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Finished - - - Prototype: Blackhawk also-ran - Boeing YUH-61A (Anigrand 1/144)


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Think this, but scaled down to 1/144:

167103-12123-pristine.jpg

 

The YUH-61A "UTTAS" - Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System - was the prototype that did not win the contract for a helicopter to replace the famous UH-1 Huey. The Sikorsky UH-60 came out on top and went on to serve multiple militaries for decades. 

 

Anigrand released a 1/72 resin kit of this chopper but also a 1/144 version packed as a "mystery kit" with one of its 1/144 large aircraft. Generally you get three such mystery kits with the larger model. I was generously given this by another Britmodeller and I am not sure which kit it came from. 

 

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The kit came with transparencies which I think are in another box somewhere. I started this one this week and managed to break off the tail section and gave up there for today!

 

IMG_20220928_121917665.jpg?w=1352&ssl=1

 

Hopefully this will be a fun build! 

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Nice choice of subject. Although I've a suspicion this one could become a tail-sitter if you're not careful so the snapped-off tail boom might give you the opportunity to hollow it out some.

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6 hours ago, Col. said:

Nice choice of subject. Although I've a suspicion this one could become a tail-sitter if you're not careful so the snapped-off tail boom might give you the opportunity to hollow it out some.

Yeah I think this is doomed to tail-sit whatever I do to it. There's not much room up front for weight and the tail section is quite small in diameter. I will most likely just use a little tail prop or stand to hold it up I think. 

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  • 3 months later...

Well I brought this one back from the temporary Shelf of Doom lately. There's not a lot to be seen through resin windows, I'm guessing, but it actually has a pretty decent interior for a resin kit in this scale:

 

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Then, with the wonders of Super Glue, I got to here:

 

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There is a bit of a mess to fix on the other side of the tail boom, where it broke earlier. But I am confident I can get this finished before the end!

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IMG_20230106_132933538_HDR.jpg?w=1352&ss

 

The fit of the canopy is not great, although it's only this spot that has a gap.

 

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Because this is so small (and will therefore be brushpainted) and also isn't really a high priority subject for me, I've taken a few shortcuts on the clean-up. 

 

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With a few coats of paint on, it doesn't look too bad. The snapped tail boom could probably use more work but I just don't want to devote that much time to this model. So all I need to do now is the windows, the wheels, and the rotors, then the (very few) decals. 

 

That's the Anigrand AH-56 Cheyenne there, which I have brought off the Shelf of Doom to finish alongside this one. It was well over 25% at the beginning of the GB, otherwise I'd have done it in this too. It's also a neat little kit.

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If your AH-56 happens to make more background appearances during your continued updates I'm sure nobody will object ;) 

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On 1/8/2023 at 9:44 AM, Col. said:

If your AH-56 happens to make more background appearances during your continued updates I'm sure nobody will object ;) 

How about a foreground appearance?

 

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Canopy fits quite nicely on the YUH-61. Despite the small size these kits have cockpit seats, but the resin canopies are so thick there's not a lot of point doing too much in the cockpit. The YUH-61 has seats too but as you can see, they're practically invisible through that canopy.

 

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The biggest revelation about this kit is that it actually stands on its own wheels! That was a nice surprise.

 

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The Cheyenne's canopy doesn't fit well at all - there is a huge gap at the front (or at the back, depending how you place the canopy, but I chose to fix that gap rather than one at the back).

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  • bianfuxia changed the title to Finished - - - Prototype: Blackhawk also-ran - Boeing YUH-61A (Anigrand 1/144)

Well, here it is - close enough for government work! 

 

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The red badge says BOEING UTTAS; the patch of not-quite-black on the front quarter (not the anti-glare) is meant to represent the window that isn't included as an actual window.

 

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Because it is hard to get a sense of the size of this chopper (and I don't have any completed 1/144 Blackhawks) I've posed it next to Anigrand's Merlin kit. 

 

Couple more pics in the gallery - thanks for following along!

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31 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Well done sir, I can see why the Blackhawk won the competition. This one just doesnt look right. 

Yeah i completely agree. To me it looks like some kind of 50s era helicopter, the kind you really did have to lower your head or the rotors would chop your head off, with a payload of like three guys and a range from here down to the shops.

 

The Blackhawk is a much cooler looking thing - still looks awesome today even though it's gotta be a 45 year old design.

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Job done on this tiny one :thumbsup:

 

I was wondering if this was another case of the old 'If it looks right it'll fly right' adage working in the Blackhawk's favour?

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