Small Scale Military Headquarters

...arrives at Bad Cat...any other sightings....?

I got my shipping notification!!!! Wow, that happened quick! We'll see if my opinion softens when I get them.

-Ski

I will have to wait for some time...a month or too untill I get mine.....low funds, due to low paying job. Then I can see for myself if the BBi hellcat is alright.

I wish I would have preordered one. I kind of let this one slip by. I wonder where I will find one.

Got my shipping notification I used the UPS shipping option (now often cheaper for the larger packages than USPS) and since they don't ship on Saturdays, I should get this thing on Monday. I'm eager to see it in Person!

I am waiting to pick mine out from MTS so I can see it in person. I like dealing with those guys real well.

i'm going to wait till TRU is going to carry them.

Fitzystigertank wrote:i'm going to wait till TRU is going to carry them.

How do you know they will get them? I got the idea bbi is done at TRU...

Will Target carry them?

i dont think BBI would release it unless it was going to sell at a major retailer, and Target has been clear that it does not want WWII items, so i suspect it will show up at TRU.

aferguson wrote:i dont think BBI would release it unless it was going to sell at a major retailer, and Target has been clear that it does not want WWII items, so i suspect it will show up at TRU.

I know it won't be my TRU. I have not seen one aircraft there since 21st occupied the shelves. No lie!! No corsairs, Mustangs, Zeroes, Shermans, Nothing!!

-Ski

I thought that after all the fanfare 21C would be well represented at TRU. All the TRU in my area has is a few 32XW some 32nd tanks and a few 144th planes. I was a little disappointed when they opened and that's all they had,that was a month ago and things haven't changed. As for WM,back to the same ole story. How about the TRUs in your areas?
Thanks. Sarge

aferguson wrote:i dont think BBI would release it unless it was going to sell at a major retailer, and Target has been clear that it does not want WWII items, so i suspect it will show up at TRU.

Like the Zero?
My money is on Target down the line if anywhere. After all they are at least carrying bbi and will hopefully pick up more of the line. Seems TRU is going in the opposite direction with bbi 1/18.

Well, I got my BBI Hellcat from BadCat today

It truly is an amazing piece of work and actually looks much better than the "production" sample on BadCat's website! The paintscheme and weathering are amazing and very well executed. It seems that with BBI, you can almost always count on their products having a decent paintscheme with crisp markings and very few flaws. You will all be happy to know that BBI decided to paint the missing framing on the forward windscreen of the canopy, which greatly improves the look of the plane!

The cockpit detail is amazing and out-does the BBI Corsair, quite possibly making it the most detailed cockpit in 1:18 at the moment! All instruments are identifiable and they even included the ID plates, etc. The landing gear struts extend and lock into the correct position; the wheels rotate out. Tail hook is extendable as well.

The wings fold in a manner roughly similar to that of the 21c Avenger. They do, however, hold their dihedral much better. The flaps and aeilerons are loose and a tab broke on one of my flaps, meaning it must be glued in place now. I would rate the control surfaces as being the only really weak point on this release because they are so loose. The wing assembly is also a little tricky... They come in 3 pieces: center section and the two outer parts of the wings. Personally, I think BBI should have taken a cue from 21c and simply made the wings in only two pieces, but since they do hold their dihedral better, the BBI design seems to work! I would have been OK omitting, say the moving flaps, to improve the wing sturdiness.

As for ordinance, there's the droptank, which can be easily removed. No rockets are included, though BBI left the little holes for them to be placed in. The directions note that you can purchase the rockets seperately or use the ones from the Corsair, since the holes are the same. The pilot is the same as the Corsair pilot, coloration and everything, save that he has a "patch" with that cat design painted on the left shoulder. The pilot also comes with a revolver! The pitot tube and part of the radio antenna come as seperate pieces and need to be attached.

All in all, I give this a 9 out of 10! The loose control surfaces bring the rating down a bit, but are almost outweighted by the quality of the panel detailing, perfect paint job, cockpit detail, etc. It is certainly something you don't want to get for a child under 10. The BBI Hellcat is certainly more a model than a toy. Those of you that have this preordered are going to love it, and those of you who may be undecided need to get it

I will post pictures later if someone doesn't get to them before me

I just received my conformation today that my hellcat shipped. Usually only takes a day or two for it too arrive from Badcat, and now after your description tman I can't wait. Thanks for wrecking my nights sleep tonight

OK, everyone, here's the pictures They're not the best and the flash makes the paint in some of the shots shine more than it actually does, but these should give you an idea of the awesomness of the BBI F6F Hellcat!!

A Profile shot: note all the fine stenciling, weathering, and panel detailing!


Top view: note how tightly the wings hold together. They even have...


...the proper wing dihedral!


The wing folded: The BBI folding system works quite well.


Landing gear and drop tank detail.


Cockpit detail, with pilot figure.


Cockpit detail: note the detailed instruments, seat, gunsight and rearview mirror!


Pilot figure comparison: The Hellcat pilot is on the left, note the revolver and patch. The Corsair pilot is on the right. I changed the head from the original, however.


1:18 Naval Air Arm: 21c TBF Avenger, BBI F6F Hellcat, BBI F4U Corsair, BBI A6M2 Zero.

Great pics!

Tristan:

Don't do that!

Everytime you post pictures of your crap (I mean you beautiful Hellcat), it makes me want to sell all my 1/32 stuff and get back into 1/18

LOL

Looks like a neat bird!!

Hope to see a 1/32 one

Corey

Does anyone have the sku # for this beautiful peice??

Killerf6 wrote:I just received my conformation today that my hellcat shipped. Usually only takes a day or two for it too arrive from Badcat, and now after your description tman I can't wait. Thanks for wrecking my nights sleep tonight

Got my confirmation yesterday won't see this beautiful bird untill next week the 28th. Takes 5 days shipping from coast to coast. I've got a bunch of small dc 1.5-3v motors that I use for motorizing my 1/48 scale bombers. Just finished a Junkers JU 52. They would fit nicely in this plane. If I don't have to tear it up to badly I'll see about motorizing it. Outstanding Pics. Sarge

I haven't got mine at the door yet. It looks really good! I just wish the canopy was a bit more accurate. Yea, I'm a bugger for the details.

-Ski

Does look nice among those other PTO birds and that cockpit is awesome. Pilot is better too imo, making it possibly the best 1:18 pilot ever (save the skin rash).

It does look like they cheated on the dihedral as it doesn't start at the wing root but rather with the two folds.

digger wrote: It does look like they cheated on the dihedral as it doesn't start at the wing root but rather with the two folds.

No cheating, it was like that.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... 44_Jan.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... ellcat.jpg

Moth wrote:

digger wrote: It does look like they cheated on the dihedral as it doesn't start at the wing root but rather with the two folds.

No cheating, it was like that.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... 44_Jan.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... ellcat.jpg

Cool.
Now that I look at those pics it seems they could have added more..

Agreed.
But what kills it for me is the way the wings fold. When folded, they sit way to high, they should be nearly parallel with the fuselage.