Revell UH-60 Transport Helicopter (04976) 1:72

[Mike]

UH-60 Transport Helicopter (04976)

1:72 Revell

 

 

More commonly known as the Blackhawk, the UH-60 was engineered to be a successor to the UH-1 Huey, and came into service at the very end of the 70s, with an early crash of one of the airframes proving the claims to improve survivability, with all crew walking away from a crash that would have made casualties of them all in a Huey.  The aircraft had many modern avionics systems built-in when first released, and has undergone a number of updates to improve engine power, a fly-by-wire avionics system with glass cockpit to augment the multiple redundant systems that allow it to take small arms fire with a reduced chance of it being downed due to loss of critical systems.  It can carry up to 11 fully geared-up troops, or a substantial cargo payload either within the passenger cab or suspended below the belly on the cargo hook.

 

There have been many variants over the years, due to the aforementioned upgrades, or because the aircraft has been tailored to suit the task assigned to it, such as Search & Rescue, VIP transport, gunship, ambulance as well as the highly modified “stealth” Blackhawks that were used in the raid immortalised in Zero Dark Thirty, the raid to find Osama Bin Laden.  The updates have continued apace, with no sign of the UH-60 being replaced anytime soon.

 

 

The Kit

This is a reboxing of the Italeri kit that dates back to the 90s, so you can expect raised panel lines and some distinctly old-skool details, such as moulded-in seatbelts and some rather inconveniently placed ejector pin marks on and around the crew seats.  It arrives in a larger than figure-sized end-opening box, with two sprues in a subdued silver-grey styrene, a clear sprue, decal sheet, and instruction booklet with spot colour with colour profiles at the rear.

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with a decision.  Missiles or guns?  The missiles option includes the short stub-wings aft of the cockpit, while the other option includes door guns for self-protection.  With that choice made, let the glue-slinging commence!  The instrument panel is first to be made, with a panel and decal under a coaming, attached to the centre-console to form a T-shape, then two individual seats with moulded-in belts and three sets of four, which again have moulded-in belts in different positions to prevent that cookie-cutter look.  These all mount on the floor, with a bulkhead at the rear, and a step-up into the cockpit, where the rudders and controls are attached before the instrument panel and more supportive crew seats are painted and glued in place, presumably after removing the ejector-pin marks from the centre, or sneakily hiding them with some crew figures that you’d have to source yourself.  The roof is then glued to the top of the rear bulkhead with another decal at the front for the instruments, then the same colours can be used to paint up the interior of the fuselage halves before sliding the main gear struts through the hull, cutting off a number of blade aerials from the underside, which I’d probably have knocked off anyway.  The tail rotor is shown installed at this stage, with the pin inserted from behind.  You could leave the blades and actuators off until later if you close up the fuselage carefully, but if you’re like me you might forget.  The starboard fuselage half has its gear leg slid into position and a triangular side window added, then the interior is trapped between the two halves along with that pin you probably forgot to put in for the rotor.  The main windscreen and ground viewing panels are fitted from the outside when the fuselage is cured and prepped, then the big hump and rear engine fairings are added either end of the rotor housing.  The box-like exhaust fairings with their top strakes are fitted to each side, and an infrared defence turret is dropped into a socket on the engine roof.  Intakes are added at the front of the engine hump, and then it’s on to the doors.

 

The crew doors have glazing inserts added that have little sliding hatches for firing flares or accepting small items during a touch-and-go, and there are also large sliding doors with two windows each on the sides of the fuselage.  The “door gunner” windows are narrow, and for the option with the guns, you use two separate parts and stack them in front of the door’s position to give the guner some room.  For the missile equipped option, the doors are moulded together and you can use the glazing panel in one part, rather than cutting it in half.  With the windows in position, the main gear is finished off with a small sponson and support jack forming a V-shape, with the wheel fitted to the stub-axle at the bottom on both sides.  A couple of probes and a wire cutter are attached to the front of the rotor hump, a towel-rail antenna on the boom, then for the missile option the winglets are made up and fitted to the sides as shown in the instructions.  They have two braces on each side, and double-stacks of simplified Hellfire missiles and rocket pods for each wing.  For the gun-equipped option, a pair of the short wing root fairings are placed there instead.  The door guns are fitted to the mounts in the open doorways, with one each side and separate dual grips for that “get some” experience.

 

The main rotor is left to do, and it begins with drum-shaped part through which the rotor axle slips, held in place by a collar at the bottom, then it is put to one side while the rotor-head is glued together and clamped to get a good bond.  The blades fit into their keyed slots once dry, with a top boss added above, then the two sub-assemblies are joined together, adding four control-arms between the head and base, which should then rotate in unison.  All that is left is to drop the base into the hole in the top of the fuselage, and either glue it for security, or leave it loose for ease of take-down for transport or storage.

 

 

Markings

There are two decal options in the box, one all green, the other with desert sand over a green underside.  The blades for both are black, and some additional black panels can be found on the roof, which are supplied as decals.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

• UH-60A Black Hawk, US Army #87-2600 “Tinnin”, Operation Desert Storm, Iraq 1991
• UH-60A Black Hawk, US Army 10th Mountain Division, Iraq 2008

 

 

 

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

 

 

Conclusion

It’s an old kit, so you know what to expect.  Considering the age and scale however, it’s not weathered the years too badly.

 

Recommended.

 

 

Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

  or

[Andre B]

The bad thing with the Italeri/Revell Blackhawk/Seahawk kits are that the ground viewing windows simply don't fit the fuselage. Most builders will giving up trying to solve this problem and put this kit in the bin.

 

Italeri and Revell, please make clear parts that fit the fuselage!

 

Cheers / André 

[Mike]

1 hour ago, Andre B said:

The bad thing with the Italeri/Revell Blackhawk/Seahawk kits are that the ground viewing windows simply don't fit the fuselage. Most builders will giving up trying to solve this problem and put this kit in the bin.

 

That's a bit defeatist.  I've always found sand and test, repeat as necessary to be the best method to make anything fit.  If there are gaps, fill them carefully, and remember that you can always take a bit more off, but it's more difficult to add it back again

[Andre B]

20 hours ago, Mike said:

 

That's a bit defeatist.  I've always found sand and test, repeat as necessary to be the best method to make anything fit.  If there are gaps, fill them carefully, and remember that you can always take a bit more off, but it's more difficult to add it back again

 

I have three of them laying and I have tryed that way. Its not that easy and the main reason why we se so few Italeri/Revell Blackhawks/Seahawks built. And not the first time we see bad clear parts in an Italeri or Revell kit...