Airfix 1/24 Hellcat Build

Still doing some work in the office area. picking up where i left off last time.


i let the cockpit assembly sit clamped overnight so everything is set solid exactly where it should be.

it looks a bit shiny for the minute since i have to apply decals before i can give it a coat of flat/matte clear

these are some little assed decals..see number 29? lol

they go above the seatbelt bar mount on the rear bulkhead


since i will be adding the decals as i build so i dont miss out on any, i just use one of the disposable shot glasses with some warm water in it. i drop the decals in there and let them soak for about 30 seconds


after the 30 second soak i pull the decals out with tweezers and lay them backing side down on a piece of paper towel to wick off the excess water. this also gives the water time to saturate the rest of the paper backing and activate the adhesive. once the adhesive is activated the decals slide easily off the backing and into their final resting place on the bulkhead. i pushed them around a bit with the tip of a toothpick until i was happy with the placement. then i let them sit and dry for a bit. , amazing i can actually read it at that scale, "shoulder harness must pass over support tube"


once the decals dry ( they were small enough that they did not require micro sol or set ) i shot the whole interior with a coat of matte varnish to get rid of the shine. sprayed as it is right out of the bottle at 20psi.

while that is drying i will work on the seat pad.

first thing i need to do is to make it so that i can handle it a bit easier without worrying about touching the actual part. i use a scrap piece of styrene rod and some tet


to glue the rod to the bottom of the seat pad. now i have a handle =o)

the seat pad i am going to paint olive drab. this is mr color aqueous thinned with x20a and shot at my normal 20psi through my eclipse hp-cs

i layed down a light mist coat over the primer first, then i sporadically went over parts to give slight variations in color density.

this is the first time i am trying this stuff. i have used other types of liquid masks in the past and not been very impressed. picked this up last time i was at hobbycraft.

i grab one of my older #0 round brushes and use it to brush the mask over the areas i want to protect. the fact that this stuff is blue is helpful to let you see where you have applied it easier. as it dries it turns clear. i applied 3 layers of the mask. in my experience you want liquid mask to be thick enough to be able to remove easily when the job is complete. if i only applied one layer there is the chance it would have come off in little pieces after the paint was done because it would not be thick enough to lift the remainder as its pulled.

after that dried, i grabbed my dunkelgelb again. thats my standard seatbelt color for this build
this time, instead of brush painting it. i applied it with the airbrush.

while i was at it i figured i would do the rest of the seat bets. i first hit them with the white primer

then the coat of dunkelgelb

i used the tip of a toothpick to lift the edge of the liquid mask and then a set of decent tweezers to pull it off. it came off cleanly so i have no complaints about the product.


the buckles need a hint of a metallic color. i dont want something as bright as a silver or a chrome. so i am going to hit them with some gunmetal.

buckles done

now i will hit it with a bit of a wash, i figured out after this that i should not have skipped a step and clear coated it before the wash....you will see

initially the wash looked exactly the way i wanted it to

i have the seat and frame installed in the cockpit


added a couple assorted bits here and there ( dont know what they are) lol

seat belts in place, here you can see the bleeding from the wash earlier. the flat dunkelgelb took its time but sucked some of the wash into it. i am going to go back in with my detail brush and touch up the lower belts before i shoot the seat with some dull coat.

alright. this has to be a good sign.. sprue D is dead, and coincidentally, its time to turn the page and see whats next to work on.

moving to a bit more fuselage stuff

this first instruction cel tells me there is photo etch to be used... i am thinking thats enough for today. i will play with photo etch tomorrow lol


cya next update

Yay Photo Etch...said no sane modeler ever.... lol


but it is a necessary evil for certain details. so lets jump in till i go cross eyed and see where it goes.


first on the todo list is the prep work, in order for the photo etch to be used, areas need adjustments, some parts need to be removed, others need to be filed down for overlays to set on top. the red in the pic below shows what needs to be removed to use the photo etch sets.



these are the original kit parts we will be modifying



and this is fret 2 of the interior set where most of the parts i am showing today have come from.



first up is the removal of some of the cockpit electronics that are molded as part of the kit.



i use the backside of a sharp hobby blade and repeatedly scribe the join line between the part i want removed and the cockpit rib until it cuts through the plastic and i have separated the parts.



with the electrical components removed i need to address the wires. they need to go buh bye



i shaved them off with a hobby knife and then filed things smooth afterwards



there is also a dial or gauge on the frontside of this piece that needs to be filed flush. i will shave that down and get the rib/frame section ready for primer and paint.



this is the new top plate that will sit on top of the rib section. it needs a wee bit of bending to make it look right.



i pull out my little photo etch clamp, this can also be done on a flat surface with a pair of razor blades as well but i prefer to use the tool as it holds it solid for me to be able to bend things easier. the first bend is a 90 degree for the upper lip



next i flip the piece around in the clamp and do another 90 to form the upper portion into a c channel



next i have 2 rivet plates that also need 90 degree bends as they attach to the fuselage



preliminary bends are complete



a quick test fit to make sure it will sit where it is supposed to.



i also test fit it into the fuselage , next i will glue the top plate in place on the frame. while the glue is setting i need to do something about the ejector pin marks in the cockpit area again.



glued, primed and ready for paint....



i am debating if i like this stuff or not. i am gonna use it here again and let you know afterwards if i would bother buying it again.



i used a toothpick to apply the filler and let it sit aside till it hardened



once it hardened, i filed and sanded the areas flush. mind is made up.. i dont like the new stuff... it dries too hard and does not sand as nice as it should. i am thinking i am going to go back to vallejo plastic putty for the rest of this.



after primer and paint...



now we get to start with the little dinky bits that drive me nuts lol. this is one of the bigger ones....



and this is the handle that inserts into the above pic lol.. i get the feeling that if i breathe too hard it will go away forever...because if this hits ground..i have 0 chance of ever finding it again lol



both pieces in place



next i added the another set of controls, this one had 2 levers..yay smh



electronics box was a simple 4 bend and the other 2 plates were just glue and set. here you can see where i filed the lower panel. i left a slight raised bit as a "witness" area so i know where to glue the front plate on.



i know i am skipping around just a bit today, but it is all in the same area, so lets look at one of the other parts that need modifications in order to apply more photo etch.



this is what the initial part looks like, before mods



this is the first piece i will build up. a multi bend with 3 levers in it.



took a couple minutes to bend the larger pieces into the basic shapes i needed



next i glued the 2 pieces of photo etch in place onto the kit part. i did make one adjustment, the front lever was just going to be a flat piece of photo etch, but i didnt like it. so i trimmed it off and mounted a small piece of styrene rod in its place so it actually looks like a handle now



this is what the original kit part looks like



this is what the photo etch replacement looks like.



i mounted the pieces in place inside the cockpit



just a real quick mock up to see how things are going to look. i am ok with that



i did notice one area i need to fix, out comes the gunmetal paint again



the electrical box on the fuselage needed a bit of contrast




thats it for today, cya next update

more work in the cockpit this update, and more photo etch bits to glue here n there heh



it seems every time i pick up a humbrol product lately ( aside from the paint ) they never seem to work as well as other products i have on the shelf. case in point is the bottle of matt varnish below, even when shaken and applied with my airbrush, it is never a flat enough finish for me. so now it turns into an adhesive for photo etch.


this is the kit part i am adding photo etch details to, on a car i would call it a sill plate, dont know what its called on a aircraft.


these are the 4 photo etch bits i need to affix to it. wow that pic is kinda crap...sorry


i use a small brush to dab some of the varnish onto the places i want the photo etch to live. and using a decent set of tweezers i lay the bits in place. then set aside the part to let it dry for a little bit.


once dried, this part goes in place on the upper portion of the fuselage in the cockpit area


its starting to look like a cockpit, at least on side of it is anyhow. it will need a decent flat/matte coat on it to tone down and blend everything together later.


the next steps in the instruction manual is another bulkhead with a couple tanks on them.


these are the pieces for the next step.


while the bulkhead and supports go off to prime and paint, i will build up the tank. this is the main reason i say that the proper glue used the proper way, makes life easier and will give you a better finished product. On the 2 sides of the tank i made sure they fit flush and then used tamiya extra thin along the length of the seam. i waited about 5 seconds and then lightly squeezed the parts together so just the smallest bit of melted styrene oozes out of the joint.


i did the same with the smaller tank that is in the next step.


once dried i pull out a medium grit sanding stick and run over the seam to remove the styrene that oozed out between.


easiest to see what i am talking about in the next 2 pics..before sanding..


after sanding.. no filler necessary


when i finished sanding the seams, i sent the parts off to primer and paint.


the smaller tank will be yellow


3 light coats of yellow later and i have pretty decent coverage


the larger tank will be based in aluminum


as usual, 3 light coats later. but you know by now...i never leave well enough alone lol


i grab a piece of 10mm tamiya tape


i use a hobby knife and cut it down the center. does not have to be perfect for what i am doing.


because the area between the straps on the tank is less than 10mm wide. rather than try to cut a piece of tape exactly the width of it. i find it easier to split the piece of tape down the middle. apply the one clean edge to the inside edge of the strap.


then i flip the tank around and do the same with the remaining clean edge of the tape on the other side strap, this overlaps in the middle and made it so i dont have to try to cut to an exact width.


i did similar on the outer sides of the straps


and then finished masking off the rest of the tank straps


i used a bit of liquid mask fluid around the clasps on the straps and over the end fittings on the straps themselves. now i let it sit for a minute so the liquid mask has time to set up.


while the mask is drying i mount the smaller tank to the inside of the bulkhead along with the lower support panel


once the tank set up, i installed the rear bulkhead assembly into place


the larger tank is out of paint for now


just to enforce what i was saying about humbrol products...i figured i do not want this build to look too new and shiny so it is appropriate to have some items with a light but of dust and light weathering. i have this brand new bottle of "dust wash"


as i always find happens with most humbrol products, the pigment has settled to the bottom of the bottle. this is not a couple year old bottle, its literally about 3 months old. no matter, i have the vortex paint shaker so i throw 2 glass bb's into the bottle and let the machine do the work.


it took a solid 7 minutes on the vortex mixer to get this all actually mixed. do you see the problem already? this is supposed to be a wash... it looks a bit pigment heavy to be a wash. i give it the benefit of the doubt and see what happens.


ummmm, yea. thats humbrols version of a wash....smh


before it sets up i go over and grab my bottle of mineral spirits.. as my bud Bob always said.. we dont have mistakes..we have happy accidents.. ( wow he was on some stuff , wanst he? ) lol


now i used a wider brush and simply used it dipped into the mineral spirits and basically brushed over the whole tank to remove much of the dust wash. i am fine with the imperfections, remember this is still soaked in thinner and a bit of a mess. it will level out a bit when it dries


i let it dry a but and glue it into place, i still think it needs a bit of weathering to add depth


lets see what a pencil does =0)


i ran the pencil along the edge of the straps and used it to add a little shading on the lower portion of the side of the tank.



thats it for now, back to more photo etch work in my future so see ya in a few days.

moving on to the electronics in the fuselage





as with so many different parts on this aircraft, i dont know what these are lol... for the most part i am just following directions and making things look as good as i can.




these require a piece of styrene rod 3mm x 5.2mm . luckily i had a length in the scratch building supplies bin. in hindsight i suppose i could have used a section of sprue and still had the same result.





first electronics box built up, i have to keep remining myself that the pics show the parts about 20x larger than they actually are so all the little minute gaps...you dont actually see them on the part in 1/24 scale unless you magnify them



first box made up



there are two that look like this



there are 3 more mounted in the fuselage that are more squared off, they are next



built up and mounted to the frame support that sits in the fuselage





some of the smaller electronics




now.. after i got done building up all of these bits and test fitting things together, the interior boxes will not even be visible once its built up. smh... unless i plan to make a cutaway version which is a no go.. oh well.. moving on lol



ok back to cockpit controls


to prep the area for the gauge panel i need to file the mating surface flat




only takes a couple minutes to file the clear plastic flush



to prep the cowl section for paint i need to mask off a bit.



i trimmed out the area that will be painted flat black




off to the booth



i like tamiyas flat black, more often than not when dealing with military subjects i will grab this color . technically the tamiya does not look "black" to me but a very dark grey, and thats what i want here




2 coats of black




30 mins in the dehydrator and we are back in business




the large gauge section builds up easily because of the locator pins




these levers were enough to test my vision bending and getting them into place



the completed gauge panel




airfix could have done better for location points for the gauge panel in the cockpit, the instructions are a bit crap when it comes to placement. i got it where i think it needs to be..we will see how it works out lol



on to the right side instruments and yay more photo etch lol



these are the original kit parts, most of the dials and buttons need to be filed or sanded off



coat of primer and base coat of color going on




back to the PE bender



basic panel faces are in place, in one way i think its kind of cheating to use the overlays. on the other hand there is 0 chance i would be able to paint those details as well without the photo etch. PE it is then




the upper panel will get some switches added to it




major components ready to be dropped in place




all major pieces are now in place in the right side of the cockpit



i did something different with the wash on this side, instead of applying it via brush i added some to my airbrush and basically shot a medium wet coat over the entire right side of the cockpit. works for me



next update i will get the fuselage glued together and move onto the next sections. cya in a few days

today i get to glue the fuselage together and see about moving onto other sections of the aircraft.

as a kind of " first things first" item of interest... i see something i realistically will end up breaking off while working on this monster, and probably end up losing the piece in the process...

might as well remove it now and set the piece aside at least where i can find it later lol
out comes the razor saw.

couple seconds later and i have separated the piece

now to put it somewhere that i wont loose it lol

that should work

now, because of the shape of the fuselage i need to find a way to exert equal force around the entire outside area to be able to glue it together..
i grab a couple sturdy rubber bands and a few toothpicks...why the toothpicks? because solvent based glue/cement eats through rubber bands like nothing. the only way to get away with using them is by elevating the actual rubber off the surfaces at the areas where i plan to apply the glue.


to be 100% honest on this build, the tolerances are too tight in some areas, the plan was to button up the top seam and slowly work my way down around the sides until i could close up the gap on the bottom seam.

it did not work as intended. the channels on the interior of the fuselage that the bulkhead sections "slot" into have tolerance issues with the thinnest coating of paint on them. this did not look to be an actual issue until after i actually glued the upper seam and let it sit for a few hours to cure and then came back to progress further down.
if i had done my homework i would have seen others mention the tolerances and fit issues and could have addressed them before assembling the 2 halves. yea...that didnt happen lol

being at a "point of no return" without causing further damage i had to result to plan B

working my way around the exterior and slowly gluing section by section

i got the gap close to closing, but not quite....
this is what i am left with

i have added the tape because i will be using a filler to span the gap, this filler has to be a bit more than the run of the mill vallejo plastic putty i normally use for gaps so i figure...what better time to try something i have never used before? lol

milliput is a 2 part catalyzed putty,

you mix equal parts of A and B

until they are a uniform color

now this stuff on its own is a similar consistency to modeling clay, too thick for what i need...
i put the blob of putty into a small piece of tupperware and add a bit of nail polish remover to it, (acetone)

i use a wooden stir stick to keep kneeding the ball of putty in with the acetone until it is the consistency of almost toothpaste
once i have that consistency i use a toothpick to apply the thinned putty to the gap making sure to span the whole thing

the tape was there to control the amount of excess damage filling can cause, before the putty could cure, i removed the tape so it is not a problem to get off later.
into the dehydrator it goes for an hour.

once it came out i grabbed a couple sanding sticks and carefully knocked back the filler trying not to disturb the panel lines or rivets in the process

this leaves me will with a small clearance issue with the lower hatch, but, i did not plan to have this hatch open anyhow when i am complete so it will be an easy work around.
i glued the lower hatch in place and then used the vallejo plastic putty around the gap to fill it in and get it ready for a coat of primer.

the coat of primer shows where i still have a bit of filling to do, the milliput is structurally sound but not as smooth as i would like. so i follow up with a light coat of auto spot putty

give that a bit of cure time and a couple minutes of a fine sanding stick and it will be good to go.
with that sub assembly near enough complete, its time to see where the instructions want to send me next

nice to move onto a different part of the kit...
i dig out all the pieces that are called for in the instructions

and start building up the next sub assembly

here is a surprise...not. one of the main bulkheads with a load of ejection pin marks again..

filled, sanded and ready for install

the assembly is starting to take shape



it was kind of at this point i decided... instead of building this kit with one wing extended and one folded. i am going to instead build it with both extended. something about the symmetry would bother me if i went one up one down. lol
that being decided, i am opting for the flaps down position since it will be wheels down, cockpit open and a couple inspection panels open
to build flaps down these are the extensions i have to use

with that sub assembly built up, its off to primer and paint.

and thats enough for this update, next one will be looking at the wing assemblies
cya in a bit