DONE@p.2 +++ 1:72 Grumman Hellcat FR.III (F6F-6P); FAA No. 898 NAS, Sri Lanka, 1945

[Dizzyfugu]

That's just generic white decal material, cut into 1:72 15 and 18 in bands. More convenient than the attempt to paint these. 

BTW, model has been finished, but photo session will take some time to take place.

[DogfighterZen]

 

[Dizzyfugu]

Still no photo session, I hope for the next weekend. 

[Dizzyfugu]

Photo session completed, now some editing.

[Dizzyfugu]

First teaser... 


1:72 Grumman ,Hellcat FR.III (F6F-6P)'; '9H-B/JX 995' of No. 898 Naval Air Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy; Ratmalana (Ceylon/Sri Lanka), September 1945 (Whif/Modified Heller kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

[Dizzyfugu]

Finally, here we are  . And for the kit's quality the outcome is better than expected:


1:72 Grumman ,Hellcat FR.III (F6F-6P)'; '9H-B/JX 995' of No. 898 Naval Air Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy; Ratmalana (Ceylon/Sri Lanka), September 1945 (Whif/Modified Heller kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Grumman ,Hellcat FR.III (F6F-6P)'; '9H-B/JX 995' of No. 898 Naval Air Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy; Ratmalana (Ceylon/Sri Lanka), September 1945 (Whif/Modified Heller kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Grumman ,Hellcat FR.III (F6F-6P)'; '9H-B/JX 995' of No. 898 Naval Air Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy; Ratmalana (Ceylon/Sri Lanka), September 1945 (Whif/Modified Heller kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Some background:
On 17 September 1942, personnel for 898 Naval Air Squadron gathered at RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus) in Hampshire. They embarked in HMT Queen Mary, setting sail for the United States and arriving at NAS Norfolk, Virginia, where the squadron was officially established as a fighter unit on 15 October, under the command of Royal Marines Captain A.J. Wright. The squadron was equipped with six Grumman Martlet Mk IV, an American carrier-based fighter aircraft. These aircraft were the counterparts to the US Navy's F4F-4B variant and were generally comparable to the Mk II but featuring two extra wing-mounted guns and powered by a Wright Cyclone engine.

In January 1943, deck landing exercises were conducted on the USS Charger at Brunswick, Maine, after which the squadron joined HMS Victorious on 3 February. This occurred as HMS Victorious embarked on a journey to the Pacific through the Panama Canal to integrate with the United States Pacific Fleet. The USS Hornet was lost, and the USS Enterprise sustained significant damage during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, resulting in the United States Navy (USN) having only one operational fleet carrier, the USS Saratoga, in the Pacific theater. In response to a request for additional carrier support, the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Victorious was loaned to the USN in late December 1942.


1:72 Grumman ,Hellcat FR.III (F6F-6P)'; '9H-B/JX 995' of No. 898 Naval Air Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy; Ratmalana (Ceylon/Sri Lanka), September 1945 (Whif/Modified Heller kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Grumman ,Hellcat FR.III (F6F-6P)'; '9H-B/JX 995' of No. 898 Naval Air Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy; Ratmalana (Ceylon/Sri Lanka), September 1945 (Whif/Modified Heller kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


A number of months was dedicated to operations in that theater, which encompassed reconnaissance missions in the Coral Sea region during May, succeeded in June by providing assistance for the landings conducted by United States forces in the Middle Solomons.[4] HMS Victorious arrived back in the United Kingdom on 26 September, with the squadron disembarking at RNAS Eglinton (HMS Gannet) in County Down, Northern Ireland. By this time, the unit had been re-equipped with ten Grumman Wildcat Mk V fighter aircraft and was integrated into the 7th Naval Fighter Wing. This version of aircraft was comparable to the FM-1 Wildcat of the United States Navy, manufactured by General Motors and equipped with the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engine.

On 12 September, the unit commenced operations aboard HMS Searcher, a Ruler-class escort carrier, to support North Atlantic convoys, primarily utilizing RNAS Hatston (HMS Sparrowhawk), Mainland, Orkney, as a base of operations. In April 1944, the 7th Naval Fighter Wing took part in an assault on the German battleship Tirpitz located in Altafjord, Norway. Over the subsequent two months, multiple shipping strikes were executed off the coast of Norway, resulting in the downing of a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor maritime patrol aircraft and four Blohm & Voss BV 138 flying boats. In June 1944, the squadron offered protection for a convoy heading to Gibraltar, before being amalgamated into 882 Naval Air Squadron on July 5, 1944.
898 Naval Air Squadron was reformed at RNAS Wingfield (HMS Malagas), in Cape Town, South Africa on 8 January 1945, as a single-seat fighter unit. The squadron was equipped with twenty-four Grumman Hellcat F. Mk. II fighter aircraft. This version was comparable to the F6F-5 Hellcat of the United States Navy and was equipped with the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine. In June, it embarked in the escort carrier HMS Attacker for deployment to Ceylon, now augmented with brand-new Grumman Hellcat F. Mk. III fighters and Hellcat FR. Mk. III photo reconnaissance aircraft.


1:72 Grumman ,Hellcat FR.III (F6F-6P)'; '9H-B/JX 995' of No. 898 Naval Air Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy; Ratmalana (Ceylon/Sri Lanka), September 1945 (Whif/Modified Heller kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Grumman ,Hellcat FR.III (F6F-6P)'; '9H-B/JX 995' of No. 898 Naval Air Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy; Ratmalana (Ceylon/Sri Lanka), September 1945 (Whif/Modified Heller kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Grumman ,Hellcat FR.III (F6F-6P)'; '9H-B/JX 995' of No. 898 Naval Air Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy; Ratmalana (Ceylon/Sri Lanka), September 1945 (Whif/Modified Heller kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The Grumman F6F Hellcat was a carrier-based fighter aircraft conceived to replace the earlier F4F Wildcat in United States Navy (USN) service. The Hellcat was an erstwhile rival of the faster Vought F4U Corsair for use as a carrier-based fighter. However, the Corsair had significant issues with carrier landing that the Hellcat did not, allowing the Hellcat to steal a march as the Navy's dominant fighter in the second part of World War II, a position the Hellcat did not relinquish. The Corsair instead was primarily deployed to great effect in land-based use by the U.S. Marine Corps.

Although the F6F resembled the earlier F4F Wildcat in some ways, it was a completely new design, much bigger and powered by a 2,000 hp Pratt & Whitney R-2800, the same powerplant used for both the Corsair and the United States Army Air Force's (USAAF) Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters. Some military observers tagged the Hellcat as the "Wildcat's big brother".
The F6F series were designed to take damage and get the pilot safely back to base. A bullet-resistant windshield and a total of 212 lb (96 kg) of cockpit armor was fitted, along with armor around the oil tank and oil cooler. A 250 gal (946 l) self-sealing fuel tank was fitted in the fuselage. The design proved to be very balanced, even though attempts were made to improve the Hellcat's performance.


1:72 Grumman ,Hellcat FR.III (F6F-6P)'; '9H-B/JX 995' of No. 898 Naval Air Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy; Ratmalana (Ceylon/Sri Lanka), September 1945 (Whif/Modified Heller kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Grumman ,Hellcat FR.III (F6F-6P)'; '9H-B/JX 995' of No. 898 Naval Air Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy; Ratmalana (Ceylon/Sri Lanka), September 1945 (Whif/Modified Heller kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The F6F-6 was the last version that eventually entered service during WWII. It used the 18-cylinder 2,100 hp (1,567 kW) Pratt and Whitney R-2800-18W two-stage supercharged radial engine with water injection. This uprated engine had to be combined with a Hamilton-Standard four-bladed propeller to cope with the extra power. The F6F-6s were the fastest version of the Hellcat series during wartime, with a top speed of 417 mph (671 km/h vs. the F6F-5's 391 mph/629 km/h). To ensure directional stability at high speed the F6F-6 received a slightly taller tail fin. The armament was beefed up to four 20mm M2 cannons in the wings, while the F6F-5's standard external ordnance (including unguided missiles, iron bombs and drop tanks) was retained. However, the ordnance options were insofar widened that the F6F-6 received plumbing to carry a pair of drop tanks on the formerly "dry" bomb hardpoints under the wing roots instead of only a single auxiliary tank under the fuselage.

The F6F-6 was cleared for production in September 1944 and entered service with both US Navy and Royal Navy (as F6F-6 and Hellcat F Mk. III, respectively) in early 1945. Small numbers of the "Double Six" were also delivered to New Zealand and the Netherlands (to former NL-KNIL units in the Pacific theatre under Royal Air Force command). A photo reconnaissance version, the F6F-6P (FR Mk. III in Royal Navy service), was developed and built in small numbers, too. It retained all offensive capabilities of the standard fighter but featured a pair of cameras in the rear fuselage with respective vertical and side view ports. In operational use, though, two of the four M2 cannons in the wings were removed to save weight.


1:72 Grumman ,Hellcat FR.III (F6F-6P)'; '9H-B/JX 995' of No. 898 Naval Air Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy; Ratmalana (Ceylon/Sri Lanka), September 1945 (Whif/Modified Heller kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Grumman ,Hellcat FR.III (F6F-6P)'; '9H-B/JX 995' of No. 898 Naval Air Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy; Ratmalana (Ceylon/Sri Lanka), September 1945 (Whif/Modified Heller kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Grumman ,Hellcat FR.III (F6F-6P)'; '9H-B/JX 995' of No. 898 Naval Air Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy; Ratmalana (Ceylon/Sri Lanka), September 1945 (Whif/Modified Heller kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The Royal Navy received about fifty F6F-6s, and one of its main operators in the SEAC region was NAS 898, using both the standard F6F-6 as well as the F6F-6P. The fighters were delivered and operated in standard US Navy livery, in all-over Dark Sea Blue, but the photo reconnaissance aircraft quickly received for their missions at high altitude an improvised new paint scheme in an overall medium blue tone. This was not a standard color, rather an improvised mix of British Insignia Blue, Sky and white, reminiscent of RAF PRU Blue, and the standard SEAC markings were retained on these aircraft.
 
However, after deployment to Ceylon with the new aircraft NAS 898 did not engage in any combat prior to V-J Day. Subsequently, the pilots returned home aboard the Attacker-class escort carrier HMS Pursuer, without their aircraft, and the squadron was officially disbanded upon their arrival to the United Kingdom on 12 December.


1:72 Grumman ,Hellcat FR.III (F6F-6P)'; '9H-B/JX 995' of No. 898 Naval Air Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy; Ratmalana (Ceylon/Sri Lanka), September 1945 (Whif/Modified Heller kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 33 ft 7 in (10.24 m)
Wingspan: 42 ft 10 in (13.06 m)
Height: 13 ft 1 in (3.99 m)
Wing area: 334 ft² (31 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 23015.6 mod root; NACA 23009 tip
Empty weight: 9,238 lb (4,190 kg)
Loaded weight: 12,598 lb (5,714 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 15,415 lb (6,990 kg)
Internal fuel capacity: 250 US gal (950 l)
Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0211
Drag area: 7.05 ft² (0.65 m²)
Aspect ratio: 5.5

Powerplant:
1× Pratt & Whitney R-2800-18W "Double Wasp" two-row radial engine with a two-speed two-stage supercharger, delivering 2,100 hp (1,566 kW) at 2,800 rpm at 1,000 ft (305 m) and 1,800 hp (1,342 kW) at 2,800 rpm at 25,500 ft (7,772 m), driving a Hamilton Standard four-blade propeller of 13 ft 1 in (4.0 m) diameter

Performance:
Maximum speed: 330 kn (417 mph, 671 km/h)
Stall speed: 73 kn (84 mph, 135 km/h)
Combat radius: 820 nmi (945 mi, 1.520 km)
Ferry range: 1,330 nmi (1,530 mi, 2.460 km)
Service ceiling: 39,305 ft (12.000 m)
Rate of climb: 3,800 ft/min (19,5 m/s)
Wing loading: 37.7 lb/ft² (184 kg/m²)
Time-to-altitude: 7.0 min to 20,000 ft (6,100 m)
Lift-to-drag ratio: 12.2
Takeoff roll: 799 ft (244 m)

Armament:
4× 0.79 in (20 mm) M2 cannons with 250 RPG in the outer wings
Up to 4,000 lb (1,814 kg) of external loads, including 6× 5 in (127 mm) HVARs, 2× Tiny Tim unguided rockets, 1× 2,000 lb (907 kg) bomb or 1× Mk.13-3 torpedo on the fuselage centerline rack, or 2× 1,000 lb (450 kg), 4× 500 lb (227 kg) or 8× 250 lb (110 kg) bombs on two weapon racks on either side of fuselage under the wing center-section, or up to 3× 150 US gal (570 l) external drop tanks


1:72 Grumman ,Hellcat FR.III (F6F-6P)'; '9H-B/JX 995' of No. 898 Naval Air Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy; Ratmalana (Ceylon/Sri Lanka), September 1945 (Whif/Modified Heller kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Grumman ,Hellcat FR.III (F6F-6P)'; '9H-B/JX 995' of No. 898 Naval Air Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy; Ratmalana (Ceylon/Sri Lanka), September 1945 (Whif/Modified Heller kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Grumman ,Hellcat FR.III (F6F-6P)'; '9H-B/JX 995' of No. 898 Naval Air Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy; Ratmalana (Ceylon/Sri Lanka), September 1945 (Whif/Modified Heller kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Grumman ,Hellcat FR.III (F6F-6P)'; '9H-B/JX 995' of No. 898 Naval Air Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy; Ratmalana (Ceylon/Sri Lanka), September 1945 (Whif/Modified Heller kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Well, the Heller Hellcat kit is sh!t, but the finished model looks interesting. What I expected to be a relatively simple project turned out to be a major cosmetic surgery nightmare. However, with the odd blue livery I find the result quite convincing, almost like an early "low-vis" camouflage with the only blue-and-white SEAC Royal Navy markings?

[zenrat]

Good job Dizz.  I still prefer the original blue of the plastic though.

Is it just me who thinks the scheme makes it look like a Wildcat on first look?

[su27rules]

      

[Dizzyfugu]

Good job Dizz.  I still prefer the original blue of the plastic though.

Is it just me who thinks the scheme makes it look like a Wildcat on first look?

The bare plastic rather looks like Smurf Air Force markings... 
And, yes, there's really a Wildcat-ish look, because the RAF Azure Blue is actually very close to the (rather bright!) pre-war USN blue-grey.

[NARSES2]

Come oout well Dizzy   

[Dizzyfugu]

Thank you all! 

[PR19_Kit]

Don't all Hellcats look like Wildcats, but with a more sensible undercarriage?

[DogfighterZen]

Great work as always, Dizzy!   

[Old Wombat]

Great work as always, Dizzy!   

Yup!  

[zenrat]

Don't all Hellcats look like Wildcats, but with a more sensible undercarriage?

Yes, but no.  I can't explain it.