Eduard 1:48 Hellcat Mk.I

[Joesdad]

My little entry for the D Day GB (cutting it fine I know).



This is what I'm aiming for, if it looks anything like I'm happy..



This is actually the Mk.I/Mk.II Dual Combo ProfiPack edition, so you get two lots of stuff in the box. Experienced guys will know this, but anyone who doesn't, you get loads loveliness all spilling out of the box..



You know what's coming...



Fantastic detail in a darkish grey, hardish plastic..



An excellent prop, always a good sign..



A bit more of that detail...





Good engine, well..good enough for me..



Clear gear..



Now then... Extras...
How about resin wheels..



Photo-etch..



More photo-etch



Decs..



The D Day experience of the Hellcat wasn't that long, but they were there but we'll come to that later..
Not sure wether to use all that cockpit PE as the detail is really lovely, seems a shame to fiddle around when what's actullay moulded is as good as it is. If I can't match up the colour, I'll proberly kinda mix and match. This is my first Eduard kit, so I hope it's as good as you lot say they are...

Here go's

[Orbyn]

Looks like a great kit. Can't wait to see it come together.

[Art17847]

Nos thats gonna be one cool lookin hellcat....following along

[chief5437]

Want one!! Looks great. Good luck with the build

[Joesdad]

Cheers guys, glad to have you aboard

[UKguyInUSA]

Wow...that looks like a fantastic kit...lots of details...I want one of those!

You're going to enjoy building that after the "Monster"

[cib2265]

Looks lovely - cant wait to see the build!

[Joesdad]

Wow...that looks like a fantastic kit...lots of details...I want one of those!

You're going to enjoy building that after the "Monster"

You bet Martin it's a great kit and more importantly a more reasonable scale

[Joesdad]

Looks lovely - cant wait to see the build!

Can't wait to get back home to carry on with it Chris.
I'm out shopping

[Joesdad]

Cockpit going together nicely with no probs..



Cleaning up some 'pit parts for the PE....yeah I know. I've some Mr Color 351 zinc chromate which is a good match. I'll get a pick up in a bit.



Looks like the motor gonna get some PE too..



Just a quick update this, I hope to get on with later tonight after me curry
Hey! You! Yes you, thanx for looking.

[vyper1]

You've gone from nothing fitting to tiny PE pieces, you certainly like to challenge yourself
Good luck with the build and I'll just say it now so I don't have to bother when it's complete.........Looks superb

[Joesdad]

Bleeding idiot you mean vyper. I proberly wouldn't have bothered but I had this colour..



You might be a bit premature there vyp, best to check back I reckon....

[jbellos1]

Very nice looking kit. I will be interested to see the final results! Are those color PE parts or did you painstakingly paint them?
Jon

[Joesdad]

A bit more gluing stuff.... Wings and wells, good engineering going on here..





Stabiliser's next..





One more, the engine started with Mr Hobby Aluimium..



Gotta go, skiving at work.....

[Willem]

Beautiful kit, Tim. Off to a good start.

Best of luck with your build.

[UKguyInUSA]

Off to a good start mate....looking forward to seeing what you do with this one!

[Joesdad]

This up date is mostly about the bit where the driver sits..
Primed with the AK Primer.



Prop is sporting Tamiya Rubber Black, not sure it's right, but there you go..



This Mr Hobby 351 zinc-chromate is a lovely paint and colour you know...





PE on the instrument panel here, although not all of it..



All done without a wash....







And now, with a wash of Citadel Agrax Earthshade..
Dunno, you tell me..





I kept losing the really small bits, you know, tiny little levers and even tinyer dail thingys.
I'm not that worried tho as I don't think you could see 'em anyways.
For my first proper PE 'pit, not too bad, could be a lot better I suppose, but not bad... Won't want to do one everyday tho.
Thanx for looking lads

[Joesdad]

Hi guys.
Eduard's idea of fixing the wings and stabilisers leaves a little problem to be addressed....





Namely the dihedral of said wings and things, you may or not know that the wings of an aeroplane are rarely death flat, they've always got a little angle (dihedral) to them to aid airflow over them.....
So I hope this is right...



More pic's...



Exhaust pipes, what do you think? Shall I or shan't I?



Oh! Go on then...



If you wanted an easy build then grab yourself one of these. I reckon you could knock it together in a day or so, if you dont bother with the PE..
Masking next..





The Eduard masks are a boon. You can obviously cut your own, but if the're included in the kit, I would be rude not to use 'em.
Next instalment will be to finish masks, have a look at the undercarriage and maybe prime her up.
Anyway that'll do for now. Thanx for looking.
TTFN

[Willem]

Looking like the Badger's nadgers so far Tim.

Got one....er....two......ok.....three in the stash so following along with great interest.

[Joesdad]

Thanx Will.

Against every instinct I've got I've fitted the undercarriage I hope I don't live to regret this...



With the u/c now on, there is actually little building left to do, just paint..



Best get some primer down then...



AK as usual. Incidentally before priming I've sprayed the canopy flat black, so hopefully when finished the inside of the glass will show the metal framing as black. We'll see...



Being a D Day subject, obviously stripes are the most prominent feature on the model, now what you don't want to do is get this wrong!
I'm going to try a new technique for painting stripes, it's not mine btw I found it on a recent traul of the Internet.
Start with the white over the general area of the stripe, in this instance Lifecolor LC 01...





To be continued....

[UKguyInUSA]

Holy C**p mate, you flew through this kit the last time I checked in?!! That cockpit looks the dogs, mate and now she's all built up and ready for painting! Looking sweet so far, Tim

[Joesdad]

Cheers Martin...


I'm using 10mm Tamiya tape to mask the strips, luckily that's just about the correct width...well according to Eduard's instructions. After the white has dried, simply (?) lay down the tape so that the side's butt upto to each other..



Something like this..



It's not so bad on the wings but a pain around the fuselage.
All done...



Pre-shade as usual. I didn't pre-shade under the stripes, so to speak, as I want them looking newly painted not all bashed up. Don't worry I know what I'm doing...... Not!



Thanks to Paul, I've made an investment of a couple of bottles of this Akan stuff, just to see what all the fuss is about...



Well....
Apart for my own incompetency, what a lovely paint... Lovely colour, sprays loverly, cleans up loverly, feels kinda like a supercharged Lifecolor imao. I love Mr Hobby Aqueous but.......







Do you think she needs another coat?
Might be a bit of a break now as I'm a bit of a holiday but we'll see if I can get a bit more done.
Thanx for looking lads.

[Joesdad]

Make that 'on steroids', this stuff is ace..







The only olive drab I've got is some Vallejo Model Color 70.992. Now I either use that, which not exactly the right colour, so will need mixing or wait till I buy some... Not sure???

Thanx for looking lads
TTFN

[UKguyInUSA]

I'm not sure if she needs another coat or not? I hate that dilemma...when I'm airbrushing, I think that the pre-shading is too much and I do another fine spray and then I don't think it shows enough. It's that borderline moment that can make us go crazy after the next step has been made. Just remember...you can't go back to how it was once another coat has gone on!

The paintwork looks nice and smooth and flat so far....can't wait to see how she looks with those stripes on.

Cheers

Martin

[Joesdad]

Yeah Mart it can a bit of 'mare deciding when it's right, is a gut feeling I guess.
I'm gonna leave it as is and go with it. On this very point mate, I'm thinking that the white in the stripe might not be white enough! Call it gut instinct.....

[Nige201980]

Great job so far mate I think the pre-shade looks fine mate.

[Joesdad]

Thanx Nige...

On with some more camo work, on this occasion I've gone the "wiggly worm" technique in which you roll up white tac into long thin "worms". Next you "wiggle" them around the aircraft where you want the camo colour to be. To finish simply fill in with tape or paper, I used Tamiya tape.
Mr Hobby Aquaous H52 is olive drab is colour Eduard's instructions are telling me, who am I to argue...



Here we are with all the camo masking tape removed...



Another one...



Up next... Masking off for the black in the stripes...



All sprayed up with Lifecolor, now I mixed too thin to truthful so I hope it's ok...



Here go's.....fingers crossed....



....well... It's ok. There's a bit bleed through, but it's ok..





Just for a laugh, I've fitted the engine and collecter ring thingy...



We're all ready for a (K)clear coat, dec's etc.
thanx for looking chaps.
TTFN.....

[HistoryRider]

She's looking fantastic Tim!!

I can't wait to see her all gussied up!!! Great job!

[Joesdad]

A scary bit... Thought I would treat myself (it was my birthday the other day) to Alclad's aqua gloss. It went down fine, different certainly to Johnsons Klear. I say scary because on the label it's DON'T do this and DON'T do that . In wasn't certain of the right pressure to spray, I played around with it but couldn't seem to get it right. As I say went down fine and gives a really nice even, satiny finish. A bit more practice required me thinks...



Shiny decals.....



Shiny finish.... . Decals applied in the usual way. These Eduard decs are ok not great but ok...shiny. I hate decaling, so we'll move on..





Ready for a bit of a wash and then a bit of bash about, not too much though..





TTFN

[Joesdad]

Hi guys, all done.....
I'm going to be taking a little break from building after the Hellcat. I'll still be hanging around the forum...

Final reveal should be here....

http://intscalemodeller.com/viewtopic.php?f=258&t=8538

TTFN