SPA Modeler

Looks good so far. If I might suggest finding a gel type CA and an accelerator. I have used the gel on tricky bits, as it allows much more working time. Once I'm satisfied, I place a drop of accelerator with a micro brush, and it sets immediately.

For the record, I too, am much better at gluing my fingers than photo-etch!

Me, too! finger to finger, finger to inside of nose, finger to clothes, finger to instructions, you name it. OH, finger to part....

I've also found that too much accelerator makes a dandy paint remover!

Time to continue my project...

But before that, a big thanks to everyone of their feedback and especially all the tips / ideas regarding what glue to use with PE parts!
Very much appreciated!
And thanks Lyle, I am happy I'm not only one that glues much more together than only PE:s... :-)


So, today arrived my Hellcats "Operation Crossroads" decals I ordered (Nine, I ordered them from Hannants.co.uk ). :-)



With my "basic-experience-opinion-regarding-decals", looks ok!
Nice booklet with 8 different options to build / paint. Have not decided yet which option to build. In other words, what colour the tail should be.
Options; Red, Blue, Orange, Yellow, Pink or Light Green...

So, lessons learned! I continued with the PE belts and this time used what my supermarket could sell, gel-type Super Glue. And oh my, what a huge difference compared to my waterish CA.. As told by many of you, indeed gave me much more time to place the PE:s without needing to stress too much! So much easier.



Below the seating belts in place



Glued together then the cockpit and made some "testfitting"






Let's see what next time brings!

- Kari

Happy to see you got around this PE trouble with the new glue, Kari! Now this build will be finished in no time!

After finally finalising the finalized cockpit, the time was finally to "wrap it up!"



Went pretty well, the fit was slightly uneven, but by carefully adjusting the fuselage halves, the "worst" discrepancy was on the underside.
Nevertheless, will require some sanding of course to get the joint as smooth as possible.

Meanwhile time to jump on the wings..

And second disappointment of the kit quality.. :(

A small part of the wingtip (rightside, under part) is missing. Or is too short, as taking a close look, it's not cut off or broken.. It's just 1.5 mm too short. It looks like there was just one tiny drop too little of styrene when it was pressed?



Must figure out how to fix that in a good way. I have a small collection of Evergreen plastic strips, so I should be "covered". Will see..
I skipped to install the wing guns totally, as these parts were highly probably removed from the drones anyhow.

Otherwise there were no problems assembling the winghalves (& tailwings).

---



In the background an old 1/72 Revell P-47D has acted as test bench for the painting.. You might identify the colour of the tail in the testplane behind.. yes, a decision has been made... Yellow is the name of the game! :-) My Hellcat will be nr "11"

So next steps this weekend:

1) sanding and sanding... and perhaps some Mr Surfacer, putty etc where needed
2) attach the wings
3) more sanding etc
4) start building/painting the details; landing gears, wheels etc
5) first layer of primer

If I will be able to do all that this weekend, my goal is reached. :-)



- Kari

Well noticed that the wing guns might have been deleted from a drone. I might have overlooked this. Any mention on deleting the guns in the instructions?

Kari, you nailed the belts and PE, way to go. I like where this is going from a modeling standpoint. I hate it for what it represents historically. My heart breaks to see these marvelous aircraft simply blown up. I know they were expendable and all that, but I still feel quite sad to see it. However, the model will be superb!

@Thomas: No, nothing in the instructions.

I have (at least tryed) to research more details of these Hellcats. To remove the guns I more or a less base on the few pictures found where one can clearly see the wings. No guns and actually no holes either visible.

@Lyle: Indeed, cruel end for many of the survived planes..

- Kari

had to do a double take beacue one of the guys in my club are doing an eduard hgellcat drone, too!
But his is in 1/72

This is looking really good Kari. You're givin me the itch to build a Pacific aircraft of some sort!!! Nice looking pit you've built there!!