IPMS Kit Review: Academy 1/48 CH-46A/D "U.S. Marine

MRC/Academy Hobby Model Kits

1/48 CH-46A/D "U.S. Marine - Vietnam" Helicopter

Kit Number: 12210

Reviewed by Rick Bellanger, IPMS# 35220

MSRP: $54.95

This is a quote taken directly from MRC's advertisement.

"In MRC's 1/48th Vietnam era CH-46 our passion for precision runs deep inside. From windscreen to tail ramp the realism is palpable. Inhale the cockpit features. The finely engraved instrument panels, pilot seats and carefully replicated controls. Soak up the authenticity in the wall's structural ribs, the carefully replicated floor. You'll be blown away by the perfect detailing in electronic boxes, hydraulic lines, weaponry, troop seats and even the litters. Our passion for precision runs deep … inside and out."

All in all I will have to agree with their statement but there are a couple of small problems with the kit. I will get to these in a moment. The kit gives you the option of making either an A or D version. The D version has the longer tail pylon. You can build it in a troop carrying version or as a Medivac version with litters. You have the option of a fully enclosed or open aircraft. You can position the rear tailgate in several poses. The side doors can be left opened or closed. You will have to leave out some of the windows for the machine guns, but being an SEA helo, this is very accurate.

Building this kit out of the box is a first for me. I did not invest in any detail sets, resin or photoetch. No extra hydraulic lines or details were added.

You start assembly with the rotor heads and blades. Be careful, there are a forward and rear set and each have different directional blades. In my opinion the detail in this area is a little sparse. There should be some droop to the blades and these are very rigid.

Next came the interior bulkheads. These are very nicely detailed with many boxes and pipes to give them relief. A major downfall with the kit is the numerous injection pin marks in very noticeable places on the bulkhead walls. I guess you could fill them but after I painted, then decaled (there are a lot of them too), added the seats and weathered the walls, the pin marks seemed to have disappeared. With the windows installed I couldn't see any of them.

The cockpit detail is adequate. There are no seat belts and the instrument panel, upper and center panels are decals. Again with leaving the doors closed this detail is more than sufficient. You get a clear nose piece for the canopy. So you will have to mask both the inside and outside, paint the interior, then you can seal it up. It goes on very good and the fit is marvelous. I used drafting tape for all my masking. I'm sure Eduard or some other company makes ready made masked just for this purpose. This would have made things a lot easier.

The rest of the assembly goes together quite well. It is a little tricky to get all the interior bulkheads, roof and floor to line up. Use slow acting cement so you can fiddle and move pieces around as you line everything up. I needed very little putty to fill any seams. The worst was the under body seam, which is always a pain in the tucas. The machine guns, one for each side are, lack detail and should be replaced.

MRC gives you a rear door that is one piece (if you want to show it closed). This is very convenient for masking the rear of the aircraft. I tacked the port and starboard entry doors closed with white glue and this made a very tightly sealed model for painting. It shows the well done engineering that went in the design of this model. I sprayed the plane with Model Masters Field Green FS 34097 which is close enough for me. FS 34095 is called out in the instruction sheet. After a few days of drying I used Testors Gloss Cote to give me a glossy surface for decaling. Again there are a bunch of decals especially for the stenciling. This is very time consuming but well worth the effort.

You are given the option for four different aircraft. They are painted the same. I chose the scheme for CH-46A, HMM-262, ET 3 (152568). I don't know where it was or when it was there but they look good and I liked the squadron emblem. I went easy on the weathering. For a Vietnam bird it should show a lot of wear and tear, patching and scuff marks. But it's my model and my decision.

This is a superlative kit and in my opinion the best 1/48th CH-46 kit on the market. Even with the small problems of injector pin marks and sparse detail, it clearly has all of what a modeler would want to build up a nice replica. With the addition of some photoetch or resin details especially in the cockpit area and some new machine guns you can definitely have a real winner. I highly recommend it.

Many thanks to IPMS/ USA and Academy Model Kits (MRC) for providing this kit for review. I hope it helps in your assembly or decision to purchase.

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