POST ALL HELLCAT FINDS AND DISCUSSION HERE!

Sabrefan · Post by **Sabrefan** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 7:39 pm

Does the Hellcat model come with the prop on the model? Or do you snap it in place like the Corsair model?

kevrut · Post by **kevrut** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 7:58 pm

The prop is in the box, you just have to snap it on.

Sabrefan · Post by **Sabrefan** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 8:04 pm

Thanks, I am glad you snap the prop on. Lots less chance of it being broken in the box that way.

Sabrefan · Post by **Sabrefan** » Sat Aug 25, 2007 8:11 pm

Ok guys, narrow it down for me. Is the new Hellcat model everything you thought it would be? I am looking for opinions as I will get one soon. Thanks.

tmanthegreat · Post by **tmanthegreat** » Sat Aug 25, 2007 8:43 pm

Sabrefan wrote:Ok guys, narrow it down for me. Is the new Hellcat model everything you thought it would be? I am looking for opinions as I will get one soon. Thanks.

Yes and no. As far as the sculpt detailing, paintjob and fine details, it is one of the best in 1:18 and actually exceeded what I was expecting! What disappointed me with the model, however, were the control surfaces. They are generally loose and don't stay tight in place as on other BBI models like the P-51 and Zero. Does that wreck the whole thing for me? Not at all, but I feel that detail could have been better attended to without sacraficing the integrity of the model. I do feel that it is one plane you will enjoy adding to your collection

Sabrefan · Post by **Sabrefan** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 12:09 pm

There is a BBI Hellcat on ebay that is now over 100 dollars. I think it is a Bad Cat auction. It will be neat to see if the Hellcat starts going for big bucks aleady.

immeww2 · Post by **immeww2** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 12:22 pm

I've followed several of BCA's recent EBAY offerings and all of their planes have sold well beyond what they are asking for on their website. I think if the pattern keeps up, BCA probably will offer more of their products on EBAY.

Post by **aferguson** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 12:30 pm

This is pretty common when new 1/18 aircraft, or armour for that matter, first comes out. Ebay prices fetched are usually pretty high. Not necessarily by BCT but by whomever has the first few listed...

When the rehashed 1/18 halftracks and pak came out last year they all sold for over a hundred dollars apiece at first.

Quixote511 · Post by **Quixote511** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 3:52 pm

I just saw one at the Indianapolis Air Show (MTS had their sample at the show) I am bowled over by the cockpit detail and I am looking forward to getting in.

Black_Dragon_One · Post by **Black_Dragon_One** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 9:30 pm

you guys who found the hellcat at tru computer what was the price listing for this beauty

Website · Post by **Teamski** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 1:04 am

Yey! I got my Hellcats from BCA yesterday! Great detail, excellent paint scheme, but the cartoonish canopy/windshield ruins it for me. This is just as bad as the P-40. I do like it, but I can't look at it too much without getting ticked at just how close it got to being the best plane made. Why? Toy or not, if you spend all of that development time in getting the details down on the wings, fuselage, gear, tail, flight controls, then WHY throw all that out the window with a crappy canopy??

Anyways, for those of you who can't get their elevators to stop sagging, remember that the flight controls are tabbed. All you have to do to lock them in is push the flight control in and it will snap in place for you. This is identical to the bbi Corsair. All my flight controls snapped in place fine....

So close....

-Ski

digger · Post by **digger** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 7:50 pm

I couldn't get my landing gear to lock in place. I have it hanging now.

I hate to throw a wet blanket on the celebrations around the release of BBI's F-6F....but I have a few problems here that I thought you might want to know about. Since it's the first "all new" aircraft available in awhile, I would heavily suggest getting one. Don't think this is just a BBI Bash-fest...far from it. But the quality seems to be slipping some here. So here's what I have so far....along with some fixes that I have already found for a few problems.

Wings and Wing fold: The wing-fold mechanism is simplicity at its best. The material for the all too critical hinge is made of a "soft" plastic that gives a little when force is applied. Be VERY careful here because you can snap this thing in two real fast if you are ham-fisted. However, with that being said, I have to admit the wing junction is tighter than on the 21C Avenger. I disagree sharply that the large door on the underside of the wing that opens where it shouldn't....had to be so large. When I scan the sweep of the fold and the hinge, I find that the door could have been half the size it is and worked just as well. When folded, this door (or the edge of it) is what actually holds the wing folded at the angle it does. Some of you have noticed that the wing sits way too high when folded. I agree...and the too large of a door is why. I going to be doing major surgery here later to try and cure it.

Flaps, Ailerons, and finish: The overall paint on this bird is some of the best mass-produced I have seen. With that said, mine had a HUGE fingerprint on the right upper wing surface made permanent by CA Glue vapors. Most of it was on the aileron and instead of paint, the surface appears to be solid color. So I took a chance and lightly sanded the fingerprint away. It worked extremely well and the entire print practically disappeared. The ailerons and the flaps are a different story...they all sag badly. It is entirely sad to see both ailerons sagging and their range of motion is down only. Because of the hinge style there is no UP in the ailerons.

Sounds like there are some issues but this is to be expected. I would like to hear what others think. I know Mike had said they were holding off on releasing the Hellcat until after they had a chance to look at he Avenger wingfold - I wonder if they were able to improve or what the consensus is.

Website · Post by **Teamski** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 8:50 am

The wingfold works great. However, the right wing fit at the fold is pretty poor. The left wing is perfect.................

-Ski

tmanthegreat · Post by **tmanthegreat** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 9:43 am

Teamski wrote:The wingfold works great. However, the right wing fit at the fold is pretty poor. The left wing is perfect.................

-Ski

I had this problem with my plane initially as well. You can see the larger-than-normal seams in some of my photos earlier in this message. I was able to fix it however

With the wing in the extended position, try pushing the hinge piece - accessable through the landing gear bay - in further. That, at least, is what worked on my plane!

Website · Post by **Teamski** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 10:03 am

I'll have to try that out. I also had the big gap along the bottom of the fuselage as was previously mentioned. That's not a big deal in my book though....

-Ski

Folkwulfe · Post by **Folkwulfe** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 1:02 pm

I cured mine by folding the wing, then pushing in with my finger directly on the hinge pin. Mine snapped straight into place easily. However...I have tried like crazy short of breaking them clean off....but my ailerons continue to sag down no matter what I try.

ww2collecter · Post by **ww2collecter** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 8:28 am

Anyone have the SKU # for the Hellcat at Toysrus. I visted a couple of stores w/ no luck

I think it will be easier to call w/ a SKU#, if I ask for a hellcat they probably wont know what I'm talking about

sarge · Post by **sarge** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 12:41 pm

Folkwulfe wrote:I cured mine by folding the wing, then pushing in with my finger directly on the hinge pin. Mine snapped straight into place easily. However...I have tried like crazy short of breaking them clean off....but my ailerons continue to sag down no matter what I try.

I guess the aileron issue is inherant for all. I glued a piece of .05 thick poly between the aileron and outboard wing tip to force it closer to the flap. The aileron uses the flap to stay in place as it snaps in place now. At least it solved the problem on mine. The other issue is the instructions for the wheels. If you turned the wheels as per the inst. you'd break them. They don't mention to pull up on the wheel then turn

.

I now have a motor in mine and it was easier then I thought.

You can get to every thing through the bottom where the wing panel fits. It's run by 2 AAA batteries and the battery holder is a perfect fit for the door in the flap with a little modification to make it swing open further. Looks pretty nice with the prop turning.

One thing I noticed working on mine. It was pretty dirty on all the inside surfaces. Looked like it had been rained on many times with dirty rain. Also there was a few broken posts toward the rear of the fuselage that might have something to do with the gap in the bottom. All in all it still is an outstanding plane. They out did themselves on the cockpit detail.
You all have a good one. Sarge

digger · Post by **digger** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 1:04 pm

ww2collecter wrote:Anyone have the SKU # for the Hellcat at Toysrus. I visted a couple of stores w/ no luck

I think it will be easier to call w/ a SKU#, if I ask for a hellcat they probably wont know what I'm talking about

It is not at TRU, don't waste your time. Mike said around October I believe.

MightyMustang · Post by **MightyMustang** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 1:35 pm

digger wrote:
ww2collecter wrote:Anyone have the SKU # for the Hellcat at Toysrus. I visted a couple of stores w/ no luck

I think it will be easier to call w/ a SKU#, if I ask for a hellcat they probably wont know what I'm talking about
It is not at TRU, don't waste your time. Mike said around October I believe.

The guy at TRU said they probably wont have the Hellcat in until the fall so your best bet is to order one online. I did and took advantage of the Labor Day sale at Bad Cat. Glad I waited a bit. My F6F will be here on Weds.

digger · Post by **digger** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 8:11 pm

I see Aviatornut has the Hellcats. So much for BCA's one to two month exclusive. Really have to wonder about some of the things they claim..

FieroDude · Post by **FieroDude** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 8:38 pm

[quote="digger"]I see Aviatornut has the Hellcats. So much for BCA's one to two month exclusive. Really have to wonder about some of the things they claim..[/quote

or bbi's willingness/ability to back it up. Could be a case of the shipment that included aviatornut.com's stock arrived earlier than planned and that BCA's a little later.

Speaking of Hellcat's and exclusives, anyone see the Cat Mouth exclusive scheme on Merit's site?
http://www.merit-intl.com/month/bbi000806.htm

tmanthegreat · Post by **tmanthegreat** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 8:46 pm

FieroDude wrote:Speaking of Hellcat's and exclusives, anyone see the Cat Mouth exclusive scheme on Merit's site?
http://www.merit-intl.com/month/bbi000806.htm

Hmm, that one looks good! Still, I think I like the S1 "Vraciu" scheme better. Just not so extreme

tko211 · Post by **tko211** » Tue Sep 04, 2007 7:37 pm

Well, I got my Hellcat today. I know, you are all shocked to learn that I sometimes add other company planes to my collection!

So, I busted out my Hellcat. At first I was kinda impressed. The detail in cockpit is great! But as I assembled the plane I found out what many of you have already noticed.

-My wings in the fixed position suck. I swear I can see daylight in the large gap that is there!
-No matter what I do to tab in my flying surfaces they flap around freely. (I HATE the tab method).
-Those huge parts that fold down out of the bottom to allow the wing to fold back constantly fall down when the wing is in the fixed position.

I like my zero's... I wish I could like the Hellcat as much. Kinda bumbed out.

tmanthegreat · Post by **tmanthegreat** » Tue Sep 04, 2007 10:30 pm

tko211 wrote:My wings in the fixed position suck. I swear I can see daylight in the large gap that is there!

At least on my Hellcat, the wings still sit better in the extended position than on any of my 21c Avengers

I will however, share in your displeasure with the loose control surfaces. 21c has often done little better, but compared to other BBI offerings, the Hellcat's flaps kind of stink

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