1/48 F6F-5N Nightfighter Eduard Profipack Review

Every modeller has the special subject or history period he/she is crazy about. Some of us are into World War 2 USAAF fighters, some of us build Soviet post WW2 jets, some of us collect models of mysterious Luftwaffe 1946 projects. I know that the part of scale aviation modellers build the certain models just because those models depict certain country and certain history period aircrafts.

You know, I'm different. I build the models of the aircrafts that appeal to me. It's a matter of taste and sometimes even a matter of mood. Sometimes I find that no WW2 air-fighter looks sexier than Fw 190D-9 Dora. Although I know it's so petite and fragile compared to another WW2 airfighter (bomber as well ;) P-47 Thunderbolt. Jug (aka P-47) on the other side is big and heavy. Thunderbolt model surely feels good in hands :)

That's why I build Luftwaffe, USAAF, WW1 and other aircraft models. I build the models which shapes and outlines appeal to me and that seems to interest me. Just like some of us love skinny girls, some us love fat girls, some love big girls, etc. It's just the matter of taste. But the biggest part of men enjoy watching naked girls. Even scientists have proved that men who stare at women's breasts live longer. Watching naked women is good for health! :)

"Naked girls and aircraft models?" - you might ask.

Yes, the thing that connects those two subjects of our interest - Pin-Up art. Pin-Up art in aviation were the drawings and paintings of naked girls on the aircraft bodies. But generally Pin-up art is associated with USA aircrafts. Bombers, fighters, transport, reconnaissance airplanes proudly sported those pin-up girls. I bet they also do now. Although Russian (not Soviet!) Nieuport fighters of WW1 are also known to wear half naked mermaids and mademoiselles on the fuselages:

Sometimes ago I've found out that Eduard is releasing their next 1/48 F6F Hellcat. I'm aware that there were other kits of this classical WW2 US warbird, including a 1/48 F6F Royal Class kit with tons of different stuff inside. New 1/48 F6F-5N Nightfighter Profipack (catalogue Eduard's Catalogue #8226) is different. It features pin-up decals! All the Hellcats (that you featured in this kit) were all over painted in Navy Blue only! No more 3 colour camouflages! :)

Imagine how happy I was to receive the kit! The kit is really superb! I feel that new Eduard kit beats general 1/48 scale Tamiya & Hasegawa kits in terms of quality:

• you get colour profiles with description;
• you get resin part to detail the model more;
• you get beautiful recessed lines and even riveting;
• you get photoetch fret

There're many Eduard F6F-5N Nightfighter Profipack kit reviews available by now online. I would like this one to be different.

You might have already found out that the kit features following contents:

• 125 plastic parts (6 sprues + 1 clear (this one is really cristal clear) plastic sprue)
• Highly detailed building instruction sheet (haven't seen any better yet)
  
• Colour photo-etched details
  
• Resin parts: wheels, canons, exhausts and radar
• Colourful decals for 5 Hellcats (pin-up decal comes in two - just in case you ruin the first one) - check those F6F-5N profiles here 

I must confess the box is really big. Almost just like a 1/72 scale bomber or 1/48 P-47 ;)
Here you can see the kit in company of a small Gunze Sangyo paint jar near the box (Gunze Sangyo paints are not included in the kit):

So let's look inside the box, shall we?

Every sprue is in its own bag to avoid scratches and broken parts. Resin parts in the separate bag - they're very delicate and I even plan to put every part in its own separate bag. There're also 2 separate fuselages on 2 separate sprues!

Love the smell of fresh plastic! :)

Not sure starting from when Eduard started to rivet their models, but their F6F-5N Nightfighter is no different. Rivets are very delicate. One thing I don't get - why are the rivets only shown alongside the panel lines? Here's naked fuselage surface in rivets:

Next thing that I know you're very interested to see are resin parts. Wheels look very smooth and delicate. No sign of bubbles or any flaws. Wheel protector is just perfect. How and who makes the master for those resin wheels - I'm sure that no man would be able to carve or simulate somehow that precise geometrical pattern :) Check them out:

  

I know this wheels look much better than the original plastic parts in the kit.This is a noteworthy improvement.

The next thing is one of the most interesting to me. Drum rolls......

Decals! Pin-up decals!

I have PynUp P-47 1/48 scale decals ("In the mood" + "Too Big and Heavy") in my stash, so naturally I was very excited to compare those with Eduard's (actually printed by Cartograf for Eduard). Frankly speaking I haven't seen decals more precisely printed than PynUp's beatiful pin-up girls. Although I'm aware that there're other companies producing pin-up decals for WW2 subjects. I took close macro pictures of both - PynUp (brunette) and Eduard (blonde) to compare. From the pics below you see that both naked ladies look very good :) and there's no any colour displacement (and no visible signs of cellulite ;)

   

As you can see both are printed in a very high quality. But PynUp decals cost almost half of the Eduard's F6F-5N Profipack kit.

So what do we get after all with the kit?

• Top quality decals; 
• Very good plastic parts with engraved lines and rivets (and 2 fuselages);
• Brilliant resin wheels and other resin parts (radar, guns, exhausts)
• 2 Frets of photoetch parts
• Clear plastic canopy parts (for both opened and shut positions)
• Best in market colourful instruction sheet

It's definitely top quality kit and I really can't wait to start building it. The kit has everything to build interested and fairly detailed model. Quoting classics:

"Highly Recommended"

I wish to thank "Modelimex" hobby shop for the sample.