Small Scale Military Headquarters

Inaccuracy in the bbi f-6 Hellcat wing fold??????

I noticed that there are hinged doors that allow the wings to have that classic Grumman wing fold signature.


Problem is the real F-6 does not have doors that open on the underside of the wing.

I think Bbi could not get around of the problem of making it durable with out this mod.


I would like mike’s input on this.


btw I still like it.

Guys, I think we should wait until we have the new Hellcat model in our hand before we start asking a bunch of questions about it. It is really hard to see what a model has to offer by just looking at pictures.

Sabrefan wrote:Guys, I think we should wait until we have the new Hellcat model in our hand before we start asking a bunch of questions about it. It is really hard to see what a model has to offer by just looking at pictures.

If you look at it, it is there

Yes I see what you mean. I think you will lose some accuracy in order to make the folding wings work. It would be awesome to have a model work just like the prototype, but that might really cost us some big bucks.

The Avenger's wings work without any doors.

Well there is a little door, but I think the real one has it too. Can anyone verify that?

Moth wrote:The Avenger's wings work without any doors.

Well there is a little door, but I think the real one has it too. Can anyone verify that?

yes they do.

VMF115, do you have any good close up pictures of a Hellcat with its wings folded? Thanks.

Sabrefan wrote:VMF115, do you have any good close up pictures of a Hellcat with its wings folded? Thanks.

I have a few books that show them folde up, but with out the under wind door.

IIRC, (if not please let me know, this is a test!!) the Avenger's wing fold mechanism folded directly back requiring the door to provide clearance. The Hellcat's wings, learning from experience, actually moved a short distance away from the wing join before folding. This might be, and likely is, a faulty memory, but it might explain the difference in the mechanism.

I also think the front landing gear door along the leading edge is a tad small.

Man I like that Hellcat with the eyes and mouth. Great looking plane.

Ahh OK. It looks like Grumman developed the geometry and layout of the wing join to simplify the whole thing. Great photos, thanks.

I'm just glad there making it. I can deal with the doors and gear.

toyktdlgh wrote:I'm just glad there making it. I can deal with the doors and gear.

Ditto

And now that we got our Hellcat, bring on a Helldiver!!

I was watching an old "wings" that I had recorded years ago on the discovery channel. They had both the F4F and the F6F. They had some real good video of a Hellcat folding and openning its wings. It does have the door that opens under the wing when the wings are extened. You could see them open really well in this video. Anyone else have any of the old "wings" videos? The Hellcat they showed had the word TEST on either side of it.

Flak Happy wrote:

toyktdlgh wrote:I'm just glad there making it. I can deal with the doors and gear.

Ditto

And now that we got our Hellcat, bring on a Helldiver!!

Amen!

Sabrefan wrote:I was watching an old "wings" that I had recorded years ago on the discovery channel. They had both the F4F and the F6F. They had some real good video of a Hellcat folding and openning its wings. It does have the door that opens under the wing when the wings are extened. You could see them open really well in this video. Anyone else have any of the old "wings" videos? The Hellcat they showed had the word TEST on either side of it.

Don't have the videos, but I remember that show. I loved it The main musical theme is great too. That's from back in the day when cable TV was a bit more educational and academic. Unfortunantly the programs on Discovery and elsewhere are getting too flashy, fast-paced, and dumbed down - even on the History Channel

I also think the Bbi hellcat tires look like bicycle tires, Sorry I am being nitpick but I like to display my A/C on a self and not on the ceiling.

VMF115 I agree with you that the tires are kind of narrow. I wanted to tell you how I fixed that problem with my BBI Corsair. A friend of mine had a 21st Century Avenger. His kids really did a number on it, so he gave it to me. I really love my BBI Marines Dream Corsair, but I find the tires to be to skinny. Well I took the wheels and tires off of the Avenger, painted the hubs silver and mounted them on my BBI Corsair. It took a little work, but it looks great. The Avenger tires are about the same height as the Corsairs stock tires, but they are fatter. I used Testors metallic silver for the hubs, and it was a perfect match for the BBI silver.

Sabrefan that sounds great, but I don't have any trashed Avenger's, Is there a way any one could make some molds???????

The plane looks good in spite of the doors for the wing fold. I wonder how many schemes they will produce.
Todd