Great looking decal work Joel, it's all coming together now...
The extra prep before laying them down is something i'm taking more and more time time with on each model as it's plain to see that a glossy, mirror-flat surface accepts decals best. Any silvering i've had in the past has surely been due to a microscopically grainy matte surface.
I share your pain with stencils as i've just completed several long sessions with them on my "terrible teens" F15e. I think there were as many decals on the ordnance alone as on my last WW2 subject !
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1/48 scale Eduard Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat
Posted: Thursday, November 30, 2017 - 07:51 PM UTC
Posted: Thursday, November 30, 2017 - 08:11 PM UTC
Quoted Text
Great looking decal work Joel, it's all coming together now...
The extra prep before laying them down is something i'm taking more and more time time with on each model as it's plain to see that a glossy, mirror-flat surface accepts decals best. Any silvering i've had in the past has surely been due to a microscopically grainy matte surface.
I share your pain with stencils as i've just completed several long sessions with them on my "terrible teens" F15e. I think there were as many decals on the ordnance alone as on my last WW2 subject !
Paul,
Thanks so much for stopping by and the thumbs up, it's much appreciated.
Believe me, I sense literally your pain in stenciling a modern jet with a full weapons load. I did a F-4Band a F-15C with full loads one right after another, and the decaling with stenciling was pure burnout. Looking forward to seeing your finished build here.
Joel
BlackWidow
Posted: Saturday, December 02, 2017 - 02:23 AM UTC
Joel, your Hellcat is coming together really well. With the decals on it's close to finishing line and the hangar doors can slowly be opened now. It's always a great feeling, isn't it? I also have put on the last decals on my Aussie Ventura tonight.
But as far as I remember, your decals show the engine of Kenneth Hildebrandt and not the one of Alex Vraciu as you have planned ealier. Am I right?
Torsten
But as far as I remember, your decals show the engine of Kenneth Hildebrandt and not the one of Alex Vraciu as you have planned ealier. Am I right?
Torsten
Posted: Saturday, December 02, 2017 - 08:15 AM UTC
Feel for you on the decals Joel , have had this happen to me before . However , see is shaping up very nicely 
Terri
Terri
Posted: Monday, December 04, 2017 - 01:38 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Joel, your Hellcat is coming together really well. With the decals on it's close to finishing line and the hangar doors can slowly be opened now. It's always a great feeling, isn't it? I also have put on the last decals on my Aussie Ventura tonight.
But as far as I remember, your decals show the engine of Kenneth Hildebrandt and not the one of Alex Vraciu as you have planned ealier. Am I right?
Torsten
Torsten,
Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my Grumman Cat. While I've made a lot of progress, I still have that much more to go. Just started the engine, haven't touched the gear one bit yet either.
As for the markings, I had to make a emergency switch as I screwed up a decal from sheer carelessness, so better change plans then try to find a replacement decal of the exact dimensions.
Joel
Posted: Monday, December 04, 2017 - 01:40 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Feel for you on the decals Joel , have had this happen to me before . However , see is shaping up very nicely
Terri
Terri,
the decal was surely a let down, but it did teach me a valuable lesson. Take nothing for granted and check everything before I start or at least prior to a new stage of construction.
Joel
Merlin
Senior Editor
#017
Posted: Monday, December 04, 2017 - 02:31 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Take nothing for granted and check everything before I start or at least prior to a new stage of construction.
Joel
Hi Joel
That's good advice.
And I'd extend it beyond weird decal design incidents like this to all aspects of modelling - i.e. don't even take it for granted that something that you've done countless times will work without fail - there's always scope for a build to do the unexpected and turn 'round and bite. 
All the best
Rowan
Posted: Friday, December 08, 2017 - 07:48 AM UTC
Joel your Hellcat is looking excellent so far. The WWII tricolor scheme has to be the coolest aircraft camo scheme the US Navy ever concocted.
Posted: Friday, December 08, 2017 - 08:15 PM UTC
Quoted Text
Joel your Hellcat is looking excellent so far. The WWII tricolor scheme has to be the coolest aircraft camo scheme the US Navy ever concocted.
Mike,
Thanks so much for stopping by, checking out my Cat, and taking the time to post your thoughts, they're always most welcome.
Not so sure about the tri-color scheme being the coolest all time USN scheme. While I've never gotten around to building any Naval aircraft from the golden age of aviation, those pre-war schemes are certainly quite colorful and super glossy.
Joel
Posted: Wednesday, December 13, 2017 - 02:36 AM UTC
Been slowly working on the Hellcat's Pratt & Whitney R-2800-10W Double Wasp engine.
I made the decision NOT to use the PE ignition wires as they just don't look right being flat, so the 1st step in the wiring process was to remove the square shaped ignition manifold that is molded onto the crankcase cover. Here's the casing without the manifold
The crankcase cover was painted with a custom mix of Tamiya 10 drops of XF-53 Neutral Gray to 1 drop of XF-17 Sea Blue then thinned 2:3 with Tamiya Yellow Cap Lacquer Thinner.
Next was to fashion a round manifold which I made out of 1.0mm round lead wire. I haven't sanded nor polished the manifold as yet in these pictures as it's really quite rough in texture.
then I dry fitted the ignition ring, made final adjustments to it, and then dry fitted the crankcase cover to see how it all looked as one unit.
I decided to add the cylinder gas equalizers both between the cylinders, as well as smaller pipes between each rocker Arm cover. These were all made from .7mm and .3mm lead wire.
Then I primed both banks of cylinders with Mig Ammo Black Primer
After the primer had dried for a day, I air brushed on Alcad2 a/c101 Aluminum. Since the cylinders are caste, I didn't want a smooth nor shiny texture, so the flat primer was a perfect base. I let the Alcad2 dry for a few hours, then applied Tamiya Black panel line wash, and painted the push rod sleeves with Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black.
The next step is to start wiring up the big Wasp.
Joel
I made the decision NOT to use the PE ignition wires as they just don't look right being flat, so the 1st step in the wiring process was to remove the square shaped ignition manifold that is molded onto the crankcase cover. Here's the casing without the manifold
The crankcase cover was painted with a custom mix of Tamiya 10 drops of XF-53 Neutral Gray to 1 drop of XF-17 Sea Blue then thinned 2:3 with Tamiya Yellow Cap Lacquer Thinner.
Next was to fashion a round manifold which I made out of 1.0mm round lead wire. I haven't sanded nor polished the manifold as yet in these pictures as it's really quite rough in texture.
then I dry fitted the ignition ring, made final adjustments to it, and then dry fitted the crankcase cover to see how it all looked as one unit.
I decided to add the cylinder gas equalizers both between the cylinders, as well as smaller pipes between each rocker Arm cover. These were all made from .7mm and .3mm lead wire.
Then I primed both banks of cylinders with Mig Ammo Black Primer
After the primer had dried for a day, I air brushed on Alcad2 a/c101 Aluminum. Since the cylinders are caste, I didn't want a smooth nor shiny texture, so the flat primer was a perfect base. I let the Alcad2 dry for a few hours, then applied Tamiya Black panel line wash, and painted the push rod sleeves with Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black.
The next step is to start wiring up the big Wasp.
Joel
Merlin
Senior Editor#017
Posted: Wednesday, December 13, 2017 - 04:23 AM UTC
Hi Joel
That's a great use for lead wire. I always keep a supply, but I've not seen it used for an item like that before. Very effective indeed. I'll remember your trick.
All the best
Rowan
That's a great use for lead wire. I always keep a supply, but I've not seen it used for an item like that before. Very effective indeed. I'll remember your trick.
All the best
Rowan
Posted: Wednesday, December 13, 2017 - 04:35 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Hi Joel
That's a great use for lead wire. I always keep a supply, but I've not seen it used for an item like that before. Very effective indeed. I'll remember your trick.
All the best
Rowan
Rowan,
Glad I could be of service.
Joel
Posted: Friday, December 15, 2017 - 09:03 PM UTC
Joel! That engine turned into a kit in itself, beautiful detailing. And I'm impressed by the roundness of your lead wire ignition ring !
Magnus
! Magnus
Posted: Friday, December 15, 2017 - 09:23 PM UTC
Quoted Text
Joel! That engine turned into a kit in itself, beautiful detailing. And I'm impressed by the roundness of your lead wire ignition ring
Magnus
Magnus,
Thanks so much for stopping by, it's always appreciated. Funny, but working with lead wire is so much easier then copper or stretched sprue.
I'm halfway through wiring the big Wasp, and so far so good. Pics as soon as it's fully wired and then their painted.
Joel
Posted: Saturday, December 16, 2017 - 06:56 AM UTC
Joel . very nice work on detailing the engine so far . Looking forward on seeing the wiring added .
Terri
Terri
Posted: Saturday, December 16, 2017 - 07:11 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Joel . very nice work on detailing the engine so far . Looking forward on seeing the wiring added .
Terri
Terri,
Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my Grumman Cat. Today I finished the front bank of cylinders with their ignition wires and started on the rear bank. I noticed that one of the gas equalizer tubes between one cylinder was crooked, so I removed it, and replaced it in the correct orientation. looks a lot better now. Will be doing a small update when the wiring is done and painted.
Joel
Posted: Sunday, December 17, 2017 - 11:48 PM UTC
Work continued on the P&W R2800-10 Wasp engine with the addition of the duel spark plug wires for each of the cylinders on both banks. Took a good 10 days to complete the process. I used .4mm round lead wire as I found it much easier to work with then Copper wire, but you need to reshape each wire after gluing it in place as it's really easy to kink them.
Then is glued it to the engine mount in the F6F-3.
Next came the dry fitting of the engine cowl
And finally I stepped back and took a look. Damn, it finally is starting to look like a -3 Hellcat.
Now I can hear all the murmuring about the weird color wires, and what gives with that. I use to paint the USN WWII ignition wires a Brownish/Red, almost a hull red, but once I started to take a look at several restorations and a few pre-restored engines, it became apparent that I had the color all wrong. Here's an unrestored engine
and here are a few restored engines.
and one close up
It looks to me that all are a metal jacket type wire that seems to be a dirty Yellowish coating. So I decided to go with a yellow/brown, and that's the color that you see. What I haven't done as yet is apply a dark brown/black wash to dirty them up some. That comes next with some dry brushing of the crankcase.
So what do you all think? Am I on the right track or totally off base? What if I mixed the original color with some aluminum to make it less intense?
I was also a little disappointed that none of the gas equalizers that I made can be seen unless you really get up close and personal with the front of the cowl. Totally my fault as I should have checked it 1st.
Joel
Then is glued it to the engine mount in the F6F-3.
Next came the dry fitting of the engine cowl
And finally I stepped back and took a look. Damn, it finally is starting to look like a -3 Hellcat.
Now I can hear all the murmuring about the weird color wires, and what gives with that. I use to paint the USN WWII ignition wires a Brownish/Red, almost a hull red, but once I started to take a look at several restorations and a few pre-restored engines, it became apparent that I had the color all wrong. Here's an unrestored engine
and here are a few restored engines.
and one close up
It looks to me that all are a metal jacket type wire that seems to be a dirty Yellowish coating. So I decided to go with a yellow/brown, and that's the color that you see. What I haven't done as yet is apply a dark brown/black wash to dirty them up some. That comes next with some dry brushing of the crankcase.
So what do you all think? Am I on the right track or totally off base? What if I mixed the original color with some aluminum to make it less intense?
I was also a little disappointed that none of the gas equalizers that I made can be seen unless you really get up close and personal with the front of the cowl. Totally my fault as I should have checked it 1st.
Joel
Posted: Monday, December 18, 2017 - 03:55 AM UTC
Joel - Judging from your photos of the restored P&W's if I had to guess I would say the braided sheathing and fittings on the ignition leads looks to be gold anodized aluminum. It looks almost like brass but I doubt brass would be used in the presence of all that cast aluminum due to the dissimilar metals/ galvanic corrosion thing . If this is accurate hardware stores have carpet edge strips of anodized aluminum for an up close color sample - you may even have some in your home-
Either way I think your engine looks superb. Once you tone the yellow down as planned I'm sure it will look fine.
Richard
Either way I think your engine looks superb. Once you tone the yellow down as planned I'm sure it will look fine.
Richard
Posted: Monday, December 18, 2017 - 11:24 PM UTC
Quoted Text
Joel - Judging from your photos of the restored P&W's if I had to guess I would say the braided sheathing and fittings on the ignition leads looks to be gold anodized aluminum. It looks almost like brass but I doubt brass would be used in the presence of all that cast aluminum due to the dissimilar metals/ galvanic corrosion thing . If this is accurate hardware stores have carpet edge strips of anodized aluminum for an up close color sample - you may even have some in your home-
Either way I think your engine looks superb. Once you tone the yellow down as planned I'm sure it will look fine.
Richard
Richard,
Thanks for your input, it's most welcome.
After looking at the bright yellowish wiring for a few days, I concur with assessment, and will be using a Tamiya black wash on the wires, plus dry brushing the crankcase and adding a wash to it as well. A few pics to follow in a day or so.
Joel
Merlin
Senior Editor#017
Posted: Wednesday, December 20, 2017 - 01:39 AM UTC
Hi Joel
Excellent progress on your Hellcat.
You've raised a very interesting question over the colour of the ignition harness. Some of the shots I've found online as a result of seeing your post have even shown both the brighter "brass" and the dull "copper/bronze" (I'm talking colours, not metals - thanks for the insight into corrosion problems Richard) mixed on the same engine. But none of the photos have shown the rich "copper/brown" I've often unwittingly used on models.
So, I'll err towards a dull reddish bronze in future, not overly saturated in hue. It might be a bit boring to some viewers, but is likely to be more accurate, especially if one takes "scale effect" into account.
You're well on the home straight now - I'm looking forward to seeing your Hellcat finished.
All the best
Rowan
Excellent progress on your Hellcat.
You've raised a very interesting question over the colour of the ignition harness. Some of the shots I've found online as a result of seeing your post have even shown both the brighter "brass" and the dull "copper/bronze" (I'm talking colours, not metals - thanks for the insight into corrosion problems Richard) mixed on the same engine. But none of the photos have shown the rich "copper/brown" I've often unwittingly used on models.
So, I'll err towards a dull reddish bronze in future, not overly saturated in hue. It might be a bit boring to some viewers, but is likely to be more accurate, especially if one takes "scale effect" into account.
You're well on the home straight now - I'm looking forward to seeing your Hellcat finished.
All the best
Rowan
Posted: Wednesday, December 20, 2017 - 02:13 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Hi Joel
Excellent progress on your Hellcat.
You've raised a very interesting question over the colour of the ignition harness. Some of the shots I've found online as a result of seeing your post have even shown both the brighter "brass" and the dull "copper/bronze" (I'm talking colours, not metals - thanks for the insight into corrosion problems Richard) mixed on the same engine. But none of the photos have shown the rich "copper/brown" I've often unwittingly used on models.
So, I'll err towards a dull reddish bronze in future, not overly saturated in hue. It might be a bit boring to some viewers, but is likely to be more accurate, especially if one takes "scale effect" into account.
You're well on the home straight now - I'm looking forward to seeing your Hellcat finished.
All the best
Rowan
Rowan,
Thanks for your insight into the wire color issue. Like you, I never thought that I was so far off in the wrong direction. Just another example of how the Net has changed modeling and how we model.
this week is really a busy one between work and home, so almost no modeling as yet, but I did get to apply that dirty wash, and I think it's about as right as I can get it without repainting, and I really don't want to go that route.
Before:
After:
Joel
Posted: Thursday, December 21, 2017 - 02:10 PM UTC
Hi Joel, nice work on the decals. I can only imagine your irritation at finding the mistake; I have never seen that before. And as you said, it is always a good idea to look over the kit contents before construction, very good advice.
You engine looks like the bees knees, very nice indeed!
Ernest
You engine looks like the bees knees, very nice indeed!
Ernest
Posted: Thursday, December 21, 2017 - 11:34 PM UTC
Quoted Text
Hi Joel, nice work on the decals. I can only imagine your irritation at finding the mistake; I have never seen that before. And as you said, it is always a good idea to look over the kit contents before construction, very good advice.
You engine looks like the bees knees, very nice indeed!
Ernest
Ernest,
Thanks so much my friend for stopping by and posting, it's really appreciated.
It's kind of funny that the ABC's are still so important like checking the kit contents before construction, and working out your build plan to avoid issues when you're well into the build, and changing direction is so easy.
Joel
Posted: Sunday, December 24, 2017 - 12:15 AM UTC
Hello Joel.I`m attending your constraction from the beginning.Even though you encountered difficulties,you have made a beautiful painting and an amazing engine.I am totally sure that you will present a fantastic build.Merry Christmas!
Posted: Sunday, December 24, 2017 - 11:39 PM UTC
Quoted Text
Hello Joel.I`m attending your constraction from the beginning.Even though you encountered difficulties,you have made a beautiful painting and an amazing engine.I am totally sure that you will present a fantastic build.Merry Christmas!
Christos,
Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your most positive comment, it's greatly appreciated.
And a merry Christmas to you and your family.
Joel
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