Bells Huey (Vietnam era)

[meggsy]

Hi

Can anyone recommend a good 1/72 1/48 scale Vietnam era Huey chopper I bought the revell version don't know if it was a old tooling of the kit but it was awful fit wise ended up in the bin any suggestions would be much appreciated

[flyjoe180]

Hi Steve. Which Huey are you after? The UH-1B or D/H?

I built Italeri's 1/72 UH-1B Iroquois a while back, the finished build is here http://www.scale-models.co.uk/threads/joes-completed-uh-1b-huey-helicopter-gb-2013.18613/#post-161795

It was a great build, highly recommended. Tamiya also released this same kit under its 'Warbird' range, so if you are keen I suggest sourcing the Italeri kit as it is cheaper to buy.

As for 1/72 scale UH-1D/H Iroquois. I have the Italeri and Hasegawa kits. Both require modifications to make the -H model, but not much. The Hasegawa kit is old and chunky, I haven't built it yet but I can see the framing for the glazing is too thick and the overall detail is not the best. It also has a case of severe rivet rash.

The 1/72 UH-1D Italeri kit is modern and has had great reviews. It's downfall is the side-door glazing. The side-door rear windows are too long and the front ones too short. You should be able to remedy this with some thought, or buy replacement doors from a detail company if you wanted to. Or you can go full-Vietnam and leave the doors off altogether.

Overall the Italeri 1/72 Irqoquois are the best for both the -B and for the -D/H models.

I don't know anything about the 1/48 kits.

[meggsy]

Hi Steve. Which Huey are you after? The UH-1B or D/H?I built Italeri's 1/72 UH-1B Iroquois a while back, the finished build is here http://www.scale-models.co.uk/threads/joes-completed-uh-1b-huey-helicopter-gb-2013.18613/#post-161795

It was a great build, highly recommended. Tamiya also released this same kit under its 'Warbird' range, so if you are keen I suggest sourcing the Italeri kit as it is cheaper to buy.

As for 1/72 scale UH-1D/H Iroquois. I have the Italeri and Hasegawa kits. Both require modifications to make the -H model, but not much. The Hasegawa kit is old and chunky, I haven't built it yet but I can see the framing for the glazing is too thick and the overall detail is not the best. It also has a case of severe rivet rash.

The 1/72 UH-1D Italeri kit is modern and has had great reviews. It's downfall is the side-door glazing. The side-door rear windows are too long and the front ones too short. You should be able to remedy this with some thought, or buy replacement doors from a detail company if you wanted to. Or you can go full-Vietnam and leave the doors off altogether.

Overall the Italeri 1/72 Irqoquois are the best for both the -B and for the -D/H models.

I don't know anything about the 1/48 kits.

[meggsy]

Hi joe

Thanks for reply I'm probably going to go for the italeri or the tamiya kit in 1/72 think 1/48 will be too big also do some modifications because I just want a troop carrier not a gunship or one with rocket pods sorry if that

All sounds confusing but not really into military model bikes and cars my thing just fancied doing something different always liked the Huey so thought I'd give it a go

Steve

[flyjoe180]

My pleasure. You could 'civilianise' the model and give it some unique markings if you didn't want to build a military machine. As you can see from my build the Italeri UH-1B has an option for weapons or no armament and mine is unarmed. For a troop carrier you would be best with the -D/H version of the Huey.