- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Winter Olympics
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
re: Vader’s Model Desk: Grumman F6F Hellcat
Posted on 12/28/25 at 9:59 am to cypresstiger
Posted on 12/28/25 at 9:59 am to cypresstiger
quote:
Love the color scheme the Navy came up with. Credit to the US military for learning from the weaknesses of the Wildcat when they designed the Hellcat.
Dark/non-specular sea blue
Intermediate blue
White
0
Posted on 12/28/25 at 10:30 am to Spaceman Spiff
quote:
Their newer kits are legit. Like Tamiya quality good.
Ah. I’ve got one Eduard’s kit my stash, P-36 I think.
quote:
Current project: Accurate Miniatures 1/48 TBF Avenger. Note the forward cockpit is a bronze green rather than the normal zinc chromate. P-47s uses that color, too.
Looks good. How’s the build? I do have that one in my stash. Have been putting it off though.
Posted on 12/28/25 at 10:32 am to Darth_Vader
An easy argument can be made that the F6F was the most successful aircraft of that war. Strategically as well as tactically.
LINK
quote:
U.S. Navy and Marine F6F pilots flew 66,530 combat sorties and claimed 5,163 kills (56% of all U.S. Navy/Marine air victories of the war) at a recorded cost of 270 Hellcats in aerial combat (an overall kill-to-loss ratio of 19:1).
The aircraft performed well against the various Japanese opponents with a claimed 13:1 kill ratio against the A6M Zero, 9.5:1 against the Nakajima Ki-84, and 3.7:1 against the Mitsubishi J2M during the last year of the war. The F6F became the prime ace-maker aircraft in the American inventory, with 305 Hellcat aces.
LINK
Posted on 12/28/25 at 10:36 am to Darth_Vader
quote:
Looks good. How’s the build? I do have that one in my stash. Have been putting it off though.
Build is easy so far - watch hammerhead’s build video as it will help. A lot.
quote:
P-36 I think.
One of their older kits that may not be great lol. The new ones are out of this world.
Posted on 12/28/25 at 11:20 am to Darth_Vader
Interestingly, the P-47 Thunderbolt, the F4U Corsair, and the F6F Hellcat were all powered by the same engine: the Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp.
Posted on 12/28/25 at 1:17 pm to blueridgeTiger
quote:
Interestingly, the P-47 Thunderbolt, the F4U Corsair, and the F6F Hellcat were all powered by the same engine: the Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp.
It was also used in both the B-26 Marauder and A-26 Invader, along with some post-war civilian airliners. And its big brother, the Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major was used in the B-36 Peacemaker along with numerous other large post-war aircraft.
Posted on 12/28/25 at 2:04 pm to Darth_Vader
A great build there sir.
Hellcat knocked the Jap zeros into the dirt.
Grumman Iron Works also built the Apollo Lunar Module.
Hellcat knocked the Jap zeros into the dirt.
Grumman Iron Works also built the Apollo Lunar Module.
Posted on 12/28/25 at 3:01 pm to geauxtigers87
quote:
F6F was great, still would rather the Corsair
of the WWII stock, the P51 and P38 were my fav's ....
Posted on 12/28/25 at 6:58 pm to blueridgeTiger
quote:
The F4F Wildcats didn't attack the Japanese carriers, rather they flew escort for the torpedo planes.
Well, yeah. I meant that they weren’t the hapless fighters portrayed. They found their strengths against the zeros and learned to utilize them. Wildcats took the brunt of the fighting and could, perhaps, be credited with killing the main core of experienced Japanese pilots in the early days of the war.
Even when the hellcats came online (and were excellent and cheap to produce) the hellcats couldn’t operate from escort carriers. So the wildcat still had a role in the navy.
Posted on 12/28/25 at 7:13 pm to Darth_Vader
Now you’re talking!
Awesome war plane.
Awesome war plane.
Posted on 12/28/25 at 9:20 pm to Junky
quote:
Even when the hellcats came online (and were excellent and cheap to produce) the hellcats couldn’t operate from escort carriers. So the wildcat still had a role in the navy.
I found this out not long ago while listening to “The Unauthorized History of the Pacific War” podcast. They were doing an episode on the Battle of Leyte Gulf, specifically Kurtia’s Central Force attacking the escort carriers of Taffy 3 off of Samar. They talked about how the escort carriers (commonly called “jeep carriers”) had Wildcats instead of Hellcats. Oddly enough though, they also had Avengers, which dwarfs the Hellcat, as well.
ETA: if you’re even mildly interested in military history, I HIGHLY recommend checking out The Unauthorized History of the Pacific War podcast. They also have a YouTube channel.
This post was edited on 12/28/25 at 9:26 pm
Posted on 12/28/25 at 9:37 pm to Darth_Vader
ANother great job...
I think flying a fighter in WWII would probably rock...
I remember reading Letter home from the 100th BG... The Commander decided that he wanted to witness the Allied drops of Market Garden.. So he just got in a plane, fly above the c-47's and watched... Must be nice to just to be able to jump in a plane and fly where you wanted i guess.
I think flying a fighter in WWII would probably rock...
I remember reading Letter home from the 100th BG... The Commander decided that he wanted to witness the Allied drops of Market Garden.. So he just got in a plane, fly above the c-47's and watched... Must be nice to just to be able to jump in a plane and fly where you wanted i guess.
Posted on 12/28/25 at 10:43 pm to Darth_Vader
The bird that won the pacific war.
Page 4 of 4
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News