'Huey' is practically synonymous with helicopter to millions of people throughout the world and especially to those who fought in Vietnam. It was the probably the most successful line of turbine-engined helicopters to have ever been built and the AH-1Z Cobra gunship is still being produced for the USMC, who prefer the smaller, more nimble Huey Cobra over the hulking AH-64 Apache preferred by the Army, though thousands of AH-1 variants were built for the Army in the late 60's/early 70's.

Probably the first real improvement over the early UH-1B/C/D Hueys was the addition of a second engine. This really improved survivability of the type and made it something that the Navy could really buy into. The Navy has an almost standing requirement for a second engine in case one fails while over water. This would allow the aircraft to safely reach it home ship or station on the remaining engine. Though the 'N' in UH-1N could stand for Navy, it doesn't.

Widely used by the USMC as part of the scouting/attack combo along with the AH-1 in HMLA units, the UH-1N is also used for SAR units and station flights. The USAF has used the UH-1N for quite a while as part of its VIP short range airlift capabilities. Variants of the UH-1N are flown by the armed forces around the world and has been license built in large numbers by Agusta in Italy.

The Fujimi kit is not a new one by any means, but does have engraved panel lines as well as rivets on the tail boom. The panel lines are, for the most part, well done and the rivets are quite petite and near-scale. What you get with this kit is the basic UH-1N. As you can see from the right sprue, there is a large section missing. This has the ASW equipment for the AB.212 ASW kit that isn't needed on this version. 

There is a pretty complete interior consisting of seats, sticks and rudder pedals. As with many helo kits, the control that makes the helo go up and down (the collective, I believe) is missing and will have to be added by the builder. Why this is so often missed is beyond me as it is an integral part of the aircraft. The rotor hub is sufficiently detailed for this scale. There are blanking plates for the intakes and the exhaust is a single, rather shallow, piece that fits on the back. The cabin door can be displayed open if you wish to do some minor surgery and cut it from the forward attaching piece. The clear bits are thick so should fit well into the recesses. You'll need to tint the upper ones with a clear green. No indication of nose weight is given, but I'd pack as much as I could in the nose as it will surely need some.

A difficult kit to build it does not appear to be. When finished, it will look very nice in amongst your other 1/72 aircraft.

Review kit courtesy of me and my wallet!

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