for the first time in a long time....really ever

[BobM]

I have to get my ribbings in while I can...Kings have started strong and will have a good season. Canucks are up and down and young but improving.
My boy is 6W-1L so far and has replaced the other guy twice and in one helped spur a come from behind win
Hockey has been a fun, positive experience so far this season for him for the first time in a long time....really ever

You appear to have more confidence in the Kings than I.

Good luck to your son. Hopefully he continues his winning ways; or at least continues to have fun!!