Since my original project took a slight turn for the worse and “Beetle Bomb” didn’t make the cut, I decided to plug away with the other Bearcat anyway… This one’s the Hobby Craft F8F…
The PE seat hardware is from a ProModeler B-24 kit, the belts are aluminum foil duct tape.
Angel Lead with her color-coat laid on, a gloss blue I got from a Wal-Mart rattle can that matched the “Blue Angel Blue” in a photo of BA #2 taken at it’s delivery from Grumman.
I know there’s a Testor’s Model Master “Blue Angel Blue”, but it doesn’t match the earlier Blues’ color of the 1940s. It’s a better match for the BA Blue used on the F-4s, & A-4s, IMHO… The current blue on the Hornet looks darker also…
Beginning with the Bearcat ( The Hellcats were simply painted the Navy’s then-current operational Dark Sea Blue), Grumman had a “Blue Angel Blue” formulated for them, but according to my sources, the color varied with about every aircraft type the Blues used, so there’s no ONE “Blue Angel Blue”… The interiors of the wheel wells, cockpit rear deck, armor plate, and exteriors of the doors are the regular Dark Sea Blue, as are the struts (with the exception of the scissors and oleo) and wheels, although I have pictures of both silver and blue wheels being used…
Looks good so far. I am a huge Grumman fan, and I have even built the Bearcat [Testors kit with a ton of resin]. I agree with you on the blue, looks much better for the early Angel’s as opposed to the modern blue.
I got ahead of myself about fiddly bits though… Next move is the BMF for the leading edges of the wings… Then more gloss to tie in the “polished aluminum” and decals…
I like it [tup][tup]What color blue and brand of blue did you use ? This kit looks identical to the Hawk Bearcat I built last fall. I could dig up a pic if your interested…
Not even close… The “Beetle Bomb” Bearcat I started was a Testor’s kit, which is a re-box of the Hawk kit… Still has the Hawk logo molded into the wing… The HobbyCraft Cat is more detailed in the wheel wells, cockpit, and engine… THe Hawk/Testor’s kit, I used the HC engine to cast a replica for the it, and had to scratchbuild the cockpit using a Monogram F4U cockpit as the base.
Overall, I like Hobby Craft kits… I’ve built only a few, namely their early Me-109s and Mustangs, but none have disappointed me… The Bearcat pretty much fell together, although there were a few issues, the biggest was the vertical stabilizer… For some reason, they chose to have it a separate piece, including the rudder, and the joint’s kind of in a goofy place…
