Reviews : Revell-Monogram UH-1D Huey Gunship Helicopter

Originally produced in the '60s, the Revell UH-1D shows its age with molding technology appropriate to the time, but its shape and level of detail is acceptable, and it can be made into a good representation of the type. A matter of passing interest is that the box art depicts a short cabin B or C model, not the long cabin D More modern D model kits are produced in 1/35 vehicle scale, and are significantly more $$, and some have detail inaccuracies that may need attention, making the Revell kit a value option for most builders. The biggest disadvantage for Huey aficionados is that most D models were troop carrying slicks with nylon fabric troop seats and pintle mounted M-60s on the sides at the aft end of the cabin. Parts for a slick version are not included. Assembly is straightforward, and the fit is OK, if not up to today's standards. The rotor system is accurate, if missing a few details, and the engine and transmission with removable upper access doors add visual interest. Since the engine and transmission are very basic, scratchbuilding additional parts will improve that option. The decals are thin, in register and the colors are dense and look right. There are aftermarket parts that could turn this kit into a stunner with a bit of scratchbuilding. While definitely NOT a 'shake and bake kit, I recommend it for a Huey fan with some modeling skills.

I was at first surprised to find a 1:32nd scale Huey as i haven't seen one before. Upon opening the box it was nicely packaged, even the fuselage was still on the sprue, it is molded in what i would consider a shiny olive drab, some raised and recessed riveting and panel lines, with a little work you can even add more in as your skill improves. the clear is very clear, the opaque seems to have little to no releasing agent left on them as i didn't have to clean the parts before painting. fitment is nice, though i did have to use about .25ml or less Tamiya putty on the nose to get it to be perfect. as for helicopters... the rotor system went together very well with no drooping. the glass fit into the body quite well with exception of the doors which the door glass has a .25mm gap all the way around. Decals are typical Revel medium heavy..... i ran out of micro sol/set so i had to use my Testors brand decal set and they laid down fairly well, not perfect but good enough. i hope this helps all who are venturing into this model. in conclusion. i give this a 4 out of 5 stars, as i wish the glass fitment was better and there could have been a door gun or two but hey nothing is perfect

Kit is large and a good deal for the price. However, this kit had more flashing on the pieces than any kit I've done prior. This may be an issue with this kit line or just the batch that I bought. The floor of the interior didn't match up 100% when the halves were combined but was easy to overcome with some work. There are marking for two different helo's however, one is Major Crandall's bird and the other is for Canada Search and Rescue. The line decals are a little on the thin side, but decent quality. Lastly, there are two pilot figures but they are very low quality and are 2 pieces each that glue front and back as opposed to solid figures that have one or two pieces that need to be glued together that typically come in the 1/35 or 1/48 scale kits. But this kit does have a lot of detail and is a great value for the price! I only list the negatives for future buyers to plan conversions ahead of time. Gunships were usually UH-1B's or C's with the D's being troop transports but the gunship pieces provided in the kit give you several options to make it how you want. If you willing to put in the time and can plan out some scratch building, this kit has unlimited potential.

This kit was first released about 1968 and has gone through a few different versions along the way, but at its core it is still the UH-1D Iroquois. This present release has been maligned for excessive flash, fit issues and anything else that seems to upset them at the moment. I noted that the flash was actually less than what one would expect from 54 year-old molds and there were some ejector pin marks that needed cleaning up or filling. The fuselage halves need some truing up and I added some sheet plastic tabs to the forward seams to level them out. The engine bay color changed over the Hueys' service life and my references showed chromate green and zinc chromate for the 1950's and 60's. I haven't decided on markings yet so I can't comment on the decals. I wouldn't recommend this model to less experienced builders or builders that refuse to try correct issues with elderly kits being re-released by any manufacturer. Real modelers rise to a challenge and learn from it.

Great kit minimal flashing. Seams are a pretty good fit.. the figures are horribly molded. No rear cargo seats, no blast sheilds on pilot seats. I converted this to a SLICK variant as I was building this for my Father in Law who did 3 tours of Vietnam as a door gunner.... to do this I had to scratch build a few items, seat belts, wiring for engine,interior wiring including recessed equipment and head sets. I used CMK cargo area detail kit (1:35) Cobra Company M23 gun kit(1:32) Fireball Model works Slick decal set (1:32) and 5 Verlinden Vietnam figures (1:35) PROS : overall it is a nice big kit allowing for some good detailing (Great for Dioramas) CONS: I wish Revell would include items like Cargo area details ie: rear seat set ups and better detailed cockpit If you are interested in the build process please see my images above and here is the full build (3month build time) plus reveal video on photo bucket http://s300.photobucket.com/user/BEDLAM1968/library/HUEY

As an older modeler I sometimes see kits I did as a kid and want to remember the good old days. The UH-1D Revell gunship is old. It has lots of flash. There are fit problems (the seat supports have never gone into the holes in the cockpit floor - ever)! That said, if you want an inexpensive kit to work on your skills, your new to modeling, or you want an easy build, this Huey's for you. You can work on filling seams. You can work on removing flash so parts fit properly. You can put the landing skid into hot water and try to make it sit correctly. You can also make this look good and not spend $$$. It can be built in a weekend and it takes up some shelf space. It also doesn't have *#* tiny photo-etched parts and complexity which requires three months to build. Its your choice but no matter what, HAVE FUN. I did.

This was the first Helicopter I have ever put together, It does plenty of detail in the molding it is not high detail put mid range for the price, it is not extremely hard or complicated to work with, but like others said some things did not line up exact but with patience and some forceful co-operation!!!, thins worked out great and I tried to make it look some what battle worn, I am a Combat Vet but not from the Viet Nam era that was my Dad So I tried thru pics to guess what it may have looked like. I found It to be fun to build for the Price and not a bad looking model at all, I think there could have been better line up, but for the price is was very good. overall I would build this Again! Scott M.

I built this one several years ago. I for once painted the interior as it shows off very well with the doors open. The rotor on mine was wobbly but not badly so. This is a big kit and goes together fairly well but you need to take your time trim the excess plastic off the parts and paint the interior parts ahead of time.You will want to paint the pilots and mine had decals for the helmets. Other than that the kit will go together with very little challenge and be careful of the windows any glue on your fingers will find its way onto a window if your careless and it will stick out like a sore thumb. when done with my kit I was very proud of it and was not afraid to show it off.

this was not easy to build. (I didn't get it from hobbylinc) and I was able to get my money back from the seller. the issues were: the molds appeared to be so worn out that not a single part was molded correctly. maybe it popped open and they bagged it anyway, idk. my kit was marked with a sticker saying it was made Poland. it appears here lately that revelogram has sent their worn out molds over seas because the ones with a sticker from other countries have turned out the same. it was so over flashed it wasn't funny. I tried filing them down and still nothing fit right. not one part in the box would another.

A couple years ago, I built this kit, it has some good detail too it, and was overall a fun build. For me some of the instructions were confusing for the armament on the side, but looking at a few pictures online, I managed to get it to work. I attempted making a base for it, but failed, so now its hanging up with some details that wouldn't be on a hovering/hanging/flying Huey. Overall though it turned out nicely. Some clean up was required, but nothing a new model building should have to worry about. If y'all get this kit, I hope you have fun with it, as I did.

Purchased this because I wanted a larger scale aircraft and was quickly disappointed when I began inspecting the parts trees. Every piece had extreme flashing which was problematic in sanding to fit. The biggest fit issue is assembling the 2 outer halves because it leaves a very visible seam line to include areas that do not touch and leaves an open area needing to have putty applied. I of course did not do that fine of detail work as I wanted to finish this model. I will prepare myself and rebuild a new huey from Revell now I know what I will be up against.

Reading other reviews, sure it's an old kit, plenty of flashing but it IS inexpensive. Wanted to switch from Armor to Flight and I think this was not the best choice but I will persevere and if need pass it to a grandson. There are better options in the 1/48 scale range so I may return back to the HUEY at some point. REVELL say Skill Level 4, they sure have that wrong. Easy to build and the 12+ age is closer to accurate as they probably wouldn't do the extra smoothing and filling needed.

Overall this is a decent model with a few exceptions. The interior/cockpit assembly fit very well and the fuselage sides came together perfectly. The engine, transmission and main rotor system have nice detail. The cockpit doors and engine covers were a very poor fit so I mounted all of them in the open position. The decal set is superb. I did not use the pilot figures (seemed hokey to me) nor any of the weapon systems as I flew slicks in the Army. I painted every part. Final product looks good.

I had to use way too much body putty to seal the halves. Also, the window attachment method could be better. The model is large and detailed. Guns are detailed, crew are detailed, cockpit pretty good detail. Insides are very detailed, seats or stretchers. The instructions are little difficult, take time to read and match instruction to parts, color chart good. I converted mine to a Vietnam era Marine with the field green paint, and markings. Some flashing to trim.

Was not pleased with this kit, It is a very old tool and it shows! a ton of flash, poor panel fit, the seams on the fuselage are terrible! door windows do not fit= gaps you can see through. it does have a bunch of armament options! The old adage you get what you pay for applies here. I got to the point of installing the guns and didn't like what I saw so I tossed it in the dumpster!

Good sized model. Pretty accurate but a lot of flash to clean up like a lot of people have mentioned. The main body of the Huey went together good and all the little parts had place indicators on the helicopter. The decals for the main rotor tips and the tail rotor tips were a little short. If I built it again I’d probably hand paint some of the decals

Enjoyed building this Huey. It brought back some memories. Has a lot of options that would match the real thing in real time. Made mine for a fellow VietNam brother that was shot down 5 times and lived to tell about it. In the process of build one for me and plan to build another for another brother. Take your time and your Huey will turn out super.

Average for what you expect from a Monogram kit. Mine was a late 1980's to early 1990's release. Parts fitted decent with some gaps or seams which you can putty fill or leave as is. I detailed the interior with the side doors open and the machine guns and rockets supplied in the box.

I mostly build cars and trucks. Occasionally I build a military model for a change of pace. This Huey kit was well detailed, parts fit relatively well, and flashing was minimal. I highly enjoyed and recommend this kit. Seriously thinking of getting a couple more as troop hauler and medivac.

Build this one back when I was a kid and it hasn't changed much. Plastic is soft especially across the windshield framebut for the price you can't beat this blast from the 'Nam. Good choice for youth modelers.

I bought this model for my father-in-law as a Xmas gift. It took a lot of work to make this thing look decent. I mean it took me several months to make this presentable. If you want to do a Huey don't pick this model.

The kit has a lot of flash that needs to be cleaned off, almost every part. Things fit for the most part, but it does need some work here and there. Overall it turned out nice. Nice size helo for the price.

As far as helecopters go this is a good one it's a very simple and beautiful model and very few small parts and comes with different gun options and also have the option to not put guns on it

I had one of these models a couple months back and decides to get more to have them in formation. Overall it’s a pretty good model you just need to be patient when assembling.

Not as detailed as other model kits I have ordered, lots of flashing to sand and take off. the pilots are not detailed at all, good for a back ground piece in a diorama.

Tooling is very bad they molds are bad and it has very little detail the panels are very hard to align and a few parts didn't fit so i had to improvise on many pieces.

Nice model !!! Good detail. BUT as with all helicopters assemble rotor props and engine shafts slowly AND paint after glue dries.Either that or recipe for disaster.

This is the helicopter my uncle flew in Vietnam and they were the work horse of the war i would like to get it in 1/32 scale just to take pride in what my uncle did

This was a really great kit when first released, and I am happy to have another one to build now. great detail and a timeless subject from the Vietnam era.

This model was well made and the instructions were spot-on. It's been a while since I put together a model and it was as I remembered...very enjoyable.

nice set with good detail. It gives you options on what weapons you want to place on the gunship. Sadly no door gunners though.

This is an easy model to assemble, parts all fit well. Most helicopter models, especially 1/32 scale are easy

this is a very nice model,the contents arrived on time and in new condition,cant wait to build it.

I wish that gave you more options than just gunship. I took matters into myown hands. See Gallery.

Looks good in the box received on time will add pictures when completed

Great model, can be easily detailed, very nice for dioramas

Fun model to build with many options of armaments.