Introduction

The Chinook came into service in the early 1960’s, and has proved itself on many occasions. Especially with the RAF, who are the second largest fleet operator other than the USA. During that time the Chinook has under gone many changes. The CH-47A in this offering is one of the early variants of the helicopter, which I believe never went into service with the RAF. The Chinook’s roles cover everything from heavy transports to get men and supplies to and from the front and can also transport heavy vehicles and transports either internally or slung underneath. Another interesting aspect of the Chinook, is that it will float which has made it very popular with the Royal Navy as they can drive assault boats straight into the back of the helicopter for a quick recovery and transfer.

Review

This offering from Hobby Boss arrives in a substantial cardboard tray with a separate card lid. The lid having a nice artists impression of the model, and the sides showing attributes of the model and finishing options. The contents of the box, are well protected in individual plastic bags with some parts even being further protected by foam sleeves. The result of all this is a model that should reach you as the manufacturer intends. 

The interior of this offering has been well catered for, with well done raised detailed instrument panels, so if you eventually go down the after market route you are going to have some sanding in your near future. The flight controls and pilots seats are well catered for in this release, although the harness detail has not been included. Moving back from the cockpit you have the bulkhead that separates the cockpit from the cargo area of the aircraft, with moulded on panel lines present. The deck of the cargo bed has good detail on it, including the securing loops for cargo, unfortunately due to being moulded on they cannot be utilised for their true purpose without work. The port holes down the side of the fuselage, are well replicated including the option where needed for domed windows or flat windows. The internal structure of the fuselage is moulded directly to the fuselage halves, and is provided with a separate roof panel. 

Hobby Boss has provided two basic representations, that from the box will do an acceptable job, or you could of course go the full hog and add extra detail to impress. The floatation and wheel base down the side of the aircraft are provided separately, and have good recessed panel detail, which along with the recessed panel detail on the fuselage itself will really pop once painted and weathered. One aspect of this model that could easily be broken, are the aerial mounting rods that extend out from the left hand side of the fuselage, of which there at least sixteen. The front side hatch can be open or closed, which is a nice inclusion.

The under carriage for this model, is provided with moulded wheels which are split into two halves and which the tread pattern utilised should hide the joint seam. They unfortunately though ore not weighted. The under carriage suspension arms have good detail moulded on them, but I was unable to find the under carriage of an A variant to verify accuracy. The rear loading ramp can be assembled open or closed, and has good detail on both faces of the ramp. 

The rotor heads of this release have good detail as regards the rotor actuation arms, and I like that the rotor blades themselves are trapped between two mouldings which should make it easier for the modeller to lock them down. The rotor blades will rotate on the model when completed, as some may endeavour to install small motors for both rotor heads, as I believe there is plenty of room to install one at each end, with the wires hidden above the rood lining of the cargo area, down between the two bulkhead walls and out through a point in the floor to a power supply. The glazing which takes up a substantial area at the front of the helicopter has been very well moulded, and will enable a good view of the interior, if the modeller has done a lot of work in that area. 

Hobby Boss has supplied two finishing options for this release, unfortunately they have not supplied any details on what two helicopter are replicated, although I can see an Air Cavalry insignia on one. 

Conclusion

The offering from Hobby Boss of a 1/48th scale CH-47A Chinook is a substantial sized model. The detail provided inside and out will make for a visually interesting model, although I was unable toe verify the accuracy of an “A” variant. This model sat beside a CH53 should give fans of the rotary wing a lot of satisfaction, but as mentioned in previous offerings the end result is reliant upon your ability.