Eduard 1/48 F6F Royal Class By Mike Whye

Introduction

The first thing that struck me about Eduard’s Royal Class edition of its 1/48 F6F Hellcat (Kit # R0006) is simply the box art. It’s not the typical Eduard art of a plane in combat (I love the art for Eduard’s Fw-190F, just super!) nor, thankfully, is it a photograph of a built-up model. Instead, it’s subtle with top views of three versions of the U.S. Navy’s famed WWII fighter, the F6F Hellcat, against a black background. The side panels have side views of the Hellcat versions possible to build with this kit, also set against black backgrounds. You almost feel you‘re handling museum-quality material here.

By the way, don’t knock me for not mentioning which version of the Hellcat is in the box. That’s because you decide which version to build, being given the parts for two models along with a number of accessories and decal options that allow you to build the -3, -5, -3N, -5N and -5K versions. Remember the early Monogram 1/48 Hurricane and P-38 kits where you’d get one model in each box and you had to choose which of the four versions you could build of each? Well, this is sort of like that but with two models and practically twice the options…..argh!!!!! Call it a nice dilemma that Hellcat lovers should appreciate.

The Kit

For a quick list of what’s in the box:

• 8 sprues of medium olive drab styrene, enough for two models, in bags that have sticky-top flaps that can be resealed a few times (note, my scanner lightened the tone of these sprues a fair amount so the pictures don’t quite match the real things)

• 2 clear sprues of canopy pieces and wingtip lights, in totally resealable bags

• 2 decal sheets, covered by tissue, that supply nine marking options for U.S. Navy and French Navy aircraft

• 2 sets of gray and cream-colored resin items including engines, gun barrels, wheels, hubs, and machine gun bodies in totally resealable bags

• a set of gray resin .50 caliber and 20mm cannon barrels

• 6 photo-etched detail sets, 3 per plane, in bags with sticky-top flaps

• 2 sets of die-cut masks, in a totally resealable bag

• a full-scale metal replica pilot checklist in a plastic bag

• a 24-page, full-color set of instructions. Nine pages are color/decal guides for the nine versions and two pages concern stencil data

Okay, I can hear some folks clamoring: What about the shape of the engine cowling? Well, I’m not a purist on such things. Unless something’s way obviously wrong, like the inlet for a B-58 engine has been used for the Hellcat’s cowling, I don’t fuss. Since I’ve seen a real Hellcat just once in my life and have never made it a point to minutely study the real thing, what I see here is good enough for me and I regard myself as an average modeler who wishes he had more time to build all that he could lay his hands on.

All right, let’s wade into what I see in the box. The olive drab styrene pieces are in plastic bags that aren’t the typical resealable bags but they have sticky flaps that can be resealed a few times before losing their effectiveness…is that a hint from Eduard to build these models fast? ;)

A and B sprues are nearly identical with the wing halves, ailerons and the .50 caliber machine gun barrels; the only difference is A sprue has a divot on the lower left wing for a landing light that was on the -3s. This may not seem significant but what it really means if you can build only one -3 and one -5 from this kit; you cannot do two of each so if you were hoping to build two -3s or two -5s, you’re out of luck. You have to build one of each.

Continuing on about the pieces--all lower wings have the rear portions of the wheel wells fashioned into them. The forward parts of the wheel wells are added later in the build-up. Be careful with the lower wings which have very fine stubs that extend below where the ailerons fit; one of those was bent when I opened the kit--this could be the result of some fellow modelers fondling the pieces while they were in their bags--but no fear, it can be gently pushed back into place.

C sprue holds a set of fuselage halves and four pieces to create two -3 cowlings while D sprue also has two fuselage halves but just two pieces to make one -5 cowling (however, the instructions show the sprue with four cowling pieces to make two cowlings; something’s odd here).

The two identical E sprues have a variety of mid-sized items such as horizontal stabilizers, elevators, props, flaps (which look like they can be fitted only in the up position), cockpit floors, instrument panels (with instruments and flat-faced for use with photo-etched materials), rudders, 500-pound bombs, a pair of smaller bombs (the instructions don’t say what these are), drop tanks, etc.

F sprue has parts for two types of 5-inch rockets, 6 each.

Two identical sets of G sprues are on hand too, with smaller parts including cockpit details, engines, engine parts, landing gear struts and doors, forward wheel wells, wheels and tires.

As noted, the clear sprues are mostly canopy parts, including two -3 and -5 windshields. The canopy hoods come in two versions, open and closed.

One bag of cream-colored resin parts has two engines and various engine components including ignition rings as well as wheels and hubs. Another bag has gray exhaust pipes, .50 caliber machine gun bodies and one wing-mounted radome for the -3N and -5N night fighter versions. The third bag of resin parts, gray again, has the .50 caliber machine gun and 20mm cannon barrels used by the -5N.

As for the PE frets….whoa, we’re talking lots of items here. One bare metal fret has ignition harnesses, sway braces and bomb fins.

Another fret, this one painted, is for the cockpits--seatbelts, instruments, side panels, throttles, circuit breakers, handles, trim wheels and more--at least 49 pieces for each cockpit. Be aware though, these PE pieces represent two different cockpits, one group of the details is for the -3 cockpit and the other is for a -5 cockpit. Because there’s one combined fret of these pieces, again, you are limited to building one -3 and -5 kit.

The main set of instructions has information on the placement and use of the parts on these two aforementioned frets which are packaged together in one plastic bag.

Two more identical bare metal frets are in another plastic bag. . With more than 60 pieces each, they have details to build about 80-90 percent of the wheel wheels (which means you must cut out the wheel wells molded into the lower wing halves) and to add detail to the landing gear struts and wheels. Although not shown in the main set of instructions, these two frets have their own instruction sheet tucked into their plastic pouch.

Similarly, the fifth PE fret has its own instructions too and its pieces are designed to create a gun bay for the left wing and one for the right wing. The line weight on this set of instructions is really light, making the drawings hard to read. When used in conjunction with the resin machine gun bodies, you’ll have extremely detailed gun bays to show off, both with ammo belts showing in their ammunition boxes. The frets come with lids to replace the ones you‘ll have to cut out of the wing tops in order to use these details.

The masks--two sets--cover the canopies and wheels plus the different types of windshields, which is great.

Now for the decals. Two sets of stencils have enough decals to handle two -3’s and two -5’s, which is good.

As for the markings, the beautiful, well-registered, glossy decals allow you to build:

1. The -3 flown by Lt. Hollis Hills, who had 5 kills, VF-32 from the USS Langley in April 1944 with a three-color scheme

2. The -3 flown by Lt. Hamilton McWhorter, of the USS Essex in November 1944 with a three-color scheme

3. A -3N night fighter flown from Orate Field on Guam in 1944 with a tri-color scheme

4. The -5 flown by Cdr. Theodore Winters, Jr., with 8 kills, CAG19, USS Lexington in 1944 with a solid blue scheme

5. The -5 flown by Lt. McWhorter, yup same guy but now with 12 kills and flying with VF-12 from the USS Randolph in May 1945 with a solid blue scheme

6. The -5N night fighter flown by Major Robert Porter, 5 kills, with VMF(N)-542 in June 1945 and a solid blue scheme

7. A -5 flown by the Aeronavale Francaise, Flotille 11F in Indochina in April 1954 with a solid blue scheme

8. A -5K radio-controlled drone flown from Hawaii in 1959, painted with a black fuselage, yellow wings and tail surfaces plus red markings

9. A -5K solid orange radio-controlled drone that flew out of Virginia in 1959.

Conclusion

My thoughts.

Wow, this is one great kit. Considering that it’s MSRP is $160, it had better be. Whomever buys one of these double kits is going to be busy for a long long time, making it a great winter project.

The olive drab styrene is molded well; flow lines are very hard to see and the only sinkholes I saw were on the front of the faceless instrument panel where they’re going to be covered by photo-etched materials so the holes are of no consequence. The clear plastic is as clear as can be.

With all the extras, there’s no question that you’re going to get two great-looking models out of this kit. Be advised, with the amount of PE and resin in here, this is no kit for rookies. If you don’t have a PE break, you’re going to wish you had one in a very short while with the amount of bending you’ll be doing with all this photo-etched material.

As I noted earlier, I’m no Hellcat expert but I wonder if the versions flown by specific pilots carried the underwing ordnance as shown in the instructions. A description of their loadouts and exactly what ordnance is included in the kit would be helpful; maybe Eduard figures every modeler should know what these stores are.

My only other negative comment with the kit is that nothing on the box top informs potential buyers that they can build only one -3 and -5 version, not two of each although some pieces (like the two sets of -3 cowlings and two each of the -3 and -5 windshields) might mislead some into believing that it is possible to build two of each version. Grrrrr…

Otherwise, my opinion of the kid it that you should clear the decks of everything else for awhile when you open this box and you will enjoy what you’ve bought.

Thanks go to Eduard for the review kit.