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Academy M-18 Hellcat - Finished

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  • Member since
    February 2014
  • From: Michigan
Academy M-18 Hellcat - Finished
Posted by silentbob33 on Thursday, February 19, 2015 1:47 PM

I'm building this kit for the D-Day to Berlin GB, and thought I would post pics here as well.  I usually build aircraft and sci-fi, so I'm in unfamiliar water.  This is my second armor kit, so I still have a lot to learn.  So far I've finished the interior.  There were a couple of sink marks on the floor plate, I tried to fix them the best I could, but it isn't perfect.  I gave it a wash and dusting with pastels.  I found a picture of the Hellcat I'm modeling in France in September 1944.  It was a part of the 705 TD BN in Brittany and helped take the town of Brest.  I'm going for a dusty dirty look, as the battalion had been in combat since July.  Here's the pic I found:

And here's the interior:

I also built the hatches for the hull.  I did the lenses with drafting pens rather than try to paint such a small area:

I'm going to continue on with assembly, but does anyone have any tips on how to assemble these tracks so they fit and look right?  I only have experience with vinyl tracks (and not much at that as this is only my second armor build).

Any comments/critiques are welcomed.

On my bench: Academy 1/35 UH-60L Black Hawk

  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: On my kitchen counter top somewhere in central North Carolina.
Posted by disastermaster on Thursday, February 19, 2015 10:38 PM

 Check out "Saints and Soldiers-The Void" now available on Netflix.

                                     http://www.insigne.org/TD-patch_small1.jpg

 It's just fictional entertainment (but featuring 2 real Hellcats) about a Hellcat crew, May 1944.

 https://i.imgur.com/LjRRaV1.png

 

 

 
  • Member since
    November 2012
Posted by udel09 on Thursday, February 19, 2015 11:33 PM

I have this same kit and am looking forward to seeing your build.  The interior of your hatches and periscopes look great but the reference photos I have show them OD like the exterior.  Either way they will look good when she is done

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Thursday, February 19, 2015 11:41 PM

SB, the hatch interior faces and periscopes should be OD, not white.

This is a really fun kit to build and I think that you'll enjoy the project! I sure did several years back!

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

  • Member since
    February 2014
  • From: Michigan
Posted by silentbob33 on Friday, February 20, 2015 6:49 AM

Thanks for the tip on the hatches guys!  That should be easy enough to fix once I start spraying the OD.  I'd much rather make little mistakes than big ones Wink.  So far I'm having a lot of fun with it.  I'm about halfway done with the suspension and then I'll tackle the road wheels.  The only thing I'm not too sure about is how to get the individual track links assembled.

Thanks for the tip about the movie disastermaster, I just added it to my queue.  Sounds like a good way to spend a snow day

On my bench: Academy 1/35 UH-60L Black Hawk

  • Member since
    October 2004
  • From: Northern Virginia
Posted by ygmodeler4 on Friday, February 20, 2015 7:57 AM

Looks good so far. Karl did a tutorial on Indy tracks awhile back, I'm not on my computer so I don't have a link...but if you do a forum search you find it alright. It should work for these link and length tracks.

-Josiah

  • Member since
    February 2014
  • From: Michigan
Posted by silentbob33 on Friday, February 20, 2015 8:10 AM

Thanks Josiah, I think I found it.  

On my bench: Academy 1/35 UH-60L Black Hawk

  • Member since
    January 2015
Posted by Aldershot II on Friday, February 20, 2015 2:09 PM

Always loved the American TD's, tons of stowage gear on the them.

  • Member since
    February 2014
  • From: Michigan
Posted by silentbob33 on Friday, February 20, 2015 2:14 PM

That's why I chose the Academy kit over the AFV one.  From the reviews I read AFV didn't include a whole lot of stowage, and I don't have a whole lot in the way of spares for armor so it was a pretty easy choice for me.

On my bench: Academy 1/35 UH-60L Black Hawk

  • Member since
    May 2006
  • From: East Coast
Posted by CarnivourousDonut on Friday, February 20, 2015 3:23 PM

The whole "Saints and Soldiers" trilogy are ok. The 1st one is the best, but the others are still acceptable.  At least 1 of the Panzer IIIs in the film is a replica, but a pretty good one.

Let's rattle the cage, crack the machine. Let 'em know who you are, shine to be seen.

  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: On my kitchen counter top somewhere in central North Carolina.
Posted by disastermaster on Friday, February 20, 2015 6:53 PM

CarnivourousDonut

The whole "Saints and Soldiers" trilogy are ok. The 1st one is the best, but the others are still acceptable.  At least 1 of the Panzer IIIs in the film is a replica, but a pretty good one.

I agree. 

 A good try, but I think the phoney one has the http://www.abnehmenundmeer.de/gbaum/images/struck.gif inaccurate looking road-wheels.

 https://i.imgur.com/LjRRaV1.png

 

 

 
  • Member since
    February 2014
  • From: Michigan
Posted by silentbob33 on Monday, February 23, 2015 7:59 PM

I made a little bit more progress, but nothing really needing a picture.  I finished the suspension and put some of the wheels together.  After reading Karl's tutorial on indy tracks, I realized I'm going to need a good block of time to work on them and that probably won't happen until the weekend.  I also had to deviate from his instructions in that the support rollers go together the opposite way on the Hellcat, so I have to pop the road wheels apart to get everything to line up just right.

On my bench: Academy 1/35 UH-60L Black Hawk

  • Member since
    February 2014
  • From: Michigan
Posted by silentbob33 on Monday, March 2, 2015 7:41 PM

Finally got a solid chunk of time at the bench to knock out the tracks.  I followed Karl's tutorial and laid them out on the tape and glued them with Testor's plastic cement, let them sit for about 45 minutes before wrapping them around the wheels.  One side fit perfectly with following the directions for how many links to add, but the other required two more to fit right.  When I was wrapping them, I dropped one of the track sections onto the floor.  Luckily, it only broke in one spot so it was an easy fix.  Now to play the waiting game as the glue cures.

On my bench: Academy 1/35 UH-60L Black Hawk

  • Member since
    May 2006
  • From: East Coast
Posted by CarnivourousDonut on Tuesday, March 3, 2015 5:57 AM

From what I recall, it was based on an M113, and he was in progress (post movie making) of adding the correct number of wheels

Let's rattle the cage, crack the machine. Let 'em know who you are, shine to be seen.

  • Member since
    February 2014
  • From: Michigan
Posted by silentbob33 on Wednesday, March 4, 2015 4:38 PM

Success!  Now to see if I can avoid destroying them when I paint them.  I know German tracks had a dark reddish tint to them because of the high manganese content of their steel, so when I built my Marder II I started painting them with a dark reddish brown as a basecoat and drybrushed steel over that for the exposed metal.  Would the same process work on an American AFV?

On my bench: Academy 1/35 UH-60L Black Hawk

  • Member since
    February 2014
  • From: Michigan
Posted by silentbob33 on Monday, March 23, 2015 5:16 PM

I finally got some time to work on the Hellcat.  I got the upper and lower hulls attached and it's just about ready for painting.  I also attached one of the rings for the tow cable just so that I wouldn't have to do it after I've painted and risk ruining the paint job.  I also left the headlights off tor the same reason.  I'll put them on after I paint the silver on them for the lenses.  I'm in the group that likes to attach stowage after everything is painted, it just seems easier that way in my mind.  I've also started on assembling the breach of the gun.

On my bench: Academy 1/35 UH-60L Black Hawk

  • Member since
    February 2014
  • From: Michigan
Posted by silentbob33 on Wednesday, April 1, 2015 6:54 PM

I was able to get a bit of time at the bench the last couple of days and finished up most of the sub-assemblies.  I left most of the turret unassembled mostly because I don't trust my ability to get inside of there with a brush for detail painting after I shoot it with OD.  I preshaded panel lines and the engine screen with black, and then added some rotbraun to it to preshade the rest of the Hellcat so that when I spray the OD it is broken up a bit.  This is something I tried on an LCVP for the Longest Day Group Build and I liked the results so I figured I'd try it again here.  I used the same mixture of black and rotbraun for the base color of the tracks.

On my bench: Academy 1/35 UH-60L Black Hawk

  • Member since
    February 2014
  • From: Michigan
Posted by silentbob33 on Wednesday, April 8, 2015 5:39 PM

I shot the OD before Easter, but I didn't get a chance to post pictures until now.  The preshading is very subtle, and you can see it much better in brighter light, so I took some pictures with my flash turned on.  Unfortunately I don't have a good area (or the skills) to take good photos.  I also did the detail painting on the radio unit and corrected the color of the insides of the hatches.

On my bench: Academy 1/35 UH-60L Black Hawk

  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Wednesday, April 8, 2015 6:27 PM

Watching and learning.

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

  • Member since
    February 2014
  • From: Michigan
Posted by silentbob33 on Wednesday, April 8, 2015 6:39 PM

Thanks, I'm learning a lot of this as I go...

On my bench: Academy 1/35 UH-60L Black Hawk

  • Member since
    February 2014
  • From: Michigan
Posted by silentbob33 on Thursday, May 7, 2015 8:40 PM

I can't believe it's been a month since I've posted on here!  But, between a sprained ankle, the worst cold I think I've ever had, a 4 year old, and a 4/12 month old my time has been spread pretty thin.  I applied decals, and they were the most stubborn things I've ever used.  Multiple applications of Solvaset didn't budge them a bit.  There's some pretty bad silvering, but I'm moving on with life.  I also did a raw umber pin wash on all the parts.  I've been working on a piece of scrap trying to replicate Karl's acrylic craft paint weathering on a piece of scrap, but I need a lot more practice before I try to use it on an actual model.  So tomorrow I'm going to pick up a Tamiya weathering set.  From what I've been able to gather, they look good and are pretty easy to apply.  Before I start weathering, I'm going to attach the stowage.  What would the troops have used to tie down things like fuel and ammo cans?  The pictures on the box show some kind of straps that I could easily make out of masking tape, but I wanted to check before I did anything.  I didn't like the .50 that was with the kit, so I grabbed one from an Academy US Weapons Set.  Any comments or critiques are welcomed.

On my bench: Academy 1/35 UH-60L Black Hawk

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by T26E4 on Friday, May 8, 2015 9:28 AM

silentbob: glad you're making progress.  Did you apply a glosscoat to the areas where you put the decals beforehand?

Roy Chow 

Join AMPS!

http://www.amps-armor.org

 

 

  • Member since
    February 2014
  • From: Michigan
Posted by silentbob33 on Friday, May 8, 2015 9:46 AM

I did apply a gloss coat, but they still silvered like that.  Are Academy decals usually tough to deal with?  This is my first kit from them so I'm not used to working with them.  Microset, Microsol, and Solvaset didn't do anything to them.  The decals didn't even wrinkle up like they usually do.

On my bench: Academy 1/35 UH-60L Black Hawk

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by T26E4 on Friday, May 8, 2015 11:27 AM

geez.  that stinks.  I'm sorry to hear that.  I think I've only used Academy decals on an M7 Priest commission build -- and I didn't recall having issues. If you're willing to scape them up, I can easily donate replacement stars and reg numbers, if you want 'em

Roy Chow 

Join AMPS!

http://www.amps-armor.org

 

 

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Friday, May 8, 2015 11:29 AM

I guess you could smear some 'mud' over the silvered decals on the sides and storage on the ones on top. Foliage camouflage can cover up some issues too.  

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    February 2014
  • From: Michigan
Posted by silentbob33 on Friday, May 8, 2015 5:39 PM

Thanks for the offer Roy, but I think I'll throw some stowage and weathering on it and see how it looks.  I've already sealed them under a dullcoat and I'm afraid of ruining the paint tying to get them off.  I really do appreciate it though.  I'm always impressed by the generosity of the people here.

On my bench: Academy 1/35 UH-60L Black Hawk

  • Member since
    March 2013
  • From: Puebla, Mexico
Posted by garzonh on Friday, May 8, 2015 8:44 PM

Very nice!

I like very very much the OD color you got, and all the details and stuff you will be adding for stowage should look amazing.

Congratulations, should be a nice build.

Do you plan adding figures, dio?

  • Member since
    February 2014
  • From: Michigan
Posted by silentbob33 on Friday, May 8, 2015 9:39 PM

Thanks garzonh!  I might be adding some figures later, I don't currently have anything in the stash that would work for a crew.  Someday I'd like to do something similar to the picture I posted in my initial post.  Someday...

On my bench: Academy 1/35 UH-60L Black Hawk

  • Member since
    February 2014
  • From: Michigan
Posted by silentbob33 on Saturday, May 9, 2015 6:30 PM

I got a nice chunk of time to work on my Hellcat today.  I attached the stowage and did a bit of weathering.  I really like the Tamiya weathering set.  I might have to get each set after working with these.  Just need to get the tracks on and weather the wheels, attach the ammo can for the .50, and make an antenna.  After that I think I'll be done, unless someone notices something I missed.

On my bench: Academy 1/35 UH-60L Black Hawk

  • Member since
    February 2014
  • From: Michigan
Posted by silentbob33 on Sunday, May 10, 2015 4:47 PM

All finished!  Overall I'm pretty happy with it, except for how the decals turned out.  Like I said in my initial post, this is only my second serious attempt at an armor kit.  I learned a lot building it, and thanks to those of you that offered tips along the way.

On my bench: Academy 1/35 UH-60L Black Hawk

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