This paper addresses the theoretical and experimental assessment of thin-walled hexagonal structures manufactured by laser powder bed fusion which is a layerwise powder bed based additive manufacturing process. The lightweight potential and mechanical properties of such cellular structures are governed by their relative density for which the present literature only gives approximate values. Thus, a closed-form analytical solution is given which considers the cell wall overlaps that are neglected by the current models. Effective inplane elastic properties, i.e. two moduli of elasticity and two Poisson's ratios, are treated in the framework of a new closed-form analytical method that uses a homogenization approach applied to a representative volume element and is based on Timoshenko's beam theory by using the principle of the minimum of total complimentary elastic potential in conjunction with Castigliano's 2nd theorem. The general manufacturability of such cellular structures by laser powder bed fusion is investigated by establishing overhang restrictions and by manufacturing trial specimens for the assessment of maximum cell sizes and orientations in the build space of a laser powder bed fusion system. Extensive parameter studies are performed concerning the influence of laser power, scan speed and hatch distance on the resultant hexagon geometries, the surface quality, the occurrence of imperfections and the general limits of manufacturability which enables the targeted manufacturing of cellular structures with clearly defined properties. The resultant material density is determined by Archimedean density measurements, and the study of micrographs reveals degrees of porosity and the quality of the individual melt tracks. The closed-form analytical method for the determination of the effective elastic properties is finally validated by performing compression tests on selected specimens.