Airfix Boeing Chinook HC.1 (A06023) 1:72

[Mike]

Boeing Chinook HC.1 (A06023)

1:72 Airfix

 

 

The CH-47 Chinook is a tandem rotor heavy lift helicopter, developed by Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol since 1962, and 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 as disparate as the Vietnam War, the Falklands Conflict in British service, both Gulf Wars, Iraq and Afghanistan where its utility was so much in evidence that many airframes became worn out by the end of their time there, causing availability issues for the forces that sometimes reached the newspapers. In its capacious loading area, the Chinook could lift a 24,000lb payload or carry anywhere between 33 and 55 troops.  The first variant to be taken into service by the British forces was the CH-47C, which was designated the HC.1, and after an initial cancellation of the first order due to “budgetary issues”, a decade later they were back again with an order of thirty airframes that entered service with British forces in 1980. 

 

These aircraft were flown extensively before being re-fitted with composite blades that saw them change to HC.1B, and eventually they were returned to Boeing for a zero-hour refit to HC.2 standard, which was the British equivalent of the CH-47D.  The HC.1, like the American equivalent was fitted with more powerful engines than its predecessors, adding an additional 2,000lbs to its internal or external carriage capacity.  The passage of years saw the night-vision capable HC.3s entering service with Special Forces, the HC.4 and HC.5s developed from re-engineered HC.2s and HC.3s respectively, and being equipped with more modern avionics, a FLIR turret under the nose, and the HC.6 and 6As fitted with a fully digital flight system.  As of time of writing there are no more HC.4 airframes in existence, having all been converted in the meantime.

 

 

The Kit

This a totally new tooling from Airfix, and appears to have used all the lessons learned on the recent 1:48 Sea King only in smaller 1:72.  The kit arrives in a sizeable red-themed top-opening box with a painting of the subject flying over a wide seascape somewhere near the Falklands with a cargo ship in the background on the waves.  Inside are six sprues of darker grey styrene, a clear sprue, decal sheet and the instruction booklet that is printed in spot colour on matt white paper, with colour profiles on the rear pages for the decal options.  Detail is excellent throughout, with a lot of detail on the interior, including ribbing throughout the entirety of the passenger cab, although there will be some ejector-pin marks to deal with by necessity too.  The clear parts will show off the details within the cockpit, and the thick rotor blades that give the Chinook its distinctive blade slap are moulded with their curves pre-formed, which is always good news (unless it’s upside down!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the floor, which extends under both the cab and cockpit, requiring six ejector-turrets to be cut from the underside to achieve a good fit later.  The edge of the floor is slotted into a curved console moulded into the underside of the nose, then the centre console is glued to the other side, applying a decal after painting.  A tunnel between the crew and passenger areas is created from two parts, the outer faces having sound-deadening quilting moulded into it, fixing on a step at the rear of the cockpit, and adding a pair of equipment racks behind the seat backs, taking care to remove more raised ejector-pin turrets before you glue them in place.  The crew seats are each made from two parts, and attach to the front, as shown by a scrap diagram nearby, followed by a collective and cyclic stick for both pilots.  The coaming has a pair of raised circles moulded into it that must be cut or sanded away to improve fit, joining with the instrument panel face and a dial decal before it is attached to the cockpit floor, completing work on that portion of the interior.  The passenger area has a well-detailed floor moulded-in that should respond well to careful painting before adding the rows of canvas and tube seats to either side, which are each moulded as single parts, but with excellent detail.  Another scrap diagram shows how they should be oriented once installed on their legs, which would be wise to be done as late as possible to avoid breaking the legs off the individual chairs during handling.

 

Preparation of the fuselage halves is first, drilling holes into the sponsons for one decal option, and more above the side door for both.  There is also some nice detail to be painted near the load door, and some ribbing that could be the basis of a little more detail if you felt the urge.  Before proceeding however, there are two jigs included on one of the sprues that permit accurate drilling of three holes under the nose, but don’t be tempted to apply glue between the jigs and the fuselage halves though, or you’ll be very sad when you realise your mistake.  Two detail inserts are supplied to block off the view inside the fuel tank sponsons, and these too have ejector-turrets to be removed on the inside, after which they are be pushed into the fuselage halves, locating the circular spacers in raised circular shapes in the depth of the tanks.  The inserts have a small part fitted to the tapered end near the door before installation, and these too have a small tab to remove, marked in green like the others.  The fuselage halves can then be closed around the interior, ensuring that the cockpit is correctly bracketed between the forward ends.  The underside of the fuselage has ten 0.9mm holes drilled in it before it is fixed to the inner floor on six posts, lining the fuselage halves as carefully as you can to reduce clean-up of the seams, then placing another jig on the top of the fuselage between the rotor turrets, which will align with a pair of holes in the roof so that you can drill out two pairs of 0.7mm holes, and a solitary 0.8mm hole in the roof before attaching the avionics spine between the turrets and capping off the tops with circular(ish) panels that have arrows on the underside to assist with alignment.

 

The two decal options wore different filters on their engines during the time they are depicted, so you must choose which ones to use on your model.  The basic engine comprises of two cowling halves with a conical exhaust at the rear, built in a handed pair for installation on the recess either side of the aft rotor turret’s base.  The conical filters are made from two shallow halves, and they fit on pegs that insert into the fronts of the engines, aligning the supports inboard toward the turrets.  The cylindrical filters are formed from two half cowlings, with a circular front, and they support a separate part that hangs downward on the finished assemblies, as illustrated in the accompanying diagrams.  The landing gear is comparatively simple because it is fixed, with two straight struts at the front with T-axles that hold a pair of one-part wheels each.  The rear wheels are mounted on a box frame that has a short axle on the outer side only, holding just a single wheel each, half-recessed beside the load ramp, which is next to be built.  There are three options for the ramp, fully closed, open level with the floor, and open for taking on or offloading cargo, all of which use the same outer skin portion for the main part of the ramp.  The closed ramp has a pair of brackets added to the sides, and is glued to the rear of the fuselage along with the top section, closing it completely.  The level ramp has a detailed floor glued to the external skin, and is slid into position on two pegs for a strong join, while the loading option adds a fold-out ramp section to extend the end and smooth the journey for anything using it.   For the two open options, the top portion of the outer skin is unused, as it is retracted out of harm’s way until needed to plug the draught in the rear.

 

The circular portholes on the fuselage sides are applied from the outside, adding the main canopy plus the two side doors to the nose, then mounting the two-part side door with clear porthole in the open, partially open or closed positions, the former having a more detailed part that will be visible when flipped down.  Numerous small parts are glued around the cockpit, with more around the rotor turrets, including a choice of a grab-rail antenna or a box on each side of the rear rotor.  If fitting the winch, the body is made from two halves, adding the support frame to the rear, and a hook underneath, gluing it to the holes drilled earlier over the side door with the help of a scrap diagram.  There is a forest of antennae on the spine and under the aircraft’s flat belly, with two towel-rail antennae around the winch hatch in the floor, and here you have another choice.  The hatch can be covered with a panel, or fitted with a beam and winch block, and a pair of stabilising winch blocks further away from the main winch location.  The Chinook has a long antenna running down the port side of its fuselage, supported on a run of nine masts, which plug into holes in the side of the fuselage.  There is a fine antenna wire running through these posts if you feel like increasing the detail on your model a little more.

 

 

The last step is to create the twin rotors that keep the Chinook aloft, and give it its distinctive “WOKKA!” sound.  The front and rear blade sets are similar but use different parts, so be sure not to mix them up during the build process.  They share a simple base plate, and the rotor-head is glued into the centre, fitting the three wide blades to the flat ends, doubling the thickness at the attachment points.  When both sets are built and painted, they can either be glued or placed on the tops of the rotor turrets, spinning around a hole in the centre if you leave them loose.  It would also be sensible to leave them loose if you have limited display space, or intend to transport the model to shows at any point.

 

 

Markings

There are two decal options included on the sheet, one in the traditional green/grey over black camouflage that we know so well, and the other in a desert scheme from what we called Operation Granby in the UK, or Desert Storm as it was otherwise known.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

• ‘Bravo November’, No.18 Sqn., RAF, ‘Operation Corporate’, Falklands Islands, South Atlantic, May-June 1982
• No. 7 Sqn., Operation ‘Granby/Desert Storm’, Gulf Region, May 1911

 

 

 

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

 

 

Conclusion

There’s a lot of detail packed into this model, along with plenty of options to personalise it to your taste.  The decal choice was intended to appeal widely for this first boxing, but many more will be along, if not already in the works.

 

Very highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of

 

[Max Headroom]

I’m not a river counter but trust looks the business👍 

 

Unfortunately I have an unbuilt Matchbox example to do first……..

 

Trevor

[Dave Fleming]

Interesting- no A or I sprue. And, as mentioned elsewhere, it would be easy to do other fuselages

[DAVIDAE]

10 hours ago, Max Headroom said:

I’m not a river counter but trust looks the business👍 

 

Unfortunately I have an unbuilt Matchbox example to do first……..

 

Trevor

I've never met a rivet counter..

You might want to keep the rotor blades from your Matchbox kit to use on this one and donate the rest..

[DAVIDAE]

6 hours ago, Dave Fleming said:

Interesting- no A or I sprue. And, as mentioned elsewhere, it would be easy to do other fuselages

Other fuselages?  Do we mean other Marks of Chooks?

With the Ozmods set it should be possible to do a C.  Out of box a D looks possible other than those droopy rotor blades.  Air Graphics F engines set for that Mark.

[DAVIDAE]

Looks the goods and I'll be buying three to build a RAAF C, AAAvn D and also an F.

Those droopy rotor blades though..noticeable blade droop for the narrow chord metal bladed A, B, C and so I guess the HC1s, but the sprues look like they might be the wider chord composite blades.  No real droop along the blades for those, just at the hub.

https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/10891098

 

Looks like I'll need to keep a couple of Matchbox Chook kits for donors..

Airfix's newer releases often seem to include an oopsie - no drop tank seams or elevator balances on the 1/72 Mustang, bulged bomb bay on the Mosquito..is this another one?

Welcome nevertheless - Italeri and Trumpeter kits are off to eBay!
 

[Dave Fleming]

3 hours ago, DAVIDAE said:

Other fuselages?  Do we mean other Marks of Chooks?

With the Ozmods set it should be possible to do a C.  Out of box a D looks possible other than those droopy rotor blades.  Air Graphics F engines set for that Mark.

The way Airfix have designed the fuselage, you can't do a D out the box (No intake at the forward base of the rear pylon) nor one of the later ones (RAF HC2A - not sure when they came in US Chinooks - and  Fs) with the redesigned fuselage/side sponson, you still need the Trumpeter for that) or the ER ones with the big sponsons (less likely, unless there is a frame K with the extended nose)

So other fuselages to do these other marks, yes.

 

It's interesting that Airfix make a point of those curved blades in their workbench!

[DAVIDAE]

1 hour ago, Dave Fleming said:

The way Airfix have designed the fuselage, you can't do a D out the box (No intake at the forward base of the rear pylon) nor one of the later ones (RAF HC2A - not sure when they came in US Chinooks - and  Fs) with the redesigned fuselage/side sponson, you still need the Trumpeter for that) or the ER ones with the big sponsons (less likely, unless there is a frame K with the extended nose)

So other fuselages to do these other marks, yes.

 

It's interesting that Airfix make a point of those curved blades in their workbench!

I wouldn't describe the rear pylon intake on the D and F as being at the base, it takes up a fair bit of the front fairing.  A few minutes with razor saw, scalpel and some card will fix that.  I've been up close and personal with our Ds and Fs a lot - not sure what you mean about redesigned fuselage/side sponson.  I can't pick any difference with the Mk 1 eyeball and there's nothing highlighted in the tech manuals.  Trumpeter comprehensively screwed the shape of the rear fuselage on their kits and I had plans to try and fix that a bit but I'll pass now. The bit sponsons are in the Italeri MH-47 kit and would probably graft on with a bit of work.

Your HC2A is a mid 90s build D.

CH-47C

 

https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1452411

CH-47D

https://www.airhistory.net/photo/393342/A15-106

CH-47F

 

https://www.helis.com/database/modelorg/Australia-CH-47F-Chinook/

Maybe I'm missing something but I wear my rivet counter badge with pride.

[Dave Fleming]

22 hours ago, DAVIDAE said:

I wouldn't describe the rear pylon intake on the D and F as being at the base, it takes up a fair bit of the front fairing.  A few minutes with razor saw, scalpel and some card will fix that.  I've been up close and personal with our Ds and Fs a lot - not sure what you mean about redesigned fuselage/side sponson.  I can't pick any difference with the Mk 1 eyeball and there's nothing highlighted in the tech manuals.  

CH-47C

 

https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1452411

CH-47D

https://www.airhistory.net/photo/393342/A15-106

CH-47F

 

https://www.helis.com/database/modelorg/Australia-CH-47F-Chinook/

Maybe I'm missing something but I wear my rivet counter badge with pride.

Look at the top of the sponson/fuselage junction - up to mid-D it's a straight intersection with a fairing between the fuselage and the sponson, and flush/inset refuelling points. On the later aircraft (your D and F photos) the fairing is only on the front and rear sections,  and the middle is  has no fairing and a right angle junction (with 3 bumps along the way, not sure what they are but they appear on the uprated early aircraft too) and different style refuelling points You can see the height difference between the side windows and the sponson junction too - Airfix do the early style

Early

 

Later

Edited June 15, 2024 by Dave Fleming

[eng]

Got my kit today and I have to say I'm impressed, the surface detail is lovely. I think there's still plenty scope to do a bit of scratch building for antenna/ECM fits and cut out the front edge of the rear pylon to allow a range of the HC.2's to be built. I think if you pick a particular airframe that has the faired in sponsons (See Dave's comments on this above) and work from a range of reference pic's it shouldn't be too difficult.

 

Eng 

[Jabba]

21 hours ago, Dave Fleming said:

Later

That is one of the new build Mk2As. The original conversions from Mk1 to Mk2 stayed the same see below.

 

 

 

 

These are of Bravo November taken by me at Ali Al Salem during Op Telic.

 

Having got my kit yesterday, the strange thing about this is that Airfix have got the outside of the fuselage correct they have managed to get the inside around that ramp area incorrect in that it is for a Mk2 (especially the rectangular panel) not a Mk1.

 

A few other things that I have notice having had a quick look. Although the Collective and Cyclic sticks are in the cockpit, there are no Yaw pedals which is strange as you can see them through the chin windows. They still have the Gulf options mixed up, even stating that the Op Granby version was there in May 1991. That of course was Op Haven in Northern Iraq helping the Kurds. The Gulf option is marked up correctly for a Gulf aircraft in Jan/Feb 1991, whilst the the one saying Jan 1991 is actually May 1991. The Chinooks operating in the Gulf had single letter codes as it was a combined Sqn of 7 Sqn/18Sqn/240 OCU. There was the SF element of 7 Sqn which was a seperate unit altogether. When these aircraft returned to Odiham/Gutersloh the Sqn coding was then again added and almost immediately Op Haven came about without the removal of paint and other markings from Op Granby. The invasion stripes on the Aft Pylon and the inverted "V" were added just before the land invasion of Kuwait so could also not be fitted to get an earlier Gulf Chinook.

[cerperal]

Received mine yesterday and it's flown straight to the top of my stash (once I finish the 1/48 Sea King...)

 

Apologies for interrupting the intelligent chatter on accuracy to start talking about things that go 'bang' but I notice that there's no ramp M60 included in the kit. Was this a later addition to the Chinook fleet? I know it's not always fitted, but I'm not a rivet counter and I do like some dakka on my models. 

[Jabba]

The M60s were supplied by Boeing as part of the support kit that came with the Chinooks, but when they arrived I do not know as it is probably well before I started to work on them.

[eng]

Having started my build there's definitely parts in the box that point to another boxing coming. The IRCM sensors that fit below the engines on the rear fuselage are not called for in the instructions and there's flashed over holes on the fuselage halves that aren't mentioned either.

 

Fingers crossed we'll get some later versions of the Chinook too.

 

It goes together nicely too.

 

Eng 

[Jabba]

22 hours ago, eng said:

 there's flashed over holes on the fuselage halves that aren't mentioned either.

 

Although the flashed over holes are not mentioned in the instructions the flare boxes are fitted for the Gulf option and are shown where to fit them in the instructions. Strange again.

 

As there are 2 sets of flashed over holes in the fuselage I am hoping for more versions, but I am sure that the Mk1s only had the one set of flare boxes not both, so as this is a MK1 fuselage it is again a little strange.

 

Just having a though I am not sure if some of the earlier flare fits may have been towards the where the rear flashed over holes are.

[Dave Fleming]

Having got my kit, it’s really nice, the areas that concerned me (fuselage/sponson junction and the raised panels in the pylon) are better in real life.

 

I wonder if a future option is a late HC1 with the twin row of antennae supports on the port side? That would explain the missing ‘sprue A’ and perhaps aLao includes some of the DASS fittings. That would allow (say) a night camo Gulf War kit and perhaps a white UN Balkans scheme.

 

A couple of minor negatives, the backs of the cabin seats are just flat plastic. As these will be very visible through the windows, I’d have appreciated the same webbing pattern as the front.

 

Second point is Airfix appear to

have missed the rails in front of the engine for the GW option - I think these were added when the dust filters started to be used. It’s an easy fix with some micro strip, 

 

Third point is the GW example had at least the supports for the IRCM units under the engines, although none of the photos seem to show the actual units fitted.

 

The latter two don’t affect me as mine will be BN! Now off to look at early RAF Chinook photos!

[Dave Fleming]

On 18/06/2024 at 19:39, Jabba said:

Although the flashed over holes are not mentioned in the instructions the flare boxes are fitted for the Gulf option and are shown where to fit them in the instructions. Strange again.

 

As there are 2 sets of flashed over holes in the fuselage I am hoping for more versions, but I am sure that the Mk1s only had the one set of flare boxes not both, so as this is a MK1 fuselage it is again a little strange.

 

Just having a though I am not sure if some of the earlier flare fits may have been towards the where the rear flashed over holes are.

The original ‘big’ box on the mk 1 was under the second from rear window. On later aircraft this was moved back and a different style fitted in that position - see Sniper’s pics here- the flashed over holes match those locations

 

 

[Jabba]

7 hours ago, Dave Fleming said:

perhaps a white UN Balkans scheme.

 

Third point is the GW example had at least the supports for the IRCM units under the engines, although none of the photos seem to show the actual units fitted.

 

 

The White Balkan ones were Mk2 aircraft.

 

The 7 Sqn SF aircraft had them fitted.

[Dave Fleming]

1 hour ago, Jabba said:

 

The White Balkan ones were Mk2 aircraft.

 

The 7 Sqn SF aircraft had them fitted.

I meant the example in the kit. 
 

should have remembered the Balkans ones were mk 2s, I converted a Revell 1:144th D to one many years ago!

 

Edited June 21, 2024 by Dave Fleming

[Jabba]

I understand now what you mean about the IRCM units. I am wondering if it is similar to what we had in the Gulf with the Pumas, in that all the aircraft out there were modded for the disco light IRCM, but we only got 1 or 2 units so they were not fitted. It maybe that there were only a certain amount of these units avaialble and they when to where they were need most.

[eng]

22 hours ago, Dave Fleming said:

A couple of minor negatives, the backs of the cabin seats are just flat plastic. As these will be very visible through the windows, I’d have appreciated the same webbing pattern as the front.

 

I thought that too Dave. I contemplated drilling/cutting out the "gaps" between the webbing but I'm gonna play it safe and just paint these sections on the back of the seats and shade slightly to give the appearance of being able to see through the gaps into a dark cabin. I figured this was less likely to trash the seats and maintain the strength of the part. the other option, which I have seen done is to fabricate seats from tape and wire but I'd just like to build this one and I'm a slow builder at the best of times!

 

Eng

[Dave Fleming]

I've started a new thread to consolidate all the info from here and the rumourmonger thread
 

 

[Dave Fleming]

On 13/06/2024 at 18:27, Mike said:

 

 

 

Just noticed something tonight - On Mike's photo you can see there's a bit of a flaw on the lower of the rear undercarriage legs at bottom left - on my kit's that's resulted in no part being there at all. Oh well, letter to Airfix!

[Jabba]

18 hours ago, Dave Fleming said:

 

Just noticed something tonight - On Mike's photo you can see there's a bit of a flaw on the lower of the rear undercarriage legs at bottom left - on my kit's that's resulted in no part being there at all. Oh well, letter to Airfix!

Those are the Fwd legs Dave, the rear ones are just under the instrument panel on the right hand side.

[Dave Fleming]

1 hour ago, Jabba said:

Those are the Fwd legs Dave, the rear ones are just under the instrument panel on the right hand side.

Dunno why I said rear, mental block!  Thanks for the correction!