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RetroWings 1/144 E-2C Hawkeye Wing Fold

By Chris Banyai-Riepl

Overview

The Grumman E-2 has a distinctive look with its wings folded. The complex pivot and fold mechanism lays the wings back along the fuselage, giving the plane a much smaller footprint on a carrier deck without increasing the height. This interesting arrangement has not been a common feature in Hawkeye model kits, though, leaving the option open only to scratchbuilders, or the realm of aftermarket companies.

The Kit

For those who don't want to scratchbuild in 1/144, RetroWings has come out with a wingfold set for the Revell 1/144 E-2 Hawkeye kit. The set comes in tan resin and consists of a wing center section, separate outer wing sections, and the outer vertical tail pieces. A common feature of Hawkeyes with folded wings is dropped flaps, and this set has that as well. The lowered flaps are molded in the down position. There is also an open hatch on the outer wing sections, which has the locks that connect to the vertical fins. The overall quality of the castings is quite good, with the detail forming a good match to the Revell kit.

As good as the castings are, though, there are a couple of issues with this conversion. First up, while the parts are simple, the hinge attachment point is indistinct, and there are no instructions that would help figure this out (the only included instructions are some small detail photos). It took me a while to figure out just how that wing fold fit together, and that was only after scouring the 'net for photos. While annoying, this isn't much of a problem, as it just requires a bit of extra legwork. One thing is for sure (and this is mentioned in the written blurb in the conversion), this wing fold will benefit greatly from some wire pins to hold everything together.

The other problem with the set involves the wing flaps. While the inner wing section has the flaps at the same angle, the outer flaps are slightly different. The left side flap is extended further than the right side flap, and the difference is noticeable. How noticeable it will be once on the model, with the radome above, I don't know, but for those who don't mind a bit of extra work, it can be fixed fairly easily. Just scribe on the underside with a fine razor saw or panel line scriber and bend the flap down to match the other side.

Conclusion

Folding the wings of the Revell E-2C kit will make for a unique model, and although this set has some challenges, with some extra work it could make for a nice addition to a 1/144 collection. My thanks to RetroWings for the review sample.