1/48 Hasegawa F6F-5 Hellcat

1/700 Hasegawa USS Essex & 1/700 Tamiya USS Cushing 

by Konley Kelley

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I finished a 1:700 Hasegawa USS Essex.  Like the 1:700 Akagi kit, it was fun to build.  I also built the little 1:700 IJN destroyer I picked up on eBay.

The attached images features the USS Essex and my 1:48 Hasegawa F6F-5 Hellcat with markings for Cdr. David McCampbell, the top U.S. Navy ace.  In building the Essex, I reasoned (via some research) that the Essex was camouflaged in the the "dazzle" scheme, Measure 32 (a fun and challenging paint job).  McCampbell did one tour on the Essex then left the ship just prior to a damaging kamikaze attack that sent her home for repairs.  After that, the Essex returned to sea in an overall grey/blue scheme that I guess was common on late WWII vessels in the Pacific.

I built the Hellcat about nine months ago.  It received the first of my three US Navy Verlinden pilots who had to be broken and crammed into the seats of the Hellcat and AM Dauntless. Despite that challenge, the Verlinden pilots are very detailed which adds to the realism of any kit where the modeler wants to display a pilot figure.

I now plan to redo my Butch O'Hare 1:48 Monogram Wildcat image on my website with a 1:700 USS Lexington I want to build at the time of the defense O'Hare gave the ship during the early '42 Rabaul campaign with netted him the Medal of Honor.

I picked up a 1:700 Tamiya USS Cushing and dressed it in dazzle to join the USS Essex in the background of this image featuring Navy Ace David McCampbell and his 1:48 Hasegawa Hellcat.

For more ace images, see my website at
http://home1.gte.net/konman/AcesMenu.html.
Konley

Photos and text © by Konley Kelley