Hobby Boss 1/72 CH-46D

Known colloquially as the "Phrog", and used in all Marine combat and peacetime environments since its introduction. Still regularly flown by the Marine Corps, its longevity as a reliable airframe has led to such mantras as "phrogs phorever" and "never trust a helicopter under 30".

CH-46E Sea Knights were used by the USMC during its 2003 invasion of Iraq. CH-46Es transported personnel, brought supplies to forward arming and refueling points (FARP), carried ammunition and various tasks. Marine CH-46Es and CH-53Es carried US Army Rangers and Special Operations troops in a mission to extract captured Army Private Jessica Lynch from an Iraqi hospital on 1 April 2003.

While the United States Navy retired the airframe on September 24, 2004, replacing it with the MH-60S Knighthawk, the Marine Corps plans to maintain its fleet until the MV-22 is fully fielded. In March 2006 Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263 (HMM-263) was deactivated and redesignated VMM-263 to serve as the first MV-22 squadron. The replacement process is expected to continue through the other medium helicopter squadrons into 2014.

This particular kit comes with two gray plastic sprues and two clear sprues. The clear bits are quite transparent though the frame lines for the nose piece are rather soft. well done. The interior floor goes from the nose to the rear ramp and the cabin section does have fairly nice detailing with floor rollers. However, this is mostly covered up by the jump seat sections, which are quite solid instead of being an open framework. If one wants to have a wide open cargo section, then the slots for the seats will need to be filled. Back at the cockpit, there are both control sticks and some nicely done seats. Two forward bulkheads are provided, one facing forward and the other aft into the cargo section. The cockpit bulkhead has stars engraved on it, probably for the HC-3 version and should be filled in for the USMC helo.

There are separate ramp pieces and it looks like it can be molded in the lowered position. Same for the lower left side entrance door, though the upper door is to be attached closed. Frankly, there is little to be seen in the cabin as there are no cabin interior details and one would want to remove the ejector pin marks anyway.  The rotor heads are fairly well done and the blades have some droop to them. As these are early H-46Ds, there are no inlet screens and no IR jammers. There is a rescue hoist which was common on both markings options. A section of armor plate is provided for the USMC option.

The instructions are well done with nicely drawn construction steps. As seems to be usual with Hobby Boss, absolutely no interior color information is supplied. It should be pretty much Dark Gull Grey. Why they leave this out is beyond me. There is a separate camo and decal placement guide, though unlike other HB kits, this one is in greyshades. Two markings options are the box art USMC version from HMM-262. It is shown as being overall Engine Grey, but this is flat wrong for a USMC CH-46. If anything, it would be overall FS 34092, which is a green drab shade. It may even be a gloss as it has full color markings. The other is from HC-3 Det aboard the USS Mars, an ammo ship. This one is in overall Ocean Grey. The decal sheet is well printed, but I have my doubts about the opacity of the lighter colors on this one as they seem to blend into the blue backing.

At 55 parts, this is a kit that should be a somewhat quick build as kits go. Once again, the Hobby Boss box seemed to disintegrate once I removed the shrink wrap. Apparently their glue is only good for a few weeks before it degrades. Those looking for a somewhat simple build will be pleased with this one. Those wanting more detail may be well advised to check out the older, but still very nice Fujimi kit.

March 2010

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