Academy 1/48 CH-46A/D “U.S. Marines Vietnam”
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Overview
Academy has been getting the most from its 1/48 Sea Knight molds, and
this latest kit pretty much rounds out the entire series. The first version,
the
CH-46E, was released in the summer of 2004, and it was followed by
the
KV-107 in early 2005. This was followed by the
CH/HH-46D in the fall of 2005. All of these have been reviewed here
at Internet Modeler and all share quite a few parts. In fact, throughout
all of these kits, the only parts that change are the sponsons and the
rear fin. The rest of the kits are identical, and their construction will
be quite similar. In that regard, I will point you to the excellent
build of the CH-46E for construction notes, and just refer to the
differences present in this release.
The Kit
 The
main difference between the CH-46A and the later CH-46D is with the rear
vertical fin. The CH-46A had a shorter chord tail and slightly different
contours around the tip of the fuselage. This is handled by a new tail
piece. Also different are the cylindrical intake screens, as opposed to
the cone shaped ones found on later CH-46s. This kit provides all of these,
as well as the parts for the longer tail, allowing the modeler to build
either a CH-46A or an early CH-46D.
 The
decals reflect this duality, with four helicopters evenly split between
CH-46As and CH-46Ds. All are finished in overall Marine Green FS 34095.
The two CH-46As have black lettering and codes, the first from HMM-262
with the code ET/3, and the second from HMM-265, coded EP/169. The HMM-262
bird has the squadron tiger on the tail and nose, while the HMM-265 CH-46A
has a winged seahorse emblem on the forward engine housing and nose.
The two CH-46Ds are a bit more interesting in terms of markings. The
first, from HMM-364, is coded YK/13. This one carries an interesting wolf’s
head emblem on the rear fin, but what is most dramatic about this aircraft
is the mouth: the lower canopy is outlined with white teeth and red lips.
From the front it produces a big, toothy grin. The final option is from
HMM-165 and all of its codes and text is in white. Coded YW/11, it has
a white knight’s head on the rear fin. The decals are beautifully
printed and include a full set of stenciling.
Conclusion
With this release Academy finishes its CH-46 lineage, but undoubtedly
we will see re-releases with different markings in all variants for some
time to come. The kit builds up nicely and is well detailed throughout,
so if you are interested in this twin helo, choose your variant and enjoy
the build. My thanks to MRC
for the review sample. |
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