Confused on scale of various kits

[Warren]

Gentlemen,
I have been away from airplane modeling for over 3o years. Recently I built in 1/48 scale the 1. Eduard F6F3 Hellcat, 2. the Tamiya Mosquito,
and 3. the Airfix Me BF109-3. I was amazed at the difference in size between the Hellcat, the Mosquito, and the Hellcat and the ME109.
The diameter of the Hellcat fuselage from the cockpit to the engine is larger than the Mosquito, and much larger than the ME109.
The Mosquito was a two man fighter/bomber while the Hellcat was a single pilot aircraft. I realize that the Hellcat had to be a bit more rugged since as a carrier aircraft, in the Pacific, it had to cope with the stress of landing on a carrier. However, I was shocked to see that the Hellcat was basically a bigger aircraft than the Mosquito. The ME109 almost fits inside the Hellcat.
I know that model kits are not always exactly correct as to scale size, however, I cannot believe that these kits are so far from reality as far as the relative size among these three aircraft.

Has anyone built a Hellcat F6F 1/48 scale kit? Did you find it to be large for a fighter plane?
Again, the Hellcat kit was an Eduard's weekend special.
Thanks,
Warren

[mincemeat]

Hi Warren,

The Hellcat was a big fighter compared to the 109 just by looking at historical photos and seeing them in real life. If you are dubious of the actual scales being accurate, you can use a scale calculator like this one. http://webpages.charter.net/sinkwich/sd ... ecalc2.htm

You know the size of the kits and the measurements of the wingspans, when you put them in the calculator do they come out to the actual dimensions of the real aircraft?

[Stokesy44]

The Me 109 is renowned for being small. It has been described as an attempt to wrap the smallest fuselage around the biggest (at the time) engine. It really is tiny.

The Hellcat is built around a huge 2000 hp radial engine and it is that (like the Corsair and the P47) which defines its shape and size. My 1/48 Corsair dwarfs my 1/48 Me 109 and is almost comparable to my 1/32 Me 109!

[Nev]

The Me 109 is renowned for being small. It has been described as an attempt to wrap the smallest fuselage around the biggest (at the time) engine. It really is tiny.

The Hellcat is built around a huge 2000 hp radial engine and it is that (like the Corsair and the P47) which defines its shape and size. My 1/48 Corsair dwarfs my 1/48 Me 109 and is almost comparable to my 1/32 Me 109!

Apparently 109 pilots needed to be a certain size to operate the plane comfortably. Must have made bailing out very difficult for the poor pilot!

[Warren]

Nev,
I saw a documentary comparing the Spitfire and ME 109. Much time was spent discussing the visibility from the cockpit, particularly to the rear,
and the size of the cockpits. The comparison was done after the war, by a former German ME109 pilot sitting inside a Spitfire, and a former Spitfire pilot sitting in an ME 109. The British pilot was amazed at how cramped and small was the ME 109 cockpit. He also wondered how a pilot in distress,
with the plane flopping all over the place, could possible bail out due to the canopy opening to the side, rather than sliding straight back. The German pilot agreed that the Spitfire offered much more room in the cockpit, but astonishingly he did not like the rear view of the bubble style canopy. He stated that it was not that difficult to bail out of an ME 109.

Warren

[digger303]

When you think you where going to die...you become very focused....bailing out I mean

[Nev]

I will have to see if can source a copy of that documentary thanks mate

[SteelScooter]

The Hellcat has a huge radial in front of the cockpit and this dictates the size of the aircraft whereas the Mosquito cockpit is streamlined for speed. The Mosquito may have a two man crew but they do not sit side by side as there is not room. The kits you mention are known to be accurate size wise. This is one of the great things about modelling you get to see comparisons in scale that are difficult in real life and learn more about the subject than is possible just from TV or books. Welcome back.

[1975GinjaNinja]

I just tried to post but it hasn't appeared so let's try again.

This thread realy got me thinking about the different sizes of aircraft which I hadn't really thought about before. I therfore took the oportunity to compare my recently delivered modern f-117 stealth and my current build of the bf-109. Both are in 1:48 scale and as you can see the difference in size of these two is immense.



Like comparing a mansion to a shed in size and technology i suppose.

Anyways I found it interesting.

Cheers

Nige