Drabslab reviews the latest incarnation of Eduard's popular quarterscale Hellcat - this time released in Royal Navy colours in a simplified Weekend Edition.

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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Biggest issue with the Eduard Hellcat for me is the fuselage tapering from the firewall as depicted (wrongly) in most drawings: Correct drawings and other issues are mentionned here:

http://www.geocities.jp/yoyuso/f6f/f6fe-1.html

It should be noted Eduard's own 1/72 Hellcat has apparently fixed the tapering-from-firewall fuselage issue: Huge kudos for Eduard for recognizing this problem...

Ignoring this (fairly hard to see) issue, and the Eduard's slightly too long gear legs and skinny tires (both easily fixed), the biggest remaining problem is that the propeller is poor (undersized and simplified spinner among other things) and I find all separate blade resin replacement props to be useless due to the impossibility of securing a perfect alignment, especially on 3 blade props where you can't even use the opposite blade for alignment or the easier to judge square angles.

I think resin manufacturers should have realized by now a one-piece prop is the only way to go...

I have yet to see in person a separate blade prop of any kind that looked anywhere near as well-aligned as a one-piece prop, even on four bladers, and this extends to the majority of on-line builds, regardless of subject (but for some reason more noticeable on P-51s and P-38s)...

For the Eduard Hellcat kit I would recommend sacrificing a one-piece Tamiya F4U-1d Corsair's prop which is correct for the Hellcat and far more accurate in every way.

Gaston

Gaston

More than a few aftermarket companies supply a jig to help with aligning props. Quickboost come to mind.

As for the forward fuselage issue, the more I look at the aircraft, the more I think it is a why bother issue.

Hi Gaston

In my experience, most resin props do come with separate blades because they are simpler to cast accurately. I must admit I'm a little mystified by the difficulty you describe when aligning the blades - it really is no big deal and a basic jig is simplicity itself to make. (I think we used to have templates posted somewhere on Aeroscale - I'll have to try to track them down to pin them for anyone else having trouble.)

All the best

Rowan

I would definitely like to see three blade templates Rowan, so that at least the spacing of the blades is even.

Getting the pitch regulated at the same time really compounds the difficulty...

The best resin separate blade props I have seen are done by Vector: They fit extremely precisely at the base: For the Ventura I got one out of the two props to look OK...

Some makers offer a jig with their props, but it's not that common.

I still wish only single piece props were the norm in resin or plastic...

Gaston

You can make a very reliable prop blade jig in about 10 minutes using nothing more complex than some stout plastic sheet and a compass.

Mark the hub center with the point of the compass and scribe or draw a circle to match the prop diameter and a second circle halfway between the hub position and the tip.

Set out a straight line for the blade positions using some simple geometry and then glue a plastic card tab at the halfway point of each line, all you need to do is cut the tabs at an equal angle on the upper-facing edge to match the pitch angle you want.

You drop the hub or spinner in the centre and position each blade against your tabs as you glue them in place, use a 5-minute epoxy to allow time for making adjustments.

It takes longer to describe the jig than it does to make it!

Not exactly rocket-science, I've been doing individual blade props like this since I saw the tip in SAM about 20 years ago.

Les

That is an elegant yet simple method for building props.

Thanks for posting that. I think it took me longer to read than it would to build the prop!

:)

Cheers Les

Yep, that's basically the same way I learned back in the '70s or '80s - probably from Scale Models magazine in its heyday. Just divide 360 by the number of blades to set the angles. You don't even need to worry about using a compass and protractor these days - just print a jig from a graphics programme.

I never bother making a template for a specific diameter propeller - a series of concentric rings with radiating lines provides a neat "one-size fits all" jig. These took a few minutes to make this morning:







All the best

Rowan

Those are exactly the the sort of thing I'm talking about.

The only reason I use an outer circle at the scale prop diameter is that some manufacturers location 'holes' can be a a little deep, or occasionally a little shallow, and need some adjustment to get the o/a diameter right.

Hi again Les

Good point - I hadn't considered that.

All the best

Rowan

Thanks very much Rowan!: This is exactly what I needed: will copy-paste those and keêp them as reference.

Gaston

Hi Gaston,
Paper templates such as Rowan posted are a big help. Another little item, which you also might find useful, is a circular protractor. I got a clear plastic one at Hobby Lobby for a couple bucks. Any art supply store would have them.

A fancier version of what Rowan posted can be found here:
http://www.web-protractor.com/intl/en/

And if you really want to get fancy, Humbrol makes some nice cutting mats with prop angle templates printed on them.

http://www.humbrol.com/accessories/modelling-tools/ag9155-a4-cutting-mat-ag9155/

Cheers,
Eric