Best (any) 1/72 MH-60T?

[Procopius]

My in-laws live near Traverse City, Michigan, home to a United States Coast Guard air station. In the past, I've seen their MH-65s buzzing along, and last summer I witnessed one of their MH-60Ts blitzing along at low level along the coast of Lake Michigan. Does anyone make a kit of the MH-60T version of the -hawk family of helicopters? Is there a "best one"? Any advice or input is greatly appreciated.

[Dave Swindell]

Don't know of any specific MH-60T kits, but all the surviving MH-60J's were upgraded to T's, so maybe start with a J and upgrade it yourself? AFAIK the upgrade was mainly digital avionics and glass cockpit, so apart from instrument panel and aerial/sensor fit there shouldn't be much change?  Kits available from Hasegawa and Italeri (with Coast Guard decals in some boxings) aftermarket Coast Guard decals available from a couple of sources as well - not looked closely but there doesn't seem to be any difference in markings between J & T?

https://www.scalemates.com/search.php?fkSECTION[]=Kits&q=Sikorsky+H-60+Black+Hawk+m*&fkSCALE[]="1:72"&ssearch=h-60j&

[CT7567]

Just to clarify, the designation used on all available 1/72 kits is the original "HH-60J" - these (plus a small number of SH-60Fs) were upgraded to MH-60T standard, but to my knowledge there was never an "MH-60J." 

 

Also note the Coast Guard Jayhawks, though largely similar to rescue hawks used by other services (HH-60H, various other MH-60 marks), have some unique features so you'll need a kit or conversion specific to the USCG variant.

 

Italeri and HobbyBoss have both issued 1/72 HH-60J kits, neither of which is perfect (esp. with respect to cabin interior for this variant), but if you're not picky about the interior you can pretty well build an MH-60T from the box.  From the photos I've seen the only marking difference is the type designation, usually displayed above the 4-digit serial on the tail.  I believe the upgraded HH-60Js kept the same serial numbers as MH-60Ts so it should just require changing a couple of letters.

[Procopius]

7 hours ago, CT7567 said:

Italeri and HobbyBoss have both issued 1/72 HH-60J kits, neither of which is perfect (esp. with respect to cabin interior for this variant)

Can I impose upon you to elaborate a little on the pros and cons of either kit?

[CT7567]

13 hours ago, Procopius said:

Can I impose upon you to elaborate a little on the pros and cons of either kit?

Both Italeri and Hobbyboss HH-60J kits lack an accurate interior for the rescue birds and none have the "glass" cockpit (digital displays vs traditional dial gauges) that was a feature of the MH-60T upgrade.  I don't know of any aftermarket upgrades, so you would most likely need to do some significant scratchbuilding to accurize the base kit - or just leave the doors closed and live with it.

 

Full disclosure, I do not have the Italeri HH-60J but do have their similar HH-60H kit and the Hobbyboss HH-60J (none built). Some of these notes are based on comments from others, some based on the other Blackhawk/Seahawk "family" of kits from the respective manufacturers.

 

Italeri's panel lines are raised but not overdone (if anything they're perhaps a little too subtle). Shapes seem generally accurate. I've read that there are issues with fit of the clear parts on the lower nose area (glazing too small for the openings provided).

 

Hobbyboss panel lines are recessed, equally subtle to Italeri's. Nose shape seems a bit "blockish" compared to the real thing so edge to Italeri IMHO.  No major fit issues I'm aware of, but I haven't read a build review of the HH-60s (Hobbyboss does the USCG J model and "early" and "late" versions of the Navy HH-60H).

 

Overall I'd say the kits are close to equal, with a slight advantage to Italeri because of the Hobbyboss nose shape issues. As noted earlier, neither is perfect, but even straight from the box you can get a decent, if not entirely accurate or superdetailed, HH-60J.