R-2800-10 Engine
for Eduard F6F Hellcat

Eduard BRASSIN, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Mark J. Davies

Eduard Brassin’s 1/72 scale R-2800-10 is available online from Squadron.com

Eduard’s F6F Hellcat kits are the best in 1/72-scale by quite a margin, and offer superb value for money. In fact, they are unrivalled in bang for buck terms by any other aircraft kit I can think of in the one true scale.

The standard kit engine is very good, and it is even better in Profi-pac form because it has a PE ignition harness. However, this is visible only through the front of a cowling that is otherwise closed. The engine set reviewed here is for a model with an open cowling.

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The packaging used for this engine is excellent. It consists of a sturdy vac-form blister pack with two pockets. A PE fret, backed by a taped piece of card, sits in the shallower one to protect it from bending. The larger pocket holds the resin parts cushioned by expanded black foam. The plastic clamshell packaging clips open and shut to provide access to the parts and their instructions.

The instructions are simple and clear, and use easy to follow illustrations. The set replaces both rows of the kit engine along with the reduction gear housing and magnetos. A standout feature of this set is the combined casting of the exhaust manifold with the rear cylinders. This should make engine assembly a breeze. The set also supplies two removable sections of cowling to expose the engine to view. The detail and quality of the resin parts is excellent. The PE fret provides an ignition harness and sections of cowling support framework.

Assembly of the resin engine is very easy. Eduard provides a temporary key to help with alignment and joining of the two cylinder banks. Removing the PE harness form the fret and mounting it onto the engine will take some care to achieve, but cutting out the cowl panels should be straightforward. There is also the need to remove the kit exhaust stubs to make way for the rein exhaust manifold. The hardest challenge with this set is I think will be to bend the delicate cowl support frames to a curve that matches the cowl. These must sit in a rebated position

I think that assembling and fitting this engine set to an Eduard Hellcat kit should be quite straightforward.

This engine set is a very good quality product in every respect. It achieves a high level of detail with comparative simplicity and a small parts count. This is always a plus to my way of thinking. I think that the combined casting of the exhaust manifold with the rear cylinders is impressive. This set is a nice addition for those who wish to expose the engine on their Eduard Hellcat kit.

I should be no surprise that I recommend this set to those who like exposed engines.

Thanks to Eduard for the samples.

Review Text and Blue Background Images Copyright © 2012 by Mark Davies
Page Created 12 June, 2012
Last updated 12 July, 2012

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