History Brief

The F6F Hellcat, was a completely new design from Grumman for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. The F6F Hellcat, a single-seat carrier-based fighter is credited with destroying a staggering 5,271 enemy aircraft. In all, some 4,402 F6F-3 carrier-borne fighters were produced up until April 1944 before it was replaced by the F6F-5. This type first flew on 3 October 1942 and it reached operational readiness the following February with VF-9 aboard USS Essex. The fighter’s standard armament was six .50-cal M2/AN Browning machine guns plus six High-Velocity Aircraft Rockets (HVAR) mounted under its wings , while later aircraft had three hard-point’s capable of carrying 900kg of bombs.

Master Model is an aftermarket supplier that offers modelers the opportunity to add exceptional turned metal parts to their models. Generally, the sets are available for builders in 1:72, 1:48 and 1:32 scale. Most builders who prefer to add aftermarket gun barrels, refueling probes, antennas and pitot tubes to their aircraft models are quite familiar with Master Model’s line of excellent detail parts.

This set (AM-72-066) provides highly detailed 1:72 scale Hispano Mk. 1 cannon (with flat recoil springs) for the Hawker Hurricane Mk IIC. The parts may be used to replace the injection molded ones in Revell, Airfix, Hasegawa, Academy, Smer, Matchbox and Heller kits. In some cases, they simply will drop into place, in others a little surgery may be required. Holes may need to be drilled in the leading edge to accept the fairing and barrel combination or a kits’ molded wing fairing may be drilled to accept only the cannon barrel.

Trumpeter’s recent 1/200 scale Bismarck is a gigantic kit at over four feet in length! Using plastic for her guns is, frankly, a serious disservice. Fortunately, Master Model has fired a salvo of several metal barrel upgrade sets aimed squarely at this large-scale Bismarck.

The three Bismarck sets being reviewed are:

• SM-200-06 - 1/200 German battleship Bismarck - main gun barrels - 38 cm (15in) SKC/34 (8 pcs) - $24.00
• SM-200-07 - 1/200 German battleship Bismarck - secondary and heavy AA armament barrels - 15cm (12 pcs), 10,5 cm (16 pcs) - $15.00
• SM-200-08 - 1/200 German battleship Bismarck - anti-aircraft armament barrels - 37 mm SKC/30 (16 pcs), 20 mm C/30 (12 pcs), 20 mm C/38 (8 pcs) - $15.00

Master Model has excelled in creating amazing turned metal products at reasonable prices, and these upgrades are no exception. The main guns are huge, well machined, and beautiful. The secondary and AA guns have astounding detail.