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Building Kinetic's 1/48 Grumman E-2C Hawkeye

By Gerry Nilles

Assembly

I found that the Kinetic 1/48 E-2C Hawkeye kit is not necessarily a difficult kit to build, especially if you are an accomplished modeler just a laborious one. Don't get me wrong, I definitely would not recommend it to a novice if for no other reason than the seemingly endless number of parts especially small ones. With that in mind, I should note here that if at all possible wait until the last minute, (after painting a applying the markings), to add some of these same tiny parts such as the numerous tie-down rings, the various antennas, static tubes, etc. I ended up having to fabricate more than a few of these after breaking them off only to have them disappear into the obis that is the floor beneath my workbench.  In addition, the anti-static wicks attached to the trailing edges of both the wings and tail are a real pain to work-around. I ended up replacing most of them with very fine brass wire although I realized after the fact I should have probably used fine fishing line for a more realistic look.

As I noted above the kit is straightforward and nicely engineered.  The cockpit, although not extensively detailed, is very acceptable considering the fact that once you tint the individual top and side windows you really cannot see much of the interior.  However, I would add seat/shoulder belts to the pilot and copilot seats mainly because the windscreen is clear and big enough to see into that part of the cockpit. The fact that the cockpit enclosure/windscreen is a single clear piece is a nice touch making it easy to fair it into the fuselage while not having to worry about damaging any of the areas that are left clear  Likewise the individual top and side windows makes for easy, (no masking required) tinting.  As for tinting, I use a mixture of Tamiya clear smoke, clear yellow and a touch of clear amber applied to the inside surfaces of these clear parts to get that gold anti-radiation coating look.

Overall fit of the kit is about a six or even a little better on a scale of one to ten. One being you feel you should be able to enter the model in the "Scratch Build" category and 10 being, prior to painting, you used nothing other than cement during the assembly.  Actually the only real part fit challenge is where the forward part of the engine nacelles mate to the wings. This problem will become very apparent upon test fitting these two assemblies. As a result, the nacelles require a little trimming down.  Be advised to do this carefully and slowly with constant fit checks. When I finished this process, I ended up only having to use a very limited amount of filler on the final seams. Likewise, the only other areas requiring filler, other than the occasional seam here and there, is where the rotodome support struts join the fuselage. Obviously, having chosen to build the model with the wings folded I cannot comment on the fit if built with the wings in the extended position.

Speaking of building the kit with the wings folded; do not bother trying to counter-weight the model. The combination of the rotodome and its support structure plus the folded wings is just too much weight aft of the center of gravity to compensate for. At least it is if you only counter-weight the nose section of the fuselage. However, it might be possible if you also added counter weighting to forward parts of both engine nacelles. If this option is tried, and although the kit's landing gear struts are stout, they might not be able to handle the extra weight. As such, I would definitely recommend looking into the use of "after market" white metal replacements.

As I stated in the beginning of this review, this is not a challenging kit for an accomplished modeler, just a time consuming one. However, be aware that the instructions can be a little vague in places so make sure you dry fit for correct placement any parts that you have questions regarding assembly sequence or arrangement.  I have learned, unfortunately all too often, that no matter how capable I think I am, I am not beyond making so called rookie mistakes during construction.

Finishing and Markings

Obviously, I did not use the kits markings but rather chose to use custom-made markings for VAW-113 assigned to the USS Independence (CV-62) during operation Desert Storm.  The reason for this is that my son served aboard the Independence during that time, and it is my goal to do one aircraft from each of the squadrons assigned to the ship on that cruise.  Fortunately, thanks to my son, I have a number of good photo references to help me.  Again, as with the assembly of the kit being laborious so was the application of the decals especially the seeming endless number of tiny and individual "walkway" call outs that need to be positions along the perimeter of the extensive dark gray walkways.

As a heads up, when you get to the yellow arrow "RESCUE" markings you will notice that the marking diagram/guide only shows the position of three of the four provided. The last one, which points forward on the port side, goes just aft of the main access hatch about a third of the way up from the bottom of the door opening.  Overall most of the decals were very acceptable with the exception of the propeller blades red and white tip markings, which I found to be undersize.

Conclusion

The Kinetic E-2C is a good kit that requires a combination of competent modeling skills along with a bit of persistence.   However, I would also say it is worth the effort, and if done correctly is a great addition to ones collection. My thanks to Stevens International for the review sample.