Monogram Hellcat Review: A Classic Kit from the 60's

[Crossiant Oliver]

The Monogram Hellcat was released in 1961 by monogram as one of the "action kits" in their line, which was a collection of WW2 US Naval Aircraft that had many features including folding wings, landing gear that can be raised or lowered, and sometimes bombs that could drop. Back in the day this was a huge success, as not many kits had those type of features before. Revell-Ogram still sells some of these kits, mainly the dauntless, the avenger, and this Hellcat. This kit can still hold up today if it was fitted with more interior detail. That's the main problem with the kit: the cockpit detail. The only thing is the pilot (unfortunately attached to his chair), the backboard, and the control panel. A quick trip to the spares box can fix this, or probably some aftermarket stuff. The other parts are fine, and can look good. The rest of the kit is ok in terms of shape and features, the only problem is that sometimes the gap between the folding wings and the raised panel detail. 

 

This kit would not be good for a beginner modeler, as some of the fits are not that ok, but it's great as a break from the "super detailed eduard" kits and a good weekend kit for leisure or just plain nostalgia. With some good fixer uppers this could be a great kit. Revell currently sells this kit, so you can find it at almost any hobby store or craft store.

 

Overall: 7/10

Edited January 21, 2017 by Crossiant Oliver

[Work In Progress]

Leaving aside the absence of detail in some areas, which may or may not bother people according to taste, the most obvious accuracy problem is the wheels, which almost as skinny as bicycle wheels so that they can retract into the wheel wells. Fortunately a modest investment in True Details  Hellcat / Corsair wheels will correct that. Or just build the model wheels-up on a stand.

[Don McIntyre]

Sorry, I have to disagree with your comment about the kit not being suitable for a beginner. Back in the late 60s/early 70s when I was a beginner, I loved those Monogram "Action" kits. Getting all the parts together so they'd move as deigned (and then actually being able to operate those parts) was a lot of fun. Also, as a beginner, I didn't care about how well parts would fit. I think this is exactly the type of kit to buy for a beginner. All too often, I think we, as more experienced modelers, forget what it was like being a new at this…

Edited January 22, 2017 by Don McIntyre

[MDriskill]

I loved those kits as a kid.

 

I would save my allowance and yard-mowing money, and buy one of them a year, at a shop which we passed during my family's annual beach trip.  The whole week would then be spent assembling and playing with the new bird...the Hellcat, Avenger, Helldiver, and Dauntless all were added to the shelf in that fashion!

 

[Chuck1945]

I was in high school when this originally came out. It and the other 'action; kits helped to teach me to use a little patience during assembly, at least if I wanted the moving parts to move

 

I agree if you want an accurate, detailed Hellcat, this isn't the one. But, for fun, these were hard to beat.

[72modeler]

Those were happy times! No airbrush, no putty, no shelves bursting with references, no internet, no forums for assistance, encouragement, or criticism, and no IPMS. Just a couple of brushes, lots of bottled enamels,  an Exacto knife, rubber bands, and toothpicks. I would go to the base exchange (I was an Air Force brat.) and buy the latest Revell, Aurora, or Monogram kits with the money I made mowing lawns and sacking groceries at the base commissary. The 1/48 Monogram kits really were a thrill and a joy to build- they looked pretty much like the real thing, and they had those working features that really worked! No, they didn't fit  as precisely as most kits do now; they weren't as accurate in shape or dimension as the kits we pay ten times as much for today. but I'm betting, like many of you, we had a lot more pleasure building and painting them as well as playing with them. I'm a lot better modeler now, but was a lot happier then!

 

A couple of my closest modeling buddies have decided to get the same Monogram or Revell kit and build it exactly like we would have back in the day- no airbrush, no putty, no FS equivalent paints, tube glue,  and rekindle that feeling we had when we were budding modelers.

 

Mike

[Crossiant Oliver]

Ya, I just got one yesterday and started building it. I remember one of my first kits was the monogram Wildcat, which featured the folding wing feature, and being so proud when finishing it. I'm building and Airfix P-40B for a competition and Im waiting for a new compressor, so for fun I though I would try the model out, better than I remember the other old monogram kits revell has!

[Coors54]

As a young British modeller in the early Seventies, Monogram kits were the height of the exotic, a real treat instead of the easily available Airfix and Frog kits.

I remember them being skin wrapped and when you removed the film and opened the box they had a very distictive aroma, not at all unpleasant, and only being 12 or 13 I remember thinking that it was the smell of California, sealed in at Garden Grove and unwrapped in Leamington Spa!

Later trips to LA proved this was incorrect.

My favourites were the Mosquito (I know, I know) and the P-38 Lightning and being amazed at the different versions you could build - a nightfighter! Wow...who knew? This idea seemed so much more sensible than converting kits using balsa and talcum powder a la Alan Hall (I had just discovered Airfix Magazine). Ah memories.

 

Dave