Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat Profipack

[Paul A H]

Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat Profipack

1:72 Eduard

The Grumman F6F Hellcat was developed to succeed the Grumman Wildcat fighter. The Hellcat was a larger, more powerful design, which drew on experiences gained in aerial combat against the Japanese during the early part of the war in the Pacific. Fitted with the powerful Pratt and Whitney R-2800 ‘Double Wasp’ radial engine, the Hellcat was capable of 380mph and had a combat radius of 945 miles.

The F6F-3 was the first production version of the Hellcat and reached operational status in February 1943 when it began flying from the USS Essex. In its F6F-3 guise, the Hellcat was armed with six .50 inch Browning machine guns. Later in the production run it gained the ability to carry unguided rockets and bombs. The Hellcat earned a reputation as a tough, survivable aircraft as it featured plenty of armour and self-sealing fuel tanks. By 1945 it had gained the status of the most effective US naval fighter of World War II, having destroyed no fewer than 5,271 enemy aircraft.

The Hellcat also saw service with the Fleet Air Arm. Over 1000 examples were supplied to the Royal Navy by the end of the war and twelve naval air squadrons operated the type. It was quickly removed from service following the cessation of hostilities, however.

Czech outfit Eduard are already well known for their rather nice 1:48 Hellcat, regarded by many as the best in the scale. Happily for us small-scale modellers they have now chosen to downsize their kit to 1:72. Packed into the end-opening box are 74 plastic parts spread across three light olive green coloured sprues and one clear sprue. As this is a ‘profipack’ edition, two frets of photo etch parts, one of which is pre-painted, and a set of Eduard’s excellent labour-saving canopy masks are also included. Rounding off the package is an excellent glossy, full colour instruction manual and decal options for no fewer than five different aircraft, of which more later.

Looking at the sprues in more detail, the first thing that strikes me is the quality of the mouldings. As you would expect from a state-of-the-art kit, the mouldings are all clean and crisp, with no traces of flash or sink marks. Beyond this, the parts that make up the kit are crammed with exquisite detail. Detail parts such as the cockpit instrument panel and side consoles are comparable to high-end resin items. The surface detail on the exterior of the airframe is superb and is comprised of a well thought out blend of recessed panel lines on areas such as on the flying surfaces and overlapping panels on the rear fuselage.

As this is a profipack edition, plenty of photo etch parts are provided to supplement the already excellent cockpit detail, including two-part overlays for the instrument panel, throttles, throttle levers and harnesses, all of which are nicely pre-painted. Turning to the wings, the undercarriage bays are of convincing scale depth and feature excellent detail. The.50 inch machine guns are moulded separately to the wings, which allows for a more convincing rendition of the gun barrels. The wings fit into 5mm deep recesses in the fuselage sides, so there should be no join to fill at the wing roots.

Turning to the undercarriage, two choices of tyres are provided with different tread patterns. Both are moulded separately to the wheel hubs. This seems to be an increasingly common feature of modern kits and I have to say I quite like it. The engine is another high point of this excellent kit, particularly so as the addition of photo etch parts really help bring it to life. The engine cowling is also nicely moulded and, from what I can tell, Eduard seemed to have captured the elusive shape of the lower intake for the oil cooler and supercharger very well. The transparent parts are exactly how they should be; thin and clear. The addition of paint masks to this profipack boxing is a helpful bonus, although the things are rather addictive; once you’ve used a set, masking by hand seems like more of a chore than ever!

As mentioned above, five colour options are provided, all for US Navy aircraft:

· F6F-3, Probably BuNo 66016, VF-16, USS Lexington, Hawaii, September 1943;

· F6F-3, BuNo 25813, Lt. C.K. ‘Ken’ Hilderbrandt, VF-33, Ondonga, December 1943;

· F6F-3, BuNo 40090, VF-1, Lt. William C Mosely, USS Yorktown, June 1944;

· F6F-3, BuNo 40467, Lt. Alexander Vraciu, VF-16, USS Intrepid, February 1944; and

· F6F-3, Lt. Richard E. Stambrok, VF-27, USS Princeton, October 1944.

All three aircraft are finished in the Navy Blue/Intermediate Blue/White scheme. Paint references are provided for the Gunze Sangyo Mr Color and Aqueous ranges. The four-view camouflage and marking profiles are printed in full colour and a reasonably detailed history of each aircraft depicted is also provided. The decals themselves look crisp, thin, glossy and generally absolutely superb, as they should be considering they are printed by Cartograf.

Conclusion

I have no reservations at all in recommending this excellent kit. To my mind this is now the definitive Hellcat in 1:72, as well as being one of the best all-round models I’ve had the pleasure to review. The level of detail is superb, the engineering looks great but not too complex and the addition of photo etch and masks rounds the package off nicely. Hopefully a Fleet Air Arm boxing will be on the way soon too.

Review sample courtesy of

[Moofles]

Right looks like another model to put on my wish list, really does look like a top kit, great review too.

[Prenton]

Very good review.

Just got this kit (courtesy of a polish-based e bay shop, in double quick time). Looks absolutely gorgeous. Am itching for next weekend to make a start.....

Philip

[Basosz]

Thanx for the review. This definitely looks like a wanna-have kit.

[thx6667]

Great review, interesting comparison here by Chris Bucholtz with the new Dragon kit:

http://obscureco.wordpress.com/2011/08/30/...agon-vs-eduard/

I've seen the Eduard kit priced at around £13, the Dragon one at £26!

[Basosz]

Postman dropped it by yesterday It really is a spectacular kit for an absurd price. 5 cents shy of 16 euros is just ridiculous considering the total completeness of the kit! Again, thanks for the review. It totally made me want to buy this one

[robw_uk]

Postman dropped it by yesterday It really is a spectacular kit for an absurd price. 5 cents shy of 16 euros is just ridiculous considering the total completeness of the kit! Again, thanks for the review. It totally made me want to buy this one

looking forward to seeing you build her.... shame it doesn't come with folded wings.....

[Basosz]

looking forward to seeing you build her.... shame it doesn't come with folded wings.....

I've got a P-38 on the bench but that shouldn't be too long to finish. Then I think it's time for the Hellcat. Will posts pics as it progresses of course. Folded wings would indeed be icing on the cake, but it doesn't justify the difference in price.

[robw_uk]

I've got a P-38 on the bench but that shouldn't be too long to finish. Then I think it's time for the Hellcat. Will posts pics as it progresses of course. Folded wings would indeed be icing on the cake, but it doesn't justify the difference in price.

very true. But the price of this for what you get seems reasonable... Will see if they bring out other 1/72 profi packs. May invest in one in the future