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US Navy F6F Hellcat Pilot & Mechanic (F72371) 1:72 CMK by Special Hobby Quite often its great to have a figure, or couple of figures to add to a finished model on a base to bring it more to life. This set from CMK is for a Hellcat pilot & mechanic; though it can be used for a variety of USN WWII aircraft. The set arrives in the usual yellow-themed CMK blister pack, with the instructions sandwiched between the resin parts and the header card. Inside are the two figures. The casting is up to the usual high standards from CMK/Special Hobby with minimal clean up being needed. The hands for the mechanic figure are mouled away from the arms so as not to interfere with the mould and will need to be removed and added, apart from that no other work is needed. Conclusion Detail is excellent, and will add a great touch to any 1/72 WWII USN model. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

I'm thinking of making a Grumman Hellcat later this year so doing a bit of research in advance to ensure I have what I need based upon either the F3 or F5 from Eduard in 72nd scale which seems to be the go to kits in this scale. I'm happy with most details as the MDF guide I have seems to be pretty comprehensive but I have one question regarding the tail/arrestor hook arrangement as this is proving to be a little elusive. I'd hoped to model the kit with the arrestor hook deployed but from all the pics/diagrams I've seen there is nothing showing it deployed when stationary, only in action photos when one is in the process of landing. I've looked at the sprue shots and instructions of the kits (I haven't bought it as yet) and the arrestor hook is not provided as a separate item and barely seems to be represented by just a small 'bump' at the base of the tail. As Eduard kits are normally very highly detailed I would have expected the hook to available as a separate piece as it is quite important, however if it is never seen unless during the process of landing then I can see why and I can then build the kit accordingly but just want to check first. Regards Colin.

I'm thinking of making a Grumman Hellcat later this year so doing a bit of research in advance to ensure I have what I need based upon either the F3 or F5 from Eduard in 72nd scale which seems to be the go to kits in this scale. I'm happy with most details as the MDF guide I have seems to be pretty comprehensive but I have one question regarding the tail/arrestor hook arrangement as this is proving to be a little elusive. I'd hoped to model the kit with the arrestor hook deployed but from all the pics/diagrams I've seen there is nothing showing it deployed when stationary, only in action photos when one is in the process of landing. I've looked at the sprue shots and instructions of the kits (I haven't bought it as yet) and the arrestor hook is not provided as a separate item and barely seems to be represented by just a small 'bump' at the base of the tail. As Eduard kits are normally very highly detailed I would have expected the hook to available as a separate piece as it is quite important, however if it is never seen unless during the process of landing then I can see why and I can then build the kit accordingly but just want to check first. Regards Colin.

Afternoon all, Fresh off the bench is build number 21 for the year, and I returned to an old favourite in the Eduard Hellcat II. Finished completely OOB in the colours of 1844 Sqn FAA using Hataka Orange Line as usual. 1/72 Eduard Grumman Hellcat II by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr 1/72 Eduard Grumman Hellcat II by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr 1/72 Eduard Grumman Hellcat II by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr 1/72 Eduard Grumman Hellcat II by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr 1/72 Eduard Grumman Hellcat II by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Thanks for looking, comments welcomed as always Shaun

M18 Hellcat GMC Tank Destroyer 1:35 Airfix (A1371) The M18 Hellcat or the 76 mm Gun Motor Carriage M18 (Catchy Govt name) was an American developed Tank Destroyer which saw service in WWII and Korea. These vehicles were not armoured like a tank and thus were quite fast. The M18s claim to fame was being the fastest armoured vehicle of its time, it could reach 60mph on the road and 26mph cross country.. It also did not lack a punch due to its 76mm gun. The M18 also had a higher kill/loss ratio than any other American tank or tank destroyer. In contrast to other tank destroyers which used the Sherman chassis the M18 was designed from the ground up so it was smaller, lighter, and offered greater comfort for the crew. It did use the same engine and driver train though as the sherman. A crew of five, consisted of a commander, gunner, loader, driver, and assistant driver. 45 rounds of main gun ammo were carried; 9 ready use in the turret and 18 in each side sponson, A 50 cal M2 was provided for additional defense, though often supplemented by crew with additional machine guns. Many were sold post war overseas and some are still reported as being in service. A number of Venezuelan examples being modernised in the 1990s. The Kit Here Airfix are re-boxing the Academy kit for its home distribution market. This is a good kit which arrives on 7 sprues of green plastic, the lower hull, some polycaps, rubber tracks, and 2 sprues of link & length tracks. Construction starts with the transmission which goes on the floor pate between the two drivers seats. The rear floor plate then has the rear bulkhead fitted and both of the floor plates can then be installed in the lower hull. Some main gun rounds then go onto the side sponsons. At the rear of the hull the back plate goes on and tools are fitted to it. We then move onto the suspension components. Drive axle boxes are fitted at the front with idler wheels to the rear. Return rollers are fitted along with the arms for the main wheels. All of these wheels (which are each 2 part) can then go on. This now completes the lower hull apart from the tracks. Here there are the conventional rubber bad tracks as well as a set of link and length plastic ones. We now move to the upper hull. Hatches are added along with a variety of fittings and tools. The drivers hatches can be open or closed. The top hull is then fitted to the lower one. Front an rear mudguards/side guards are supplied and can be fitted, though these are not fitted in a lot of photographs. It is possible the crews removed them to stop debris build up (something still seen on modern tanks) or they could have been ripped off. Evidence would suggest the former though. We now move to the turret. The main gun breech and recoil mechanism is built up. To the turret ring various fittings are added along with the seats for the crew. The two halves of the turret an then go together and be fitted to the ring. Rear radio boxes are added along the partial covers. The breech then slides in. At the front the mantle is fitted (both a canvas covered, and not covered mantle are provided depending on which is needed, best to check your references on this one). The gun can then be added. Here both a normal end, and a muzzle brake are supplied again with the modeller needing to check their references for which to fit. The copula for the 50 cal, and then the gun itself can be fitted. In order to make the vehicle look busy there are some ammo boxes, jerry cans and machine gun ammo boxes supplied. Thread is supplied for the tow rope. Decals The sheet is from Airfix gives markings for two vehicles; #22 805th Tank Destroyer Battalion, US 5th Army, Italy 1945 "Nance" 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion, US 3rd Army, Germany April 1945. Conclusion Its good to see these available in the red boxes, and the hope is the income for Airfix will result in some nice new tool kits from them. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hi there, it's been a while since my last post. This is my first Hellcat. Many years ago, I've purchased an 1/48 Eduard kit, but since Ive recently got into 1/72 I decided to build the smaller brother first 😉 to add to my "little birds" collection. I wanted to push the weathering as much as possible, so I took the opportunity to explore different techniques and products. I've also did a bit of scratch in the landing gear and added all rivets. Been a Hellcat was screaming for a Cat Mouth scheme, so I've chosen to depicted as flown by Gordon Arthur Stanley. Born on July 13th, 1921, in Seattle, Washington state, shot down 8 enemy airplanes in the course of World War Two, all achieved flying with VF-27. His unit became famous thanks to its unique marking - cat mouth and eyes, painted by Robert Burnell on all noses of the Hellcats. Unfortunately most of the aircrafts with this camo were destroyed on October 24th, 1944, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. They ended up at the bottom of the ocean together with Light Aircraft Carrier Princeton sunk by the single bomb launched from the D4Y Suisei (Judy) dive-bomber. Afterwards VF-27 operated from the board of CVL-22 Independence, however without the cat-mouth and eyes markings. ENS Gordon Arthur Stanley, VF-27, USS Princeton (CVL-23), October 1944 Cheers Jorge

Hello, I’ll skip the kit introduction as Eduard’s Hellcat in 72nd scale is well known to the community. I’m not a Hellcat aficionado and actually decided to give it a try thanks to the good press and the generous dimensions of the model in this scale. My knowledge on the subject is quite limited and the documentation even less – the good old “In Action” booklet and the instruction sheet of the 1/24 Airfix kit! Subsequently I’ll heavily rely on community knowledge to guide me into the subject – a Grumman Hellcat Mk.I, obviously FAA, more precisely the JV131 with invasion stripes. The starting point is the Eduard ProfiPack dual combo (so 2 kits, a Mk.II or F6F-5/ -5N might come afterwards on the production line, who knows) and a several accessories (Big Ed set, various resins, etc.). Not sure if all those will find place in a single model. For me, the big “first” will be the rivet decal set – never tried it before; I’ll see. Please excuse the inherent English language mistakes that will be present in my post from time to time; obviously I’m not a native speaker but more of a “bad English” category. That being said, let’s roll. Started by removing exhausts pipes from the fuselage, not due to their representation – quite honest for the scale – but with the aim of simplifying the painting of the exhaust stains latter on; I’ll add some brass tube sections at the very end of the construction. I’ve also opened the tail wheel well; the blank proposal of the kit gives some sort of a toy appearance. I’ll recreate some dummy representation of the two fuselage frames in that area. Of course, the 2 ejector pin marks on fuselage inside are now visible and must be somehow handled. As my model will be a Mk.I – with the corresponding additional windows at the back of the cockpit – and because Eduard completely neglected any frame representation there, I’ve transferred the seat back panel to a piece of 1mm polystyrene and recreated the upper part of the back frame. Not 100% accurate, just to avoid a nasty void perspective. Still thinking if lower part of the abovementioned frame is needed. More to come; hopefully. Best regards, Iulian

With my second Academy Hellcat nearing completion, I justified starting another Hellcat by reasoning that I needed to airbrush the same color on both models. So I tore into my first-ever build from Eduard. My first impressions are not good. Starting with the plastic itself, it acted differently with my blades and sanders. Something that will take getting used to. Also, I feel the need to use smaller snipers, even though I used the pair I have for both 1/72 Academy models. The picture below is a little deceiving, but there are many parts that will be damaged if I use my snipers. I am using a small pair of tiny scissors now to cut the smaller parts from the sprues. Take note at some of the extra plastic on part #14, it looks like it should be there! There were a few other parts that I needed to take a better look at just to make sure I was not cutting pieces apart. Below is a picture of the starboard fuselage. Look at the dorsal lights. While the Academy used separate clear parts, the Eduard presents more of a challenge. There will be a seam and just a little sanding will flatten them. I guess I will cut them off and use clear glue for the lights. Also, look at the very top left point of the vertical stabilizer - that tiny point which is pointing northwest. I don't believe it is flash, it wraps around the vertical antenna on the port side fuselage very nicely. I have already put the cowling together (you can see part of it above). There are no guide pins! I needed a third hand to hold things in place for gluing. So far, there have been a few inconveniences, but I am looking forward to this build. The details are really winning me over. And I hope they do, I have already invested in a few Eduard kits. I have 2 other 1/72 Eduard Hellcat kits and a 1/48 scale kit. Now that I can compare all the 1/72 kits to each other, I realized the other kits (F6F3 and F6F5) contain night fighter parts.

Well here she is my version of the Airfix Hellcat. It had to be in the Fleet Air Arm scheme as my house is a solid RN only household. I used the Airscale cockpit set, Master gun barrels, Montex Mask set, HGW seatbelts, Anyz engine dress up set and a brass and resin undercarriage. Happy with all of that except for the cockpit set as it just isn’t that visible on the finished kit. I have a spare set of the undercarriage as I ordered 2 by mistake if anyone wants them. Thanks for looking.

Just finished this old girl for the 'A kit you built as a kid' Group Build here. If you haven't seen it, it's a great plastic-filled nostalgia trip of kits we built when we were younger. Along with Spitfires, Hurricanes & 109s (and the odd bomber), the Hellcat was one of those kits I slapped together at the kitchen table many years ago. If you're interested, the build thread is here but to recap: Kit: Airfix 02023 1/72 Grumman Hellcat F6F-3. First release 1967, this is the 1995 boxing Build: Mostly OOB with tape for seatbelts and some plastic boxes in the cockpit. Sanded down all the rivets! Paint: Revell Acrylics with airbrush. Klear, Flory Models Wash. 4B pencil and pastels. W&N Matt Varnish Decals: From the kit, all seven of them! Marking are for Lt James Flatley, Commander Air Group (CAG) of Air Group 5 USS Yorktown, August 1943. Yes, the gun barrels are missing and hopefully to be replaced with some Albion Alloy this week. The weathering is probably not to everyone's tastes but I wanted to try out a heavily-weathered Pacific veteran. I'm happy how the weathering worked and like how the three colour scheme blended together. Airfix Hellcat_fuselage_10 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Airfix Hellcat_fuselage_12 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Airfix Hellcat_fuselage_13 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Airfix Hellcat_fuselage_11 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Airfix Hellcat_fuselage_14 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr While building this, I found out the '00' markings started in WW2 for the CAG bird on a carrier and that the tradition continues to today. So had a bit of fun and photographed it with an F-14D 'Bullet 100' of VF-2 (Revell kit). Grumman Fighters by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Thanks for looking, keep building models and stay safe. Cheers, Dermot

Morning all, Bringing my finished total for the year into double figures is the wonderful Eduard Hellcat. One of my favourite kits, this has been finished as a Mk II in the colours of 808 NAS from the dual profipack boxing. Hataka Orange Line paints were used throughout bar a touch of Alclad on the engine, with a light coat of W&N Galeria Matt varnish to finish for that satin sheen. 1/72 Eduard Grumman Hellcat II by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr 1/72 Eduard Grumman Hellcat II by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr 1/72 Eduard Grumman Hellcat II by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr 1/72 Eduard Grumman Hellcat II by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr 1/72 Eduard Grumman Hellcat II by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Thanks for looking, comments welcomed as ever Shaun

Hi. I would like to join in with a Eduard 1/48 scale Hellcat Mk.I Hellcat Mk.I JV131, 800 Sqn FAA, HMS Emperor, June, 1944 I don't have the box and the instructions because it is my half of a Dual Combo kit that I bought with a friend (he had the Mk.II) These are the sprues and accessories that I would like to use.

Here's my attempt at the 1/24 Hellcat by Airfix. Apologies for the photos but as you'd expect this is a big beast so it's very difficult to get the whole thing in shot. It's built out of the box except for a set of HGW seatbelts and some in-wing resin fuel tanks (to avoid seeing empty space inside the wings when looking up through the undercarriage) and a resin engine core, both from Nigel's Modelling Bench. I've built it so that the upper and bottom engine panels are removable so as to see all that lovely detail that Airfix have included. If you're wondering how the unattached panels in front of the cockpit are able to stay in place you can see the complex technical solution I devised in the last photo. I really enjoyed building this kit and the detail that airfix have incorporated is amazing. I didn't use any filler other than to fix a few sink marks in a small number of parts and to smooth the joints on the propeller blades. I did a brief work-in-progress report of the latter stages of the build here: Thanks for looking....stay safe, keep calm....and build models! Next on the bench for me is Trumpeter's 1/32 A-7E Corsair

I'm now quite well into my build of the 1/24 Hellcat by Airfix, but I thought I'd share some pictures of where I've got to plus some brief thoughts on the build to date. The only after market additions I've used are (1) a pair of resin wing tanks produced by Nigel's Modelling Bench (in order to avoid seeing an empty space inside the wings) and (2) a set of fabric seat belts by HGW. I'll also be using the Eduard canopy mask set (I'm useless at masking canopies!) I've used Mr Color number 365 gloss sea blue for the outside and as you can see I've also started weathering by very gentle use of some ultra fine Flory polishing sanders. In summary, I highly recommend this kit. The fit of the parts so far has been excellent - I've only used tiny amounts of filler in a few small places along the top and bottom seams. There are a few areas of burring here and there (unlike the 1/24 Typhoon, which requires a serious amount of clean-up) but so far this has been very easily sorted with a sanding stick or blade. Two areas that could be improved - the kit seat belts are too thick for the scale - they can be used but the HGW belts are sublime. Secondly the machine gun barrels have very soft detail. I see that Master have subsequently released a set of brass barrels and I would certainly have purchased a set had I not sealed up the wings by now. Otherwise I can't really fault the kit. The engine and cockpit are mini-kits in themselves and the detail is superb. I added ignition leads by using copper wire to my engine. This was extremely fiddly and time consuming but definitely worth it in my opinion. The kit instructions are a great help in showing where the wires should go. On the subject of the instructions, they are generally excellent but I have noticed just a couple of incorrect part number call-outs and some missing colour instructions on a handful of parts. So far I haven't used many decals other than those supplied for the instruments and placards, but they have been fine so far. I'll post up a few more photos as the kit nears completion. If you've been wondering whether to buy this kit then I would say definitely don't hesitate - its too good to miss!

This is my last Hellcat of the Eduard Dual Combo in 1/72. In the colours of the Argentinian pilot Oscar Lorenzo Sundt.

Hi Guys Here is a bumper set of new releases all in one go, available for ordering and shipping right now (well over the next few days) Basically a few stand alone decal sheets, to be used in conjunction with the kit decals, early F6F-5 fuselage windows, and a few F6F-5N conversion sets with decals. Before you all ask, yes I am working on the F6F-3 conversion, this will also be done with a few decal sheet options. Release date for the -3 ???????? next few months. Best to visit here to get all the information. https://aerocraftmodels.bigcartel.com/category/1-24th A few pictures for colour (or color for US friends)

Ahhh done. No complaints with a kit I purchased for under $10. It's about my skill level. I'm working on my 3rd Hellcat from Eduard, and it's going to take some time! All paints are MRP except for Tamiya clear coat. OOB 'wif' based on about 5 different Hellcat pictures I printed for guidance

To improve my skills I purchased this inexpensive Academy Hellcat kit. It is my first ever 1/72 scale kit and I was pleasantly surprised by the detail. I put my Spitfire builds on hold, and worked solely on the Hellcat, which has become my first completed build in over 15 years. I tested new paints, weathering pastels/enamels, decal solutions and glues. It was a great learning experience and I enjoyed every step of the way. Thanks to everyone here for answering my Hellcat specific questions. Feel free to comment (I am anticipating dings for too much weathering!). I will take it as constructive criticism. I have 4 more Hellcat models on standby and want to improve my skills. It is 'out of the box' and what I would call a 'what if', in the sense that I didn't try to copy any known existing Hellcat (as far as markings). One last note - I got very lucky with my photos. Up until last week my pictures were terrible, but somehow, moving my spray booth (which also serves as my light box) to another location corrected lighting issues and I am very pleased with the results. The bottom 4 pictures were taken with my new macro lens, and you can see some difference in the levels.

Here’s my latest completion, Otaki’s aging F6F Hellcat kit in1/48. The subject is one of the first Hellcats that went to 800 Sqn FAA, HMS Emperor, and participated in the Royal Navy strikes against the Tirpitz, while she was anchored in Norway. This Hellcat accounted for 3 FW-190’s. The Otaki kits were great in their day, and still serve as a good basis for detailing and scratchbuilding. – Detailed gunsight, True details cockpit, scratchbuilt rear bulkhead and armour plate based on photos, replaced machinegun barrels, and exhaust with aluminum and brass tubing. – Canopy is Squadron vacuform with internal structure from plastic strip. – Removed and scratch built wheel wells from photos and plans, scratch built arrester hook and holdback, detailed landing gear, and thinned and corrected gear doors and actuators. – Rebuilt and corrected droptank as per photos. – Detailed engine and wired, added cowl inner structure and details, deepened intakes and added screen. – Added formation, ID, landing and nav lights with acrylic rod. – Painted with Tamiya acrylics, weathered (hairspray technique) with stiff brush and sharpened toothpicks, pastels and enamel paint. – Decals from Techmod, spares, and custom made. Hope you like, thanks for looking.

I'm building the big Hellcat...it really is BIG. The kit is progressing well, I'm at the point of building the wings. My plan is to have the guns and ammunition panel open on one wing: I assume this would only happen with the wing down in the flying position. QUESTION: Was the Hellcat able to have one wing folded, the other extended, or did they fold/unfold together? I have found lots of photos of folded wings and unfolded wings, but so far not one with one folded and one unfolded. Can anyone help with an answer?

F6F-5 Weekend Edition 1:72 Eduard The Grumman F6F Hellcat was a highly effective fighter, the design of which took advantage of experience gained in aerial combat against the Japanese during the early part of the war. Fitted with a powerful Pratt and Whitney ‘Double Wasp’ engine, the Hellcat was a fast fighter, capable of 380mph. The F6F-5 was the second major production version of the Hellcat. It featured a more powerful engine and revised engine cowling compared to the F6F-3, an improved windscreen and a strengthened rear fuselage. The Hellcat earned a reputation as an excellent fighter; 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 F6F-5 was also operated by the Fleet Air Arm as the Hellcat F. Mk II. I remember reviewing Eduard’s 1:72 Hellcat when it was first released, and it's hard to believe that eight years have passed since then. While those eight years won't have been kind to most of us, this kit is still very much a spring chicken in modelling terms. As far as detail and engineering are concerned, it is very much state of the art. Inside the top opening box are over seventy plastic parts spread across three grey sprues and one clear sprue. As this is a ‘Weekend’ edition, there are no photo etch parts or canopy masks, but you do get two decal options and a full set of stencil decals. I would have no hesitation in describing this kit as a stone cold classic, making this edition something of a bargain. The engraved detail on the surface of the airframe is up there with the best that I have ever seen. There is an intelligently designed blend of recessed panel lines on parts such as on the flying surfaces, and overlapping panels on the rear fuselage. The mouldings are all clean and crisp, with no traces of flash or sink marks. The rest of the kit doesn’t disappoint either. The cockpit is beautifully represented and features delicate, raised details. The main landing gear bays are of convincing depth and are also beautifully detailed. The wings fit into recesses in the fuselage sides, so there should be no join to fill at the wing roots and misalignment of the wings should be all but impossible. Two choices of tyres are provided, each with different tread patterns. Both are moulded separately to the wheel hubs, which should make painting the tyres and hobs nice and easy, even without paint masks. The engine and cowling are nicely moulded and Eduard have captured the shape of the lower intake for the oil cooler and supercharger (the famous Hellcat ‘grin’) very well. The transparent parts are thin and clear, and the sliding part of the canopy is moulded separately to the windscreen. Because this is a Weekend edition kit, two schemes are catered for on the decal sheet – an F6F-5 flown by LT. Cornelius Nicholas Nooy, VF-31, USS Cabot, September 1944 and an F6F-5 of VF-83, USS Essex, March 1945. Four-view colour profiles are printed in the instructions, while there is a seperate diagram for the stencils. The decals themselves look thin and glossy, so hopefully they will prove easy to apply. Conclusion I’ve said it before and have no problem saying it again; this is an excellent kit. The level of detail is superb, the engineering is great but not overly complex and in Weekend Edition guise it is superb value for money. Review sample courtesy of

F6F-3 ProfiPACK Edition (8227) 1:48 Eduard The Grumman Hellcat was a US Naval World War II carrier based fighter aircraft designed to replace the earlier Grumman Wildcat. Although the two aircraft do look externally similar, the Hellcat was a completely new design from the ground up. The aircraft featured the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 as used by the Chance Vought Corsair and the Republic Thunderbolt. It proved to be a well-designed fighter able to stand up to carrier operations and the rough air fields used in the Pacific Theatre of operations. Grumman's initial design was so good that the Hellcat was the least revised aircraft of WWII. In total 12,200 Hellcats were built for the US Navy, The US Marine Corps and the Royal Navy. The Hellcat is credited with more kills in WWII than any other allied fighter. Post war the Hellcat was phased out of day fighter service but continued in US service as late as 1954 as a night fighter. One notable exception was in late 1952 when F6F-5K Drones carrying 2000lb bombs were used to attack bridges in Korea. Post war the aircraft were also used by the Aeronavale (French Navy), using them in Indochina; and the Uruguayan Navy who flew them until the 1960s. The Kit This marks a welcome re-release of Eduard's range of Hellcats from earlier this millennium, with a few tweaks and changes to the package, including using their new blue/grey styrene instead of the old chewing gum beige of yesteryear. The tooling is still the same, and that's already a well-known quantity, with plenty of detail that's augmented by the extras that come with the ProfiPACK boxing. Inside the orange-themed box you will find five sprues in the aforementioned grey styrene, a clear sprue, two frets of Photo-Etch (PE) brass - one of which is nickel-plated and painted, a sheet of pre-cut masks (not pictured), two decal sheets, and the glossy instruction manual that has the colour guide printed on the rear pages. Detail is good, although it's not leading-edge technology that you can now expect from Eduard's brand new releases, but it's a good kit that captures the look of the Hellcat and gives the modeller plenty of options for markings. Construction begins in the cockpit, with the instrument panel upgraded with a lamination of PE parts that have glossy printed domes over each dial for ultimate realism. The side consoles have decals to lay over the details, and if you don't fancy the PE instrument panel there are also decals included for that area too. The controls are added to the floor along with the seat with PE belts, rear bulkhead, control column and rudders, and the fuselage is then closed around it after some interior painting. The small rear windows have PE parts glued across them (I'd suggest clear gloss as your adhesive), the tail wheel and a belly insert are also added at this time, along with a slot that should be opened up if you're portraying an aircraft that carried a drop-tank. The elevators with separate flying surfaces are next, and the rudder is added to the tail fin at an angle of your choosing, in case you wanted your model to look a little more candid. Up front the two banks of pistons are fitted together and have a PE wiring loom added, with a diagram showing how it should be bent around the pistons, and the bell-housing at the front contains the shaft on which the prop will later spin if you're careful with the glue. This is fixed in place on a stub at the front of the fuselage, then enclosed in a three-part cowling with a PE grille installed in the bottom section during assembly. The exhaust stubs are glued into their troughs, and peek out from under the cowling once in place. The wings on this kit are relatively unusual in that they fit into recesses in the sides of the fuselage, rather than the usual tab and slot or full-width lower that you often see. This is due in part to the barrel-like fuselage and the wing placement on the lower sides of the fuselage, rather than at the bottom. Each wing has two halves and these trap the gear bay and gun inserts within, and accept the flying surfaces at their trailing edge before they are slotted into the aforementioned recesses on the fuselage sides. Small details such as gear bay parts, landing light and recognition lights are added to the underside, then joined by the main gear, which are sturdy single struts with separate oleo-scissors, retraction jacks, captive bay doors and very crisp resin wheels with a separate outer hub to show off the internal structure of the hub. The spaces between the spokes are flashed over, so will need to be cut or sanded away before fitting, and while this is a little fiddly, it is well worth the effort when you see the finished article. The gear is fitted in place with a small forward-folding door, the correct location of which is shown in a pair of scrap diagrams to ensure you get it just right. Depending on your decal option you can fit empty bomb shackles under the wings, and an additional fuel tank on the centreline, with PE sway-braces attached forward of the main lug. The last aspect is adding a few small lights and antenna on the upper fuselage, then gluing the canopy in the open or closed position, for which two sliding parts are included to achieve the best fit. The masks are all die-cut to match the frames, so masking should take only a few minutes thanks to this helpful inclusion. Markings There are five decal options in this boxing, all of which are painted in some variation of the Naval Sea Blue/Intermediate Blue/White scheme that is synonymous with the Hellcat, varying little in application in three of the options, and differentiated mostly because of the markings and crew personalisations. From the box you can portray one of the following options: flown by Lt. Oscar Chenoweth, VF-38, Segi Point airstrip, New Georgia Island, September 1943 flown by Ens. Gordon Arthur Stanley, VF-27, USS Princeton (CVL-23), October 1944 VF-8, USS Intrepid (CV-11), Summer 1943 flown by Lt. Lochridge, VF-34, Nissan island, 1944 OTU VF-2, NAS Melbourne, United States of America, October 1944 The main decal sheet is printed by Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. The stencil sheet is printed by Eduard, and is also up to scratch, with the locations of each stencil noted on a separate set of grey-shaded profiles on the very back page for clarity. Conclusion A welcome re-release of this plucky, robust WWII naval fighter that saw extensive action in the Pacific, and a nice broad choice of decal options that show plenty of individualism despite using the same base scheme. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

I'm building an F6F 5 and need help with machine gun color. I've seen some black, a few silver and one Hellcat with the machine guns painted the same colors as the upper/lower surfaces of the wing. Which is correct?

The Eduard F6F seems popular and I uderstand why. It is a wonderful kit. I’m afraid I’m going to be unoriginal and contribute with yet another. I will be building the Mk.I Hellcat on the left, FN430 of 1844 squadron. If I have not bungled, it took part in Operation Banquet in August ’44 as well as Operation Meridian in the following January. I willattempt to represent it as it looked during the latter: the attack on Palembang. Still searching for pictures - etienne posted some beautiful colour photos of planes of the same units, showing dirty planes and heavily faded paint jobs. Thread: I’ve spent the free hours of the Christmas holidays on the cockpit and engine. The kit is nicely detailed: to the cockpit I only added the black sheet under the head rest and some wires on the bulkhead behind the seat, plus some structure on the back side of the bulkhead that will (maybe) be seen through the little back windows. The space behind was apparently grey: I painted it gray white since it’ll be pretty dark.