SH-3H Sub Hunter - 1:72 Cyber Hobby

[Paul A H]

SH-3H Sub Hunter

1:72 Cyber Hobby Golden Wings Series

One of the most enduring aircraft of the post-war period, the Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King flew for the first time in 1959. Although no longer in production, the Sea King continues to serve with air arms around the world, including those of Canada, Germany India, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. The SH-3H was a US variant developed specifically for anti-submarine warfare. Originally conceived of as a development of the SH-3D, the SH-3H morphed into a sophisticated ASW platform and was fitted with anti-ship missile detection equipment. It was capable of carrying a pair of torpedos as well as a range of depth charge weapons. Just as they had done with earlier Sikorsky designs such as the S-55/H-19 Chickasaw (produced in the UK as the Whirlwind) and S-58 Choctaw (Wessex), Britains Westland Helicopters secure a licence to produce the Sea King not long after the aircraft made its first flight.

Cyber Hobby's Sea King is comprised of seven sprues moulded in grey plastic and a single clear plastic sprue. This is the latest iteration of a relatively new kit, this time with new parts to build the ASW SH-3H variant. In classic Cyberhobby/Dragon style, the plastic parts are absolutely immaculate. The mouldings are clean and crisp, while panel lines and rivet/fastener details are extremely fine indeed. So fine, in fact, that a couple of coats of paint will probably obliterate some of the more subtle detail. First impressions are very good then, but Cyber Hobby have an interesting reputation for accuracy, so let's take a closer look.

Things get off to a good start with the cockpit, which is very detailed and seems to be fairly true to the orginal. The crew seats, cyclic, collective and pedals are all nicely represented, while the raised details on the instrument panel and centre console are very nicely depicted . Moving further aft, the rest of the cabin is equally well detailed. Additional crew seats and equipment consoles for items such as the dipping sonar are included, but if you wish to build the kit in utility configuration, the canvas crew seats included are extremely tiny and will look somewhat lost inside the fuselage. The dipping sonar is included, as is the (optional) radar, but you'll need to cut away a circular flashed-over hole in the fuselage floor in order to fit this part.

Once you have finished assembling the interior, you can join the fuselage halves. Several modellers have made an observation about the shape of the nose, which is said to be too flat when compared to the real thing. I've tried to compare the kit parts to photos of the real thing and it doesn't look massively far out to me, but it's hard to tell without building the kit (which I hope to do at some point). One unquestionable omission is the lack of the shroud over the oil cooler air outlet just behind the engine deck. This can be remedied by acquiring the Eduard photo etched upgrade set, but it is an unusual and irritating omission nonetheless. The arrangement of sensors and equipment such as the sonobuoy dispenser on the bottom of the fuselage appear to be correct, however. Cyber Hobby have remembered to include the additional window on the port forward fuselage too.

Although the tail breaks at the fold point internal details are included, the instructions do not make it clear that the tail can be folded, which is a shame. The support strut unique to the SH-3H's tail plane is also missing, although this could be scratch built fairly easily. Cockpit and cabin doors can be posed in either open or closed position, and the crew steps are also included. The rotor head is nicely detailed and, unlike the Revell kit, you have the option to depict the rotors in the folded position without resorting to surgery. At this point it's probably pertinent to mention the shortcoming in the instructions. Assembly of the rotor head, whether folded or unfolded, is a complex business. The instructions should, therefore, be nice and clear. Unfortunately they are rather unclear, which miniscule diagrams that are pretty much useless for their intended purpose.

The undercarriage sponsons particular to this type look pretty good when compared to pictures, but be sure to use the right ones as other versions are also included on the sprues and are not marked as 'not for use' in the instructions. While we're on the subject, pay close attention to the instructions as well as photographs of your intended subject as there are a plethora of options included, including many parts for other versions of the Sea King.

Four options are provided for on the decal sheet:
SH-3H HS-10, Naval Air Station, North Island, 1960s
SH-3H HS-8, USS Kitty Hawk, 1960s
SH-3H HS-14, USS Ronald Reagan, 1985
SH-3H HS-12, USS Midway, 1980s.
The (Cartograf) decals are crisp and clear, although a little matt. Colours are bold vivid even but seem to be a decent match for the colourful markings seen on the US Navy aircraft depicted.

Conclusion

This kit seems to be broadly representative of where Cyber Hobby/Dragon are at the moment. The tooling is truly state-of-the-art and the quality of moulded detail is sublime, but this has to be offset against missing details such as the 'doghouse' shroud and comical errors like the tiny passenger seats. Nevertheless, if for some reason you don't fancy the recently re-released Revell kit and you can pick one of these for a reasonable sum, you will find yourself in possession of an interesting kit which has the potential to provide plenty of entertainment. Just make sure you gather plenty of references before you begin!

Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

[Navy Bird]

Decal options:

USS Ronald Reagan in 1985? I don't think so - the carrier wasn't even built yet, and Reagan was still the sitting POTUS. Maiden deployment of USS Reagan was in 2006.

Cheers,

Bill

[Julien]

Nice kit.

Bill HS-14 were on the USS ranger 1985/86. I also don't see the markings H-14 used on the front of the helo for that cruise on the sheet.

[Navy Bird]

Four options are provided for on the decal sheet:

SH-3H HS-10, Naval Air Station, North Island, 1960s

SH-3H HS-8, USS Kitty Hawk, 1960s

SH-3H HS-14, USS Ronald Reagan, 1985

SH-3H HS-12, USS Midway, 1980s.

I was referring to this part of the review - I was wondering if that was just a typo or if CyberHobby actually had it listed that way in their instructions.

Cheers,

Bill

[Julien]

Maybe its Similar to the Final Countdown and the Ronald Regan went back in time

[Andrew]

Bill,

Paul's listing of the decal options is accurate; Cyber Hobby would have you believe that HS-14 was aboard the Ronald Reagan in 1985, not the Ranger. Small oops.

The fab folks at Hobby Search helped with the finding the answer.

Andrew.

[heloman1]

Lots of pointers to other versions, parts from the Commando, kit folded and spread blade options, two engine covers and mirrors for a Japanese option. How does the nose hold up it was too short in the Commando kit?

There really is no excuse for bad decal research, not these days.

Colin

[Navy Bird]

Bill,

Paul's listing of the decal options is accurate; Cyber Hobby would have you believe that HS-14 was aboard the Ronald Reagan in 1985, not the Ranger. Small oops.

The fab folks at Hobby Search helped with the finding the answer.

Andrew.

Well, at least they got some of the letters right. Ronald Reagan does contain the letters R a n g e r after all.

Cheers,

Bill

[Julien]

I still like my Final Countdown scenario better

[eng]

Has the fuselage been re-tooled? The nose looks better on this version than the HC.4, be interesting to see if it still looks too narrow.

Eng

[WARDOG]

Well,

The instructions on Hobby Search show some nice parts, especially in the cockpit and cabin area. One mistake I noticed was the placement of the Collectives on the right side instead of the left side of the seats. I think I will wait for what seems like an AEW version to come out. If they include the correct cabin detail for the AEW version, I think I will buy one to use the cabin and cockpit parts on my Fujimi kit for the Spanish Armada version.

WARDOG

[WARDOG]

Duh, I see that HB already have an AEW version but I can't seem to find any reviews that show the cabin interior parts. I'll probably just stick with robbing my Revell kit for the cabin and cockpit parts to put into the (correct) Sikorsky body of the Fujimi kit for the Spanish ARMADA version. Next part of the puzzle, finding decals for a Spanish bird!

WARDOG

[Dermo245]

Great review Paul and looks like a really nice kit!

Just a small comment - the Sea King never served in Ireland though it's civilian version, the S-61 did until recently with our Coastguard.

Royal Navy and RAF Sea Kings were regular visitors in the 80s and 90s and saved countless lives off our coasts while elected officials fecked around dithered about long range SAR services...but let's not open that worm can...

Dermot