MRC/Academy 1/35 scale UH-60L Black Hawk

Manufacturer: MRC/Academy, P.O. Box 6312, Edison, NJ 08818-6312, 732-225-6360
www.modelrec.com
Kit: No. 2192 Scale: 1/35
Price: $60
Comments: Injection-molded, 284 parts, decals
Pros: Good overall detail, excellent clear parts, good rotor head
Cons: Soft details on nose and top and bottom of fuselage, tricky interior fit, sink marks

The Black Hawk is the primary U.S. Army transport helicopter, and derivatives also serve with the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard. The chopper has been high on the list of most wanted kits in this primarily armor and helicopter scale. MRC's efforts to bring us one led to this new kit.


The first thing that strikes you is the quality of the moldings: recessed panel lines, crystal clear parts, good rotor head detail, and nice seats. On closer inspection, however, you'll see that the detail on the nose and the top and bottom of each fuselage half is soft. This may be caused by the parts breakdown, which produces fewer fuselage parts and better strength. Contest modelers may want to re-engrave the detail, especially the latches and vents on the nose.

The main rotor head is a real jewel, made up of 18 parts. The blades fit so snugly into the head that I didn't glue them. This allows me to remove them when transporting the model.


Building the model presents some difficulties. In step 4, the rear bulkhead for the engine compartment (part No. A14L) doesn't line up with the fuselage at the rear of the compartment, leaving a 3/32" gap. You donpt realize this, however, until step 15 when this assembly is cemented to the top of the fuselage. You can correct it by removing the tabs on the bulkhead, filling the holes for the tabs, and locating it as far back as possible while maintaining a gluing surface.


The most difficult aspect of the kit was installing the cabin seats. If you do this according to the instructions, you'll end up tearing your hair out. The problem is that the seats are sandwiched between the ceiling and floor, and each seat has a pair of separately molded angled legs. I suggest doing it this way: Assemble the seats per instructions in step 4, but don't cement the legs to the seats or attach the seats to the ceiling at this point. Now, go to step 5 and cement the rear cabin bulkhead (B47) to the floor, making sure it's square to the surface. Add the cabin sides (B28 and B29), too. Now dry-fit the ceiling and make sure the outer edges off the sides line up with the outer edges of the ceiling. Tape the assembly and let the glue dry overnight.


Still with me? Now remove the ceiling and paint the interior parts, but not the bottoms of the seats yet. Next cement the back row of seats (type C) to the ceiling, and once they are set, use slow-setting plastic cement to attach the legs to the seats. While the legs are still pliable, dry-tape the ceiling (with seats attached) to the rest of the cabin and use tweezers to align the bottom of the legs with the dimples in the floor. Allow the legs to dry. Repeat the process for all the rest of the seats. Once everything is set, spray the bottom of the seats and legs and you can finally cement the entire assembly. I used tiny dabs of super glue on the bottoms of the legs - all 24 of them!


Install the pilot's and copilot's armor plates before adding the seats. There are holes in the floor for the seats, but no pins to fit in the holes.


The engine for the left nacelle is a jewel, but it is positioned about 3/32" too far forward. Since I left the engine out for separate painting, I installed it to the rear, ignoring the mounting pins.


I had to grind out the inner walls of the trunks to get the hover infrared suppressor subsystem (HIRSS) exhausts to go inside. After the fuselage halves were cemented together, I rescribed the soft detail on the nose and engine panels on the top.


Each of the clear parts fit like a glove. The external stores support system (ESSS) "wings" and wing stubs don't fit well to the fuselage sides, so I used the flush-mount covers.


Finishing the model was easy, overall Testor Helo Drab (FS 34031). The decals are well printed and went on without problems. MRC/Academy gives you separate white underlays for the yellow stripes and window "cut" corners, but I found the yellow decals by themselves looked right. My prime reference was Richard S. Dann's Walk Around UH-60 Black Hawk (Squadron/Signal).


I spent 53 hours on my Black Hawk, more than usual, but I spent a lot of time improving the fit so I could avoid using putty. Getting the cabin seats in took a lot of time. With these fit concerns in mind, I recommend the Black Hawk to modelers with a couple of years experience.