Wild Re-Start

Slavo Hazucha Autor
Sooo... Long hiatus - covid, work, family, general life just somehow ruined my drive to sit @the bench and do any hobby...

After several short and futile attempts to return to the hobby, this may be it... 🙂 Got this kit last year from my friend Palo M, spent some months looking at it (it is a very nice kit!!) and now here we are...

Admittedly a bit rusty (I think/hope after a cockpit warm-up, the engine work will get me back to speed... 🙂 ), but it is a start!

It is quite interesting to do a kit like this and so far I really enjoy it - quite far from the typical 4-th gen jet work, but fun! Particularly enjoyed not using all the PE but doing some hand touch-ups on the original plastic parts

James C
Good to see you back mate. Following. 👀 😉 👍

Rui S
Welcome back. Looking great as always 👍

Neuling
Welcome back! Missed your builds and comments! 🙂

Bernhard Schrock
Welcome again on the bench and SCM! Looking for the wild progress🙂

Hanno Kleinecke
Well, that rust will be brushed off in no time - checkin in on this one ! 😄

Palo M
Great start! Glad it migrated from shelf to desk. Watching with interest.

Alexander Grivonev
Welcome back mate 👍

Robert Podkoński
Great to see your work again! Keep it up!

bughunter
Welcome back Slavo!

Nathan Dempsey
Welcome back Slavo! Good choice for a return project.

Erik Leijdens
Cool!! Welcome back grandmaster Slavo!

Patrick Hagelstein
Slavo is back!!! Whoohooh!!! 😄 Enjoy your new found mojo and enlighten us with your skills and creativity!!! ☺️

Slavo Hazucha Autor
Welcome James, Rui, Neuling, Bernhard, Hanno, Palo, Alexander, Robert, bug, Nathan, Erik, Roland and Patrick!!

So happy to have such a collection of venerable builders watching... I sort of feel obliged to deliver now! Which may fail, so have mercy with this cold start and - to whomever it may apply - follow with glasses of (or at least misty...) 😉

Also pls. allow a couple of days for me to browse through your builds - I have really had a black-out on the hobby - been all over the place with work & life and all and the Ukraine war also killed my appetite for contemporary Russian/ex-Soviet stuff, so that was that... (I still like the airframes and will probably do some at some point, but for now it´s just not "bonding" and triggering the right appetite for the builds...)

So a Wildcat is just a really cool topic and I am looking forward to build "something else" - with blue-eyed optimism and no attempt to be all-too realistic. Just having fun with the usual tools and materials, MRP paints and oils. Hope this will be fun!

Alexander
Welcome back Slavo! Take your time, you can count on us patiently waiting until you deliver the next master piece 😉

Ludvík Kružík
Have a successful restart! Glad to be able to watch your great builds again. 🙂

Spanjaard
Welcome back Slavo
Coming back with "a simple OOB build".... man, that cockpit is just simply fantastic!!!

bughunter
Yes, not forgotten anything! Is that the new Eduard kit?

Sergej I
WB! And watchin' 👍

Jim J
Welcome back! Looking great so far! 👍

Slavo Hazucha Autor
Welcome Alexander, Ludvik, Spanjaard, Sergej and Jim! happy to have you on board!

So far this is a real pleasure, 99% due to the excellent kit 🙂

@bughunter - yep, it´s the new Eduard (Profipack - PE, Masks, yet no Resin) - it´s a great little model - everything just works & fits - I have to keep the pieces far apart on the bench or I suspect it would build itself alone while left unsupervised overnight... 😄

Sergej I
Let's see the decals, I too have started painting whatever can be painted just to avoid them. Eduard's No.1 thing to improve...

Sven Schönyan
Nice to see you back on the workbench Slavo!

I´ve build this little gems a few months ago and it was a real pleasure!

Enjoy the build and the hobby!

Slavo Hazucha Autor
Greetings Sergej & Sven - happy to have you on board!

@Sergej - I tested one of the big one´s on a spare wing and it did work - film peeled off cordially and the stuff that stayed on the model looked reasonably fine - looking forward (and being warned) for the final application 🙂

@Sven - checked your´s - feel motivated now! 😉

Sven Schönyan
That´s what this site is supposed to do 🙂

Maciej Bellos
Here I am too, fashionably late to the party, gazing at that beautiful pit. Welcome back Slavo, great to see your skills again and looking forward to the next steps.

Cheers!

Slavo Hazucha Autor
Welcome Maciej! I hope not to disappoint (totally) - I am having fun like a 5-yr old since doing a prop WWII plane is pretty new to me 😄

So I did my first radial engine! Was fun, I do not want to deny that - still may like jet engines a bit better due to the amount of variety of metallic and soot/weathering effects I can apply, but this was still a load of fun - 28 ignition cables (no PE provided for these in the in-box Eduard sheet - but I guess "real cable/wire" does the job better 🙂

Also, a Hellcat appeared... I wonder where this is going to lead...

James C
Looking awesome, and the Hellcat is a cool subject as well. I have the Eduard "weekend" edition laying around here somewhere waiting to be built 😉👍

Michael Kohl
I am in too

Neil
Me also! 👍

Daniel Klink
So cool and precise work Slavo👍

Robin (WhiteGlint)
Welcome back Slavo. Already a nice office you made there. 🙂

Ludvík Kružík
Slavo, it looks like you're coming back in style. 👍

I don't know where this is going ... but I can suggest one possible path. The Grumman cat family is quite extensive - F4F Wildcat, F6F Hellcat, F7F Tigercat, F8F Bearcat. And it has its representatives among the jets - F9F Panther, F10F Jaguar and F11F Tiger. 😄

Maciej Bellos
Ludvik, you forgot one... 😉

Ludvík Kružík
Maciej, that's quite possible. I'm only marginally familiar with American aircraft.

Maciej Bellos
You missed probably the most famous Cat of them all, the Tomcat 😄 Still you know the older ones, especially the early jets.

Jens
Hello Slavo, how nice that there is a sign of life from you again and as I know it 🙂
Without real motivation, the work is often doomed to fail and then the Euard Kit is a real motivation.
I love watching you, even if it won't be a jet 🙂 👍

Slavo Hazucha Autor
Welcome Michael, Neil, Daniel, Robin & Jens!

Glad to have you on board! It's big-time fun doing something I last did as a kid - building a WWII fighter! 😉

Well the from Wild- to Tom- Cat line-up has crossed my mind - but also just adding a loose line-up of NAVY fighters (not thinking much about Dauntlesses or Avengers yet...)

This kit so far is really like a little puppy - looking at you from the table with huge trusting and expecting eyes, happily taking all your attention, making progress fast and doing it's best to please you... 🙂👍🏻

More coning soon, I wish all kits were like this!

Slavo Hazucha Autor
The model just built itself without any fuss, so I worked a bit on the paint-job... MRP colors, some salt and panel shading were used + the decals (I actually liked the peel-off Eduard versions - actually pulled the transparent film earlier (some 12-16hrs instead of 24) to get some quite realistic damage, which can be useful later...

Just need to add the walkways and it´s ready for some protection of the decals and weathering can start in earnest 🙂

Michael Kohl
Oh, very beautiful shading. Nice seeing you having an obviously good time building that cat.

Sven Schönyan
Very nice what you do with the panels!

Maciej Bellos
A beautiful canvas!

Sergej I
I was wondering if F-2 damage is intentional or coincidental... I like the peel-idea, but often get some pull around the panel lines...

James C
WOW! 👀 The paintwork looks superb! 👍

Robin (WhiteGlint)
👀 Great paintjob 👍

Ludvík Kružík
Very nice finish, looks great. 👍

Patrick Hagelstein
Slavo is definitely back! 👍🏼

Jim J
That paintwork looks fabulous. Looking forward to your cautious spiraling into some weathering…

Nathan Dempsey
Presto change-o and she's come together. Fine work sir.

Juskifo
👏

Slavo Hazucha Autor
Still havin fun here - sealed the decals with satin varnish and went over with the 1st weathering pass - just a simple "general wash", to set the canvas for further targeted measures...

This is kind of interim result - I did a dry wipe and some more of the wash will go later after some 24hours plus with swab & thinner...

I must say I am quite happy about how the salt & wash cooperated on the surface wear effect - guesswork but sort of went the direction I hoped for 🙂

Rui S
Looking great, indeed 👍

Daniel Klink
Boah, totally amazing work with the finish Slavo!

Robert Podkoński
Looks beautiful already...

Ludvík Kružík
Slavo, the finish looks great! I really like it. 👍

Alexander Grivonev
Really sweet color modulation 👍

Harvey H.W.
TOP！

Daniel
Put the prop on - bam, finished, build a tomcat 😜
Lovely work slavo, great to see you back among the mates👍🏻

Guy Rump
Looking great. 👍

Alexander
Great - as always 😉 👍

Ludwig Micallef
Beautiful! Well done Slavo!

Patrick Hagelstein
Marvelous! 🤗

Erik Leijdens
Fantastic paint job Slavo. Great color variation.

Slavo Hazucha Autor
Thanks mates for all the support! Prettz motivating, one has to admit 😉

The Wildcat used the Easter holidays to see some heated combat... and face horrible conditions and neglect by the maintenance crews... Just a few words of excuse for me having some serious fun finishing the weathering on this bird... It actually looks a tiny bit less dramatic in the real world 😄

Anyway - I may add a second layer of darkening on the exhaust stains but otherwise am fairly happy to call it a day - as Daniel said - prop, gear, antenna wire and we´re done on this one 🙂

James C
It's fascinating seeing it evolve with each new update and looking forward to the completed build👍

Alexander
I don't think it looks overdone tbh, maybe barely, but nevertheless very good! 👍

Sven Schönyan
Definitely overdone - but hey, aren´t we artists in some way? I really like it!

Andy Ball
enjoyed your 're-boot' - yeh, baby....what a "Wildcat!"

Pietro De Angelis
Beautiful job, congrats!

Slavo Hazucha Autor
Thanks James, Alexander, Sven, Andy & Pietro!

I warmly agree with the "overdone" - particularly on those photos & light conditions - which make it over the top - it´s not so extreme in normal conditions & not "on camera" - but TBH, if "real real" looks should be achieved, with the relatively short time and rapid changes in marking and camo that accompanied this phase of the war, it would all have to be much more boring, and that is not the point here 😄

I am having fun, not at all aspiring for realism this time - and am the more happy to read you guys like it 🙂

Patrick Hagelstein
Completely true Slavo! Just enjoy this artist sprout, we will enjoy it regardless. ☺️👍🏼

Robin (WhiteGlint)
Realistic or not, it looks great. 👍
Cheers!

Erik Leijdens
The look I always want but never accomplish 😄. Fantastic work

Vincent
beautiful work. Very good looking model!!!

Slavo Hazucha Autor
Thanks Patrick, Robin, Erik & Vincent!

Happy you like this "worn down veteran version" of the Wildcat 😄

Experiencing a bit of a slow-down on the finish line with landing gear & final details but hope to be done by the end of the week...

Slavo Hazucha Autor
Got the cat finished, stuffed in a booth and photographed!

Wild Wild Cat | Album by slavatarko (1:48)

was a really fun and interesting journey, hope you will like the "questionably realistic" result! 🙂

Patrick Hagelstein
😂 We will, Slavo! We will… ☺️

bughunter
What you show here leaves me speechless! I have the impression that it must look exactly like this 👍

bughunter
I forgot to comment on the decals: in my experience it is hard to remove the carrier film after 24 hours. In the Eduard Info journal 10 hours are recommended and it worked for me nicely after 8 to 10 hours.

Sven Schönyan
I´ve recently removed the film after more than 24h. It worked as well.

But in all I´m not so happy especially with the red colour of Eduard´s new decals. It´s not so bright as I would like to have it.

Slavo Hazucha Autor
When I was removing it early (6-ish hours), it always took a bit of the decal with it... After 12+ hours all went clean and it was super-easy to remove the film.

I was using Tamiya strong all the time...

@Sven - I kind of agree - the color and saturation may not be as great as on the top 'normal' decals - for this project it was perfect though, I planned to spray some shading over the decals anyway.

What definitely works with these is that after the film goes, there is -no- thickness to the decal itself... 👍🏻

TALAKS
Excellent work!