Airfix F6F-5 Hellcat in Massive 1/24 Scale COMPLETE 20-April-2025

[Aggieman]

Yesterday was a terrible day for the work bench.

But today is a new day. After the painting I did manage to get in last night, I pulled back the masking to reveals that the entire left side of the rudder was perfectly striped, whereas only the uppermost stripe on the right side was acceptable. So I re-masked and got ready to spray some thinned white paint through my new, used-once Eclipse Takumi. And you might have guessed it, but it didn’t spray.

I watched a bunch of Youtube videos last night on cleaning these things. I didn’t really learn anything new, but one in particular stuck with me, so I opted to utilize what I saw in that one. In that one, they suggested using the Airbrush Cleaner that comes with the Iwata airbrushes but to soak the relevant parts in it for only 10 minutes. Then as @Toimi_Tom suggests, scrubbing everything when done. This I did for every Iwata that I own.

The results were no spray for my new -CS, the -CR, and the Takumi (seriously, used once! And it’s not like I didn’t clean it thoroughly last night). The -BH sprayed. Curiously, so did the old (bought in 2011) -CS. So I was able to get the white stripes re-painted.

[Aggieman]

Now we’re starting to see a Hellcat on my workbench.

Today I completed some touch-up paint work with the Glossy Sea Blue, including adding the plane # to the rudder with the vinyl mask made for the kit. I also masked the prop tips and painted that big prop semi-gloss black, and I masked the wheels so that I could paint the tires tire black.

Finally, after a bit of time for all the paint to dry, I removed the vinyl masks to reveal all the markings. The masks performed well to a point, but there was some bleed under of blue onto white. Will touch that up maybe tomorrow. Then the smaller 32’s done in white (cowling ring and gear door panels) pulled blue paint so that I have white blobs around otherwise crisp numerals. I’m pondering how I’ll fix that. The mask set includes two full sheets of masks, so I still have 4 of those that I can use to redo the markings. Or I could simply try to hand paint some blue to tighten up the numerals, but I have doubts as to how that will turn out.

[Toimi_Tom]

I thought I’d replied to this already! That thing is a monster ain’t it? Finally getting a good sense of the scale. What a cool aircraft. All business. And now that the markings are on it’s just jumped to life.

Thanks for continuing to keep us updated even when you’re being fought all the way — either by the kit or your airbrushes!

Now that I think of it… have you checked your workshop closely for pests?

[Aggieman]

I felt like I made a lot of progress today. I was working out there while watching the entirety of Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park, so I did spend a lot of time at the bench. But I believe there was a good bit of time spent on cleaning airbrush parts. Still, the good news is that I was able to get quite a bit of paint work done.

I don’t know if it’s accurate for a Hellcat to be loaded out with a drop tank, two 1000 pound bombs, and 6 HVAR rockets, but that’s what my Hellcat will end up carrying. I had to put some white primer on the bombs for a band of yellow that will go right in front of the fins. The rocket heads will be olive drab with the very tip aluminum (that I will have to paint by hand, as previous experience even in this scale tells me I’ll never get that tapered tip properly masked). But for now, the rockets are light gull gray bodies with olive drab tips, while the bombs are olive drab with a yellow stripe.

I’ll share my masking technique for the rockets. I put down a narrow piece of vinyl tape and then used an O-ring sufficient for the diameter to hold a piece of tape in place. I don’t recall where I first saw this masking approach, but I’ve yet to get it to work 100%. Unfortunately, the scale I tend to work in is 1/48, but none of the O-rings I have are small enough for rockets in that scale, although they have worked out reasonably well for bombs. The problem is aligning the O-rings level. But in this case, they worked out pretty well.

The cowling has turned into a bit of a bugger. When I re-did the 32s with the masking set, some of the glossy sea blue paint lifted at the edge of the mask. I thought I’d just sand that offending area away and re-paint, but when I got to looking at, there was a paint edge that was going to be crystal clear under the final coat of glossy sea blue. So I opted to get rid of all of the paint with the lowest grade sandpaper I had not meant for wood projects, then sanded it with progressively finer sanding pads until it was smooth. Then I put down a new coat of white primer. After that dried, I sprayed it again with glossy sea blue.

The drop tank got a coat of light gull grey. I then tried to weather it with the salt treatment, which is to slobber water across its surface then shake a bunch of salt onto it. When the water evaporates away, the salt will be left adhering to the surface. You then over-spray the surface again, and when that dries and you knock the salt from the plastic, you’re left with off-color paint layers that will form a good basis for any additional weathering. Welp, I must not have done it right, as there was no noticeable effect from the salt I applied. I’ll have to go at it again.

The final thing I did was to spray highly thinned light gull grey for the exhaust streaks. These are just the first effort at this area of weathering, as there will be more to come probably in the form of ground up pastels and Tamiya weathering pastels.

Soon I’ll start putting on all the stencil decals. She’s getting close.

[Aggieman]

Oh, and I have a set of Master Modeler PE Brownings to replace the broken kit part. I’m still working out exactly how I’m going to get the kit piece out of the way to allow for the PE parts to be installed. I tried to drill them out, but that seemed like I wasn’t making any progress.

The problem is there is no way to access those guns since I closed up the gun bays. If I can get enough of the kit part out of there, I could conceivably cut the PE down to what is needed to extend out of the wings while allowing for enough to seat into the gun hole.

[GAF]

Sounds like you have the situation well in hand. Trouble is, you need two!

Gary

[Aggieman]

Got a little more done today. I was able to do the salt treatment on the drop tank, but that’s just the start of weathering to make that thing look like it is seriously war weary. I also started addressing the antenna masts by adding a small piece of styrene rod to the main mast as per wartime photos and the blog that I’ve been referencing throughout this build. For the rear mast, I ran a piece of 0.2mm copper wire through a hole I had drilled into the mast, and then used an electrical wire twisting tool to tightly coil that copper wire. Hopefully that will look good once I paint that wire and attach the rigging.

I drilled out the one missing machine gun sufficiently to allow for insertion of the Master Modeler set that I acquired. I will probably repeat the process for the inbound gun on the other wing just so that I can utilize both pieces of that PE set. I haven’t set the new gun into place yet, however.

Finally, I put down a coat of gloss clear over the entire airframe and started the always laborious, always monotonous process of applying stencil decals. I went into the process knowing it is going to be a multi-day effort, so I limited myself to just the starboard fuselage.

[chauncy]

Aggieman, about your airbrush issues, I know you wrote here and elsewhere about your troubles, but I was wondering when you thin your paints, how do you thin them? My go to method is to add the paint to the thinner whether in the airbrush if only doing a little or mixing it in a disposable small plastic container which has a lid.
Tamiya acrylic paints will dry lightning fast when left exposed to air and that usually causes a little skim coat. I’ve turned to using pipettes to draw well shaken paints out of the paint pots and then cover them up again to lessen the exposure to air.
Also to touch up with a brush I’ve learned that using a wet palette keeps tamiya paint wet.
All of these things are easily available online, Hobby Lobby, Michael’s, and have worked for me.
My mixer is a centrifugal mixer I bought off eBay from a person who refurbishes them. It works great but cost a few bucks many years ago.
Now about that paint skim. It doesn’t break down no matter how much you stir. The paint is contaminated. But not ruined. That’s where the pipette shines. Just draw from the center of the bottle and not from the bottom. And if you’re just pouring your paint into another container you’re pouring it over a dry and dirty paint bottle which will also carry it dry paint chips into your airbrush and cause issues.
I’d try these things before sending another brush back.
Sorry if this is preachy, but you asked for help in another post and when you mentioned it here again I thought I’d offer my $.02…

[Aggieman]

@chauncy Not preachy at all. I appreciate your response.

I have probably been going about this wrongly for years now. I didn’t always thin the paint before spraying it, but then I never really had any issues with the airbrush until recently. Now I am running the risk of thinning paint too much, something I’ve already noticed with the glossy sea blue that I’m using on the Hellcat.

I’ve shied away from Tamiya acrylics for the most part in favor of their lacquers. I had never thinned those until just this past weekend, when I used Mr Color Self Leveling Thinner. I noticed that stuff sprayed very smoothly. Next time I’m at a shop I’ll pick up some more of that thinner.

I use a lot of Vallejo paints, which are acrylic. I saw something on another post about a “juice” to use to mix with these paints. I’ll be returning to that thread to find out what the “juice” is.

I use pipettes most of the time, but I can’t say if I’m pulling from the bottom of the jar as you point out not to do. Probably am, so I’ll pay closer attention to that.

I’ll look into the wet palette thing you mention, because I still have a lot of bottles of Tamiya acrylics. As for mixing the paints, all I’d ever really done is shake them vigorously, with some exceptions when I knew a particular paint was “thick” and needed thinner added.

As for my airbrushes, I’ve cleaned the heck out of them over the weekend and again this morning. I’ll test the three that were not functioning properly over the weekend later today. I really don’t want to send them in for work, but I might have to do that anyway.

[mustang1989]

This build is coming along SO well Steven. This picture here said it ALL to me. So much detail going into this bird.

[Chuckd]

This is looking really good, Aggieman! It’s going to look great on your shelf.

In the hope you can avoid an issue I had on mine, I had trouble fitting the small gear doors that attach to the front of the gear bay. I don’t know what I did to mess that up, but check your fit there before you commit to glue JIC.

Keep up the great work!

[Aggieman]

@Chuckd Thanks for that tip. If I’ve learned anything on this build, it is to expect nothing to fit without some modification to the parts. I’ve dry fitted just about every part multiple times before the glue even comes out. And still I didn’t get the engine properly aligned, which accounts for the cowling panels not fitting.

[Aggieman]

This morning I hit my stride and completed all the stencil decals. And probably a first for me, but upon first closer inspection, I don’t detect any silvering around those little buggers. The Glossy Sea Blue surface is a prime candidate for silvering, but apparently applying a smidge of decal solution prior to placing the decals, then blotting it lightly, then applying another light coat of decal solution worked for me.

I’m estimating two weekends to completion of the Hellcat.

[GAF]

That’s a feeling of accomplishment dealing with the stencils, especially at 1/24th scale!

Gary

[Toimi_Tom]

Good series of updates here @Aggieman. Incidentally my wife and I have been rewatching all the Jurassic Park/World series movies lately. Some have held up better than others, eh?

You’re at that stage of the build when progress slows, or at least becomes harder to detect, but when the details really start to matter. Congrats on the stencil work coming out without too much silvering. On to weathering!

[Aggieman]

@Toimi_Tom I’m probably an odd one where it comes to the original Jurassic Park movies, but I’ve long enjoyed The Lost World more than the first one. I think it goes back to my thinking of what a dinosaur movie should be: lots of stomping and chomping, and absolutely no feeding plants to a dinosaur. It hit me while watching the sequel trilogy that it mirrored the Star Wars sequel trilogy quite well - an enjoyable first movie followed up by two steaming piles. Maybe the new one coming out this summer will be worth while.

[Aggieman]

I worked from the office today, so I didn’t really anticipate any bench time. But with my wife being a tax accountant whom I really haven’t seen more than maybe for an hour in recent days, I had nothing else that I needed to do, so off to the bench I went.

Tonight was all about weathering.

I started with the drop tank. I’d already started the process already with a salt treatment oversprayed over a base coat of light gull grey. When I wiped all the salt away after a coat of lightened light gull grey, I thought it looked like a drop tank with a case of chicken pox. So last night, I looked through the guy’s blog. He had included several wartime photos that clearly showed these tanks could look like hell, dirty as all get out, and leaking all kinds of stuff. So to make an attempt at replicating that, I used AK Interactive fuel stain. The first photo is right after applying all that fuel stain solution. I let that set for a good while. When I went back to it, I used a feather (?) brush dipped in white mineral spirits to remove most of that, and feather out what was left. The result is in the last two pics.

While the fuel stain solution was setting, I turned my attention to the job needed to give this Hellcat a bit of a used look. My weathering medium of choice is Flory Light. Flory is a water-based clay product that you simply spread over all the surfaces, let it set for a bit, and then wipe away with a wet rag or in my case, paper towel. What’s left should stand out in rivet holes or seams, and if you remove too much, spread some more on and repeat the process until you get to the look you want.

I had already sprayed gloss clear all over the Hellcat, which is the preferred coating to apply this stuff to. If you apply this to a flat coat, it will be much more difficult to remove with that wet cloth.

I had thought I was only going to do one surface at a time. I started with the upper surfaces of the wings. Drying time is not long, although it can be weeks (I’d caution against leaving it on long like that if you don’t put it down on a gloss coat, however). When I wiped it away, I wiped away too much on the inner wing surface on the port wing, so I re-did that one. I also went after the upper surfaces of the stabilizers. I found myself in a bit of a rhythm, so after maybe an hour of actual work, I had done the entire thing.

I still have more exhaust stains to paint. I’d like to get a bit more from the engine exhaust, but also need to address gun port exhaust as well.

Once that is done, I’ll put another coat of clear on it. And then it’ll be the stretch run. I don’t expect to complete the build this weekend, but it should be done the next weekend.

[Aggieman]

Well now I am just spitting mad. I thinned up a fix of light gull grey and grey white and thinned to the point of basically water with the AK Real Colors thinner, yes the paints were AK Real Colors as well. Spraying went fine on the first go-round, albeit with a couple of bubbles in the paint cup. I should have installed the cap onto the cup, because what happened next is what has me ready to just give up this hobby.

Paint sprayed right out the top of that cup and ruined my weathered blue finish in several spots.

I feel like I’m thinning the paint sufficiently. I feel like I am cleaning the airbrushes sufficiently. Yet now I have a bit of a set-back on my hands. I tried to wipe the paint off, but that Real Color paint must be some serious stuff, for the short time it took me to put down the airbrush and grab a towel, it settled right onto the surface and is not letting go.

I suppose I could dab a swab with the AK Real Color thinner and try to get the paint off that way, but I am hesitant since I don’t know what that might do to the paint job. The Glossy Sea Blue is Vallejo, but it is covered with a coat of gloss clear coat. The gloss coat is Gauzy, which I think is an AK product.

Or I could thin some more Vallejo Glossy Sea Blue and spray light coats to hopefully overcoat the damage.

[Aggieman]

I calmed down a bit and went back to the work bench to try the thinner approach I described above. I started with the smallest spot of grey paint and dabbed at it lightly until it went away. I noted that there did not appear to be any damage to the underlying paint.

Here is the before picture. Note that the damage was largely contained to the forward port fuselage and port wing, although there were a few spots on the other side and even back toward the rudder.

With a satisfactory test of the thinner, I went after the rest of it. It’s probably a good thing that I went back out there. This paint disappeared quickly under the swab dipped and largely dried off in the thinner.

Here is the after picture.

There are still a few spots that I probably should hit again, but largely I repaired this damage satisfactorily.

[GAF]

I have found that, if you’re careful, the thinner will take off any paint spillage without harming the underlying paint. I would try alcohol first (the isopropyl kind) if the paint is fresh. It usually does the trick. But you’re an experienced modeler, so I don’t have to tell you this.

Gary