Revell Bell OH-58 Kiowa (03871) 1:35

[Mike]

Bell OH-58 Kiowa (03871)

1:35 Revell

 

 

Based upon the successful Bell 206A Jetranger civilian helicopter, the Kiowa was an observation and fire support helo made for the US Army that served from the late 60s until 2017 when it was replaced by the much more attack focused AH-64 Apache.  It was also used by some foreign operators, some of which are still in service.  Its role began as a scout helo, but through successive upgrades the focus expanded to a more combative remit. 

 

The OH-58D was the variant that introduced a more powerful engine with a four-bladed rotor that was much quieter than the old 2-bladed unit, and this was topped by the new Mast Mounted Sight (MMS) that allowed the operator to sneak a peak over terrain without exposing the entire aircraft to enemy fire.  The cockpit was also updated with Multi-Functional Displays (MFDs), although the old analogue instruments were retained for backup purposes.  Later upgrades added two hardpoints for weapons carriage, one on each side of the airframe that could be fitted with modular Hellfire racks, .50cal machineguns, rocket pods or Stinger missiles.  This is referred to as a Kiowa Warrior and has an unofficial designation of AH-58D.  An upgrade programme was begun for the successor F model with substantial sensor and avionics upgrades, but this was cancelled in 2017 as the Army was trying to reduce the number of types in service in order to save costs.

 

The Kit

This is a re-release of a reboxed MRC/Academy tooling that dates from around 1995, and the MRC logo is still to be found on the sprues.  Despite its age the detail is good, and the tooling hasn’t suffered from any noticeable wear over the years either.  The kit arrives in the usual Revell end-opening box (yay!) and has a painting of a Desert Storm airframe passing over an Allied convoy near a town.  Inside the box are four sprues in a greenish grey styrene, a clear sprue, a black flexible part for the gun pod, large decal sheet and instruction booklet with colour painting guide on the rear pages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins predictably with the cockpit with dual controls for the pilots, and showing the upgraded glass screens of the improved instruments.  They both have rudder pedals, collective and cyclic sticks, with a decal for the instrument panel and centre console, plus a large equipment rack directly behind their seats that makes other helicopters look spacious.  There are a couple of pilot figures included, and they’re made up from separate legs, torsos, arms and heads, with different poses for each of them and their hands on the controls.  This should allow you some leeway to customise them as you see fit.  The engine compartment is also built up with a number of parts portraying the basics, but as always with these things there will be more needed if you’re going to go for accuracy.  With the two main internal assemblies complete, the fuselage will need painting with colours suggested in the instructions, after which you can close the fuselage, remembering to drill the holes for the additional sensors carried by the KFOR decal option.  Doors for the crew and equipment access are added next with clear parts provided for the crew, and more holes for sensors needed for the KFOR option, then the main canopy is painted internally, has a centre roof console added, and is fixed in place with some suitable glue to enclose the cockpit.  The clear roof panels will need to be tinted with a green shade beforehand, but that’s easily done with some clear green acrylic.  The last glazed panel is the lower ground-view windows under the nose with a decal added at the front.

 

 

Inside the fuselage are access panels to more equipment racks on the port side, which can be left open or closed, and the engine compartments that can be propped open using the supplied stays, and at this stage the skids are also added to the underside and the stabilising winglets are applied to the tail boom around the half way mark.  The tail fin, two-blade tail rotor, IR detection turret, various antennae, cable cutters, lights and probes are fitted around the airframe, plus the sensors previously drilled out for the KFOR option if appropriate, then the rotor is made up.  This begins with the rotor-head, which has a pass-through axle, actuators for pitch control, vibration reduction, then the four blades, on top of which the MMS with two clear lenses is fitted on a tapered base.

 

With the majority of the airframe complete if not assembled, the weapons pods are begun, starting with the mounting brackets that take up a good number of parts for each side.  Two twin launch rails are constructed with four hellfire missiles that have clear seeker heads, and the .50cal machinegun with its framework pod and large ammo canister are also built.  Both options are shown on the port station, with the ammo box mounted on the side of the airframe and linked to the gun by the black flexible ammo guide.  With these in place the rotor and MMS are installed to complete the build.

 

Markings

There are two decal options in the box with different schemes.  The Desert Storm option is of course painted in Sand with the inverted V worn by Allied forces on each side, plus a Knight chess piece on the side doors.  The KFOR option is painted Bronze Green with a white KFOR logo on its sides.  Each airframe has a substantial number of stencils dotted over its exterior, all of which adds to the visual interest.  The instrument decals consist of white details plus green for the MFDs that each pilot has in front of him.

 

 

Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt/gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas.

 

 

Conclusion

This may be an older kit, but it still holds up against modern standards pretty well with nice raised and engraved detail on the fuselage, plenty of parts devoted to the interior and decent clear parts.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

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[Johnny Tip]

little addition - the waterslide instructions tell you to put one decal #43 in two places... but the very similar (didn't read entirely) #29 nowhere.