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1/48 Eduard F6F-5 Hellcat VF-12 "Hamilton McWhorter III" (FINISHED)

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  • Member since
    February 2012
  • From: Olmsted Township, Ohio
1/48 Eduard F6F-5 Hellcat VF-12 "Hamilton McWhorter III" (FINISHED)
Posted by lawdog114 on Saturday, April 1, 2017 2:56 AM

After finishing my Corsair I'm still in a South Pacific mood.  That Eduard Hellcat dash 5 behind me on the shelf has been beckoning me for quite some time.  That's the nice thing about these Profipack kits, they come with everything to satisfy the most persnickety of a modeler (ok....usually).  I got it off ebay not too long ago.  This one even has resin tires in there, which is rare with these. May I also add that this is some of the best box art I've ever seen.  A Jack going down in flames...I love it...

 

 I started with the pit.  This cetainly isn't Eduard's best work.  It's fairly spartan.  Fortunately the PE provided goes a long way and the opening is small so not too much will be seen in there once closed up.  I painted it Gunze Interior Green. Here's my attempt at it.   

Soon I'll close it up...

 "Can you fly this plane and land it?...Surely you can't be serious....I am serious, and don't call me Shirley"

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England
Posted by Bish on Saturday, April 1, 2017 3:02 AM

Looks like your keeping busy. I built there 72nd F6F last year, wounderful kit. Nice start on yours.

I am a Norfolk man and i glory in being so

 

On the bench: Airfix 1/72nd Harrier GR.3/Fujimi 1/72nd Ju 87D-3

  • Member since
    November 2003
  • From: Naples, FL
Posted by tempestjohnny on Saturday, April 1, 2017 5:17 AM
Great start. Great subject. McCampbell and Vraciu aircraft have to be done by any serious Hellcat fan.

 

  • Member since
    March 2015
  • From: Streetsboro, Ohio
Posted by Toshi on Saturday, April 1, 2017 9:47 AM

Nice subject matter with a fantastic start!

Toshi

On The Bench: Revell 1/48 B-25 Mitchell

 

Married to the most caring, loving, understanding, and beautiful wife in the world.  Mrs. Toshi

 

 

  • Member since
    February 2014
  • From: Michigan
Posted by silentbob33 on Saturday, April 1, 2017 1:13 PM
Very cool! I didn't know about McCampbell's story so thanks for that history lesson. Oh, and great job on the cockpit too ;)

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

  • Member since
    April 2015
Posted by Mopar Madness on Saturday, April 1, 2017 4:29 PM

Looking great so far!

Chad

God, Family, Models...

At the plate: 1/48 Airfix Bf109 & 1/35 Tamiya Famo

On deck: Who knows!

  • Member since
    February 2012
  • From: Olmsted Township, Ohio
Posted by lawdog114 on Monday, April 3, 2017 2:20 AM
Thanks guys...

 "Can you fly this plane and land it?...Surely you can't be serious....I am serious, and don't call me Shirley"

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    February 2012
  • From: Olmsted Township, Ohio
Posted by lawdog114 on Tuesday, April 11, 2017 1:24 AM

I'm in for a quick update.  I've been at sort of a stand still with this turkey.  The kit was found to be missing one of the rear "opera" windows, so now McCampbell's plane, which had them, is off the table.  I bought this kit used off ebay and several of the clear pieces were off the sprue, so who knows where it went.  You'll have that I suppose. Fortunately the kit comes with fuselage halves that are void these windows for a late dash 5.  My options were now dwindled.  I was surfing ebay and came across Hamilton McWhorter's #9 which seems to be void the window.  He's the first Hellcat ace and one of my favorite pilots......sold!  

It was a piece of cake to assemble and I had no issues.  The wings fit into a depression in the fuselage which alleviates wing root gaps. I hit the seams with primer and found that I did fairly well the first time.  It's my understanding this kit is the only one to get the overlapping panel effect on the fuselage right. It does take some care in sanding though.    

  

I turned my attention to the R-2800. It seems a bit small in scale to my eye.  It's also fairly basic too.  I used copper wire for the ignition.  To see how I do this check out my tutorial here:

 http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/2/t/149327.aspx

 

Now that I know which subject I'm going with, I should get to paint soon..

 "Can you fly this plane and land it?...Surely you can't be serious....I am serious, and don't call me Shirley"

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Twin Cities of Minnesota
Posted by Don Stauffer on Tuesday, April 11, 2017 9:25 AM

Look at the current issue of Flight Journal.  Great article in there.  Makes me want to build a Hellcat!

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Lafayette, LA
Posted by Melgyver on Tuesday, April 11, 2017 11:13 AM

You are off to a great start!  Too bad about the rear window being missing.  You could have used clear styrene to make a replacement.  Your statement about McCampbell being an "Ace in a day" twice is correct but not in the same day.  He achieved his first "Ace in a day" on 19 Jun 1944 by shooting down 5 Judys on his first sortie and 2 Zekes on his 2nd sortie for a total of 7 for the day.  On 25 Oct 19 44 he shot down 5 Zekes, 2 Hamps, and 2 Oscars for a total of 9 for his 2nd "Ace in a day" event.  He was awarded the Medal of Honor for these events and his his leadership of AG-15. 

Always loved the Hellcat!  I remember when Hasegawa came out with the 1/32 kit.  I thought of it as the "Thunderbolt" of the Navy!  Big fighter!

Clear Left!

Mel

  • Member since
    May 2013
  • From: Indiana, USA
Posted by Greg on Tuesday, April 11, 2017 11:47 AM

I admire the way you regrouped and moved on regarding your missing window, Joe.

 

  • Member since
    February 2012
  • From: Olmsted Township, Ohio
Posted by lawdog114 on Tuesday, April 11, 2017 7:00 PM

Melgyver

Too bad about the rear window being missing.  You could have used clear styrene to make a replacement.  Your statement about McCampbell being an "Ace in a day" twice is correct but not in the same day.  He achieved his first "Ace in a day" on 19 Jun 1944 by shooting down 5 Judys on his first sortie and 2 Zekes on his 2nd sortie for a total of 7 for the day.  On 25 Oct 19 44 he shot down 5 Zekes, 2 Hamps, and 2 Oscars for a total of 9 for his 2nd "Ace in a day" event.  He was awarded the Medal of Honor for these events and his his leadership of AG-15. 

 

The window?  I thought about it, but I didn't feel like it.  Reference McCambell's kills, I worded that wrong....my bad.  IIRC the first time he did it was during the Marianas Turkey Shoot. Vraciu had a good day there too I believe.   Thanks for catching my error.   

 "Can you fly this plane and land it?...Surely you can't be serious....I am serious, and don't call me Shirley"

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    February 2012
  • From: Olmsted Township, Ohio
Posted by lawdog114 on Tuesday, April 11, 2017 7:01 PM

Greg

I admire the way you regrouped and moved on regarding your missing window, Joe.

 

 

Thanks greg.  

 "Can you fly this plane and land it?...Surely you can't be serious....I am serious, and don't call me Shirley"

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    February 2012
  • From: Olmsted Township, Ohio
Posted by lawdog114 on Tuesday, April 11, 2017 7:04 PM

Don Stauffer

Look at the current issue of Flight Journal.  Great article in there.  Makes me want to build a Hellcat!

 

Do it!......check this out first.  Very inspirational!

 "Can you fly this plane and land it?...Surely you can't be serious....I am serious, and don't call me Shirley"

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    August 2013
Posted by Jay Jay on Wednesday, April 12, 2017 9:08 AM

Ahhh my favorite show...makes me want to unshelve my Accurate Miniatures F-6 and get to work on her.

 

 

 

 

 

 I'm finally retired. Now time I got, money I don't.

  • Member since
    December 2002
Posted by 7474 on Friday, April 14, 2017 12:55 PM
Awesome job so far, I picked up the Hobby Boss 1/48 F6F-3 that I wanted to use in a diorama of a pic I saw of one in a crater on an island but the wing fold detail is too gorgeous not to have the wings folded, so I'll get another -3. Can't wait to see the finished result
  • Member since
    January 2015
Posted by BrandonD on Wednesday, April 19, 2017 11:44 AM

Nice work. I've been tinkering with the Eduard Mk.I in Fleet Air Arm service, but haven't really gotten serious about it yet. Looks like yours is coming along very well.

-BD-

  • Member since
    February 2012
  • From: Olmsted Township, Ohio
Posted by lawdog114 on Thursday, April 20, 2017 12:44 AM

Thanks guys.  I finally got around to paint on this turkey.  After a panel line shading, I sprayed the tail and aelerons XF-2 Flat White with a touch of XF-19 Sky Grey added. I then taped off the pattern for VF-12 Hellcats off Carrier USS Randolph thusly.  We don't need no stinkin' decals...at least for this part....lol. 

The nice part (or bad part depending how you look at it) is that late war Hellcats were all blue, specifically ANA 623.  I mixed mine with half XF-17 Sea Blue and XF-8 Flat Blue and sprayed everything this color.  Now I needed to make it interesting, which is hard for dark colors.  I added a touch of white and faded the upper surfaces a touch.  Then I added some streaking, all while trying not to overdo it.  I also did some postshading here and there.

   

I wanted to get the exhaust staining right.  I studied some pics and came up with this.  I added some XF-57 Buff to the blue and faded the paint in the exhaust area.  Some diluted XF-64 Red Brown dirtied it up.  This looked about right to me.

I should get to decaling soon.  

  

 "Can you fly this plane and land it?...Surely you can't be serious....I am serious, and don't call me Shirley"

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    January 2015
  • From: Tumwater, WA.
Posted by M. Brindos on Thursday, April 20, 2017 1:01 AM

Yeah, that's beautiful work, Joe! That exhaust staining looks perfect!

- Mike Brindos "Lost Boy"

  • Member since
    November 2003
  • From: Naples, FL
Posted by tempestjohnny on Thursday, April 20, 2017 7:24 AM
The paint fading looks spot on. Not overdone at all.

 

  • Member since
    February 2012
  • From: Olmsted Township, Ohio
Posted by lawdog114 on Saturday, April 29, 2017 4:23 AM

Thanks Mike and Johnny.  

Well, I'm done with this one.  It's the late war mount of Hamilton McWhorter III, the first Hellcat ace.  This was his last Hellcat while aboard the USS Randolph while attached to VF-12.  In this plane, McWhorter scored his 12th and final victory on May 15th 1945.

This was the Eduard Profipack and built mostly out of the box.  It even came with resin wheels which were well done.  The kit is good but not perfect.  My additions were an Ultracast prop and Quickboost fifties, which are both lousy out of the box.  The decals were Superscale and beautiful.  I made my own engine wire harness in lieu of the kit supplied PE.  It just looks better to me.  Not unlike black, an all dark blue subject can be challenging (landing gears and wheels too......I guess they got spray gun happy in those waning months).  Fortunately these were rather new so I kept the weathering to some minor streaking and fading. I intially tried a grey Flory wash but it looked stupid, so I went back with black.  I went with a Testor's dullcoat then slowly brought it back to semi gloss in some areas. I figured the ANA 623 would dull quickly in the Pacific sun. I'm pleased with the results.

Thanks for looking...

   

 

 "Can you fly this plane and land it?...Surely you can't be serious....I am serious, and don't call me Shirley"

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    December 2015
  • From: providence ,r.i.
Posted by templar1099 on Saturday, April 29, 2017 5:28 AM

I gotta say that this is what I strive for,really nice touches,everything blending together.A-1.

"le plaisir delicieux et toujours nouveau d'une occupation inutile"

  • Member since
    June 2013
Posted by bvallot on Saturday, April 29, 2017 8:01 AM

That's fantastic Joe. I was wondering where you'd been hiding. =] Great job with those blues. Looks tough and fun. You make it look effortless. Always fun watching you paint.

I hope to get around to Vraciu's Hellcat some time this summer. I'm anxious to tackle that tri-scheme again.

On the bench:  

Tamiya F4U-1  Kenneth Walsh

 

  • Member since
    March 2015
  • From: Streetsboro, Ohio
Posted by Toshi on Saturday, April 29, 2017 8:57 AM

You did a fantastic job on this kit.  Everything looks superb!

Toshi

On The Bench: Revell 1/48 B-25 Mitchell

 

Married to the most caring, loving, understanding, and beautiful wife in the world.  Mrs. Toshi

 

 

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Twin Cities of Minnesota
Posted by Don Stauffer on Saturday, April 29, 2017 10:05 AM

Beautiful!  Love the stand and figure!

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

  • Member since
    June 2014
Posted by BrandonK on Saturday, April 29, 2017 10:59 AM

As usual it looks beautiful, Joe. Awesome paint work. 

BK

On the bench:

A lot !! And I mean A LOT!!

2024 Kits on deck / in process / completed   

                         14 / 5 / 2  

                              Tongue Tied

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • From: Salem, Oregon
Posted by 1943Mike on Saturday, April 29, 2017 11:04 AM

Crazy good build!

Inspiring to view masterfully finished kits/dioramas such as this.

 

Mike

"Le temps est un grand maître, mais malheureusement, il tue tous ses élèves."

Hector Berlioz

  • Member since
    May 2013
  • From: Indiana, USA
Posted by Greg on Saturday, April 29, 2017 11:45 AM

Another beauty Yes

I don't understand everything you did to break up the dark blue, but the results are fantastic. Who woulda thunk to make the exhaust staining lighter than the dark blue. Brilliant.

  • Member since
    May 2016
  • From: Canyon Lake TX
Posted by wildcat13 on Saturday, April 29, 2017 2:41 PM

Looks superb. McWhorter was a total badass. Great choice for a Hellcat.

  • Member since
    February 2017
Posted by Chip on Saturday, April 29, 2017 6:52 PM

Another beautiful build Joe.

I have another noob question that may seem obvious to most, but how in the heck did you mask that exhaust? The feathering effect is very subtle but adds such an element of realism that makes builds like yours stand out from the likes of builds like mine.  

Thanks again for sharing!

Chip

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