Internet Modeler : First Look : Aviation RSS News Feed

Special Hobby's 1/72 Hiller UH-12

By Chris Banyai-Riepl

History

Hiller designed the UH-12 as a light observation helicopter in the early 1950s. Originally an open-cockpit design, the characteristic bubble canopy was added and the UH-12 took to the air. The great durability and simplicity of the design made the UH-12 a very popular helicopter of its day, and it found its way into the air forces of a great many countries around the world, both as an observer helicopter and a trainer. By adding stretchers on top of the skids, the UH-12 was transformed into a medivac helicopter, and in this role the UH-12 performed admirably both in military service and in the private sector.

While the UH-12 is gone from the rosters of most military organizations, it can still be seen flying in the civilian world, doing everything from traffic reporting to crop spraying. This longevity speaks volumes to the excellent design of the Hiller UH-12, and it will likely soldier on for many years to come.

The Kit

Helicopters seem to be experiencing a surge in popularity these days, with Italerireleasing several new and interesting choppers. While the Italeri kits tend to be of the larger helicopters, Special Hobby has started filling the niche of the small "eggbeater" choppers. Their first kit, the Hughes TH-55A, was a strong mix of injection plastic, resin, and vacuformed clear parts. The UH-12 is similar, although there are more plastic parts this time around. There's also more to the helicopter, too!

The cockpit is made up of resin parts done by CMK. The detailing is simply astounding, which is wonderful considering that you'll be able to see every last bit of it under that huge bubble canopy. Also in resin is the engine assembly, and again the detailing is excellent and very visible. The majority of work on this kit is going to be in painting up all the detail parts, as actual assembly will be quite short.

The plastic parts make up the main and tail rotor blades, tailboom and rear fuselage, skids, and various support rods. These support rods will probably best be replaced by aftermarket styrene rod, as cleaning up the kit parts will be time consuming and difficult to maintain the round shape.

The vacuformed clear parts are nicely done, although in my sample the lower part had a crushed corner. The canopy is split top and bottom, which makes for some interesting assembly, but since it's split along the canopy framing, it shouldn’t be too hard to handle. By attaching the bottom part to the fuselage first, problems with seams can be eliminated early on and adding the cockpit interior will become easier.

The decals provide an option for three UH-12s, one from the Army, one from the California Army National Guard, and one from the Royal Navy. The Army one is quite colorful, being overall white with international orange tail and nose sections. The Army National Guard one is a bit more subdued in overall olive drab with a red band around the tail boom. The Royal Navy one is another colorful option, being overall yellow. In doing a little research on this diminutive helicopter, I have found that there are quite a few civilian options that can be done, as well as other military options, so if you want to try something a little different, a little digging will turn up quite a bit.

Conclusion

With Italeri doing the larger choppers and Special Hobby churning out the smaller ones, this is definitely a great time to be a helicopter modeler. The quality of the Special Hobby kit is excellent, and while the small size and intricate detail parts will require some care in assembling, this kit of the Hiller UH-12 will make for a great discussion piece when finished.