Otaki's Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat in 1/48 scale
This kit has been in my stash since before I had a stash! At the time Otaki kits were state of the art but this one served to provide a better cowl ring for a Hasegawa build & so just stayed put for years. As I was about to start on an Eduard Hellcat I decided to have a bit of fun with the old one first with the addition of the original Hasegawa cowling suitably altered, plus the spare Eduard canopy. Everything else is OOB except for a scratchbuilt cockpit interior & seatbelts. Fit was good, Engraving good, assembly straightforward. It looks fine alongside my two Hasegawa builds & no, I still haven't built the Eduard kit although it's near the top of the "to do" pile. Just to show there's plenty of fun in the old kits after all these years!
You obviously like the Hellcat, Tony, great work on combining the bits and pieces from various kits and ending up with this great looking model.
You're right George; I do like Hellcats, in fact anything from Grumman! Thanks for the kind words.
A fine looking build, Tony...nice work!
Thanks Craig.
Beautiful job. Felix flies again.
Thanks Robert;
Looks great! There is just something about the older/simpler kits. It is enjoyable to get into a build that a) doesn't take too long because the parts count isn't in the hundreds, and b) takes a bit of creativity with spares box, sprue and extra styrene to polish it up just a tad. They are really my favorite builds!
Thanks Greg. Couldn't agree more with your comments re part numbers seemingly just for the sake of having a higher parts count. It's much more fun to add what you want from your own efforts (and the spares box). I'm all for tads!
Great job Tony, looks really nice mate.
Well done sir.
Thanks Simon. I find it hard not to like Hellcats. This is number 3 so far.
The old Otaki kit is still nice, as you have demonstrated. At the prices they go for now, you get a True Details resin cockpit, a Squadron vacuform canopy, and it's still half the price of an Eduard Weekend Edition Hellcat. The only place one can really complain is the wheel wells, and the only kit that does them right is the Hobby Boss kit, about which the less said the better about the rest of that abortion. The Otaki has the only really right Hellcat prop. Aeromaster decals are easily found on eBay at a reasonable price for it, which brings the total up to about the Eduard weekender. A little extra effort aligning the wings and some putty on that joint is all it takes.
Nice work. Alex would like of your effort.
Thanks Tom. Some of thee oldies are really goodies with a bit of effort & minimal cost. My inspiration for this one was an old book called "Carrier War" by Lt. Oliver Jensen USNR, published in 1945 dealing with Task Force 58. There's many color photos, B & W's & maps. I've had it since the mid '50's & treasured it ever since & yes, Alex is in it shaking hands with Admiral Mitscher.
Tony, good looking Hellcat! Otaki/Arii/sometimes Airfix kits are, as Tom pointed out, worth getting and updating. Nice basis for a great representation.
Outstanding work on this hellcat, Tony! I've built two Arii/Otaki Hellcats, and with a little work and a new cockpit, they still are great kits, despite their age. Great job!