I had never
really thought much of the Hellcat before but just recently I picked one off of
ebay for a good price. The box art is very colorful and depicts a –3 from
VF-17 The kit is very nicely done and the moldings are crisp and flash free. The
first thing that strikes you is the size. It’s a big model in 1/32. This
stands to reason since the real Hellcat was quite a large aircraft. It’s
molded in Hasegawa’s typical firm, grey plastic. There are fine raised rivets
on the fuselage with very minimal recessed lines. The fabric on the rudder,
ailerons and elevators is subtle and looks very good. The wings also have raised
rivet details and engraved panel lines. The panel lines look a bit too deep,
however. Detailed gun bays are included so you can display the kit’s .50
machine guns. There are also detailed wheel wells molded into the one-piece
bottom wing. The flaps are molded in top and bottom halves and inboard and
outboard sections. It looks like they can be displayed in the full up position
or any value in between.
Click on
images below to see larger images
|
|
|
|
The cockpit is
pretty spartan. There are only nine pieces and the detail is very minimal. I
compared it to some pictures from Squadron’s F6F
Hellcat in action and the resemblance to the real thing does require a bit
of imagination. It will definitely
benefit from the Eduard PE cockpit set. Hasegawa does include a rather detailed
P&W R2800 engine. There are eighteen individual cylinders that need to be
attached to the crankcase. The push rods are molded to the front and aft
crankcase pieces. Plug wires are not included so if you want these then you have
to make your own or use the Eduard set. The final bits of the engine are the
exhaust collectors. The instructions devote almost a whole page to this
installation. One thing I noticed is that the cowl comes packed in it’s own
bag. It’s also designed to be removable so you can show off the nicely
detailed engine.
Click on
images below to see larger images
|
|
|
|
The clear parts
(what few of them there are) are clear and thinly molded. Two windscreens are
included; one for each version, the –3 or –5.
The tires and wheel hub halves are one piece and get assembled. For some
reason there are and additional set of wheel hubs (with no tires). I can only
guess these were from a kit version that used rubber tires. There are also six
rockets as armament in addition to the machine guns. Also included is 150 gal.
drop tank.
The decal sheet
is typical Hasegawa. The markings are all in register if a bit thick. Like I
said typical Hasegawa. There are markings included for three different aircraft;
an F6F-3 from VF-17 in a three-tone navy scheme, an F6F-5 from VF-15 in overall
midnight blue and lastly an F6F-3 from No. 800 Sqdn F.Mk1 of the Royal Navy.
The Hellcat
will make a welcome addition to my 1/32 collection of warbirds.
Jeff
|