UH-I "Huey" suggestions for a newbie….

I don't have any suggestion on which kit to get, but I do have one on which kit TO AVOID : 

(and take this as a tip from one newbie to another)

the Revell 1/48 UH-1 Huey Hog (kit #4476)

don't get fooled by the low skill level on the box or the price, unless you want to struggle, swear, scream and say bad things about our hobby

on a funnier note, my girlfriend and I were visiting an aircraft museum in England, and we saw one exactly like the one I (tried) to build

my girlfriend took a picture and said : see, there is no glue on the canopy on this one

I just did the old 1/24 Revell UH1B for someone a couple of months back. The kit is big and is pretty good on basic details. Stay away from the Revell 1/48 mentioned above. It needs tons of TLC to get it to look good. If you go to model shows, you can pick up the 1/35 scale MRC UH1's for under $20. They go for $50-$60 on Ebay and are real nice. I picked up the C "Frog" for $15 in the last show I went and had the big 1/24 Revell for about $20.

First, what model Huey do you want to build, and what scale?  There are many different quality and skill level kist depending on these two factors.

The 1/24 scale is big big bird . i just finished one too . 7 month project

It was a fun model and everything fit good

Rick

Very cool, congrats!. I am thinking I would like to try to 1/24 scale. I think I will build one more "practice" model, then try the Huey. I want it to turn out well, and I think I need to build my skills some before I attempt it.

The 1/24 is ok as a OOB build  and easy to assemble. There's a couple of threads including my model here:

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/16/t/159109.aspx?sort=ASC&pi240=1

and a build thread:

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/16/t/156702.aspx

The best Huey in any scale OOB the 1/72 UH-1B from Italeri.   Sounds like that might be too small for you but it has the most accurate shape and lines IMHO.  The 1/35 MRC/Academy UH-1C is a close second in my mind, but there are some definite fit issues with that kit.   The easiest to build are the Hobby Boss UH-1's (both 1/72 and 1/48) but they leave a lot to be desired in the accuracy department.  The 1/24 Monogram kit is almost as old as the Huey!  It does look impressive when you are finished though.  Good luck and post pics of your build.

 Ray

All depends on what detail level oob you want, how much you're prepared to scratch build or correct parts on models, like rotor blade differences in some kits (I prefer doing kits oob as they are) and what scale you want.

I'd say a 1/48 Italeri kit #849, which was recently re-released as I understand it, would be a good starting point for a Vietnam era Huey, although it appears to be a completely unarmed version (I've checked photos of sprues and there are no weapons that I could see).  Or for a later Huey their UH-1N, kit #2692, but that only comes with German weaponry, not US, although it does come with US Rescue decals.

I have the Academy 1/35 UH-1C and I can definitely attest to the fitment issues - to start with my cabin roof is warped, I've decided to cut both halves off the fuselage halves to see if I can join the two roof halves and make it level.  Not sure it'll work though, probably the wrong thing to do...  Then there is warping around where the two halves of the engine bay meet at the top where the exhaust pieces go, solvable whilst gluing the fuselage halves together but means holding the parts in place somehow while the poly cement dries.  Then there are the quite poor imo M134 miniguns that come with it which have barrels made up of 3 parts!!  Don't think I'd recommend it for a beginner at all.

As already mentioned definitely stay away from Revells 1/48 Huey Hog.  They have a nerve to be still selling that kit.  I made the error of buying one only to find it's very thin in terms of the plastic and in my case the fuselage halves are all warped at the front where the cabin is and will require substantial strengthening in and between the pillar areas to straighten the sides up to get a straight fit between the fuselage halves before/during assembly, if I ever get around to building it, I think.  Probably be OK once the fuselage halves are joined and the interior is in but still quite a task for a beginner.

If you are going to build the 1/48 Italeri UH-1D/H, you might as well build the 1/35 Panda/Dragon UH-1D/H as they almost exactly the same parts layout and the 3th kit is just a scaled up version of the 1/48th kit.  I personally can't get past the horrid rivets on the 1/35 kit though.  I know you can sand them down and correct other parts but for an OOB build, I still say the Italeri 1/72 UH-1B is the way to go.

   Ray