Review by: Geoff Coughlin
Our thanks to Eduard for supplying our review sample.
Background to the kit
Eduard, amongst others, have been producing some impressive aircraft models in the ever-popular 1:72 scale and this Hellcat is no exception.
On first inspection the package is superb containing: pre-painted etched brass, high quality decals and of course finely tooled parts in light brown plastic.
Click on the Thumbnails below to enlarge the images and have a good look yourself.
Quality and Content
The tooling is of the highest quality with very fine recessed panel lines. Alternate cowl sections are included and the rudder is moulded integrally with the fin.
With care it can be separated and reattached offset if you have the energy. The wings are well formed with lovely fine panel lines detail apparent. The wheel wells have rib detail with locating holes for the main undercarriage legs.
Engine
The engine is excellent for the scale, with cylinder head detail and even the ignition harness lines are provided in etched brass that will enhance them still further. The big propeller looks well shaped and formed.
Cockpit
Moving into the cockpit, the internal detail again impresses.
Like the engine, the cockpit has the potential to look stunning when the pre-painted etched brass set is added. This is the kind of finesse that you get with Eduard ProfiPACK kits and it’s easy to see why they are so popular.
The instrument panel and other tiny details should fit well – they usually do. We’ll find out for sure when I build this one in the near future.
Undercarriage
The legs are very delicately moulded, yet look strong enough to take the model. Another good feature of the model is the separate wheel hubs, making painting much easier than having to carefully hand paint or mask.
Speaking of masks…
You get a nice set of canopy paint masks. These will make that task much more enjoyable – masking the canopy with small pieces of masking tape cut up to do the job might save money and is usually the way I go. This was a pain on my recent new Airfix P-40B kit, but this time will be a breeze with Eduard’s Hellcat.
Stores and Stuff
The options look good here, with under wing rockets and under fuselage drop tanks.
Clear Parts
Very nice – ultra clear with open canopy options. The tooling is very good as the canopy framing and overall thickness is thin. It all adds up to more subtlety and a more refined model in prospect.
Instructions
Very clear Eduard-style approach with the usual exploded diagrams. What’s impressive is the use of colour, making the whole instruction book look clear with a quality feel. Assembly should present very few problems from what I can see.
Painting Guide and Decals
The artwork in the painting guide within the instruction book is superb and certainly gets you going. I want to start this kit – now!
My favourite from the options provided is “Minsi III” flown by Cdr. David McCampbell from the USS Essex in 1944. You can see all the options available in the images in the Gallery Grid at the top of this review.
The decals are very high quality and, from experience, you should have no problems with these. Colour density is good and all the markings on the kit sheet are in register with minimum carrier film.
Pre-painted Etched Brass
You can see from the images above that what’s included is highly impressive.
Not only will using these additions speed up your build, but your resulting model should be more impressive and accurate too. We could never paint to the fine tolerances and detail printed on the etched brass.
Whether you want to do this or not is of course up to you and you may choose the standard pack, rather than the ProfiPACK version of the kit if that’s the case.
Summary
| Quick summary | Star rating out of 5 |
| Quality of moulding | ***** |
| Accuracy | **** |
| Instructions | ***** |
| Decals | ***** |
| Subject choice | ***** |
| Overall | ***** |
Geoff C.