Review: Airfix 1/24 Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat – Visual review
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So here is a detailed pictorial review of what Airfix is bringing us with their brand-new 1/24 scale Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat kit. The phographs contained herein have been taken at the 2018 Scale Modelworld and show a full set of 9 greay plastic sprues, sans the clear sprue which will be added as the 10th item in the box. There are about 600 parts total in this kit.
The Airfix Hellcat will be available in the shops starting in May 2019, with the expected retail price of around 150 GBP.
The photo conditions at the show were far from than ideal, I'm really hoping that next time Airfix would display their kit sprues against some dark background! Anyway, I hope that the pictures can still tell the story.
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- 1. Airfix photos of the completed kit look impressive...
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- 1. ...and here's the same demonstration model on display at the 2018 Scale Modelworld
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- 1. Overview of kit sprues - #1/9
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- 1. Overview of kit sprues - #2/9
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- 1. Overview of kit sprues - #3/9
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- 1. Overview of kit sprues - #4/9
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- 1. Overview of kit sprues - #5/9
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- 1. Overview of kit sprues - #6/9
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- 1. Overview of kit sprues - #7/9
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- 1. General airframe
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- 1. The airframe surface is nicely detailed throughout, with prominent lines of rivets and subtle stressed-skin structure
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- 1. Lower wing
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- 1. Lower wing
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- 1. In places, the moulded-in stressed skin irregularities look outright exquisite, like on this wing centre section
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- 1. The fuselage is moulded with similar attention to surface detail
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- 1. Note the subtle lapped panel effect on the fuselage. This is true to the original.
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- 1. Fuselage centre section with the same level of detail
- 2. Some of the hatches are raised
- 3. Wing attachment
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- 1. The engine comes complete with two rows of cylinders split-moulded as shown
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- 1. Individual exhaust pipes
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- 1. Engine mount
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- 1. Oil tank
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- 1. Landing gear legs are split-moulded like this
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- 1. Landing gear cover
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- 1. Main wheel tires
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- 1. Spoked wheel hubs
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- 1. Lower cowling part
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- 1. Inner structure
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- 1. Rear fuselage bulkhead
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- 1. Fuselage bulkhead
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- 1. Cockpit frame
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- 1. Folding wings
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- 1. Wing fold detail
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- 1. Wing spar with inner detail
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- 1. Propeller hub
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- 1. Propeller is moulded in one piece
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- 1. The elusive front cowling is moulded in two parts, here's the upper one.
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- 1. Oil cooler
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- 1. Lower cowling panel
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- 1. Cockpit components
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- 1. Instrument panel
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- 1. Side cockpit detail
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- 1. Cockpit side instrument & switch panel
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- 1. Lower instrument panel section
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- 1. Seat belts are provided as separate plastic parts...
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- 1. This is a pilot's parachute pack withc moulded-on straps, to be placed in the seat bowl.
- 2. Lower seat bowl
Cool! I think this will be a nice canvas for some serious painting and weathering sessions.
I´ll never complain about any of the models that are released. Always someone being happy. But what I really would like is a 1/48 Tiger Moth, or why not even in bigger scale. Airfix has already done the homework so why not scale up.
48 moth wouldn't be bad.
This looks GREAT! Such detail!
That's some model - just waiting for someone here to to their model justice.
Bravo, Airfix! You've come a LONG way since the 29 cents kit-in-a-bag for sale in the '50s and early '60s.
Ok...now it happens! I did wet my pants. Never would I have imagined a 24scale Hellcat! Great choice Airfix.
I never saw it coming, but speaking as a Hellcat fanatic, i guess this is gonna be my first 24th Scale Model.
Bring it!
Must be me... I keep looking at this, thinking it looks like a large scale Trumpeter kit. I think there’s only just so much detail you can manage in wing panels and wing folds, and for all the detail, someone even now is preparing a huge PE aftermarket set for it, which negates the necessity for original details anyway (sigh).
I’m with Stellan - I prefer to see a Tiger Moth, something different to the usual fare.
That said, I’m sure this kit will be a big seller.
My first thoughts were a ZM kit or a Trumpeter kit. On the other hand a lot of the panels can be left open and there are folks who have sausage fingers and have a need for a opti-visor . The wings do fold ...for storage. The aircraft skins are stressed and for those folks who are interested in the inside of the a/c it does offer a lot. Kind of like the Renwal invisible man, its educational and entertaining in showing the guts of the thing. Not every kit becomes a museum piece seen by thousands but, for the modeler and their family its good enough. For a lot of kit manufactures the Hellcat grin is a challenge and Airfix got that right. Although, the tire/wheel arrangement seems a tad off for my tastes. Maybe under sized or under inflated. It seems that tires are a after thought for a lot of manufactures. Easily remedied by resin when made available. Not all kits are like the Spice Girls, good looking and popular...some are for the Librarian types who like to read up on things and study them. Some kits need to find and be paired with the right buyer. This kit will find a home.
Looking at the built up model as well as close ups of the sprues, i too noticed something odd with the main wheels. The layout of the spokes look okay but the tyre looks a little oddly proportioned to my eyes...but only from one photo angle. Close ups taken of the wheel don't seem to have the same odd proportions. Worth also noting that while the painted blue prototype has the pitot tube under the left wing, the CAD renderings show it correctly positioned under the right wingtip. So... i wonder if the painted up model is not fully representative of the finished product.
Ohh
That s better than fantastic.
I remember saying I can't understand why Airfix does 1/24 instead of 1/32.
Now I have seen a 1/24 F6F-5 from Airfix, I say again- why can't someone give us that amount of detail and features (wingfold option main interest) in 1/32?
We have the Hasegawa 1/32 F6F with soft detail (for the age of the kit- it is pretty good), and a Trumpeter 1/32 "F6F" with a wacky extra wide fuselage.
Please Airfix, Shrink this one down to 1/32- I think you would sell a whole heckuva lot more!
However...that 1/24 kit looks FANTASTIC!
Personally, i think its much more likely that Hasegawa will do an all-new 32nd scale Hellcat. Outside chance Revell Germany might consider it.
I don't lay claim to any special insight, but I think Airfix made a strategic decision long ago to stay out of 32nd scale, preferring instead to differentiate itself with 1/24th scale offerings...models that are museum-presentation sized, one shot deals.
Yes I believe that Airfix has selected 1/24 as its big scale of choice and sees no strategic reason to step into the competition in 1/32. Good or bad? That depends. Modeling in 1/24 scale does need to be one-off - there is a visible overall trend towards larger models.
I was over hearing on the Airfix stand that this model was ready to go 4 years ago, but money etc was a big factor in releasing it, until Airfix got a new director, and was shown the Hellcat in 1/24 he immediately said yes to putting it into full scale production, as Airfix knows the market in the USA would be huge for this model
No extra back window cutouts to customize? That's sad…
Airfix should be commended for manufacturing such a kit in this scale. This truly is an excellent subject to release. One only needs to search online to see that the majority of the comments concerning this impending release are overly enthusiastic. Obviously Airfix has hit this one out of the park. I hope that it sells well. As it is, I don't typically buy new release kits, but I'll start this build in late May when the kit arrives.
Thanks Randy. I can only agree about the choice of subject in 1/24. Really cool!