Academy 1/72 Hellcat FAA

Lost_Erik
Fun kit 👍

Gareth Windsor
Yes Erik. I bought this kit in the early 90's. I now have a 1:48 Hobby Boss and the 1:24 Airfix in the stash, so I thought I would start here.

Andy Ball
great kit!, hope you enjoy as much as I did!

Gareth Windsor
Yes Andy, kind of glad I didn't build it when I got it back in the early 90's.

Gareth Windsor
The primer went on last night. I've not used the light grey primer in a while and it has some harder bits in it, so the whole thing will need a bit of a rub down. As always it has also highlighted some flaws in my filling. Oh well.

David H
Count me in and following 👀

Mark
Nice work Gareth

Gareth Windsor
Ok, so I had posted a comment about the paint colour. It was a true story, just not this aircraft. I masked up and painted the white markings tonight. I used my new airbrush from Topnotch (company based in the UK) and wow what a difference from my old eBay brushes!

Gareth Windsor
Main colour down. Next step is to mix some white into the main colour and fade some of the top panels and aircraft skin. I don't want this too heavily weathered as the real aircraft wasn't.

Bas Tonn
Great to see the historical pictures !!

Gareth Windsor
Gloss coated and first decals on. Using decals from the old Airfix kit and then the stencil markings from the Academy kit.

Rui
Looks great so far!

Andy Ball
Those rockets, though….

Gareth Windsor
Thanks guys. Yes Andy, I was in two minds about the rockets. This Hellcat has been pictured with the US "Zero Zero" rockets, but the British had modified their Hellcats to carry a different launching system with 4 rails under each wing. I'm up for a challenge, so I've cleaned them up (moulding wasn't great) and drilled the back out and supper glued the wire in. I think they will look good once they are on.

Gareth Windsor
Oil panel wash done. It needs a few days to dry properly and then I can hit it with the flat coat. Then it's the pigment and oils for stains and weathering before final assembly.

Andy Ball
And onto finals, like it!…

Gareth Windsor
I'll get some better pictures later, but I think she's done.

Mark
Super build

Neuling
Very well done, beautiful colors!

Bohrmann
Very nice build. May I ask how you did the engine smoke on fuselage ? Freehand airbrush ?

Gareth Windsor
Thank guys. @Bhrmann, I used Revell pigment powders free hand. I started with the sand colour first, then dark brown and finally a little black.

Gareth Windsor
Calling it done. Fun little build for sure. First time using the EZ line for the aerial and very happy with that. Colour conversion for Humbrol 15 to Vallejo's Midnight Blue I'm not too sure about. Perhaps if I had completely black based the model it would have been more accurate, but still happy with it.

Andy Ball
If you're happy, we're all happy! Great build!

Gareth Windsor
Thank's Andy. I think I have my mojo back, so it's time to finish my Sea Fang and FG.1 to clear my bench.

Lost_Erik
Groovy 😉

Rui
Very nice. Initially I thought the blue was too bright, but now I see the end result and realize I have a lot to learn. Easily one of my favourite build this year! Bravo! 👍

Gareth Windsor
Thank you. Yes Rui Da Silva, I initially had my doubts about the paint, I don't think the lighting around the work bench helped. The filters and matt varnish really brought the right tone.