One of Eduard’s releases for October 2021 is a new Weekend Edition boxing of their popular 1/72 Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat kit. Eduard’s 1/72 F6F-3 has been on the market since 2011, and this is the third Weekend Edition boxing that has been released by Eduard.

This boxing includes decals for Lt. Cdr. David McCampbell‘s F6F-3 Hellcat The Minsi. Lt. Cdr. McCampbell was the CO of CAG-15 abroad the USS Essex, and flew this aircraft during the U.S Navy’s raids against Iwo Jima which began on June 14, 1944, and continued until August 5, 1944.

Lt. Cdr McCampbell was the top U.S. Navy ace with 34 confirmed victories. While he did not score any confirmed victories in combat over Iwo Jima, Lt. Cdr. McCampbell would score 10.5 victories in The Minsi during combat over Saipan, the Philippine Sea and Guam. The Minsi was scrapped in September 1944 after suffering damage from anti-aircraft fire.

Kudos to Eduard for including decals for The Minsi in this boxing. While most modelers will prefer decals for Lt. Cdr. McCampbell’s F6F-5 Minsi III with its impressive scoreboard of kills, it is nice to have the option to build his first Hellcat.

The other decals included in this kit are: a VF-38 F6F-3, stationed on Munda Airfield, New Georgia, Solomon Islands; Lt. Alexander Vraciu’s F6F-3 “White 32”, VF-16, USS Lexington with 18 kill markings; and a VF-27 F6F-3 aboard the USS Princeton with the snarling cat mouth. Very nice decal options.