This kit is the second Eduard “ProfiPACK” that I have tried. (The first was the Spitfire IXe.) I experienced major difficulties with the fit of the cockpit in the Spitfire kit, but this Hellcat kit was a pleasure through and through.

Generally, when a kit has PE parts (as these Profi kits do) I am usually reluctant to take it down from the shelf. I ask myself, “What was I thinking? Why didn’t I just get the Hasegawa Hellcat?” PE parts, though they offer remarkable detail — if successfully managed — also cause a silent sigh of impending “hassle” in my semiconsciousness. The reality is that most of the time the PE stuff isn’t actually all that hard and does look terrific in the end. (It certainly took this Japanese battleship’s smokestack area up a significant notch, for example.) If it’s just too small — like, I probably won’t even be able to keep the part, glue and tweezers from getting fouled together when I try to pick it up — I simply ignore it, and I’m too old now to feel guilty about wasting the part. In the case of this Hellcat, I drew the line at the microscopic control knobs designed for the instrument panel. (If I hadn’t mentioned it, you might not ever have noticed that they weren’t there!)

Has the potential of this fine kit been perfectly realized in my build of it? Heavens, no! Once I had gotten the beautiful semi-gloss blue enamel sprayed on, I had a pretty good inkling that any clumsy, unpracticed attempt to weather the paint or highlight the panel lines would turn this beauty into a beast. In the end, I did brush on some exhaust streaks, which seemed a must, but otherwise it’s pristine. I’ll take it!