1/35 MH-47E Kit or Conversion?

  I am working on E/G conversion set right now. Sorry cant post pics of process. Planning to finish first set (nose with new cockpit and front pylon) by June.

 

Andy

No company has anything so like Andy I'll be building from scratch

... sooner or later

... actually more later than sooner!

Cosmo wrote:

Does anyone know if there are any plans for a 1/35 MH-47E kit or conversion set for the Trumpeter CH-47A?  Awesome potential for an Afghanistan diorama with all the modern SOF figures out compared to the limited choices as of a few years ago!

 It would be much less work using the CH-47D as a starting point.

That's what I was afraid of.  I've never done scratchbuilding, so I'll be doing some research on the nuances between the CH-47D and the MH47E... Thanks for the info!

Cosmo wrote:

That's what I was afraid of.  I've never done scratchbuilding, so I'll be doing some research on the nuances between the CH-47D and the MH47E... Thanks for the info!

I would strongly recommend doing the Italeri 1/72nd versions first....They are way cheaper and are reasonable, if not 100% accurate, representations of the Ds and Es.  Also if you screw them up you are out a fraction of the cost of chopping up the Trumpeter 1/35 versions.

 

HTH

Jonathan Primm

Good point.  Is there a difference between the 1/72 Revell vs. 1/72 Italeri MH-47Es besides Revell's SOAR decals?

Cosmo wrote:

Good point.  Is there a difference between the 1/72 Revell vs. 1/72 Italeri MH-47Es besides Revell's SOAR decals?

It is assumed that Italeri will eventually release an MH-47 series in 1/48 scale, which should be an upscaled/improved clone of the 1/72nd release.     (better detailed interior)      Looking forward to seeing that one!

Cosmo, does the phrase "See, I Know" mean anything to you?      (the "Cosmo" I'm thinking of will know exactly what I'm talking about)  

 Take care

Frank

Cosmo wrote:

Good point.  Is there a difference between the 1/72 Revell vs. 1/72 Italeri MH-47Es besides Revell's SOAR decals?

I haven't seen the Revell boxing of this kit. So I can't comment on their 106th specific decals. Which confuses me as I was under the impression that the only folks using the MH-47E was the 160th.

In any event, unless things have changed(and they probably have), the markings on 160th '47s were pretty generic when I was with them. Just the standard "United States Army" on each side of the fuselage on the center fuel pods and aircraft serial number on each side of the aft pylon.

The Italeri kit provides the larger fuel pods for the E along with some of the other external differences which would allow the construction of either an MH-47E or an MH-47D... I know this sounds confusing but before the E was introduced, the 160th was sending it's '47s to a mod center in Shreveport so it was not uncommon to see a mixed bag of aircraft on the flightline. Some of the birds we had had the wx radar mod which meant the longer nose, some had the refuel probe, some had all of that plus the FLIR turret, some had combinations of those mods, some didn't have any special mods at all and the only thing that made them MH instead of CH was the mission. None of the aircraft we had at the time had the larger fuel pods as found on the Boeing 234, that was a key feature of the MH-47E and it meant a longer wheel base.

Of course I am refering to ancient history here (89-94). I am sure the 160th (2nd and 3rd Battalions anyway) has upgraded to MH-47Es by now.

 Jonathan Primm

 

   Not all of the modern MH-47s have larger fuel tanks even nowdays. Here is a good (relativly new) pic of MH-47s in Afgan. Note new noses but old-style tanks

 

 

Andy

I had no idea of the mix in tanks.  (I can relate to how things change... getting out of the USAF in a few months after 7 years....voluntarily.)  I think I'll take the advice above and cut my teeth on the 1/72 MH-47E before purchasing and chopping a 1/35 Trumpeter CH-47D.  (The big challenges are the commercial chinook nose, enlarging the tanks, and shifting the wheel base.  This from a guy who has never scratch-built in his life.)  I dropped Cobra Co. a line but haven't heard back on potential future projects.  My end game is a diorama of the activity on Rogerts Ridge (Takur Ghar).  We'll see....

Guess I'd better explain....

   I have a friend who just retired from the Army, Maj. Jeff Siino, who has many hours in the MH-47 while with the 160th.     His nickname is "Cosmo", and he had a reputation of telling people how to pronounce his last name when he meets someone; "See-I-know".

   The last time we spoke, he said he was going to get into modeling and wanted to build an MH-47G.    I kinda thought you were him, Cosmo, but I guess not.

 Take care,

Frank

No problem... I guess my callsign's more popular than I thought!

There are differences. I'm converting the 1/72 MH-47E into a G. I had to buy two kits because of missing/broken parts. The first kit I bought was an Italeri, the second was a Revell. The Italeri kit that I have has the incorrect rotor blades while Revell kit has to correct ones. Also the Revell kit has more parts and can be made into a MH47E or UK MKIII (the UK version of a Special Ops Chinook) hence the different decals. If you plan to build it and want to make it accurate, I suggest getting some good pictures because many of the antenna's are wrong or place in the wrong spot on the instructions. Also be prepared for a lot of filling and sanding.

As for the MH-47D's, the short range version of the MH-47, they are all gone. They've been turned in for conversion into G's. Actually the parts are re-used, the airframes will become beer cans very soon.