My first aircaft

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

Today I got my first aircraft model,Italeri 1/72 F6F 5N Hellcat, it seems really cool and I have been wanting to attempt an aircraft build for a while. The only reason I got 1/72 is I didnt want to spend too much money and then not end up liking it. I was hoping someone could give me some advice on how to put this thing together. Should I build the model completely and then paint or vice versa? Any help would be much appreciated. Also what are some goals that I should look to accomplish with my first AC? Thanks

Casey

2

I usually build and paint the cockpit first. If it’s going to be hard to reach, I paint before glue, if I’m dealing with parts that go together and are the same color, glue before paint. I usually weather the cockpit a bit, then set it aside and work on the rest. You can basically follow the instructions here, but with a few changes.

Do yourself a favor and leave off gear and gear doors, pitot tubes and just about any little thing that can get broken off during handling, because those things will, repeat will, get broken off during handling. Put those parts on last, after just about everything else. Often the cockpit has to go inside the fuselage during the build instead of after the fuselage is assembles, remember to dryfit quite a bit to get everything just right. Take care of the wings and tail and all that, clean up your seams, then mask off the cockpit area and paint. I put as much of the canopy on as I can before painting, that way it doesn’t look different from the rest of the paint.

Above all, relax and enjoy the build!! You being happy with it and not stressed out about it is the most important thing.

3

Hmmm… I think Madda was able to cover a lot… I’m a big fan of painting on the sprue. Some things are so small (especially in 1/72) that painting while on the sprue is the easiest way to keep from painting your fingertips. What else is there to say? Just have fun with it! Good luck and show us how the finished model looks! [:D]

4

First off, good luck on your first kit. May it go better than mine! (1:72 RB-36F, w/ scratchbuilt turrets extended. I’m not really happy with it, and it’s really not even done.)

Second, I have a 1:72 scale kit of the same plane, but build by Revell Germany. If I could give any suggestions, though, if you are doing the same paint sceme as me (overall dark blue), you can easily build it like this. (I did, anyway.)

-Paint the cockpit first, parts seperate preferrably. Highlight details as needed.
-Glue cockpit in, completed.
-Begin building the main body of the plane. (Leave off flaps if seperate, and any small parts. Exhausts, too, if they are seperate parts also.)
-Put on the struts and the wheel wells. Leave off the tires.

The point I’m getting to is that the wheel wells and struts are the same color as the body, and, as far as I’m concerned, it’s a lot easier to glue unpainted stuff together than painted.

-Attach canopy after masking out the panel lines. I glued the windscreen in place, and the sliding canopy I just set temporarily because I plan to pose it open. This masks the cockpit. Fill and polish as needed.
-Paint it! (Everything on it should be the same color, so masking is minimal, if any.)
-Finish putting on the “extras”.
-Put on clear coats, decals, washes, and whatnot on now. (These other guys can help you better on this than I can.)
-Peel off the canopy masks.
-Rig antennas with fishing line. (Or whatever your confortable with, or not at all, if you don’t want to.)
-Enjoy!

This, of course, is if you are painting the single-color sceme. If you want and earlier tri-color- I don’t know. And, of course, this is mainly my experience with the Revell Germany kit. I have no idea of the parts breakdown or quality of the Italeri kit, or how it will affect anything. That, and take everything I say with a grain of salt, as I technically haven’t finished a kit yet myself! [:D]

As for expectations- so long as it goes together fine, looks relativley decent, and you can kind of see through the canopy, I say…

SUCCESS!!!

Good luck!

And if you do decide to paint on the sprue, remember to clean up the parts where they attached with a little more paint. I personally find this tedious, and so I put up with painty fingers, but I like to move faster than what is probably acceptable! [:D]

5

Congrats buddy!! Personally, I use cardboard from soda boxes, and cut-out the parts I’m gonna paint all one color, and use the 3M blue Painters tape to put the parts on, and I just write the Part # right underneath it with a sharpie. Even if I Airbrush Black, I can still see enough of the number I wrote down to figure out what it is. It also makes for a great “third hand” as the parts won’t fall off as you are detailing. Everything everyone else has already said will put you in the red!!

BTW was gonna e-mail ya, but I’ve been lazy, and haning out with Charisma Carpenter all night (new Playboy in mail) anywho, the thing in SD is on Sunday…but we’ll probably go down around “our time” which is probably leave here around noonish. Not a prob on the Tamiya stuff, but you have to tell me how those cutters cut? Are they as cool as they looked in the package? All righty, gotta get to bed…later!!

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Thanks everyone for replying. It definately gives me an idea on how to build this thing, we’ll see how it turns out. Just wondering if there is a big difference in parts sizes between modern jets and smaller prop planes in 1/72?

Heath,the cutters are awesome. I cant really compare them to anything else except what I was using prior (some no name brand) which just mangled the plastic.

Casey

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Casey,

I guess it depends on which parts, which jets, and which prop planes. For instance, a control stick will be pretty much the same size whether you’re building a Hellcat or a Tomcat. On the other hand, the seats from the Tomcat will be bigger than the seat in the Hellcat.

Overall, the wings, fuselage, and tail of the Tomcat will be much larger than the Hellcat’s.

Regards,

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The other guys have given you good advice and covered all the bases, so I just wanted to say welcome to aircraft building. Enjoy!

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Thanks Lufbery for pointing out those differences. And thanks for the welcome Tango1. So far I have enjoyed building the Hellcat, eventhough there are not many pieces and the lack of detail. But its my first kit and Iam pleased. I was wondering what a good way to mask the canopy would be? Right now im trying micro mask, it seemed like the easiest way, but I guess I will find out once it dries.

Casey

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Micro Mask is what I use for most of my canopies. I like the way it works. If you have trouble removing it next to the frames, or if you didn’t get close enough, use the pointed end of a toothpick to gently scrape away what shouldn’t be there. If the wheel wells are a different color from the bottom of the plane, I paint those last. I cover them with masking tape, and use the well edge as a template to cut the tape. I find that easier than trying to stuff something in the well.

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I’ve had similar luck with Ambroid Liquid Mask.

Regards,