This resin model kit is
the Curtiss F6C-4 "Hawk" fitted with wheels and the 420hp 9 cyclinder
Pratt and Whitney R-1340 Wasp radial engine. This bi-plane dates
from the 1926 time period and this aircraft served mainly with the USMC with
VF-1M, VF-9M and VF-10M.
This new resin
kit from Olimp
Models is part of their
new Pro
Resin line of
resin kits. This little 1/72 kit comes packed in a VERY sturdy little
box. Upon opening the box, I was treated to a beautiful sight of a
delicate little multi-media kit which includes mostly resin parts, photo etch
and a clear acetate instrument panel and a decal
sheet. This is "the full meal deal".....no need to add anything
to this kit except for some rigging lines and possibly some added engine detail
if yoiu are up to the chalenge of super detailing atiny 1/72 radial engine
although the kit cylinders do provide very respectable detail already.
Now....this is a resin kit, so it
will require the use of CA glue (Crazy Glue) to assemble it and the parts are
going to need a tiny bit of cleaning up, but this is very minimal and will not
in any way detract from the joy of building this kit. If you've ever done
any work with resin parts before you will have no problem tackling this
kit......go slow....be patient and enjoy the build. I did a dry fit of the
fuselage halves and they lined up perfectly.....this kit should go together well
if the rest of the kit has the same excellent level of fit.
As you can see from the sample of
photos of the resin parts below, the fuselage detail on the sides of the
fuselage is well done. The wings have realistic wing ribbing detail and will
look quite convincing of the finished kit. The seat is well done in resin and once you paint it up it
will look very good.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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cylinder,
wheel and cockpit floor |
wheels |
The attachment points for the
resin parts is wonderfully thin making the removal of the parts from the resin
casting blocks a quick and easy job. Detail is very crisp on most parts
and the finished products will be a treat to behold.
The inclusion of
Photo Etched parts and an Acetate instrument panel tells me that Pro Resin
is something I enjoy seeing from Pro
Resin.
The PE parts are tiny and very well formed. They include items that
will be well visible to the viewer of the finished model and these PE
parts will enhance the delicate look of the finished model. And yes
the photo etch parts include seatbelts.
The kit parts are pretty
straight forward and the 4 pages of instructions cover the assembly
process in a clear and easy to follow way. The instructions include
paint codes in Humbrol, Model Master and Revell colours.
The one decal option is for
a Curtiss F6C-4 Hawk with the Marine Corps, Bruno A-7397 of VF-9M. This aircraft is overall
Aircraft Gray on the fuselage and underside of the wings with
Insignia Yellow on the top of the wingswings....A pre-war
scheme. The nose and bright
Insignia Red. The U.S.
national markings are bright Red/White/Blue.
The decals are very clearly
printed....not too thick...not too thin and of good colour coverage.
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In 1/72
you are dealing with tiny tiny model kits.....especially little
pre-war biplanes. And I hear you asking......"but does it
have interior cockpit detail?". Darn tootin'....although
I'm not sure how much you'll be able to see once it is
assembled....but it is there!!! |
Click on
image below to see larger image |
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This is a sweet looking little
kit and if you want to try a multi-media pre-war kit then you will do well to check
out these new multi-media kits from Pro Resin at Olimp
Models.
I would like to thanks Oleg at Olimp
Models for sending me
this review sample.
Steve Bamford
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