Hello everybody, i finally got one finished after a 3 month slump of not finishing but starting like 5 models, anyways, this is the academy hellcat straight from the box, it only took like three days. Next up, Dragon King Tiger with zimmerit for the next generation campaign!




oops, looks like i have forgot the machine gun
Comments and Critiques are welcome please!

Hi Brian. Looks like a nice build. The paint job looks the part as well, but Id recommend to add some mild weathering and dirt build up. Mostly to break up the flat panels of green and add dome character. Any figures planned?

maybe some figures, im still not sure, and you cant tell from the photos which disapoints me but the hull is sprayed with tamiya buff and in person it looks really dirty, maybe i can try to take an outdoor pic, that would bring it out i think

ok, heres a bit better of a picture where maybe the dust shows a bit better
Do you think maybe a little more tamiya buff on the running gear would make it look better?

I can see the weathering better, it's very subtle and looks good, probably even better in real life. If this was in a really dusty environment, or somewhere where the grouns was relatively firm but had a fair amount of rain then some more buff would look excellent.

Good luck in trying to fit figures! An open top vehicle such as the M18 always looks interesting with a combat crew, especially in action. But the M18 was a very cramped vehicle. You will have to do a lot of figure conversions and maybe even so far as sculpting torsos, and especially arm and leg positions to fit the confined space. Even the M10/M36 which is comparatively spacious requires a lot of figure rebuilding to make stock figures fit. You might start with Tamiya's half-track crew set as they are mostly seated figures and slightly under-sized.

As Biggles 2 said, open turrets are REALLY cramped for the crew. Fudging here and there in the kit's part design puts more squeeeeeze on the crew. You may have to amputate,doctor! Feet,lower legs, partial lower abdomen removal. None of this gets seen from above so it's OK and much more interesting to the eye. Just don't leave the body parts in the road behind the TD........ Hey Nice muzzle brake! That in the kit?
Cheers!

Sure it, i forgot to mention, i build all of my kits STRAIGHT from the box, i never add am detail with the exception of on halftrack ibuilt, i just think that if i paint it well enough, then the it will look more deetailed then the plastic actuall is

Great looking cat! Painting job is superb.