1:144 E2C Hawkeye F8 Blade propeller Set (Revell)

Eight blades instead of four

The Grumman E-2 Hawkeye fills the role of an airborne radar over American aircraft carriers: above the fuselage it carries a rotating radome about seven and a half meters across, and the crew inside manages the air situation hundreds of kilometers away. The original four-blade propellers with aluminum blades were replaced from the turn of the millennium by composite NP2000 propellers with eight blades. The change brought smoother running, less noise and vibration and, above all, the possibility of replacing a single damaged blade without removing the whole hub, which on a cramped flight deck is the difference between an hour and half a day of work.

Why reach for resin

The whole aircraft measures a little over twelve centimeters at this scale, so it is exactly the propellers that decide whether a finished model looks convincing. Injection-molded blades tend to be thicker than the subject would suggest, because a thinner section would not release from the mold. A cast part manages a sharper leading edge and a fine taper toward the tip of the blade, and the difference is apparent at first glance.

The build procedure

Handle the blades carefully, as they are fragile: separate them with a fresh scalpel blade or a file and carry them with tweezers. We recommend bathing them first in warm soapy water and letting them dry thoroughly, or paint will hold poorly on a greasy surface; after that comes a thin layer of filler primer. The propellers are seated on the engine nacelles with a drop of cyanoacrylate glue applied with a pin. If you want the blades set in one plane, let the glue cure with the model lying horizontally. The kit of the aircraft itself from the firm Revell is bought separately.