Heller?

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

Hi folks. I was wondering if any of you had any opinions on Heller kits. I am looking at a 1/48 F4U corsair kit and I have no idea how well made their kits are, since i have never built any of their kits before. Any help appreciated.

Rich

2

I’ve built and have in the stash a few Heller, all 72nd. They look right, the plastic is soft and on some the detail is very fine. Most were molded in the 70’s and 80’s and represent that vintage. If you approach it as a “limited run”, meaning it may need some modeling skills, then you’ll get a good result.

Tim

3

Only Heller kits I’ve built were in 1/72. I agree with Tims assessment.

Regards, Rick

4

In my opinion the best F4U 1/48 kits are Tamiya followed by Hasegawa. The Minicraft has too wide a front windscreen and canopy. I have a 1/48 Heller and the fuselage isn’t correct for the -5N night fighter or -7.

5

I am currently building the Heller, 1/48th RF-84 and you can follow the WIP thread at:

/forums/t/136016.aspx

Darwin, O.F. [aln]

6

I’m mostly familiar with Heller 1/72 kits. I would compare most with Airfix or Matchbox kits of similar vintage.

7

Thanks for all the info. Sounds like a bit more work than I want to get into right now on top of my other builds. I’m still trying to find a 1/32 Corsair I can afford anyways. I have already gotten two that turned out to be only good for spare parts. So now I am going to try one of a slightly newer vintage. But the prices seem to have tripled on those kits over the last couple of months on eBay.

8

If I recall correctly, Heller and Airfix did actually share a number of moulds (esp. 1/72 aircraft), so there are at least some Airfix kits sold in Heller boxings.

9

I’ve built a couple of their 1/72 F-8’s. It was a 70’s kit and comparable to the Hasegawa kits of the same era. I’ve had a T-28 Fennec in the stash for quite some time but haven’t gotten around to building it.

I’ve also got their 1/24 Peugeot 905 Le Mans prototype in the works. The detail was a bit soft but it has a full engine compartment and suspension basics and has the potential to be built into a real show stopper. (I attended a private off-season testing session at Circuit Paul Ricard in the south of France some years ago and actually got to spend some time in the pits when they were testng the 905. It was quite an experience.)

Mark