Scale Plastic & Rail

1/35 OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Light Attack Helicopter

1/35 OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Light Attack Helicopter (Limited Edition)
AFV Club
Catalogue # AF35S62
Available from HobbyEasy for 328HKD (approx. £27 at time of review)

AFV Club are more famously known for their fine armour kits, but with a few recent forays into the model aviation world. The company are back in their ‘comfort zone’, scale-wise at least, with this 1/35 release of the ‘Bell-built’ OH-58D helicopter, delivered here in its Republic of China guise as an Observer/Light Attack Heli. I thought this an interesting subject to review, despite my subject knowledge of this type being pretty poor. Since I don’t like ripping from Wiki, if you want to know more about this type, click this link.

The AFV club kit comes supplied in a very high quality, glossy, top-opening box with a photograph of the Kiowa Warrior in action on the front. Looking closely at the lid, I noticed a small piece of text saying ‘This product is basically using the Academy kit’. Full marks for honesty, so let’s take a look inside.

The first thing I notice is a strong, pungent, chemical smell which after a very short investigation, appeared to be coming from an included bag of resin parts. I had no idea this release included resin parts, not did I know it to be a limited edition of 800 kits. The resin odour reminded me of how these parts used to smell, despite very nice looking casting. More about the resin later.

Four medium grey styrene sprues comprise this kit, with a single clear sprue for all of the numerous transparencies, mostly concerning the all-round view forward cockpit. Most of the sprues are individually bagged, with the exception of the largest two, which are bagged together. Inspection of these parts shows there to be no damage resulting from this, despite the high number of parts concerned, and the fragility of many of them.

Now, as I said, I know this to be based on the older Academy kit, but I really had no idea just how old this kit was. The sprues give the date as 1995! If that is surprising to you, then please don’t let that put you off this release, as the overall quality of parts is so good, and the detail so comprehensive that this kit could easily be an entirely new release. AFV Club obviously knew this to be a good base for their own re-packaging and amendments.

With a great number of old re-releases, we can notice that perhaps the new mouldings suffer a little from flash due to the mould age and usage. Well, not here. If there is any flash here, it is so minimal that it really isn’t an issue. I’ve been sat here a while with these sprues and the quality of the actual mouldings themselves is certainly not in the least bit shoddy. This is actually an excellently moulded kit.

Closer inspection also shows that sink marks are almost non-existent, and where it can be seen, it only seems to be apparent when held to some light. Ejector pin marks are mostly placed on the underside of parts, and in areas that won’t be readily seen, but unfortunately, not all. Some pin marks exist within the cockpit module, and in areas that will take a little filling to fully remove them. A few other pin marks appear in poorly chosen places too, but these are no worse than some of the more recent offenders made from newer moulds. The fuselage interior does have some slight pin marks, but these will be very easy to rub down.

Surface detail is excellent, with recessed panel lines and delicately raised and tiny rivets which look commensurate with the finish on the actual machine. If you did want to lessen these even more, and I can’t see why you would, then a few strokes of a sanding sponge will do the job.

The cockpit itself is beautifully detailed, with an amazing level of detail. I know I have said this earlier for other aspects, but this kit puts many newer releases to shame with the complexity and quality here. The instrument panel is also beautifully moulded, with plenty of sharp detail. No decals are present to help with the detailing of this, so you’ll need to check your references to cater to this large aspect of the cockpit.

The cockpit includes avionics equipment and a whole range of other hardware which will keep the modeller occupied for the majority of this build. A detailed Allison engine is also included which can be seen if the engine access doors are posed open. The main rotor is also incredibly complex and detailed, with around 30 parts making up what will be a highly realistic rotor and drive assembly.

Twenty three clear parts are supplied, although if most of them are used is another question, with this model being a conversion. The most obvious ones not being used are the windows which fit in the original side doors, with these being replaced with resin parts. The transparencies are well moulded, but I would micromesh the main glazings and polish them to a higher sheen before use. As I tend to say, I would dip them in Klear, or similar to give an extra crisp, crystal appearance.

Now, onto that smelly bag of resin components. By far the largest part here is for replacing the forward rotor drive housing. This will mean that you will need to perform a little surgery on the kits fuselage so that you can fit it. All resin is cast in a pale yellow, which is very reminiscent of the material that CMK use for their products. This housing is beautifully mastered and cast, with no flaws, and a simple to remove casting block which is thin enough to be removed with a few scores of a craft knife. A total of 22 resin parts are included which replace the main side doors and add an amount of external detail to the fuselage. Casting blocks are minimal on all parts, with the main blocks, again, being easily removable with a craft knife. The rear tail horizontal stabilisers do have some riveting which is not as delicate as the rest of the model, and quite poorly matched. I would remove this and perhaps use a little decal rivet from HGW to replace. I’m sure you will have your own methods for fixing this disappointing area.

Two photo-etch frets are included also. These contain parts for intake meshes, and the housing for the AN/ALQ-144 Countermeasures Turret which is located behind the main rotor, external plating, amongst others. The two frets contain over 60 superbly etched parts, and where rivet raised rivet detail is created, it fits in well with the actual main kit detail.

Regarding the Countermeasures turret and the rotor mast mounted sight, a self-adhesive reflective sticker is supplied to give that characteristic look to these parts.

The kit carries an array of weaponry choices which can be slung externally on the fuselage sides. The gun option also has a rubber moulded ammunition feed to fit in between the ammo box and gun, which can be naturally posed.

Decals are provided on a single sheet, and contain markings for 3 machines. These are all ‘Republic of China’ machines, but no specific identification is given to any machine, presumably due to the secrecy under which the ROC (Taiwan) forces operate. All machines are basically painted in the same dark Olive Drab scheme, with variation for individual machines. Individual serial numbers are also present so you can perhaps model variations on the machines given. A large number of stencils make up the majority of this decal sheet. These Taiwanese printed decals are reasonably thin, and are printed in good solid colour, and also in perfect register.

Instructions are printed in an A4 sized, 12 page manual, in black and white, with line drawings and some photographic illustration for specific small detail. Assembly starts with the cockpit, and then the engine, creating a single module which fits into the fuselage. Illustration is clear, with no ambiguity as to where the extra detail placement is meant to be. Construction is concluded with 15 build sequences. Decal placement guides are excellent, and paint reference numbers are given in Gunze, Humbrol, Revell and Lifecolor codes. Some simplistic detail is given within the instructions for colour reference, but  you will need to cross reference this with some actual photos of the machine.

So what do we think?
I’m glad I took the opportunity to review this release, as it’s shattered some misconceptions about older releases, and at the same time, presented me with an excellent subject of a more unusual subject. Add to that the bag of resin to convert this machine to this specific OH-58D, and 2 frets of lovely etch metal, and this is a seriously interesting project, and one I very much look forward to building. Very highly recommended.

Overall 9/10

My sincere thanks to HobbyEasy for the review sample used here. To purchase this item directly, click THIS link.

JH