Hi All,
Here’s my latest attempt to upload pictures of my recent Hellcat build. I think it turned out pretty well, but I am definitely receptive to constructive criticism. If the uplaod works, I’ll send some of the Bf110c that I’m working on.
Doc
Looks pretty good. I perfer the three tone color scheme over the all sea blue. What scale is it?
Yeah, I prefer that three tone scheme, too. This was an old Otaki 1/48 scale kit. Never built an Otaki before; I was pretty happy with the kit.
She looks very good. The pics don’t do her justice, though.[:(]
Andy
Nice build- the paint looks good.
Nice clean build. Great job.
Zip
Not bad for an old kit. The colors look a bit off, but may be the pics.
Regards, Rick
Thanks for sharing, Doc. She looks really nice, my only criticism is that you’ve reminded me I haven’t built my Hellcat kit yet! I love those Navy birds…great job on the Otaki kit.
Very Well Done…
The Paint scheme looks GREAT.
2 [tup][tup]
Bud
The ONLY (minor) critisism I can see is a SMALL bit of decal silvering in ONE photo, but that could easily be a result of the camera flash. Other than that, an outstanding build. You did the paint scheme awesomely well. Kudos! [;)][tup] (What does kudos mean, anyway? Hm…)
Nice work!
Kudos used to be a granola/candy bar… so it’s a good thing!
You did a nice job on the Hellcat. It’s probably my second favorite WWII carrier fighter. I’ve head the Otaki kit is an old one, but still very capable of being turned into a nice build. Looks like you’ve proved it!
To Lucien,
No, the silvering is real, not just a trick of the light. The original decals were unusable, and I had some (probably equally old) Micro Scale aftermarkets. Most of the decals settled down well, but there were minor problems with the others. I have this problem with brand new decals, and it seems that decal quality varies wildly from manufacturer to manufacturer. Also, in response to the colors, they do show up a bit light in these photos. Next time I post, I’m going to try to have better photographs and a better background. I’m learning :).
Nice work on the Hellcat. The only thing negative I noticed is the previously mentioned decal silvering. I frequently had that same problem until I started putting 2 or 3 coats of Future on before the decals and at least 1, better 2 after the decals.
Darwin, O.F. [alien]
Well done. I agree… this scheme is nicer that the all blue.
[#ditto] I completely agree. When it comes to decals, Future is your friend. I find a minmum of two coats are necissary, one before decals and one after. (You wouldn’t believe how much of a difference that coat afterwards makes!) You might even want more than that, if you want to get a thick enough even coat. One word of warning, though. NEVER lay it down too thick at one time. It’ll start to run, and in some places even start fogging up.
Try it sometime. I was blown away with the results once I started doing it.
I’ve used Future quite a bit, but I often have a recurring problem: When I wet the surface of the model at the spot where I want to apply the decal, moisture sometimes gets underneath the coat of Future and leaves behind a washed-out area around the decal (even though I thoroughly cover the entire model with at least two coats and let it thoroughly dry for at least 24 hours). I have not figured out a way to repair this nor a way to avoid it. If anyone has experienced a similar problem and has devised a way to deal with it, I’d love to hear about your technique. Thanks.