Grumman Hellcat- all about

[Mgawa]

Greetings all,

can you help me in my search, I would like to be informed about Hellcat kits and related products, available on market. I have search but it look like that I can not find all info.

Hope that there is more Hellcat fans By the way- how about to create Hellcat fun page on Facebook?

Cheers

[mazdaP5]

What scale are you looking for?

[Mgawa]

Any scale, I have find in search that there is even kits in 1/350 scale Off course- I mean standard scales and kits and other material in regular manufacture, not vintage product long time out of production.

Cheers

[Mgawa]

And there is profile page about this plane on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Grumman-F ... 985?v=wall

[mazdaP5]

http://www.megahobby.com/search.aspx?find=hellcat

[Mgawa]

Thank you Mazda

[Steve Nelson]

I only build 1/72, so that's where most of my knowledge lies. There still is no "definitive" F6F in "my" scale. I think the Hasegawa kit captures the lines of the Hellcat the best. Despite being over 30 years old it's still a very nice kit. It does suffer from a lack of cockpit detail, completely inaccurate wheelwells. It has raised panel lines, but they're not overdone.

The Academy kit is a close second..very similar to Hasegawa, but with engraved panel lines and a better cockpit. Unfortunately, the molding on smaller parts is not as crisp, the canopy is terrible, and the cowl "chin" looks a bit misshapen to my eye. I've been considereing using the Academy kit as a basis, but substituting the Hasegawa cowl, canopy, landing gear and prop.

The Italeri Hellcat (also reboxed by Revell of Germany and Tamiya) is so-so. I had one, but gave it away. Overall, it just seems to lack fidelity. It does give you the option of lowered flaps, but you'd never see them down on a real Hellcat unless it was landing or taking off.

Hobby Boss recently released a Hellcat in their "EZ Kit" line, but it appears to be a simplified version of the Hasegawa kit (complete with the inaccurate wheelwells) and engraved panel lines. I picked one up out of curiousity, and later gave it away.

Airfix and french (I typed F-r-o-g but the forum's "nanny" software changed it..apparently it thought I was insulting the French) also had Hellcat kits way back when, but I've never owned them so I can comment on their quality. I doubt they stack up to the more modern offerings.

Going even further back, Lindberg had a 1/72(ish) Hellcat, but it's basically a rivet-covered toy that only vaguely resembles a Hellcat. I built one as a kid back in the 1970s, and the kit was considered old and outdated even then! It has been re-released many times, and may still be in production.

Mind you, I've never compared any of the above kits to plans, so I can't comment on how dmensionally accurate (or inaccurate) they may be.


Cheers!

Steve

[Mgawa]

Very informative reply Steve- thank you for that. Your last statement is right and maybe there is open one new question- which drawings of the Hellcat could be considered as absolute precise? It look like that I should first make my own drawings before go into any in depth model build.

Cheers

[Steve Nelson]

which drawings of the Hellcat could be considered as absolute precise?

Probably none of them..which is the main reasons I don't use drawings for in-depth analysis. I'll use drawings as a general reference, but I'm not one to lay the parts out on a drawing and get upset if something is a fraction-of-a-millimeter different or the shape is a tiny bit off. Like a model kit, any set of drawings is only as good as the draftsman..particularly when attempting to render a scaled-down view of a full-size three-dimensional object. There is a forum called Britmodeller.com where they argue endlessly about the shapes, dimensions and details of Spitfire kits, and even they can't agree on which set of drawings is "accurate." The Tamiya Spit I looks fine to me, but some of the "experts" have condemned it because of "errors" in the wing planform and fuselage cross-section that I can't even see, even when comparing the parts to the supposedly accurately-shaped Airfix kit.

SN

[Mgawa]

All right- thank you

[Falcon50EX]

Hi Mgawa,

First off, i'd like to second Steve Nelsons comments about Hellcat kits in 72nd scale. I agree with him 100%. Keep in mind Eduard will be releasing a new tool 72nd scale F6F in the first quarter of 2011, and it will probably be a game changer.

Second, while i too am a little skeptical of drawings, i would say the two most reliable sets are those found in the 1975 IPMS-USA Quarterly, and the drawings that appeared in a back issue of Scale Aircraft Modelling, drafted by A.L. Bentley.

Mind you, a decent F6F can be had from the 72nd scale Hasegawa kit, but its a lot of work bringing that kit up to the standards of say, the 72nd scale Tamiya F4U Corsair kit. But i HAVE done it.

The Hellcat situation is MUCH better in 48th scale, with very nice Hellcats from Eduard and Hasegawa. Both have their good and bad points. I recommend staying clear of the Hobby Boss Hellcat kits. They are patterned after the 32nd scale Trumpter kit, which has serious cross sectional and proportion problems in the cockpit area. Even the 1970s vintage Otaki kit is clearly superior to the HobbyBoss kit.

Yours in All things F6F,

david

[Mgawa]

Thank you Dave for your info

[SaxMan]

I'm not much of a model-phile. When I was younger, I stuck to the three basic food groups: Revell, Monogram and Airfix. I liked Monogram's 1/48 scale F6F-5 Hellcat as it had an operable landing gear and folding wings. I still have the model floating around in some box in my house.

[Mgawa]

My friend also have this kit with retractable wings and landing gear, it is very interesting!!!