1:48 F6F-5 / Hellcat Mk. II OVERTREES

The second-series Hellcat in British colors

The F6F-5 form came onto the decks during 1944 and became the most widespread variant of the whole type. Its recognition features were a cleaner windscreen without the armored plate stuck on the front, a reworked engine cowling with a smoother transition, and balance tabs on the ailerons, which took away the force needed in the controls at high speeds. Attachments for rockets and bombs were added under the wing, so a pure fighter grew into a machine for attacks on ground targets. The Fleet Air Arm designated the type the Hellcat Mk. II and deployed it over the Norwegian fjords, over the Aegean and over the Malay Peninsula.

The set in bare form

Only injection-molded sprues fit into the box. Brass sheet, painting stencils and sheets of markings do not belong with them. The builder thus gets a free hand: he reaches for accessories of another class, or builds the aircraft entirely without them.

Area without depth

The hardest limit of photo-etched metal follows from the fact that it is made from a single flat film. Anything that in the real thing takes on height, a bulge or a rounded edge can only be suggested on the metal by embossing, or built up from several layers on top of one another. With riveted straps, latch covers and steps that stands up; with a round shape the result stays flat and the eye notices it. An injection-molded part carries depth straight from the mold. A sensible division therefore runs: what was cut from sheet in the original, leave to brass; what was forged or pressed into shape, leave to plastic.