Introduction

The UH-1 Huey in this case a B/C variant, is a well known helicopter that in my opinion is poorly represented as a scale model, we really need some good models in 1/48th scale. Hobby Boss has released this new Huey model in an exceptionally large scale of 1/18th offering to take up all the space on your model shelf, and possibly your work bench as well!! So is it back to the days of 'Paint it Black'?

Review

This offering from Hobby Boss is packaged in a substantial cardboard tray with a separate card lid. The contents of the box are packaged in individual plastic bags and you will be surprised at how small the parts count is.  For a new release I was dis-appointed at the huge size of the sprue themselves and the amount of flash present. The flash has not affected the parts themselves but the amount present will indicate to me that this will be a problem in the future. This review is going to be more of a first look, and as I progress  think you will understand why.

The Interior of this model only really supplies the major structures, which is a shame as it could have been so much more. I don’t know if a resin interior will be made for this model, but it really needs it or an exceptional scratch builder to bring it up to a standard that most modellers expect and desire today. However, judging from what is provided this release will greatly appeal to the new younger modeller, due to its sheer size. 

The main structures for the fuselage and the like are huge mouldings, with the body being in two halves and the tail boom also in two halves. Screws are provided to lock these parts together, with shaped plastic caps provided to hide the screw heads. The large side access doors can be shown open or closed, as can the flight crew doors. Exterior detail is for the most part moulded onto the structures and is not the most defined I have seen being quite soft in places. On the other hand the rivit detail is quite good. Again the small parts counts aims this model more at the youngster rather than the experienced modeller. 

The rotor assemblies in the case of the tail has reasonable detail on the blades, but is moulded as a single piece. The main rotor head has a simplified transmission detail. The rotor assembly itself is really made up of two parts plus the two main blades and so again a simplistic approach. I suspect that you will get quite a lot of droop on the blades themselves, but then on the real aircraft this also occurs to some degree. 

The weapons systems provided for this helicopter has some nice features, in that you have a choice of mini guns both mounted in the doors or mounted on weapons rails on the sides of the helicopter. The muzzles of these weapons systems will need to be drilled to improve the realism. Rocket pods are an option for the side rail weapons system, in two forms. Going back to the guns that are provided for this model, you are provided with vinyl rubber ammunition feed chutes, which have a reasonable level of detail.

The last area that I am looking at are the clear aspects of this model, and I will confess that it is an area that I am not overly pleased with. I feel that the thickness spoils the look of the finish and will cause distortion when looking through these clear panels, and I am not sure how to overcome my dislike of this aspect. The decals provided for this release are in my opinion well printed, with no obvious bleed that I can detect. On the decal sheet, you will find decals for the consoles in the cockpit. Also decals for two different aircraft are provided, one has the nose mounted mini gun the other the side mounted weapons. But no details are provided as to what these aircraft represent. I will commend Hobby Boss for providing six manufacturers paint details as well as the standard colour in written form.

Conclusion

This release from Hobby Boss is one of those kits that a kid will love to find under the tree at Christmas, or being handed to him on his birthday. The sheer size of this model and the components that go to make it will make for a quick build that is easily painted and be an impressive sized model. However the serious modeller will I believe be very disappointed in the detail, and as such I place this kit firmly in the entry level offerings for youngsters.