35th Blackhawk

Academy is the only company that makes a 1/35th Blackhawk, Italeri is selling an Academy rebox. There are three versions available, standard UH-60L, USAF MH-60G Pave Hawk, and a US Army MH-60K DAP (Direct Action Penetrator) armed bird of the 160th Special Ops Aviation Regiment. The datail is great and they build up nicely. Good luck.

Academny also makes some nice 1/48th scale Black Hawks. The MH-60K is the best deal. You get everything you need to make several variants except the decals.

A buddy of mine in the 160th says the DAP is actually Deep Armed Penetrator but politically they don't like the "armed" part!

Im not sure about other kits of this scale but I stumbled across a 1:72 UH-60A Black Hawk made by Hasegawa, but I totaly recoment the Academy 1:35 kits.

there is the academy MRC 1/35th uh-60. fine detailed kit.

The Academy kits are incredibly accurate. As a UH-60 crewchief, I was impressed with the detail and accuracy. One note though; the 60L kit was actually based on an A+. The external differences aren't major and they are easy to fix. The L step fairings(immediately behind and below the pilot's doors) are about 8" wider than on an A. The engine intakes on a L have a shroud over the outside vents as in the HH-60 kit. There are hings that could be nitpicked about this kit, but who really wants to spend $300 for a plastic kit? Academy has done an excellent job with its H-60 kits. Has anyone heard anything about a Seahawk?

AFV Club also offers a re-boxed Academy UH-60.

And what's the deal with the Italeri rebox? Here in Japan, the Academy kit goes for about $40 USD, but the Italeri rebox goes for more than $100 USD! Exact same kit!!!
I guess the Korea-Japan import route is closer than Korea-Italy-Japan!

Hey Mel

I've got some questions about some gray MH-60Ks and MH-47s seen in Knoxville last year and I'm thinking of finishing my Minicraft Kilo in those colors. If I e-mailed them to you, can you run 'em by your buddy at the 160th?

Trigger,

My buddy is in the Sinai crewing Huey's right now. Last E-mail I got from him he was pissed they had boxed up his personal effects and split up his few amenities. They were MIA for 48 hrs. A sand storm choked the ole T-53 and they couldn't get any commo until a Bedouin came by with a cell phone they used to get "rescued"! I could try if you want to send the the pic's. E-mail me first so I can give you another E-mail address for the E-mail with the pictures.

Hey Mel,
I'm planning to do a model of a 1/48 Huey belonging to anl old Medevac Unit that flew here in Alaska (Ft Richardson) back in the 70's & 80's. They were painted red and white back then and I could really use a couple good shots of the red and white Sinai Hueys if you got any. I'm pretty sure you already have my e-mail.

Salbando

I just got the kit in the mail and popped it open. As i was checking out all the parts, I noticed that the pilot doors aren't opened as I have seen in several shots of this built kit. What gives? Is this something i'm going to need to cut out and build myself?? Any information will be much appreciated.
Thanks

QUOTE: Originally posted by P_Man I just got the kit in the mail and popped it open. As i was checking out all the parts, I noticed that the pilot doors aren't opened as I have seen in several shots of this built kit. What gives? Is this something i'm going to need to cut out and build myself?? Any information will be much appreciated. Thanks

Unfortunately, you will have to cut out the doors if you want them open or removed. Cobra Company ( http://cobracompany.com/ ) offers a resin detail set which includes a new set of pilot doors. A lot of guys here, myself included, swear by this company.
Not to nit-pick or anything, but the Academy/MRC kit is a 1/35 MH-60L DAP. There are several differences in the two aircraft and I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up that a 1/35 MH-60K was available.

Screaminhelo,
No word yet on an Academy Seahawk, but some guy on the heli-kit news site converted a UH-60L into a SH-60B. Here's a link if you're interested:
http://www.hkngallery.org.uk/

QUOTE: Not to nit-pick or anything, but the Academy/MRC kit is a 1/35 MH-60L DAP. There are several differences in the two aircraft and I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up that a 1/35 MH-60K was available

adrake,
Are you referring to the Lima kit here? If you are, I am curious what makes you say that, the Kilo is pretty different from anything I have seen offered so far. I havent had the chance to get my hands on a DAP kit so I can't say much there

Thanks for the info adrake. I'll look into the detail kit. What do you mean that it is the MH-60L DAP? I've seen that kit, but this is a slight variation i'm sure. It has MH-60G in big yellow letters on the box. No big deal though.
Thanks again for the input.

I meant to say that Academy/MRC produces three H-60 kits, the UH-60L standard Army Blackhawk, the MH-60G Air Force Pave Hawk, and the MH-60L Army Special Ops Blackhawk.
The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) currently operates two versions of the Blackhawk, the MH-60L and the MH-60K. The MH-60L were introduced into service in 1989. The MH-60Ks came into service later in 1994 and differs from the Lima model primarily in the radar fitted to the nose. The Lima model has a color weather radar while the Kilo model has a Terrain Following/Terrain Avoidance radar. As far as I know, Academy does not have a 1/35 MH-60K model available, nor is there a conversion set available in 1/35.
Sorry for the confusion.

Hey! We could bash a few kits together and make a K. You could get the probe and something to build the radar with from the PAVE. The insides could be made from scratch. That's only $60 for the donor kit.

Hey drake, do the DAP and the PAVE have the L inlets or do they have the A inlets? I had an interesting time modifying the ones on the L

I'm not sure what the differences between the air intanks of the different models are. They look the same in pictures to me. I'll go through my references again if you give me a description.
One of my references states that the MH-60As were upgraded to the MH-60L DAP configuration. It doesn't say anything about the air intanks being changed. BTW, the reference I used was the spring 2002 issue of Internation Air Power Review which did a special feature on the aircraft used by the 160th SOAR.

QUOTE: do the DAP and the PAVE have the L inlets or do they have the A inlets? I had an interesting time modifying the ones on the L

ScreminHelo,
Yes, both the DAP and PAVEHawk have the inlet covers added. In fact, the DAP kit has all the sprues from the original UH-60 A/L kit and all the sprues from the PAVEHawk kit too, its a good deal. Check here to see reviews of both A/L model and DAP with parts layouts too. http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/aircraft/revair.htm

Thanks for the info Arty. I think that I will have to get a DAP kit when I get back!

For drake, the covers I am talking about are on the outside of the engine air inlets. If you look at the inlets on the UH-60L kit from ACademey, you will see two small inlets on the outside of the intake. All L model Blackhawks, and any A's that have 701C engines, have a cover over these secondary inlets. On the co-pilot's side it is one piece, on the pilot' s side there are two smaller covers separated by the ice detector. Check out our website www.1-171st.com and look in the photo gallery Alpha company section. There are some pics there that show the inlets ok. A couple of them show the inlets straight on so you can see their profile. I will try to get some reference photos posted on the site to help out with research. All our planes are L's.

Gino's right, every 160th L and K Blackhawk does have the inlet covers.
I found some pics of a MH-60A, MH-60L and a MH-60K to illustrate the differences.

MH-60A:

This was the first blackhawk type to enter service with Task Force 158 in 1980. The Blackhawks were initially modified from UH-60As (acquisitioned from the 158th Aviation Battalion of the 101st Air Assualt Division) by changing the cockpit to be compatible with night-vision devices. Later changes included a Forward Looking Infared (FLIR) sensor under the nose, the Hover Infared Suppression Subsystem (HIRSS), and various other avionics upgrades. To my knowledge, the "Nightstalkers" no longer use the MH-60A Velcro Hawk (named by the adhoc way the modifications were made to existing airframes).

MH-60L:

1989 brought the MH-60L into the 160th SOAR's inventory. The Lima model features a color weather radar mounted in the large radome on the nose, up-rated T700-GE-701C engines, an In-Flight Refueling (IFR) boom (though not all MH-60Ls have this capablity), an extensive communications suite including satellite radios, and a revamped cockpit with Multi-Function Displays (MFDs) to show FLIR and radar data. The MH-60L is still in use with the regiment and is most famous for Operation Gothic Serpeant, the Mogadishu shoot-down of two Blackhawks on 3 Oct 1993.

MH-60K:

The most advanced type , the MH-60K, first entered service in 1994. The digital cockpit of the Kilo is a complete reversal of normal Army Helicopters. In fact, it takes a new pilot two YEARS to become fully mission-qualified in a company compared to three MONTHS for a new pilot to become fully mission-qualified in the MH-60L. The easiest way to identify a Kilo is by the smaller nose radome of the Terrain-Following/Terrain-Aviodance radar. The SATCOM blisters just aft of the HIRSS are another give away that the Blackhawk is a MH-60K.

MH-60A/L Direct Action Penetrators:


A quick word on the DAPs. There is no dedicated AH-60 DAP, they are all multi-mission aircraft. The MH-60A was first modified to the DAP standard, basically just rewiring the aircraft to fire the miniguns. Later, a few MH-60Ls were out fitted with DAP controls. However, NO MH-60Ks have the modification. They are only fitted with the crew manned miniguns. The idea behind the Direct Action Penetrator was Cliff "Elvis" Wolcott, the pilot of Super Six One, the first blackhawk shot down over Mogadishu. Tragically, Cliff was killed as a result of the crash.

Hey guys ... here's how to know if your version of the S-70 should have the covers ..
If it's got HIRSS (Hover InfraRed Suppressor Subsystem .. which is the exhaust system)).. it's got the inlet covers. The inlet covers are part of the IR suppresion system in the same way the inlet covers were added to as part of the Anti-Strella kit on the Huey and Cobra. It's to hide hot metal from a direct view from the seeker head of the missile. Hope that makes it a little easier to figure out.
Paul

Great reading lots of usefull info very good and correct that was Cliff Wolcotts idea to make the first ever DAP in 1991 i think

can any one help me with the correct spelling of Durrants helo -64

Just because an h-60 has HIRSS does not meat that it the inlet shrouds. Some A+ aircraft do not have them. The aircraft that Academey used as a prototype for the UH-60L kit is a good example. HIRSS is now standard equipment for all H-60's, but many that have T700-700 engines do not have this addition to the engine air inlets. If the aircraft has 701C engines, it will have these added. If you are modeling an A model, I suggest that you check your references if you are modeling a specific aircraft. Of course, if you are buiding out of the box and simply want something that looks good on the shelf, then it doesn't really matter anyway, does it?

QUOTE: Originally posted by wooty can any one help me with the correct spelling of Durrants helo -64

Durrant's Blackhawk was Super Six-Four. It had 64 painted on the front cabin door windows. As for the helicopter's nickname, Durrant never refered to it in his book other than Six-Four. Looking at the photo of his crew posing with the helicopter, on the right engine nacelle (looking forward from the pilots' positions, there is a word written in what looks like Arabic under a square root symbol. It is hard to make out, but in another picture, this time of 64's crew chief Tommy Fields, you can make out the bottom half of the left engine nacelle. Nothing appears to have been painted on this nacelle.
Also from Durrant's book:
"Tommy, in his late twenties, had a race car back in his garage in Lisbon, Maine, and he treated 'his helicopter' no differently from that hot rod. The wheels were always slick with Armor All, the windshield washed after every mission. There wasn't a drop of oil on that thing."
So you don't have to dirty the model up too much to accurately represent the real thing.

Hope this helps.

QUOTE: Originally posted by wooty Great reading lots of usefull info very good and correct that was Cliff Wolcotts idea to make the first ever DAP in 1991 i think

Thanks Wooty,
Mike Durrant was recruited into the DAP project in 1989 while it was still in the SIMO, Systems Integration and Management Office, by Cliff Wolcott. By Feburary 1991, MH-60 DAPs were scouring the deserts of Iraq for Scud launchers. There is a great chapter in Durrant's book about this.

Hey Aron,
I found a picture of Durrants blackhawk Its name was Venom and u can see that clearly on the engine if u zoom in on the picture. If i knew how to bloody paste the image on to this i would do it but i am only new to this forum but i will get it one day. Bear with me

Oh, I can see that now. The V looks like a square root symbol and the rest of the letters are stylized. I mistook them for Arabic characters. Thanks for the correction wooty.

Cool! so u got the picture i must have got it righ. Um,, i dont no if that is how u spell Venom in Arabic but someone else might no. I am currently making a MRC AH-60L Blackhawk and is taking a while (9 months) but is going well.Any ideas on how to make ammo links to the miniguns?

I used the vinyl ammo links included in the MRC/Academy UH-1C 'Frogs' Gunship kit. Due to their difficulty, I think next time I'll try to scratchbuild the links using strip styrene.