1/48th Scale HobbyBoss F8F Bearcat Final Reveal

Looking good Ian.

Joe, Pete, Steve....thanks for the kind words. I made some good progress on the Bearcat. After getting the sanding done, I applied some Tamiya Primer. This is going to be an extremely weathered bird as French Bearcats from the Indo-China War had lots of wear and tear on them. Therefore, there will be alot of chipping and fading. I am going to use Vallejo Chipping Fluid (first time in a plane) so I applied Vallejo Aluminum over all the spots that will have exposed bare metal. I then sealed that with Vallejo Matt Varnish and I will let that cure up for a few days. Then I will apply the Chipping Fluid and Sea Blue Paint. Stay tuned......

Those are mean looking fighters Ian, can’t wait to see your kit built under paint  B)

Coming along nicely Ian.

Nice, I do like the idea of a heavily chipped one too.

I loved the idea and I'm sure I'll love the paint work! Looks great so far.

Thanks for stopping in, gents. I made some good progress on the Bearcat and I pulled off my first use of Vallejo Chipping Fluid. French Bearcats and Dash 7 Corsairs from the 50's weathered very heavily so I thought the Chipping Fluid would be great for this project and it worked like a charm. Most of the weathering on the 1/1 scale versions was around the cowling and wings so I did lots of chips and scratches in those areas. I also did some airbrush weathering as well. French F8Fs had very heavy exhaust stains so I bleached the exhaust areas with MIG Dunkelgelb '44 and then did heavy exhaust stains using Vallejo Dark Rust. I also did heavy gun residue stains around the ammo bays and shell ejector chutes, also using Vallejo Dark Rust. The drop tanks on these looked pretty beat up in the photos so I did lots of chipping and scratches on the tank as well. Just about ready for Gloss Varnish and some decalage. I also started on the ordnance and I am getting the rockets and bombs cleaned up as well.

Regards,

Ian

Great paint work! Looks like the real beast!

I think the F4U-7s were about as worn out as the Bearcats. Great weathering subject, here. Oh wait---I have a Dash 7 in the stash.