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

Shipwreck

 

 

lawdog114

 …To me the Eduard kit is a mixed bag.  It's good but not great.  The cockpit, prop, wheels and engine are quite mediocre, perhaps intentionally to support their aftermarket line. That said, the exterior surface detail is outstanding and it's very easy to…

 

 

 

Well, you certainly made the best of it! Great job!

 

Thanks Ship!

lawdog114

 …To me the Eduard kit is a mixed bag.  It's good but not great.  The cockpit, prop, wheels and engine are quite mediocre, perhaps intentionally to support their aftermarket line. That said, the exterior surface detail is outstanding and it's very easy to…

Well, you certainly made the best of it! Great job!

Greatmaker

Looks fantastic Joe! I really like how the fading turned out on this one.

 

Thanks Robert

Looks fantastic Joe! I really like how the fading turned out on this one.

Reasoned

Beautiful Joe.

 

Thanks Reasoned

Aggieman

You did a fine job fading the paint and giving that 'cat a reality-based look (over a museum appearance).

 

Thanks Aggie..

Greg

Outstanding, Joe.

Great honest review of the kit at the end, and thanks for sharing the shortcomings you observed. I might add some AM to my wishlist.

You stated upfront a major goal was to address the monochromatic finish. I say you nailed it, if I coult make one look partly as good, I'd be happy.

 

Thanks Greg....and your welcome!

mississippivol

That's purty, Lawdog!

 

Thank you Miss..

jeaton01

Well done (again) Joe!

 

Thanks Jeaton

bvallot

Wonderful as always Joe. Man, you work fast!!

I'm actually a real fan of the the Eduard Hellcat kit. Having said that, I'm coming to the show already looking to throw out and upgrade the engine, the cockpit, and whatever else isn't holding it's own water. I just need an accurate shape and accurate parts and surface detail and the rest I will likely scratch lol. But you're right about this kit needing some help.  A little scratch building goes a long way I found. Having said THAT...the AM from Eduard on this is gorgeous. Almost feels like cheating.

Glad to see you still at it. =]

 

Thanks Britt. This kit could really start getting expensive quickly!  It's a good kit, but I'm my opinion it could have been much better. 

Hoss WA

Looks wonderful. I really like how the panel line fading turned out. Thanks and congrats.

 

Thanks Hoss. I'm pretty happy with it. 

Mopar Madness

Museum quality as always LD!

 

Thanks Chad, not sure about that though...lol. 

crown r n7

Awesome

 

Thanks!

Zvezda1980

Fantastic!

 

Thanks!

Beautiful Joe.

You did a fine job fading the paint and giving that 'cat a reality-based look (over a museum appearance).

Outstanding, Joe.

Great honest review of the kit at the end, and thanks for sharing the shortcomings you observed. I might add some AM to my wishlist.

You stated upfront a major goal was to address the monochromatic finish. I say you nailed it, if I could make one look partly as good, I'd be happy.

Well done (again) Joe!

Wonderful as always Joe. Man, you work fast!!

I'm actually a real fan of the the Eduard Hellcat kit. Having said that, I'm coming to the show already looking to throw out and upgrade the engine, the cockpit, and whatever else isn't holding it's own water. I just need an accurate shape and accurate parts and surface detail and the rest I will likely scratch lol. But you're right about this kit needing some help.  A little scratch building goes a long way I found. Having said THAT...the AM from Eduard on this is gorgeous. Almost feels like cheating.

Glad to see you still at it. =]

Looks wonderful. I really like how the panel line fading turned out. Thanks and congrats.

Museum quality as always LD!

Awesome

Fantastic!

I can call this bad boy done. To recap, it's in the markings of Hamilton McWhorter VF-12 off the USS Randolph in early 1945.  McWhorter was the first Hellcat ace and flamed 12 enemy aircraft total.  To me the Eduard kit is a mixed bag.  It's good but not great.  The cockpit, prop, wheels and engine are quite mediocre, perhaps intentionally to support their aftermarket line. That said, the exterior surface detail is outstanding and it's very easy to build.  I did add an Ultracast prop and replaced the fifties with Quickboost barrels.  The kit actually came with nice resin wheels which surprised me. Another thing, perhaps it's my imagination, but the Eduard kit doesn't capture the classic Hellcat "Squat", as if the landing gears are a tad too long.    

Main markings were painted on with the assistance of Maketar masks. I like these much better than Montex, as they are essentially Tamiya tape, but they are usually only in 1/32 scale.  I had a spare P-51 set and the stars and bars where the correct size I needed. 

Like my P-61 last year, the challenge was trying to make this turkey look real, especially since pics I've seen show these were in really good condition.  I used AK Real Colors Dark Sea Blue then did some minor fading and exhaust staining.  I initially tried a grey panel line wash which looked absolutely awful, so I switched to an AK Paneliner designed for blue green camo, whch was a dark brown.  I'm much happier.  I did grime up the drop tank and painted it white for added interest.  Overall, I'm happy with it.  

tempestjohnny

Looks awesome. I want you to know I've studied real hard and I'll pass the quiz and the end of the year on the exhaust staining

 

Thanks Johnny.  Remind me to administer the quiz in December.  Lol.

damouav

I should get you to build all my kits Joe, in 1 year youd have em all done.

Great work as usual.

 

Thanks Damian.  Ha!...I'll try, send them on over. 

I should get you to build all my kits Joe, in 1 year youd have em all done.

Great work as usual.