F6F-5 Hellcat part 4

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Final detail works



The wind shield and canopy

 I used Eduard's windscreen and canopy parts because they basically, are well shaped. I intended to make the canopy slide open and closed. To make the canopy slide; the trailing edge of the canopy part must be sanded very thin.



The kit canopy part is thinned with 600 grit sand paper. The right is the original kit part, the left is after sanding.
There is a gap between the front windscreen and the fuselage. Reason; Eduard's front fuselage is higher than the correct height by 1mm (0.04) , the kit front windscreen is a little short.

The very front of the windscreen had to be replaced. The kit part is cut with a rotary tool. The new part is from a CD case.
The edge of the windscreen is painted black and is glued with Tamiya thin cement. There is no gap.

Small imperfections are filled with surfacer. Then the windscreen is glued on the fuselage with thick plastic cement (Tamiya white cap).
The windscreen frame is engraved with a needle.

The lower fringe is from 0.14mm (.006) plastic sheet.
Frames are engraved with etching saw and sanded with 800 - 1200 grit sand paper and then polished with rubbing compound.

The fringe and fairing are made up. The thickness of the canopy part is thinned to the limit.
The canopy trailing edge laps over the fuselage fastback in the close position.

The edge of the windscreen is engraved in a step-like shape. So the visible thickness is very thin.
The wide and brawny body and the sharp top from windscreen thru the fastback is an essential point of the Hellcat's appearance.



The tire

 The Hellcat's tough look is degraded by the thin Hasegawa kit tire. So, I increased their width using two sets of wheels.



I use two sets of Hasegawa kit wheels. Each part is sanded nearly in half, then two parts are glued together.
The left wheel is correct. The thickness is 4.8mm (0.19) . The right is kit original with 4mm (0.16) thickness.

The diamond tread is engraved with thick etching saw and this jig.
Finished. The pitch of tread is 1.0mm (0.04) and checks with the gauge of 1.0mm thick plaban.



The landing gear

 It is not often known that; there are two variations of the Hellcat's landing gear doors. The kit part may be used up to the early -3 model. It is confirmed on -3 model with small blister on the cowling side. After mid-term of -3, the lower portion is cut and this type is used thru the last Hellcat. Hasegawa part is well shaped in itself; unfortunately, the positional with relation to the leg is incorrect; the cover is too low. And, Eduard's cover; is shaped incorrectly.



The left has been corrected, center is Hasegawa original, and the right is Eduard.
The center Hasegawa part is incorrect. the oleo position is wrong. Eduard's (left) is too long; fit for "in-flight". (Who does that?)

The oleo is 1.8mm (0.07) diameter. I have no suitable plated pipe. So the brass pipe is plated with solder and polished.
the gear leg center is drilled then 0.8mm (0.03) brass rod is inserted and glued with CA for reinforcement.


The torque link is important for Hellcat modeling and is very noticeable. The etching parts are convenient, but poor in 3-D. So I scratched built them from 0.2mm (0.008) plaban with their "H" cross section. The details such as the number of holes and shape are different between upper and lower parts.



Torque links are scratched built. Hinge portions are stretched sprue. Eduard's part (brown) is small and looks closer to 1/72nd scale.
Kit gear cover is cut off at lower portion and sanded thin. The actual gear cover is made from one sheet of metal.

The brake line is annealed brass rod.
Finally the landing gear is finished. I'm very satisfied with the look of the tire and torque link.



The propeller

 The kit part is not to bad but the spinner is way too small and the blade is a bit narrow. That's a Hasegawa's trait unfortunately. The easiest way to correct this is to use a Tamiya F4U-1D part but I didn't have one. So I picked an Accurate Miniature SB2C-1 for the hub and Tamiya P-47D for Hamilton paddle blades from my junk box. Tamiya's blade is well shaped. So I only sanded to thin it.



The left is the Accurate Miniature SB2C-1, center is Hasegawa, and the right is Eduard.
The left is Hasegawa, the center and right are Tamiya P-47D (after sanding).

The Tamiya blades are glued to the Accurate Miniature hub on the right, the left is Hasegawa.
Photo-Etched mesh is used on the intake.


This corrected (widened and re-shaped) propeller depicts the Hellcat's high power and performance much better!


Ribs of control surfaces

 Ribs are depicted with surfacer as usual. The fixed tab is aluminum sheet.



Ribs are masked with tape. Each width is equalized as much as possible.
Thick surfacer is applied twice with fine brush. The pencil guideline is specific skill.

Some existing drawings made mistakes in the number of ribs depicted. Actually; the aileron has eight, the flap has fifteen (upper) and fourteen (lower), and the distance of ribs at hinge position is narrower.
The position of the tab is different between -3 and -5. The formation light is made of aluminum sheet and clear vinyl chloride sheet (see my F-86 page).



The navigation light



I tried to depict the thin cover of the navigation light. The cover was heat pressing with clear 0.2mm (0.008) Tamiya plaban.
After the clear cover was glued on the wing, the surface was sanded, engraved and polished.



Heat pressing of clear styrene sheet

 Mr. Shirai is the [M]aster of 1/72nd scale models; see the posted video of heat pressing clear styrene sheet (clear praban). The technique used for this Hellcat's navigation light is the same. Also, I used this technique for the canopy of the; SB2C Helldiver, Mosquito and P-36 etc..

video 1กก video 2

He uses a knife in videos, but I use (and recommend to use) a rotary saw.


Other details



The engine is placed on the fuselage.
The exhaust pipe is 1.2mm (0.05) brass pipe.

The tail gear is almost entirely scratch built.
The Eduard's fork is so short that I selected the Hasegawa part.

The bulletproof plate is entirely scratch built. The right is Aires resin part. It is too short in height.
The shape of the tail end has been corrected.



Fixing of the canopy



The canopy slide rail is made of 0.3mm (0.012) plaban. 0.3mm slot was engraved on plaban with GIS Creos's "Mr. Line Chisel (0.3mm)" before cuttting out.
The rail, made of 0.2mm plaban is glued to the lower inside edge of the canopy. The rail clicks in place and is held in the slot of the slide.

Then the canopy is installed on the fuselage.
It moves closed and the fit is outstanding!






To Be Continued

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