Kit: No. 847
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Italeri, distributed by Testor, 620 Buckbee St., Rockford, IL 61104-4891, phone 815-962-6654
Price: $22
Comments: Injection molded, 141 parts, decals.
The first twin-engined Huey rolled off the Bell assembly line in 1970. Powered by a Pratt phone Whitney PT-63T Twin Turbo Pac, the aircraft was designated UH-1N, or Bell model 212. The UH-1N is easily identified by its long nose and enlarged engine compartment.
Italeri's is the first injection-molded Twin Huey in 1/48 scale. Molded in light gray styrene, it features fine engraved panel lines and delicate raised rivets. Parts and decals for a U.S. Air Force gunship, an Italian Sea and Air Rescue machine, and a Canadian rescue helo are provided. Decide which aircraft you are going to build before starting; several holes must be opened in the fuselage and interior depending on which version you build.
Ordnance includes a pair of cabin-mounted Miniguns and two rocket pods. The Italian version has a rescue hoist mounted over the right cabin door.
All basic interior components are present, but the detail is simplified. The instructions show painting the entire instrument panel flat black, but I painted mine light gray with black coaming and instruments.
The interior went together without problems, but I had to clamp the right side of the floor down after the fuselage was glued together to make it sit below the side-door opening. I did not install the windows at this time, instead waiting until the exterior paint was applied. Don't add the rotor assembly in step 3; put it in after painting is done.
Open the appropriate holes in the roof (30B) before attaching it. It fits well, but concentrate on fitting the front and sides - most of the rear joint will be covered by the engine housing.
Remove the beacon from the left side of the engine housing. I accidentally broke mine off. The kit provides two styles of engine-cover side panels. The instructions show small screens (42B and 44B) for the USAF gunship, but a picture of this exact aircraft in Wayne Mutza's UH-1 Huey in Color (Squadron/Signal) clearly shows the plane with the larger engine screens (41B and 43B).
Fitting the engine housing to the fuselage was difficult. When I achieved good fit on the sides, it wasn't square with the roof. Squaring it left gaps where the housing meets the fuselage, so I used epoxy putty to fill gaps.
Italeri provides two alternate panels for the right side of the tail boom, and neither fit well. Install the tail-boom stabilizers (59A and 60A) flat side up.
I painted the model before adding the clear parts, but masked and tacked on the main windscreen and side doors to help mask the interior. Note that you paint over the small side windows (87A) on the Air Force and Canadian versions.
Painting the four-color camouflage was a challenge since Italeri provides a list of the colors but no overall pattern. I referred to a single photo in Mutza's book and guessed at the rest of the pattern.
My sample's decals were printed out of register, but that affected only the Italian roundels. The decals were thin and went down fine with a touch of Micro Sol.
Most of the windows fit well, but a couple required careful trimming to get them in without gaps. The overly thick rear antenna and tail skid broke while I was painting the model, so I replaced them with stretched sprue.
Follow the instructions when building the rocket pods; they won't hang properly if reversed. The Miniguns are simplified, and the ammunition-feed chutes go to the floor instead of the cabin roof as they should.
My finished model matches the dimensions in Lou Drendel's Modern Military Aircraft - Huey (Squadron/Signal). I spent 18 hours building my gunship, about average for a kit of this size with a complicated paint scheme. You should have experience with small parts and if you choose the Air Force reticulated scheme, experience in airbrushing as well.
- John Plzak