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Picture used with exclusive
permission from
Thomas P. McManus.
The aircraft:
"The H-3 is a twin engine, all-weather helicopter. The
turbine engined Sikorsky S-61 spawned a family of submarine
hunters, airliners, and rescue helicopters with offspring
still serving around the world. Born as the Sea King
antisubmarine helicopter for the US Navy originally named
HSS-2, the S-61 grow in different models and is now used by
several countries.
In December 1957 the US Navy began a new program for a
high performance helicopter to replace the outdated S-58
(HSS-1). Sikorsky proposed a large twin turbine aircraft
with a boat-type hull and retractable landing gear for
amphibious operations. The S-61 aircraft, first designated
as HSS-1, then HSS-2, made it's first public factory flight
on March 11, 1959. The US Navy ordered the first ten
S-61B/HSS-2 for delivery starting in September 1961. One
year later, the HSS-2 was redesignated to SH-3A (H-3A, D, G,
H). The H-3 helicopter was the first helicopter to
incorporate an automatic blade fold system. It was the first
helicopter to fly faster than 200 mph. It flew 210.6 mph
(185kts) in 1962. It held the longest non-stop distance
record for helicopter's. In 1965 loaded with extra fuel, it
made a non-stop flight from the carrier Hornet, off the
coast of San Diego, to the carrier F.D. Roosevelt, off the
coast of Jacksonville, Florida. Covering 2116 miles in 15
hrs, 52 mins. The H-3 Sea King was designed for both shore
and ship-based operations with the ability to detect, track,
and destroy enemy submarines (ASW), provide logistic
support, and to conduct search and rescue operations.
 By 1979, the 20th anniversary of the first flight, more
than 900 military S-61s had accumulated over 3 million
flight hours, and 130 commercial S-61s had logged a total of
more than 815,000 hours. Sikorsky built more than 1100
S-61s, and this excellent machine was also built with
license in Great Britain by Westland as Sea King and
Commando, in Italy by Agusta as AS.61 and in Japan by
Mitsubishi."(http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/h-3.htm)
The 245 SH-3As sensors
included an AQS-10 dipping sonar and an APN-130 search
radar, weapons included torpedoes and deep charges. The 74
SH-3D added an uprated T58-GE-10 engines, an AQS-13A sonar
and APN-182 radar. The SH-3H is an upgrade
program for 116 SH-3A/-D/-Gs to perform inner zone ASW
defense with the -13B sonar, LN-66HP radar, chaff dispensers
and an ASQ-81 MAD (Magnetic abnormality detector). The H
model has since been updated with new equipment, but has now
been replaced by the S-60 series, in US service. Only some
remains in service.
The
kit:
The first thing you notice after opening the box is
that the kit has both engraved and raised panel lines
and dots.
Maybe it is because the bolts on the fuselage or maybe
it's an old kit, I can't say, but it looks like an
Airfix kit.
This is a kit that is
very hard to get, I succeeded after some long month
waiting at Hobby link Japan. I can understand why,
because this aircraft are an important part of the aviation
history and especially as it was used when the cold
was really cold. But it isn't the best kit you've ever
seen, even if it will make a nice kit on your shelf.
It is much 80s over it and even as I can't see any
flash, I have the feeling: "What if..." as I check the
sprues. What if the kit had more internal details.
What if the some of the parts was a little more
detailed etc, etc. I'm not even sure if it is so much
better than the Airfix kit that costs just $6-7. The
price I bought it for is really cheap, in Sweden you
have to pay at least twice. Well of course it is better but not the huge difference you
can see between Fujimi's CH-46 and Airfix's...
The cockpit has raised details on the instrument
panel and side consoles, but you can
use decals as an alternative. The raised details makes it easier to dry
brush so I don't complain. The clear "canopy" is
nicely done and covers the whole front of the
aircraft, as usual with this kind of helos. You have
to get some transparent green paint for the upper
windows as they are not painted, depending on version.
The cockpit interior consisting of seats, sticks and
rudder pedals. The
collective control (that makes the helo go up and
down) is is molded and I that is very good. So the
cockpit is ok, not the best but certainly not the
worst.
The inside of the passenger
compartment is includes seats and other details
depending on the version you are building. There are
some operator screens and also sonar buoys. So it is
pretty good indeed. The cabin door, on starboard can be displayed open
if you wish too. And with only some minor surgery you
can open the port side door too as it seems. But don't
forget to open all the holes, depending on version.
Outside the detail level
is fair, you got most of the antennas, torpedoes and
sonar buoys, but a very good suggestion is to buy
Eduards detail set. It is pretty expensive but very
good, it takes this kit to the next level.
Instructions are pretty nice and
almost comparable to those
find from Hasegawa and other high-end kits manufactures. The
instruction has 5 steps. The reference for
decals are not good and the reference pictures are
very small and does not tell you anything really, not
were the Marine aircraft was used or what year any of
the aircraft had those markings. The paint references are not as
good as in other Fujimi kits.
Paints are referenced to Gunze and given generic
names. No Fs numbers are given and that's not good. I
hope Fujimi can see this and make a re-release.
The Decals:
As I wrote in the
Kv-107/CH-46 preview. The decal sheet looks really nice,
all decals are in register and fine coloured.
But I have some objections as my experience with
fujimi decals are bad at best. The have a nasty habit
to reject micro sol products and not connect to the
surface at all. They also tend to break up. So try a
spare decal on a piece of plastic to see if it works
for you. If not, buy Microscale liquid decal film and
brush it on first, maybe that works, I don't know. But these are my own experiences
after 3-4 fujimi kits, so I can't say if it's true
here. But I've heard others talking about the same
problem and point out the use of really warm water and
DO NOT use any setting solution.
You got three decal
options:
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US Navy SH-3D, HS-2, USS
Enterprise
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US Navy SH-3H, HS-16,
USS America
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US Marines H-3.
Summery
First, buy Eduards detailing set...
The kit is of generic design, nothing special really. But it
is ok and it make a nice looking kit. Not as good as the
Kv-107/CH-46 kits, but not bad. The criticism is more about
"What if" than anything else. So if you can find it buy it,
because there are not many choices if you want a Sea king.
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