We all know by now that more Japanese aircraft were shot down in air to air combat by the Hellcat than by any other allied fighter in the Pacific war. The Hellcat was also the most prolifically built carrier fighter during the war and was quickly removed from service once the war had ended.

It was designed to be an excellent dogfighter and much that was learned from an A6M2 that was salvaged early in the war was used in the design of the F6F. In addition to its sterling combat capabilities, it was also a relatively easy aircraft to fly, was able to take a lot of battle damage and was well liked by its pilots.

In Superscale's resurgence of producing a goodly number of new decal sheets, they have done a triad of Hellcats. This first sheet is for the early versions, the F6F-3. You will recognize a number of the subjects on this sheet and while some have been offered as kit decals, it is nice to have quality replacements for what are often too thick kit decals.

As with all newer Superscale sheets, data decals are included and a very easy to use placement chart is provided on the instruction sheet.

There are four subjects, one of which has the red bordered insignia briefly used in mid-1943

First is Cdr. Flatley's CAG bird from the Yorktown in mid-1943. Like the other subjects, it is in the tri-color paint scheme common to all F6F-3s and the very early F6F-5s.

Next is Lt(jg) Vraciu's Hellcat from the USS Intrepid. This plane is decorated with some of his 19 kill markings.

A VF-51 bird from the USS San Jacinto is next. This plane carries a small nose art in the form of a pair of dice.

And finally, a VF-1 plane from the USS Yorktown in 1944, as are the previous two Hellcats.

Review copy courtesy of . Thanks for your support.
This and other new sheets are currently available at your local hobby shop.

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