Tamiya M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer

Andrew Gledhill 著者
Update 01, 12.01.25. Hi folks. I actually started this kit about 6 months back. I got as fas as building up parts of the lower hull. Then I put it away because other stuff took over my attention. While waiting for decals for my Tiger 2 build. I decided to get this one back out of its box. I have completed all the lower hull, wheels and tracks. All that has been painted in the Olive Drab colour. The tracks were painted in Dark Iron. Then slightly buffed up. I will maybe do more weathering with the tracks later. The tracks were of the link & length type. Not sure that I am a fan of that type of tracks. On something like this, I think the good old vinyl tracks would still be good enough. Anyway, I am now painting and building up the ammo racks that are either side of the upper hull. That's it for now. Enjoy.

Andrew Gledhill 著者
Update 02. 15.01.25. Hello again. Well, things have progressed well. I have got this kit 95% built and painted. The hull is finished apart from some tools that will go on towards the end of the build. The turret is 95% completed. There is detailed turret basket and ammo ready rack etc inside the turret. I had problems fitting the canvas gun shield and the gun itself. The part of the gun barrel that fitted through the canvas cover and into the breach parts, was far too long. Or I couldn't get it to go in far enough. I ended up cutting it short. Anyway, I have ended up with a slight gap on the left side of the canvas cover. It will have to do. I am not going to mess with it further. I can't go any further with it until I have put on the decals. So, after the paint has cured for a few more hours, I will spray on a gloss coat, ready for the decals to go on. That's it for now. Enjoy.

Andrew Gledhill 著者
Update 03. 16.01.25. Well folks. I have had a case of the curse of crap Tamiya decals yet again. What a load of crap Tamiya decals can be. They are so thin, that the larger decals were a pain in the butt to get in place without ripping or crimping up. This was evident on all but one of the White Star decals. I have had to touch them up with some White paint afterwards. Its not great, but hopefully I can hide the defects with some weathering powders etc. I have attached all the tools and tow cable etc. The tow cable string was pretty crap. Much prefer the copper wire you get in other kits. It has took me 3 coats of Tamiya XF-86 Flat Coat to get it to this state. It still has a slight sheen to it. I will be moving onto some weathering next. It will get a minimal approach. I could do with some decent Olive Drab type oil paint to do some rain streaks etc. But the only green oil paint I have at the moment is a bright green colour. I might just try a Florymodels Clay Wash. Maybe the Brown or Sand wash would do. The only other thing I need to do is paint up 4 ammo boxes that come with the kit. Plus the single standing figure. Anyway, enjoy for now.

Andrew Gledhill 著者
Update 04. 26.01.25. Hi again. I am now calling this one done. I have done the weathering, and finished it all off. First I applied a Brown Florymodels Clay Wash all over. Once dry, this was rubbed off with cotton buds. This gave the tank a grimy look. Then I rubbed on various dirt and sand weathering powders. This covered up any defects in the decals where I had to touch them up with White paint. I was painting up the single included figure. But I painted his arms separately, the put them in some clips to hold while the paint dried. Unfortunately, one of the arms pinged off and got lost in the carpet monster lol. I have looked all over the floor for it. But cannot find it at the moment. So, the rest of the figure will just go into the spares box for now. If the arm turns up, then I will finish the figure off. It wasn't that great a figure anyway. It's a pity that there were no crew member figures included in this kit. Anyway, this one is complete. Thanks for looking and commenting.