Carrera Revell CH-47D Chinook (03825) 1:144

[Mike]

CH-47D Chinook (03825)

1:144 Carrera Revell

 

 

The CH-47 Chinook is a tandem rotor heavy lift helicopter, developed by Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol since 1962. Its incredible longevity is testament to the quality, flexibility and robustness of the original design. Over 1,200 examples have been produced, and the type has seen frontline service in conflicts such as the Vietnam War, the Falklands Conflict in British service, both Gulf Wars and Afghanistan where its utility was so much in evidence that many airframes became worn out by the end of their time there. In its capacious loading area, the Chinook could lift a 24,000lb payload or carry anywhere between 33 and 55 troops. The CH-47D was fitted with more powerful engines than its predecessors, adding an additional 2,000lbs to its internal or external carriage capacity.  It is often used to carry 105mm howitzers, associated equipment and crew, as well as the usual troop transport role, with improved avionics leading to a production run of just over 20 years, with moderate overseas sales, serving alongside the comparable MH-47D that was used primarily by Special Forces with in-flight refuelling capability amongst other alterations to suit its cloak-and-dagger role.

 

 

The Kit

This is a reboxing of Revell’s 2000 kit, although it has also found its way into Academy boxes in the past, and the sprues have a ‘not Revell’ feel to them, as they’re not moulded in Revell’s usual style or styrene colour, and the bags are heat-sealed.  On the underside of the floor part is a small logo of Ace Corporation of Korea, which finally gives the game away.  Inside the small end-opening box are four sprues in grey styrene, a clear sprue, small decal sheet, colour instruction booklet with profiles on the rear, and that annoying safety sheet.  Can you tell I don’t like them?  Bearing the scale of this kit in mind, the detail is good, including cockpit and engraved external details, plus a well-detailed floor and seats, but no interior detail in the fuselage halves, with a lot of ejector pin marks within.

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the cockpit, which is built up on the front of the floor, painting the floor as indicated using Revell’s usual letters-in-flags and an extensive key at the beginning of the instructions.  The cyclic and collective sticks are inserted into the floor, and the instrument panel is mounted on a raised area at the front, adding a decal for the instruments before fixing the two pilot seats and two bulkheads behind them, the front of which has quilted insulation engraved on the surface.  The two fuselage halves are prepared with a dozen circular portholes in the sides, with a choice of a blown alternative for one on each side, and two doors per side, held flush with the outer skin by a pair of supporting tabs.  The fuselage halves are then brought together around the interior, taking care to fill the ejector pin marks and paint it up if you think they will be seen.  At the same time, the two rotor heads are built from two parts each and trapped in the turrets fore and aft in the roof.  These are left loose in case you want to play choppers and spin the blades later.  The floor inside the fuselage is exposed until the external skin is inserted into the gap after drilling out some holes in it beforehand, and making up the two-layer access ramp, which has two T-shaped pins inserted to act as the pivot point when it is trapped between the floor and outer skin.  Another small rounded skin insert completes the rear overhang, and at the opposite end the one-piece crystal-clear canopy is first drilled out very carefully on either side of the upper nose, then glued into the opening in the front of the fuselage.

 

 

The rear rotor turret has two inserts, one fore and aft, in order to detail the structure accurately, and is joined by the two powerful engines, which are made from two halves, plus a long intake baffle on its own pylon in front of the main part.  An engine is built on each side of the fuselage, and both have a conical filter fitted over the intake to reduce FOD ingestion during dusty take-offs and landings.  Underneath, the fixed landing gear legs are each a single part strut, with twin wheels fitted at the front, and singles at the rear, plugging into the underside, and joined by a small forest of aerials and sensors between the front wheels, then moving aft, the winch hatch can be covered by its door, or you can install the winch on its cross-member in the opening, with another winch further to the rear.  If you've elected to pose the back door open, there are a pair of ramp extensions included on the sprues for vehicular access.   The exterior is detailed with a pair of antennae in the nose where you drilled the holes earlier, a blade antenna is mounted on the roof, and an extended rail antenna is created by either installing the individual supports and linking them with a piece of fine wire or thread, or using the alternative single part that depicts just the front portion if you don’t feel up to the task.  A pair of strakes are finally mounted on the sides of the fuel sponsons to finish off the fuselage.  The big rotors that give the Chinook its ‘WOKKA’ sound are each three blades that are installed on a central head, with a tiny pin ensuring alignment underneath, so go easy with the glue and keep them straight.  The rotor bases each have a central pin and three more locating pins that line up with the actuators of the rotors, and are glued in place on each one to finish them off.

 

 

Markings

There is just one decal option on the small sheet, and it’s a green US Army bird.  From the box you can build the following airframe:

 

Boeing-Vertol CH-47D Chinook, A Company, 5 Battalion, 159 Aviation Regiment, US Army, Giebelstadt, Germany, 1994

 

 

 

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

 

 

Conclusion

This is a well-detailed exterior model of the doughty Chinook in teeny-tiny scale, and with a little effort you can open it up at the rear, which isn’t usual for the average 1:144 scale kit.

 

Highly recommended.

 

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

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