IPMS/USA Reviews

KittyHawk at long last produces a SeaHawk version of the BlackHawk kit that they produce. This is the SH-60B version with other SeaHawk variations also being released at the same time. The box is noticeably big and stuffed full of plastic sprues and includes most of the parts that are for the other variants, so you have a lot for you spares box remaining when the kit is completed.

In the box is:

• 11 x light grey sprues
• 2 x clear sprues
• 2 x decal sheets
• 1 photoetch detail set
• 1 instruction booklet

While you get 11 runners, you also get plenty of unused (spare) parts that are for the other variants of this helicopter. All the runners are extremely well molded with very little flash and fine detail. Although I did find three parts that were not fully molded and had to do filling and scratch building parts to complete these. The decals allow you to finish the aircraft in 6 extremely colorful versions.

Construction

First is the construction of the cockpit and interior compartment stage 1 to 5, which is superbly detailed and the Photo Etch helps improve the very impressive interior when complete. The decals are excellent and set perfectly. There are only seat belts provided for the front two seats so the rest you will have to make or buy aftermarket.

At Stage 1 these are the things you should note-

• The slots for parts HD19 and HD 18 are not open and need to be opened up.
• The Seat is called out as HE19 but the this should be HE20 as both the kits HE-19 parts are used on stage 2

At Stage 2 these are the things you should note-

• The part PE1 should be PE2
• The part PE2 should be PE3.

At Stage 3 these are the things you should note-

• The holes for part HE8 need to be opened up.
• The part HF27 in my kit was not formed correctly so needed some re-work.
• Note that the illustration of part HF69 is wrong.

At Stage 4 no issues

At Stage 5 these are the things you should note.

• There are no seat belts for the seat.
• The parts E27 are shown in the wrong orientation see reference pictures.

Next is the construction of the engines stage 6 to 8, which provide for two very well detailed engines.

At Stage 6 these are the things you should note-

• Part F69 should be F59.

At Stage 7 these are the things you should note-

• The parts F56 are very small and hard to remove from sprue and clean up so be careful.

At Stage 8 these are the things you should note-

• The parts HD33 are oriented incorrectly.
• Part HD27 needs a hole to allow it to mount correctly to the pin on C46.
• The parts HE9 and HE 10 are also switched.
• When installing the engines into part C1 you need to remove the pins on the lower edge of part HE 57 to allow the parts to fit correctly.

Next is the construction of the Rota head.

At Stage 9 these are the things you should note-

• Part F69 should be F59.

Next at stage 10 and 11 the upper engine bays and structure is assembled.

At Stage 10 these are the things you should note-

• Part C44 is not identified.
• You have to be careful assembling the parts C44 E5 and E1 to ensure it all lines up when assembled to the upper fuselage.

At Stage 11 these are the things you should note-

• The parts C22 and C51 are not identified, these are used on the opposite side as parts C23 and C50 which was also not identified.
• The above parts are a bad fit and need to be adjusted and filled.
• The attachment holes need to be drilled for part H31.

At Stage 12 is the assembly of the Rota blades and this is easy.

Next is the construction of the fuselage stage 13 to 18.

At Stage 12 these are the things you should note-

• There are additional holes that need drilling out, so you need to review the following stages to see what holes are needed.

At Stage 13 these are the things you should note-

• If you are going to use the flare, then fit part HF24 not HF64.

At Stage 14 these are the things you should note-

• The two fuselage halves close up well with just some minor filling.

At Stage 15 had no issues to note.

At Stage 16 these are the things you should note-

• In my kit part HF38 was not molded correctly and I had to fill the gaps on both sides.
• If you want the door part number in the open position you have to install the part HF54 slid forward.
• Part HF-11 is one of those that needed the hole drilled at stage 12.

At Stage 17 these are the things you should note-

• The part HF30 needs a lot of clean up on the inside to allow it to install correctly.
• Part HF19 was not formed correctly and I had to scratch build a replacement.

At Stage 18 had no issues.

Next the tail and final fuselage assembly at stages 19, 20, 21 and 22.

Stage 19 had no issues.

Stage 20 had only one issue with my kit with another incorrectly molded Part # HF67.

Stage 22 had no issues.

Stage 23 is for stowing the folded blades which I did not select to do.

Stage 24 is the assembly of the weapons with no issue, I only assembled one of each as that is what I installed.

I decided to do the markings on page 14 for the HSL-42 Battle Cats. It was the one from the box art and I love the tiger strip design. The paint and finishing was easy and the decals were excellent to settle down perfectly as these were my real concern which in the end was not a concern at all. There were just a few minor decal size issues that were easily overcome.This was a great kit, with the only real issues of a few parts which were not formed properly, and some errors in the instructions.

Summary

This was a fantastic kit and really fun to build. This is a kit I highly recommend.

Thanks go to KittyHawk for providing this kit to review and IPMS USA for allowing me to review it.