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F-6F-5 Hellcat James L. Pearce


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Hi All,

 

Last I asked about the blue paint of the Hellcat. Ok, found it. Will be H.77.

But the ac I asked was no.35.

I found a site from Aircraft Illustration from Mark Styling. The Hellcat has a white nose ring. Can anydody of You guys conform this?

It has 5.25 kills, but has nit also the Japanese flag as a kill mark?

 

Han K.

Vroomshoop Holland EU

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VF-17s Hellcats carried the temporary white cowl band during operations over Tokyo. As for kill markings, U.S. Navy aircraft were different from their Army counterparts. Pilots seldom had 'their' aircraft- they flew whatever was available. Aces such as Eugene Valencia and Cecil Harris flew multiple aircraft to score their victories. So, while that pilot may have had five or so kills they may have been in several different aircraft rather than just the one that you are modeling.

 

I hope that helps. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

VF-17 Jolly Rogers F6F Hellcats carried no kill markings on their 1945 cruise aboard the USS Hornet.  I spoke with one of their aces from that time, and his answer was "No time! We were busy fighting a war!"  Apparently the pace was very furious by that time, so Hornet's air wing seems to have not engaged in the practice of kill markings.

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9 hours ago, 11bee said:

Totally OT but I so wish someone would release a quality 32nd scale F6F.    Tamiya - are you listening?????

I got slammed for brining that topic up in another forum when I suggested Eduard just size up their 1/48 kit.

Oh boy did I step in it. 

 

But again, I will say just size up the Eduard F6F-3/5 series to 32nd scale and 90%+ of the modeling Hellcat fans would be happy. 

 

Cheers

Collin

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To step into the 1/32 Hellcat mess, I have the old Hasegawa F6F.  I love the shape and the look of the model feels right.  Would I be better to buy a ton of resin to spruce up details or buy a trumpeter kit and use the trumpeter kit as a source of detail parts?   

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15 hours ago, Collin said:

I would stick with the Hasegawa kit with extras. I have the same kit with extras myself. 

 

The shape of the Trump is just something I can’t get over. 

 

Collin

How is the Hase kit?  Raised panel lines or engraved?   I've really got a yen to do a large scale Hellcat but as you mentioned, the Trumpy kit is a non-starter. 

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Raised panel lines which actually come pretty close to

the real aircraft. There are these strange recessed panel lines on the wings, easy to fill in and rub smooth with some thinner/q-tip ( my preferred method with mr surfaces products.  Or use miliput and wipe it away with water. 

 

Cheers

Collin

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On 1/10/2020 at 8:47 AM, aircal62 said:

To step into the 1/32 Hellcat mess, I have the old Hasegawa F6F.  I love the shape and the look of the model feels right.  Would I be better to buy a ton of resin to spruce up details or buy a trumpeter kit and use the trumpeter kit as a source of detail parts?   

Honestly, I'd just forego the Trumpeter Hellcat altogether. I'm working on the updated F6F Hellcat Detail & Scale book at the moment so I have just about all of the Hellcat models around. Neither 1/32 scale model is perfect but I would say that the Hasegawa would still be the better base kit since the shapes and outlines are better than the Trumpeter model. It would be more cost effective and better in the long run to go with something like a Lone Star Models resin cockpit. That's my take on it.

 

I would be all for a good replacement for both kits!

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10 hours ago, 11bee said:

How is the Hase kit?  Raised panel lines or engraved?   I've really got a yen to do a large scale Hellcat but as you mentioned, the Trumpy kit is a non-starter. 

Old- circa 1975 for the original release. Good overall shape and outline. The surface detail is a mix of very fine raised rivets and very deep panel lines on the wings and forward fuselage. The engine provides a good basis for the Double Wasp. The cockpit detail is not very extensive or accurate. The wheel wells could use some additional details as well. The gun bays are both open although the panels for the ammo boxes are not. The detail is pretty good and about even with what Trumpeter provides. Not bad considering it's age. Hasegawa includes the lower cowl flaps and exhaust fairings which Trumpeter doesn't, so building an F6F-3 out of the box is easier. 

 

That's a very brief rundown, but I hope it helps.

Edited by Chriss7607
Grammar
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