I have listened to the unofficial poll suggested for my next build last week and have redoubled my efforts to get a new M18 Hellcat running on our field. Until then, the old one has seen a fair amount of use and abuse so it is time do the work to get it running again in advance of my 3D printing effort. Two is always better than one!
The old Hellcat has always been a cosmetic conversion with some external detailing so allow mw some artistic license in the rework. This one only has to look good from 10 feet away! In the last few years I have made the effort to print a new one but those efforts have not worked out very well except for a few parts here and there. I made the decision to remove the basic dust jacket the original builder included to simplify his project and make the actual rotor shield and mantlet. These parts came from a solid Hellcat model that I enlarged off thingiverse from a gaming model. Today's effort is to fix that and add some components from the Tamiya parts bin and Andys 76mm Easy Eight. I also decided to flesh out the loaders position with spare M36 parts and card stock. I know its supposed to have 9 rounds but forgive me for now!