KH 1/48 UH-1Y Venom

[daryl_five_zero]

Afternoon, all. 
 

I hope everybody is safe and well. I imagine that a lot of Britmodellers will be - like me - using the lockdown as an excuse to thin out the stash a little bit. 

I picked up Kitty Hawk's UH-1Y at Cosford model show just after it's release, and it's been one of those kits that has stared at me from the stash ever since. I figured that seeing as I have a little extra spare time on my hands of late, I'd pop the box open and have a peek. One thing led to another, and, well here we are! 

Everything is OOB, a few details added here and there. This was my first KH kit. I have very mixed feelings on the build overall. I feel the kit is very well designed, some clever design work. However, what works in CAD on a screen doesn't always translate well on the modelling desk, and the fit of this kit fought me throughout. Dryfit dryfit dryfit was my mantra throughout the build. The flash was something else entirely. I'm still considering replaying the doormounted M134 with an aftermarket offering because the moulding of the kit supplied one was so warped and flashed over. The plastic was so brittle, most small parts had to be repaired straight from the sprue. And let's not mention having to pay to get replacement parts for the chin mounted optics mailed over because they were strangely not present in the kit.

 

I used Vallejo model air paints to finish it. I like the colour match for the FS numbers in their range. However, be careful if building this kit, as the colour callouts are incorrect, so as well as having to do a little homework, you'll have to live with the kit decals getting lost in the paint scheme, as they are printed in the wrong colours.

However, the end result was... just about worth the hardship. I already have my eyes on their UH-1N, and I'm still undecided as to whether I'll add the Venom's stablemate, or if I'll stretch to Academy's 1/35 offering of the AH-1Z. Regardless, if the UH-1Y is a kit you feel you need in your cabinet, I'd definitely recommend it, on the proviso that you may spend more time banging your head against the wall than you'd like! 


C&C welcome as always, and I hope you enjoy! Take care, and stay safe folks. 

Daryl 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[stevej60]

Superb work all round top marks for the exhaust staining too!

[SAT69]

I'll echo the great work on the exhaust staining and the overall build looks great. I'm no helicopter expert, so correct me as needed, but are the rivets Kittyhawk molded into the kit oversized? 

[Bell209]

4 hours ago, SAT69 said:

are the rivets Kittyhawk molded into the kit oversized? 

Yes, too large, too high and too few.

[RMCS]

Outstanding 

[Andrew Perren]

Very nice job.

[F-32]

Very tasty indeed

[exdraken]

Wow!!

Fantastic!