F6F details - can anyone help?

[lesthegringo]

Guys, this is unashamedly a repeat of a post over on Britmodeller, hoping that by putting it up here as well I increase the chances of an answer

In support of my Jasmine F6F built I need to pin down some painting details plus some other bits and bobs.

First up is to know what the little silver tank in the picture below is, and what colour it should be. It fits into the fuselage behind the pilot

Secondly, I have sourced an Aires detail set for the F6F 5 which has a better resin engine and ancillaries, plus some better cockpit details and weapons bay detail - though curiously despite Aires supplying the correct number of barrels for the guns, they only supply four Brownings.

However the Aires engine also is missing the very prominent intake trunking, plus there is nothing depicting what appears to be a ring around the engine in between the cylinder rows. A quick look at a very nice Eduard Brassin engine in my stash that was destined for a British fleet air arm bird (along with a Wolfpack wingfold set) shows it to have the intake manifold supplied, and the individual cylinders have the segments of the ring cast onto them. The moulding quality of the Brassin set is higher too. The problem I have is that the Brassin set makes the ring look like a dividing firewall, rather than an external ring which I believe is more correct. Has anyone got some good reference material that they can use to help resolve this?

Lastly (for now) I see that some Hellcats in reference photos have the internal areas forward of the front cockpit bulkhead painted in light grey. Is this due to restoration or is that period correct?

I have looked for instruction sheets on Hobby Link Japan to try and help with some of the painting guides, but all they have are trumpeter instruction sheets - I don't think I'll trust those very much!

Cheers guys

Les

[don f]

Here's a start. A link to a series of articles by Scott Murhpy that provides many details of the interior of the Hellcat that may be of help to you.

Scott Murphy 1/32 F6F project

Almost all R-2800 engines in kits and resin ones do not supply the cooling baffles for the cylinders. Here's a drawing that shows the baffles and how they interlocked to ensure adequate cooling air flow around and over each cylinder. The inter-ear deflectors linked together to form the "ring" between the cylinder banks.

Below the schematic for the F6F induction system. Unlike the F4U-1, the F6F had a downdraft carb.

From Scott's article:

This may be of use:

Finally here's a link at ARC:

Sergey Chegodaev scratchbuilt 1/32 F6F

Sorry I can't provide cuts from manuals. I'm far from home without access to my reference material.

Don

Edited April 6, 2016 by don f

[Slartibartfast]

That tank behind the pilot, can't say for certain for the Hellcat but in the Wildcat that was an air bottle to blow down the flaps if hydraulics failed.

I usually read that period finish for the cowling inner surface was gray. I can't speak to the formers to which the engines panels bolt.

Edited April 6, 2016 by Slartibartfast

[lesthegringo]

Thanks guys, great info, and many thanks for the links. The Eduard engine definitely has the edge in terms of level of detail, and the ear deflectors seem to be very well represented, so I'll probably go with that. I'll check out all those links, and may be back for more!

Thanks as ever for your assistance, very much appreciated

Cheers

Les

[don f]

Thanks guys, great info, and many thanks for the links. The Eduard engine definitely has the edge in terms of level of detail, and the ear deflectors seem to be very well represented, so I'll probably go with that. I'll check out all those links, and may be back for more!

Thanks as ever for your assistance, very much appreciated

Cheers

Les

Les,

Happy to help. The tank mounted behind the rear cockpit bulkhead was for the ADI fluid. This was not installed in early F6F-3 aircraft. To quote William Reece, "This tank was not fitted until BuNo 40634 with the advent of the R-2800-10W engine."

Don

[ltdann]

ADI,

Anti-detonation injection. Essentially alcohol injection for the engine to minimize detonation (pre-ignition) at high power settings.

RD

[Slartibartfast]

Pre-ignition and detonation are two different phenomena. A lot of detonation can lead to pre-ignition, though.

ADI fluid is usually a 1:1 mixture of methanol and distilled water with maybe a small amount of corrosion inhibitor.

Edited April 7, 2016 by Slartibartfast

[lesthegringo]

Thanks for the help guys

I'm now looking for some good pictures of the intercooler trunking and the area around the rear of the engine bulkhead, does anyone have this? An internet search has turned up virtually nothing of value, as it mainly focusses on the engine or exterior views

Cheers

Les