Small Scale Military Headquarters

Maybe???

http://cgi.ebay.com/ULTIMATE-SOLDIER-1- ... dZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/ULTIMATE-SOLDIER-1- ... dZViewItem

Very cool, thanks for the post Harry. I must admit, I thought you were talking about 1/48 M-18s and got all excited...

Oooooh. I like the hellcat. 1/48 is just what i need. Too bad they too probably won't show up around here.

This is good news indeed!

Depending on the distribution, of course.

This seller had the 1/48 P-51 ShangriLa a couple months before they were reported at retail

Badcat has these in stock!!!!

such excitement over a piddly little toy....feh.

You should all get the BBI hellcat, now that's a man's Hellcat.

aferguson wrote:such excitement over a piddly little toy....feh.

You should all get the BBI hellcat, now that's a man's Hellcat.

I've got one and I think it is the best 1/18 AC out to date. But Aferg, think of the different scales like food: 1/18 is a great big juicy New York steak and 1/48 is an hors d' vours. I tend to cram them both into my gaping maw...

There are always those who must stuff the entire triple decker sandwich into their mouth all at once. Or must upturn the entire tureen rather than accept one spoonful at a time.

OLIFANT:

I'm thinking of buying the BBI F6F "Cat Mouth", but its folding wing problems worry me, so I'm considering the 21st 1/48 F6F as an alternative.

So, would you give a thorough review of the 21st F6F---and compare it to the BBI F6F, if you have that one, too.

Thanks.

aferguson wrote:such excitement over a piddly little toy....feh.

You should all get the BBI hellcat, now that's a man's Hellcat.

Why buy something from a dying line???
1/48 is an exceptional model for the price and even though the wings don't fold (BBI's folds wrong anyways) it is well worth the $10 spent..

dragon53 wrote:OLIFANT:

I'm thinking of buying the BBI F6F "Cat Mouth", but its folding wing problems worry me, so I'm considering the 21st 1/48 F6F as an alternative.

So, would you give a thorough review of the 21st F6F---and compare it to the BBI F6F, if you have that one, too.

Thanks.

dragon, I would love to give you a review of the 21C 1/48 Hellcat, but I don't have one. I hadn't seen any reports of them being out until hworth posted this.

I will give you a quick heads up on the BBI Hellcat. I think this is the finest 1/18th offering out there in terms of details. Some here are really upset because the windscreen/canopy is not done properly, but I can overlook that. It is a pretty sturdy plan overall, and the folding wings seem to have a better fit and appear stronger to me than the BBI Corsair. I am not sure where you got the idea that the wing folding is problematic; I am sure some people had difficulty getting theirs set and IIRC you can't fold the wings with the gear down. I had no difficulty with the initial assembly and promptly hung mine from the ceiling on display.

I know there were problems with the lower antennae breaking off in transit or tiny imperfections that some my cry about, but I had my Mother find this for me and I had no problems with the AC. Perhaps I got lucky, I am easygoing or others are hyper-critical. Who knows.

I can only give you my take on the thing: buy it or you will definitely be missing out. Don't sweat the wings. If you are happy with either Corsair offering you have nothing to fear.

Hope this helps.

OLIFANT:

Sorry, I misread your post---I thought you got the 1/48 F6F, too.
I've got the BBI F4U Daisy June and like it a lot. I keep it in the flying position---wings extended and landing gear up, so I don't use the folding wings or retracting landing gear.

I've seen a few bad reviews of the Cat Mouth on SSHQ, but the reviews on Badcat really scared me away from the Cat Mouth when it was first released. I like my Daisy June so much, I'm looking at the Cat Mouth again.

I'm going to post a separate thread about the BBI F6F in a few days to get other opinions about their Vraciu/Cat Mouth F6Fs. I hope to see some reviews on the 21st 1/48 F6F to compare the 1/18 and 1/48 versions.

aferguson wrote:such excitement over a piddly little toy....feh.

You should all get the BBI hellcat, now that's a man's Hellcat.

Hmmmm.... gotta go BIG with everything, huh? Sure we are not trying a little too hard to psychologically compensate for something there Aferg?

From Badcat's blog about the new 1/48 Hellcats---no pilot and no retractable landing gear:

"Sporting a wingspan of 11 inches and a length of nine inches, the plane feels almost the perfect size to the hand. Both schemes have excellent panel lines and paint. The prop spins but the gear is fixed in the down position. The pilotless cockpit is surprisingly detailed, as well."

I hate "pilotless" cockpits.

Well, that ends my debate about which F6F to buy---the BBI 1/18 or the 21st 1/48. I don't want a plane without a pilot or retractable landing gear.

My experience with 21C 1/48 a/c is that the landing gear come in two positions- down and up, so you actually get two pair of l.g., four in total. You can change them out as and when you please. Is this not so for the new F6-F?

LTCBJ:

Badcat says, "... the gear is fixed in the down position."

I don't doubt6 that is what BadCat says, Is this a 21C model? All I see in their "description" is:
"1:48 scale plastic model airplane fully assembled and painted by 21st Century Toys.

US Navy F6F Hellcat - VF-27 "White 2" USS Princeton (Marianas - 1944)"
and
"1:48 scale plastic model aircraft. Fully painted and assembled by 21st Century Toys.

US Navy F6F Hellcat - VF-9 "White 17" USS Essex (Marshall Islands - 1944)"

I can't find anymore description than this- at least not for the 1/48 (which is all I looked at) model.

LTCBJ:

From the Badcat blog in its entirety:

"21st Century Toys' 1:48 Scale Line Really Rolling Now

With the introduction of the 1:48 F6F Hellcat, 21st Century Toys has successfully launched yet another new line of plastic model airplanes. Two versions, the White 17 and a Catmouth iteration, are now available. I removed both aircraft from their respective packaging and was immediately impressed with these display planes. As always, 21st brings value to the table and the Grummans are no exception. Sporting a wingspan of 11 inches and a length of nine inches, the plane feels almost the perfect size to the hand. Both schemes have excellent panel lines and paint. The prop spins and the gear is positionable either up or down. The pilotless cockpit is surprisingly detailed, as well. For 15 bones, you've got to be kidding me!--the 21st F6F can sit right next to the Franklin Mint version that is five times the price but not one bit better.

The 21st Hellcats remind me of unassembled model kits that have been assembled and painted by someone with skills far in excess of mine. Viewed as an assembled plastic model kit, it should be treated as such. The 21st planes will perform beautifully as hangar queens sitting on a shelf or in a case. As a toy airplane in the hands of children, their life expectancy will be measured in minutes. In short, daddy will be very happy with a couple of these, just keep them away from junior."

dragon53:
"the prop spins and the [landing] gear is positionable either up or down...."

YES?

But is is still "pilotless."
Not good from where I sit....

LTCBJ:

I directly copied/pasted from the Batcat blog in my posts, so it appears someone at Badcat went back and corrected the original statement that the gear is not retractable.

Either way, I'm not buying a plane without a pilot. So if I buy an F6F, it will be the BBI 1/18 F6F.