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Grumman F6F3 Hellcat, Hobby Boss.....Is it a good kit..??


Artie

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Hi all.....

I've found a Hobby Boss' F6F3 Hellcat under a pile of kits, and to my surprise there were some extras into the box...

-Aires cockpit set (resin + P.E. parts).

-True Detail resin wheels.

-Airfix decal sheet for two Royal navy examples.

 

What do you think about this kit..??? Is it any good, or just another "Hobby BooBoo" fiasco...????

Are the Airfix decals accurate...???? I'd like to build it as an Hellcat I, No. 1839 NAS, FAA, HMS Indomitable. Pacific Task Force, 1945.

That massive barrel shaped thing looks terrific in british colours.....!!!!!

 

TIA and best regards....

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Thanks......I've got an even cheaper Arii kit, wich will benefit from those resin accesories. I've got an Eduard Weekend edition, now that you mention it....will get rid off the Hobby Boss kit. After all, I can't remember how did that bloody kit find its way to my stash...I'm not as drunk when I pay my weekly visit to my LHS....:drink:

Edited by Artie
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I think @Mikemx understates the case.  Honourable mention to the aged Hasegawa kit which still scrubs up nicely but the Eduard kit is much better in terms of detail levels.  Even the Eduard Weekend Edition (without etch and masks) are better than anything else on the market and can be had on-line (or from traders on the site) for prices around that of the vastly inferior offerings from other manufacturers.  The Eduard Hellcat, Bf 110 and now Spitfire IX are 3 of the finest 1/72 kits on the market. 

Edited by Seahawk
Arithmetical error.
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Eduard's Fw190A/F is the best 190 in 1/72 now as well but you need time to make them. I've still got 4 out of 6 Eduard 1/72 Hellcats to build and I've not got round to starting my Bf110's yet and on top of that I have the Spitfire Profi and Royal Class to attend to. As for Hellcats, I really like the Nightfighter with the cannons and radar. I think Eduard should release a wingfold set of plastic parts themselves in both scales.

 

thanks

Mike

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In the last couple of years I have built five Hellcats, a pair in 1/48 (Mk I and Mk II) and three in 1/72 (Mk I, Mk II and NF Mk II). All of them were Eduard Profipacks, I'm pretty sure they all came from Mike and they all went together beautifully. No glue required to hold the wings in place, really nice P/E interior, interesting marking options and just all round nice kits. The only issue with them is the lack of a wing fold option, so if the HB wing fold parts are compatible with the Eduard kits that is the way I would go.

 

DC

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the link is playing up at the moment, 

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/52776-yellow-wings-hellcat/

 

But a member used the spare fuselage from the Eduard Nightfighter boxing to correct the fuselage problem.  

 

Or  it can be used a cheap wingfold option for another kit,  as resin wingfolds cost more than the HB kit... it's being sold by Creative really cheaply, or was.

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1 hour ago, Max Headroom said:

^^^^ Troy I'm being told I don't have permission to read that link.....and it's Britmodeller:huh:

 

Trevor

HI Trevor

 

there was a note in one of the posts regarding the new forum software saying  that while most of the indexes had been rebuilt successfully, that some of the group builds were  mess, and so far have not reindexed properly, or something to that effect, I presume this is why the  link is not working. 

I  found the link by google searching "britmodeller yellow wings hellcat"  and  it did the same for me, but I put it up as at some point hopefully it will work.  

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The Eduard 1/48 Hellcats are nice, EXCEPT for the seats, IMHO. It looks like a lawn chair to me. Even the Hasegawa seat is better, although I did use an aftermarket seat in my Eduard hellcat. I think it was Ultracast.

I really need to get back to working on, and hopefully finishing, my Hasegawa & Eduard 1/48 Hellcats. :unsure:

Maybe after I finish my 1/72 C-130H project.

 

Larry

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Biggest problems the the Academy Hellcat are the cowl and the canopy.  Both are badly misshapen.  As everyone else here has said, the Eduard Hellcats have left all others in the dust.  I built the -5 in 1/72 a couple years ago, and it's an absolute jewel.

 

SN

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2 hours ago, Steve N said:

Biggest problems the the Academy Hellcat are the cowl and the canopy.  Both are badly misshapen.  As everyone else here has said, the Eduard Hellcats have left all others in the dust.  I built the -5 in 1/72 a couple years ago, and it's an absolute jewel.

 

SN

 

Interesting, which is the misshap? the 're too wide, too narrow? And the Hasegawa one, has some shape or dimensions issues? Another thing,  I've heard some bad rumours in my club about that the wingspan is the only fault of the Eduard one...

 

Regards.,

Javier

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I've heard good things about the 1:72 Cyber Hobby Hellcat.

 

There is a good article on Hyperscale on building the Cyberhobby kit and the Eduard kit side by side. They both have strengths and weaknesses according to the author.

 

Personally I have the Eduard kit and think it represents great value for money, especially in the dual combo form. The Cyber Hobby one is expensive in comparison.

 

I also really need to get my 1:48 Eduard Hellcat finished off as I was really enjoying  building it. Having seen both kits I'd take the Eduard one any day but like the idea of using the Hobbyboss kit for the wing fold.

 

Regards,

 

Mark

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Regarding the Hobby Boss kit again, I think I'll throw away mine, as I've classified it as "useless" now.....So if anyoen there is interested about the complete wing array, please let me know and i'll gladly send it to a new home, of course, for free.....I'm going to keep the engine and some cockpit parts, propeller and wheels....all the remaining fuselage and wing parts are available, if anyone want them.

Cheers...

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On 9/27/2016 at 9:40 PM, Jacarre said:

 

Interesting, which is the misshap? the 're too wide, too narrow? And the Hasegawa one, has some shape or dimensions issues? Another thing,  I've heard some bad rumours in my club about that the wingspan is the only fault of the Eduard one...

 

Regards.,

Javier

 

It's been a few years since I examined it closely, but as I recall the "chin" of the Academy cowl is too shallow and flat, when viewed from the side.  Until the Eduard kit came along, I always planned to replace the Academy cowl with the one from the Hasegawa kit.  The sliding portion of Academy's canopy is too flat, again when viewed from the side..it's also rather thick.

 

The old Hasegawa kit is actually much better than Academy all around.  The only real problems with the Hasegawa kit are the fact that it has raised panel lines (which is largely a matter of personal taste rather than accuracy) and the wheel well detail is completely fictitious.

 

I haven't heard about any wingspan discrepancies in the Eduard kit, but I didn't bother to measure it.

 

As for the Cyber Hobby Hellcat, for the most part it seems to look OK, if a bit over-engineered.  Although I don't have the kit, one thing I noticed in reviews was that they botched the "grin" on the cowl, something manufactures seem to have a real problem getting right.

 

Here's a real Hellcat I photographed under restoration at the US Naval Aviation Museum..

 

IMG_7507a.jpg

 

Here's the Cyper Hobby cowl ring..the opening should be deeper, and the "splitters" (for lack of a better word) are too close together and too angled.

 

CH_F6F3_Hellcat_Parts_4a_1.jpg

 

And here's the Eduard cowl, which looks much better..

 

IMG_3599c.jpg

 

 

Edited by Steve N
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8 hours ago, Steve N said:

The old Hasegawa kit is actually much better than Academy all around.  The only real problems with the Hasegawa kit are the fact that it has raised panel lines (which is largely a matter of personal taste rather than accuracy) and the wheel well detail is completely fictitious.

 

Check.  To my mind the Academy kit looks a bit bloated: bought one but no more.  Whereas, for all my Eduard Hellcats, I haven't got rid of my Hasegawa ones yet.  Maybe still worth picking up cheap.

 

But, starting with a clean sheet of paper, Eduard, even Weekend Edition, is the way to go.

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Thanks for the responses, with my friends of IPMS-Chile analyzed the Academy kit and we find also that the wings upper surface hasn't the enough "break" of the diedral. And the union between the rear upper fuselage and tail fin its not great. My friend has the Hasegawa one and its better in shape and dimensions.

 

About Cyber Hobby, we dont' have one here in my club, its not very cheap...

 

Regards,

Javier

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