Airfix A19004 Grumman F6-F5 Hellcat

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Obviously, the Hellcat’s naval aviation heritage allowed for some distinctive build options to be included in the new kit, as well as having wide international appeal for an aircraft type which saw service with the US Navy, US Marine Corps, Fleet Air Arm and French Navy. Antenna base extension and insulator was made from wire insulation, while side connection to fuselage is a 90 degree ANYZ connector that was drilled out and attached with a pin.

The test frames arrive at our Head Office in a large, rather nondescript cardboard box and not as you might imagine, individually boxed like a normal kit release. but, they most certainly spray well straight out of the bottle (used the MRP for the underside and green top side). So I tried a trick that the WWI boys use of painting in a lighter colour than the base colour then sticking thin 1mm strips of masking tape over the ribs then spraying with the base colour. This is very hard to photograph because it looks too clean under bright lights against a dark background, so you’ll have to take my work for it that it’s a lot dirtier than it looks. I so thoroughly enjoyed this build that I took my 24th Mossie down from the shelf of doom (after resting there for close on 8 years) and have cleaned it using the garden hose to remove various spider nests.Only after this work has been done, can he consider applying additional detail, embarking on many more months of painstaking computer work. First a fun one, to show how big this model is with its 21” wingspan and 17” fuselage, which was hard to photograph in its entirety within my fairly big 26” photo booth I only use for final pics. So, these are the recipes I used based on some really fine colour photos of various FAA aircraft from WWII.

Continuing the Hellcat exclusives theme of this latest blog and courtesy of Paramjit’s modelling talents, we are pleased to bring you a selection of these fantastic build images now. Paramjit’s first Hellcat build was intended to show many of the design features incorporated in the new model, including much of the internal detail which is available for display by the modeller, should this be required.in terms of preshading, my observation has been that the camera doesn't pick up the contrast real well. Load of clear carrier film around the number 2 and I had to separate them to get the "wonkiness" They split too but as I didn't have to get them exactly square, it was workable.