1/32 Hasegawa F6F-3 Hellcat

[Bob S]

That exhaust stain is very convincing - is that airbrushed?  Could I simulate the look with powder pigment?

[JonE]

Beautiful Ronnie.

[Anthony Leger]

Nice work on the Hellcat

[Lee_K]

I've said it before Ronnie, and I'll say it again: aircraft of the Pacific Theater of Operations is where your muse lies.  I love seeing your creativity applied to these subjects, as this Hellcat attests.

Lee K

[Ryan K]

I like it and you are correct about Clyde.

[Bill L2]

Very nice model Ronnie. Great airbrush work. Cant wait to see the finished diorama. Maybe someday Tamiya or Hasegawa will release a new tool 1/32nd Hellcat.

[Ronnie Murray]

I studied plenty of color and black and white images and was surprised how much staining was present under the wings and fuselage due to oil, grease and gun play.   I also want to mention that parts of this kit were donated by our late buddy Clyde Mills.  He was working on it years ago and just decided that it was not worth the time to perfect all inaccuracies of the basic kit.  He gave it to me and I was proud to use his cowling and wheels as they were upgraded by his craftsmanship.   He was a very talented modeler and all around good guy.  Overall I really like this kit and would recommend it to any modeler instead of the Trumpeter issue.  The primary weak spots are easy fixes with aftermarket goods.  They are the cockpit, wheel wells, wheels canopy fit and some panel lines.  The engine is fabulous, the prop is very nice and you can build a -3 or -5 as mentioned.

[Ronnie Murray]

I used all enamel paints and the pilot figure was cobbled up from three or four 1/32 figures.  You can see him best in the first image.

[Ronnie Murray]

I used some resin, PE, vac canopy and home made bits to upgrade it where needed and there are no decals on this one.  It's all been painted using masks and I applied some Archers transfers. 

[Ronnie Murray]

Some of you have already seen this kit at the September meeting but I just remembered to post it on the site.  This is the third time building this kit, the other two are -5's which you've already seen.  This one is now part of a diorama where it is in combat with a Hasegawa Ki-43 Oscar.  This Hellcat kit is complete but the diorama isn't quite done.  Hopefully I'll have it ready for the December meeting.