Heli-Kit News #179, 07-Jan-04

1. LF Models have released their Pitcairn PCA-2 "Miss Champion" #7261, and Pitcairn USMC XOP-1 #7262.


2. Amodel have released their Ka-15M Ambulance, kit #7290, which is the standard Amodel Ka-15 plus external stretcher-panniers and ambulance decals.


3. Zvezda's re-worked version (#7246) of the Dragon Mi-28A Havoc is now on the market. The decals are rather simple, but the Cyrillic spelling mistakes which exist on both the Dragon and the Italeri versions of this kit have been corrected.


4. The Japanese resin kit maker Akatombo Works will release their own 1:72 kit of the Bell XV-15 sometime in 2004.

5. Following on from their Bluehawk, AFV Club will be making another variant of a 1:35 Academy/MRC kit in a Taiwanese version. This time it's a RoCA Aviation AH-1W, kit #35S21, due for release in Feb-04. It contains extra resin parts and metal gun barrels.


6. Fujimi will re-issue their 1:72 RH-53D Sea Stallion in Jan-04, this time as kit #33006.

7. In April, Hasegawa are planning to issue a new IDF/AF version of their 1:48 MD 500MD TOW Defender, #09542

8. The only new helicopters known to be on Revell's 2004 list are: Plus two new 1:100 Easy-Kits (pre-painted snap-together), a Ka-50 in June and an EC-135 in July.

9. As promised, Cobra Company's HH-60H (CC48032, on the left) and HH-60J Jayhawk (CC48033, on the right) conversion sets are now shipping. Both sets contain resin, white metal and vacuform pieces.



10. Airwaves have issued another version of their vacform canopy for the Airfix Scout or its Wasp conversion. The original (SC72-146) had the top left window panel indented to accomodate an AS-11/12 missile sight. The new version (SC72-147) has a regular window in this position, the same as on the right-hand side.

11. One more photo-etched detail set from Part, this time it's an exterior set for the Zvezda Mi-17, including details for the rocket pods & pylons, window frames, and many other items, set #S72-218.

12. Aircraft in Miniature have released another version of their 1:72 'Transport Wings' S-61N conversion. This one (TWC010) includes decals for New York Airways. The previous TWC009 with NYA decals was for the S-61L (no sponsons).

13. Two new sets of 1:72 diorama accessories are now available from Flightpath: 14. Linden Hill have published their Mi-24/25/35 decal sheets #LHD 48006 / 72006, 'Bush War Hinds Part 1'. Each package features a profile booklet, full instruction sheet, and multiple decal sheets with markings options and full Russian stencilling for:


15. Behemoth have released their "Havoc vs Hokum" decal sheet. The layout has changed a bit, but the contents are as described in HKN #173.


16. The Lela Presse monograph on the Super Frelon has now been published; they say (with a little contradiction regarding the colour content):

"The first work devoted to the first European heavy helicopter. The book is entirely in colour, with many new photographs. It is written by a former pilot of the Super Frelon, who gives us the history of the largest European helicopter, beast of burden of our Naval Aviation. Submarine hunter, rescue aircraft and transport, this work also shows it to us in the colours of China, Israel, South Africa, etc.

Technical details, operations and units are covered in this nice work, profusely illustrated with both black & white and colour photos, and cutaways..."

17. Jon Bernstein, author of the recent Osprey Combat Aircraft #41 "US Army AH-1 Cobra Units in Vietnam", has started work on another covering the Apache in Afghanistan and Iraq, for publication early Spring 2005. He is also talking to Osprey about one or more volume on UH-1 gunships in Vietnam.

18. The latest issue (4.2003) of 'Mir Aviatsii' includes a 29-page feature on the Mi-14 Haze. This includes about 130 monochrome photos (some very small, it has to be said), 5 colour photos, 20 colour profile drawings, and a double-sided A2 sheet of drawings (no sections though).

A previous edition of this magazine (#3.2003) included a feature dedicated to special operation in Chechnya. Helicopters are shown in 33 monochrome and 11 colour photos captioned in English. There are also 7 colour profile drawings of Mi-8's and 6 of the Mi-24, including both the 'Shark' and 'Perch' aircraft on the Linden Hill decal sheets (see above).


19. Another recent publication covering the Mi-14 Haze is the Ukrainian 'Aviatsiya i Vremya' magazine (6'2003). This has a 15-page article with 3 colour profile drawings, 60 monochrome photos plus 2 colour photos on the back cover. An additional A2 sheet of drawings with fuselage sections and a cutaway drawing.

These two Mi-14 publications are complementary, with no duplication in the illustrations.

Thanks to George Filyagin, Yevgeny Borissov, Chris Miller, Tim Vereecke, Carrey Knight, and Tony Morgan.

If you buy something direct from the maker as a result of reading about it in Heli-Kit News, please remember to tell them that you saw it here. This will encourage the flow of more news in the future, and maybe we'll even get the occasional review sample!

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