Airfix 1/48 F6F-3 Hellcat

[Edge]

Hi All

I stumbled across (well ok - bought!) a new-to-me kit this afternoon. It's an Airfix 1/48 Hellcat, 05108 appears several times on the box.

Interestingly the moulds have some Japanese script on them which has made me wonder if they're a Hasegawa tooling re-boxed??

I'd be grateful if anyone out there has an answer!!

Edge

[daz greenwood]

these were ex-Otaki IIRC

[Edge]

Cheers for that daz.

I've since found a few links to some finished Otaki kits - they seem ok with some work.

[Don McIntyre]

From what I remember, they're not bad kits. The cockpits aren't up to modern standards, but I don't recall any major build issues with them. In fact, there are some that think the cowling would make a good replacement on the Hasegawa and/or Eduard kits. Apparently they don't have the "grin" intake issues these othe kits have.

[thx6667]

Ex ARII/Otaki, some of which have also shown up in AMT and Matchbox packagaing, the Hellcat is beautiful, the cowl is probably superior to the Hasegawa kit.

[dahut]

I have had the entire line up of ARII/Otaki kits at one time or another. They were notable for a really wide range of Japanese planes, including things like the Oscar and Ki-115. They also did the "majors" from other airforces and I still have several in the stash, including this Hellcat. Altogether I think there were thirteen different aircraft in the 1/48 series.

The molds and kits themselves date from 20 years ago, maybe a little more. The molds have been used in many boxes not the least are the AMT issues, and now this from Airfix. They have always been accurate in scale and were once a "standard" for the super-detailer.

Overall, they lack depth of detail, like in the wheelwells and areas like cockpit or L/G details. The ultra fine precision we expect today just wasn't there. With the Hellcat, for example, the prominent engine front is just that - a front. It will require some fiddly bits of card and wire to look the part.

Hopefully, Airfix has gotten on board with decals, and had them printed in Italy, like Revell. The Otaki decals are often crap, being overthick and sporting the wrong colors. My Hellcat samples are no exception to this.

On the other hand, Otaki, along with ESCI, was a pioneer in the realm of engraved details. By todays standard, they have adequate surface detail and are a close second to the wonderkits in this area. In their day, they were cutting edge. With the Hellcat, they have good engraved detail and retain the right look of things like panel fasteners, rivets, etc. As I said above, they were often seen as a blank canvas for those who wanted to add their own level of precise detail.

Overall, they make into a nice representations while not trying the patience too much. One of my favs was their Ki-61 Tony, mine now long destroyed in the infamous Ex-Wife Plastic Annihilation. A good trade off for their normally reasonable prices, this one should leave some money in-pocket for modern refinements, like a resin cockpit.

[Stephen]

The Hellcat is a first rate kit.If you add a resin cockpit it's as good as the Hasegawa issue.

Stephen

[Dave Gibson]

Ex ARII/Otaki, some of which have also shown up in AMT and Matchbox packagaing, the Hellcat is beautiful, the cowl is probably superior to the Hasegawa kit.

Obscureco used the ARII/Otaki cowl as the base for their resin replacement cowl for the Hasegawa kit. That's how good it is.

Edit: I thought I'd add a pic. Top cowl is Hasegawa, bottom is Obscureco.

Regards,

Dave.

Edited April 19, 2008 by Dave Gibson

[Scooby]

Arii kits were years ahead of their time, I think Airfix reboxed at least six of their kits. All have scribed panel lines and were produced at least 20 years ago. As you can see by this threed most remember them as Otaki kits. Or perhaps I have the order reversed.

[thx6667]

You're right, its Otaki then ARII. I can remember Bob Stenbrun's build of the P-40 in FSM some 20 years back, stunning model, fantastic modelling.

[silverkite211]

I built this Otaki Hellcat back in the mid 1990s, using the Airwaves cockpit set.

It went together very nice, I don't remember that much, if any, filler was needed.

[Jennings Heilig]

Arii kits were years ahead of their time, I think Airfix reboxed at least six of their kits. All have scribed panel lines and were produced at least 20 years ago. As you can see by this threed most remember them as Otaki kits. Or perhaps I have the order reversed.

Try more like 35 years ago... I built most of them in the late 1970s when I was in high school, and they weren't new kits at that point..

J

[Scooby]

Try more like 35 years ago... I built most of them in the late 1970s when I was in high school, and they weren't new kits at that point..

J

I did say at least 20 years ago, I built them also in the 70s. As well, I still have a few in Otaki boxes.

[thx6667]

I built this Otaki Hellcat back in the mid 1990s, using the Airwaves cockpit set.

It went together very nice, I don't remember that much, if any, filler was needed.

Very nice, I doubt 30+ years ago Otaki would have realsed that not only would their kit still be in production. but also still competeing with more modern rivals.

[Smiffy]

I've got very fond memories of the Otaki kits from my youth.

When I started modelling seriously,back in the early eighties, they were part of my regular diet of kits (along with the Monogram 48th range).

The Hellcat is the only one I've still got intact, actually.

I've also got that copy of FSM which features Bob Steinbrunns excellent Flying Tiger, which was a big influence on how I wanted to build my models. Well worth seeking out if you haven't got it.

[thx6667]

I've also got that copy of FSM which features Bob Steinbrunns excellent Flying Tiger, which was a big influence on how I wanted to build my models. Well worth seeking out if you haven't got it.

Its one of those articles that sticks with you isn't it? And from an age when modellers solved problems in practical ways.

[silverkite211]

Very nice, I doubt 30+ years ago Otaki would have realsed that not only would their kit still be in production. but also still competeing with more modern rivals.

Thanks, it was a fun build. Actually, that's the second one that I've built, I built the kit, when it was originally Arii many years before. I still have that kit and I've thought about stripping the paint and redoing it. Sort of amazed that it has survived all these years.

[ancient mariner]

There were some pretty decent kits in their range for the time. Many like the Hellcat still stand up today.

The basic kits were pretty good,but were let down in the main by poor cockpits and/or very shallow wheel wells.

That being said, a mid winged "George" a Ki 100 and a "Tojo" were most welcome additions to many modellers collections.

Im not an expert by any means ,but ,I think their Spitfire ( Mk9?) is still about the best available.

If Im remembering without the old nostalgic goggles,the Zero and Mustang were the worst for shape and the Hein had an awfull canopy and very very shallow wheel wells.

Edited April 20, 2008 by ancient mariner

[ancient mariner]

Edited April 20, 2008 by ancient mariner

[thx6667]

Im not an expert by any means ,but ,I think their Spitfire ( Mk9?) is still about the best available.

I've always liked the fuselage on that kit, it seems to capture the look of the twin-stage Merlin engined Spits, but the kit has the cardinal sin of no scallops under the wings. I built one a few years back in the USAAF desert scheme, very enjoyable kit.

[JosephLalor]

I've always liked the fuselage on that kit, it seems to capture the look of the twin-stage Merlin engined Spits, but the kit has the cardinal sin of no scallops under the wings. I built one a few years back in the USAAF desert scheme, very enjoyable kit.

I seem to recall Aeroclub producing a gull-wing insert for that kit, and I imagine one or two chaps bashed that kit with the Airfix Spitfire V. I agree, nice representation of the Mk VIII.

Joseph

[thx6667]

There was also the Falcon vac-form insert, and some resin ones as well. Otaki really were ahead of the game back in the 1970s, even Tamiya were making kits with raised detail during that era.

[silverkite211]

I went digging through my unbuilt kits and I found that I have a Corsair, Frank, Oscar and Ki-61 Tony, an interesting thing is that the kits of the Japanese aircraft all have inletted rivet detail (Hmmm, the inspiriation for Trumpeter, perhaps?), while the F4U has only scribed panel lines. Although I also seem to remember that the P-40 and P-47 had rivet detail, too. The Japanese aircraft all have more detailed cockpits, as well, with rib and stringer detail molded on the insides. The Corsair has boxed in wheel wells, however it has a absolutely awful looking "Engine", to use the term loosely, they did a much better job with the powerplant in the Hellcat kit. (I'm going to get around that by using a engine from a scrapped P-61 kit) Arii/Otaki also gave you more than one subject matter on their decal sheets, in the case of the Corsair you had aircraft from the US Navy, FAA and New Zealand. Were they perfection? Of course not, but they were and are a very nice starting point, Arii/Otaki certainly led the state-of-the-art for their timeframe and I would park one of their Hellcats next to a Hasegawa example anytime, externally they don't give up anything to the Hasegawa, as others have mentioned the Arii/Otaki kit has the more accurate cowling. I seem to remember that their P-47 kit came with a seperate insert for the machine guns, so that the guns wouldn't be incorrectly in line with the leading edge of the wing, I don't think that anyone else got that right on any other Thunderbolt kit being made at the time.

[thx6667]

I went digging through my unbuilt kits and I found that I have a Corsair, Frank, Oscar and Ki-61 Tony, an interesting thing is that the kits of the Japanese aircraft all have inletted rivet detail (Hmmm, the inspiriation for Trumpeter, perhaps?), while the F4U has only scribed panel lines. Although I also seem to remember that the P-40 and P-47 had rivet detail, too. The Japanese aircraft all have more detailed cockpits, as well, with rib and stringer detail molded on the insides. The Corsair has boxed in wheel wells, however it has a absolutely awful looking "Engine", to use the term loosely, they did a much better job with the powerplant in the Hellcat kit. (I'm going to get around that by using a engine from a scrapped P-61 kit) Arii/Otaki also gave you more than one subject matter on their decal sheets, in the case of the Corsair you had aircraft from the US Navy, FAA and New Zealand. Were they perfection? Of course not, but they were and are a very nice starting point, Arii/Otaki certainly led the state-of-the-art for their timeframe and I would park one of their Hellcats next to a Hasegawa example anytime, externally they don't give up anything to the Hasegawa, as others have mentioned the Arii/Otaki kit has the more accurate cowling. I seem to remember that their P-47 kit came with a seperate insert for the machine guns, so that the guns wouldn't be incorrectly in line with the leading edge of the wing, I don't think that anyone else got that right on any other Thunderbolt kit being made at the time.

The P-47D kit is smooth, its the P-51D Mustang that also has rivets. The P-47D BTW is also a nice kit, suffers from the usual razorback glitch of the sliding section being tapered rather than parallel, but other than that it makes up very nicely.

The Otaki Corsait is ok, apart from as you say the engine - the Hobbycraft Corsairs were step up from the Otaki ones, their only misfortune was to come out around the same time as Tamiya's superlative F4U - that said, the Hobbycraft ones are good kits.

[silverkite211]

The P-47D kit is smooth, its the P-51D Mustang that also has rivets. The P-47D BTW is also a nice kit, suffers from the usual razorback glitch of the sliding section being tapered rather than parallel, but other than that it makes up very nicely.

The Otaki Corsait is ok, apart from as you say the engine - the Hobbycraft Corsairs were step up from the Otaki ones, their only misfortune was to come out around the same time as Tamiya's superlative F4U - that said, the Hobbycraft ones are good kits.

Ah, well, it's been awhile since I've seen the Otaki Mustang and Thunderbolt, and I've slept since then.

I have a True Details Corsair cockpit, I may have to dig it out and see if it would fit in the Otaki kit without too much difficulty. Yes, I know that it's for the F4U-4, I'm just wanting to experiment a little, I'm not sure that many of the modelers that I know would know that the cockpit is incorrect anyway.