Hasegawa 1/200 HC-130H Hercules 'Coast Guard'

The Lockheed HC-130 is an extended-range, search and rescue (SAR)/combat search and rescue (CSAR) version of the C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft, with two different versions operated by two separate services in the U.S. armed forces.

The HC-130H Hercules and HC-130J Super Hercules versions are operated by the United States Coast Guard in a SAR and maritime reconnaissance role.

The HC-130P Combat King and HC-130J Combat King II variants are operated by the United States Air Force for long-range SAR and CSAR. The USAF variants also execute on scene CSAR command and control, airdrop pararescue forces and equipment, and are also capable of providing aerial refueling to appropriately equipped USAF, US Army, USN, USMC, and NATO/Allied helicopters in flight. In this latter role, they are primarily used to extend the range and endurance of combat search and rescue helicopters.

In July 2015, it was announced that the U.S. Forest Service will be receiving some of the U.S. Coast Guard's HC-130H aircraft to use as aerial fire retardant drop tankers as the Coast Guard replaces the HC-130H with additional HC-130J and HC-27J Spartan aircraft, the latter being received from the Air National Guard as part of a USAF-directed divestment of the C-27. 

Hasegawa added a C-130H to its 1/200 line in 1987, and has since reissued it over a dozen times with different decals, the last release coming in 2024. The majority of those boxings have been JASDF aircraft as befits the home market. This version, supposedly representing a US Coast Guard HC-130H was released in 1999, when I bought it at discount.

The kit is well done with Hasegawa's usual fairly hard plastic and crisp external detailing. There is no cockpit interior so the build starts by dealing with subassemblies. This includes the cockpit floor/nose gear 'well', wing fuel tanks, and the engines. The main gear wells are pieces that install from the inside of the fuselage. One then attaches the 'cockpit' section along with 5 grams of weight and closes up the fuselage halves. The rear ramp can be cut to allow it to be posed open, but since there is no cabin detail, there would be nothing to see. I should also mention that many holes will need to be opened in the fuselage halves in order to attach the myriad of antennas.

The next step involves attaching various external items including the sponsons forward of the main gear. I have to assume this was done to allow earlier C-130E models to be kitted, but that has never been done. Next are landing gear and doors. Though no indication is provided as how to make the kit wheels up, It would seem pretty easy to do. A display stand is provided and there is an area on the fuselage halves that can be opened so that this can be attached.

The last assembly steps concentrate on the wings. These are left and right upper and lower halves. Then the exhaust and engines are attached along with the wing fuel tanks. Finally the stabilizers are attached along with more antennas and the cockpit transparency. What is missing from the kit are the fairly large rectangular observation windows that are typical of the HC-130 line. Hasegawa provides these as black decals, which I guess is adequate and certainly less expensive than retooling the fuselage halves.

Instructions are standard 'road map' style with Gunze paint references. As is often the case with special boxings, there is an addendum sheet for decal placement and additional construction note.  Fortunately, the red bits are included on the decals so one really only needs to paint the airframe white. Markings are for one aircraft based at the time at Clearwater Florida. They are nicely printed and even considering their age, should work just fine.

This really looks like a nice kit and there is a review of a different boxing in the archives. Why Hasegawa has not produced a wider range of boxings is beyond me as the type has served with such a wide variety of different air forces and civilian operators.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_HC-130

November 2024

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