PACIFIC CARRIER AVIATION GROUP BUILD

Great to see some pics lewbud. You've done a terrific job on it so far. I would hope that you would still build it as VF-51 if that is what you really wanted to do. Please do not let the fact that we are using the same decal sheet deter you from building what you honestly want to. It's your build, build it as you want to. I certainly do not have any single issue with that.

Where's the progress in here..................? I was sure a lookin' forward to some purdy blue planes that were being worked on.

I totally agree with Mustang.   Let's see the purdy blue planes.....

Easy there my eager little friends. I am currently putting on the finishing touch ups here and there. I then only need to glue on the sliding canopy and prop. The antenna wire has given me some hassles, but I've got it on. It is actually unsatisfactory, but at this point it will have to do because I'm about ready to move on. I will in the near future redo it. I have simply spent far too much time on this little Hellcat. I hope to finish up today and get pics to you all very soon. Thanks for the kindly push though.

You can do it, Joe!  You've triumphed over worse!  

Hey Joe! I thought we were gonna get some pictures today.................

Thank you Checkmate. Kind words indeed.

Joe, I'm afraid you'll have to wait a bit longer. I've finished it up and took some pics. It's just that it is now late and I'm ready to auger in for the eve. Maybe I'll get them posted in the morning before I head to work.

The 1/72 Eduard Hellcat is done! FINALLY!!!!!!

It definitely took some patience, perseverance and creativity to get past the mishaps, but in the end I feel that I recovered quite well.

Thank You Clemens for putting on such an excellent group build. And Thanks to each one of you for for continually providing me with the enthusiasm and confidence to stick with it and work through the issues.

Overall the Eduard Hellcat is simply one sweet kit. The detail and engineering are absolutely to notch. The only real issue I have with the kit is that the open canopy sits a bit too high. I'm not real happy with my antenna. The EZ line is bit big for scale and my CA glue work turned out a bit messy. I'll likely redo that in the future

So, enough babbling, let's have a look at some pics shall we.

And now for some pics with a little added touch:

Thanks again guys. And i hope you have enjoyed my lesson on "Don't give Up".

Cheers to you all and happy modeling.

   Joe

Joe,

If you didn't tell anyone, no one would ever know you had any issues building this Hellcat. It looks fantastic! Great job, and even greater perseverance on your part!  

Wooooow!!! Man the weathering and paint AND detail all rolled into a nice lil' 72nd scale package. Spectacular build Joe. Man you should really treat this thing to a nice display area!!! You should really be proud of this future trophy winner bud!

It looks gorgeous, Joe.  Your patience, and perseverance, really paid off.  I love the weathering around the guns, and all the chipping.  The paint, decals, and joins, all look tight.  Well done sir!  Like other have said, you should feel really good about this build.  Fantastic work....

Thanks for hanging in there on this.  It's been great watching your build progress, and seeing your dogged determination!!!    Very impressive sir!

Your patience paid off, Joe. Really nice looking hellcat. Surely like the subtle weather streaking on the wings.

Thumbs up indeed.

Joe your Hellcat looks fantastic! It was well worth the wait see how wonderfully it turned out. I know I said it before, but I just can't believe that's 1/72. Congrats on a great build.

Well worth the effort, Joe.  You've achieved great results!  It's a very appealing plane.

Gentlemen, I am very grateful for the rather glowing accolades. It is indeed immensely rewarding to make such an impression upon ones piers. As such, for me, this Hellcat wasn't so much the finished product , but rather that I finished at all. Under normal circumstances I'd have probably set this aside to remain unfinished. Yet, it was your encouragement that provided me with the impetus to carry it through. Finishing this kit, more specifically this Hellcat, was doubly important as it is the first model I have built of one of the aircraft my father flew. And now there are a few more to go. It's a hell of a start. Thank You again.

Joe, beautiful work on your Hellcat.  I wonder how many times she flew escort for then Lt.(jg) Bush?  I'm still working on mine, basically waiting for the heavens to close for a while.  We had lakes in the DFW area that were less than 25% capacity that are now full, most lakes are shut down for the weekend because they are 10 or more feet above flood stage and no one can get to them.  The parking lots have standing water 2-3 feet deep and it's raining heavily as I type this.

Hey lewbud, Thank You very much for the kind compliment. I am anxiously waiting to have a look at your finished product. You'll nail it, I know. Where exactly do you live? Sounds like some epic rain there. We've been having an unusually wet spring here in Utah, but it's no where near enough to make up for the unfortunately dry winter. Thus we're into the 15th year of drought conditions.

Joe, I live in Arlington, TX, which is between Dallas and Fort Worth.  We've had a lot of rain, and more is coming.  It's not as bad here as it is in South and Central Texas, where over the weekend some areas got over 10 inches of rain in 24 hours.  I gave up waiting and shot some gloss coat last night.  My version of Little Joe has the port side decalled.  Now to watch an episode of Band of Brothers, then the starboard side.  The fuselage should be done this evening.  Pics will have to wait until I can get to a computer.

Well, it's good to hear that you're staying relatively dry. Not sure how your 1/48 scale decals are for "Little Joe" , but studying the one photo of that F6F it appears to me that there are few if any stencils. Thus, that is how I decaled mine. I loved it as it made for a quick and easy decal session.

Whoops, sorry lewbud. I forgot that you had mentioned that you were going to decal yours as VF-1 from Yorktown. Is that still what you are doing?

lewbud

I live in Arlington, TX, which is between Dallas and Fort Worth.

Joe,

Joe, since you had no problem with it, I stuck with my original plan to do Little Joe, only in 1/72.

Mustang, it's possible.

lewbud

Joe, since you had no problem with it, I stuck with my original plan to do Little Joe, only in 1/72

Very Cool!! I am highly anticipating seeing it done.

Hey Joe.  I'm a little late to the "your Hellcat looks fantastic" party.  You really did an amazing job on the kit.  Eduard kits a fun to build.  Lookin' forward to the next GB with you.

Craig

Hey everyone!

I'm terribly sorry for my long absence. I had not time for anything the last couple of months...

Things got better around here though, so I should have some spare time for this hobby again.

Give me a day or two and I'll catch up on this GB and update the front page.

What a grand day to have your presence back around Clemens. You were greatly missed but, by gum, we certainly didn't forget about you. It is indeed good to see your return to the realm of styrene.

Good to see you back in town Clemens!!

Great to see you back, mate. back