Panda's 1/35 Huey UH-1N review w/pic

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Panda's 1/35 Huey UH-1N review w/pic

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, March 28, 2005 2:28 PM

Hey everyone. Thought I'd drop in a picture with a short review of Panda's kit

Navy Twin Huey

Out of the Box

The model looks pretty impressive with no visible flash and a set of decals to build one model navy huey. Directions sheet is clear and provides paint suggestions.

Assembly

The model has some major fit problems, especially when joining the fuselage halves...The interior compartment assembled well, however the underside glass and windscreen left gaps. The rotor assembly alllows for a nice spin of the main rotor blades however the tail rotor is a bit tricky.

Details

The kit lacks detail despite its sticker tag of $30...It's pretty basic where some effort was attempted. The cockpit dash has a decal for the main instrument panel and no figures are included nor weapons nor rescue hooks, pulleys, etc

Painting

I painted with tamiya acrylics...Olive Drab for the outside...although you might also throw on a wash of lighter green...and a medium gray for the interior...

Decals

The worst of the kit was the decals which incinerated when placed...Heavy Arty mentioned a defect that could be resolved by using a clear overspray before applying...

Apparently all Panda cals are a problem...so I needed to scronge together aftermarket stuff to finish it off...

Conclusion

Overall the kit is a big disappointment..for the price and effort needed to build it,
you'd be better off with another model...Don't ask me which one...because it seems there is a big void in quality helicopter models...

Anyway...enjoy and thanks for listening

Tank

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oldhooker

Member since
July 2003
From: Piedmont Triad, NC (USA)

Posted by oldhooker on Thursday, March 31, 2005 1:59 PM

Thank you Tank, for an excellent review. It brings me to the conclusion that Panda's UH-1's aren't worth the aggravation required to make them presentable. Over spray the decal sheet.... you'd think for $30 that would not even be a topic... just further solidifies my conclusion.

In the discussion in the other thread about how model companies charge more now days because on the average, the buyers are older, wiser, and richer.... he's right, we ARE wiser... much too wise to be suckered into buying a kit because the box art is pretty. Reviews such as yours, from real consumers, are far more powerful than ANY multi-million dollar sales promotion!

Thanks again Tank... you made a poor model look REALLY nice! Smile [:)]

Take care,
Frank

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AH1Wsnake

Member since
December 2002
From: Modeling anything with "MARINES" on the side.

Posted by AH1Wsnake on Thursday, March 31, 2005 4:05 PM

Yup, thanks for the review, tankbuster.
It pretty much sums up all of the Panda shortcomings that have been mentioned here in one nice and concise post! I haven't started mine yet, but am prepared for a long and hard build with it. Panda is lucky that I was craving their 1/35th twin huey to build as one of my OIF squadron birds.....because if I was just looking for a casual, fun build, I would have run away from this thing.
Hopefully someone else (MRC?) will jump on this hole in helicopter modeling and put out a product that will blow Panda out of the water. In the meantime, thank god we have Cheif Snake and Cobra Company Smile [:)]

"There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and those who have met them in battle. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion."

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9x19mm

Member since
December 2003
From: Phoenix,Az

Posted by 9x19mm on Friday, April 1, 2005 1:47 AM

Its to bad that they couldnt have tightened up the quality some, I would rather pay more for a great kit then buy a cheap kit for a cheap price.

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 1, 2005 6:41 AM

Too bad Trumpeter didn't get the molds of Panda's Hueys like they did the Chinooks
It would have been a desaster to have seen Panda release the 1/35 Chinook and it be a poor quality kit!! Thank you Trumpeter!!!!! Bow [bow]

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 1, 2005 11:35 AM

I read around here that Panda may not be releasing any more kits...but that's just a rumor...which means we'll have one less choice when picking a helicopter kit

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HeavyArty

Member since
December 2002
From: Valrico, FL

Posted by HeavyArty on Friday, April 1, 2005 12:07 PM

QUOTE: Originally posted by tankbuster2005

I read around here that Panda may not be releasing any more kits...but that's just a rumor...which means we'll have one less choice when picking a helicopter kit

This rumor has been around a while, that Panda is going out of business. I have not seen any "official" type announcement or news to varify this. Also, there is no shortage or lack of the Panda kits out there, they are still readily available. Don't count them as gone yet.

Gino P. Quintiliani - Field Artillery - The KING of BATTLE!!!

Check out my Gallery: https://app.photobucket.com/u/HeavyArty

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell

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AH1Wsnake

Member since
December 2002
From: Modeling anything with "MARINES" on the side.

Posted by AH1Wsnake on Friday, April 1, 2005 1:12 PM

QUOTE: Originally posted by marke

Too bad Trumpeter didn't get the molds of Panda's Hueys like they did the Chinooks
It would have been a desaster to have seen Panda release the 1/35 Chinook and it be a poor quality kit!! Thank you Trumpeter!!!!!

Personally, I think the enormous prices of Trumpeter's helos are just as atrocious as Panda's lack of detail. Overpriced kits probably do a better job of chasing away casual builders than poor-quality kits. Even though Trumpeter's Hind and Hip releases have gotten rave reviews, I will never buy a kit that costs more than $50. My 2 cents [2c]

"There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and those who have met them in battle. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion."

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 1, 2005 2:12 PM

Good point guys...I figured Panda would be great since it comes from the Dragon USA
family of kits which include products from hasegawa and DML, etc....

I agree.. I'm a little skeptical about building kits in excess of a certain amount of money
when there are plenty of great kits at a reasonable price

Tank

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"There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and those who have met them in battle. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion."

"There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and those who have met them in battle. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion."