HH-60H Rescue Hawk

Skunkmodels Workshop, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Mick Evans

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The HH-60H Rescue Hawk is a variant of the SH-60F Seahawk developed in 1986 for Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) and Naval Special Warfare (NSW) missions.  It is the US Navy’s all weather twin engine combat rescue helicopter capable to operate from a wide range of platforms including destroyer, cruiser, aircraft carrier, fast combat support ship and other USN vessels.

Configured to retrieve downed aviators behind enemy lines, the HH-60H is packed with the SH-60F’s core avionics with a range of special defensive equipment.  These include door mounted weapons such as GAU-17 7.62mm miniguns to suppress enemy fire at rescue operations; Missile Warning System and Infrared Jammer to counter hostile missiles; and the Forward Looking Infrared Radar (FLIR) to track surface vessels.

This release from Skunkmodels Workshop includes all the plasic parts from Italeri Seahawk. It is a beautifully detailed and accurate kit.  Skunkmodels has added the required plastic parts to modify the original Italeri kit to the HH-60H variant.  Also included is a fret of photo-etched metal to add to the cockpit detail. 

The kit comprises approximately 153 light grey injection moulded plastic parts, 33 etched metal parts and 35 clear parts, a decal sheet covering two US Navy schemes. 

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Thumbnail panels:

The moulded parts are free of flash and all injector pin marks are well hidden. 

The new additional parts for the Skunkmodels release are mostly moulded in clear plastic to facilitate the new cockpit doors. 

This also eliminates the awkward issue of fitting the clear window into the door and the possibility of unsightly gaps around the window.

The new parts include:

• Nose mounted FLIR turret

• Cable cutters

• LH wing/pylon

• Self-defence equipment

• External fuel tank

• One-piece cockpit doors

• Colour etched instrument panel

• Colour etched centre console panels

• Seat belts and harness

When this kit was first released some years ago it had some very nice internal detail and the Italeri moulds are holding their age well - the detail is still crisply moulded.  The surface detail is engraved and the kit is well detailed by today’s standard.  A nicely detailed interior cargo bay floor is provided but on the full size aircraft this is a very busy area, so there is plenty of scope for extra detail.  The rear cargo area door can be positioned in the open or closed position.  The cockpit area is detailed adequately but once again the area can easily be made a bit busier with some extra detail work.  The seats are all a bit heavy on the moulding and could do with some thinning down or replaced for accuracy purposes.

The top deck is adequately detailed around the rotor head area and is sufficient for the amount that is visible.  The rotor head itself is well detailed and is the blade folding type of rotor head.  The rotor blades have the rotor droop moulded into the blades so there is no need for hot water and manual manipulation.  The undercarriage has been well detailed and represents the real aircraft, although the rear tail wheel looks a little long which may make the tail sit a bit high, I won’t know this until it is built and I will adjust it accordingly.

The extra parts supplied by Skunkmodels include new optional cockpit doors. This will require the left door to be carefully cut from the fuselage half.  Some minor surgery is required to install the beautiful colour photo etched instrument details and seat belts.  These have been etched by Eduard and will certainly enhance the cockpit detail.  The transparencies are moulded crystal clear and installation should be quite easy.

The fit of the kit should present no major problems, and remember that the aircraft is fairly rugged so some panels do not align well on the actual aircraft.

Decals are provided for two aircraft as follows:

• HH-60H Rescue Hawk NF615 (163786) of HS-14 “Chargers” based on CVW-5 USS George Washington in 2009.  This Aircraft is finished in FS36375 Light Ghost Grey and FS36495 Light Grey.

• HH-60H Rescue Hawk AJ-615 (165115) of HS-3 “Tridents” based on CVW-8 USS Theodore Roosevelt in 2009.  This Aircraft is finished in FS36375 Light Ghost Grey and FS36495 Light Grey

The decals are crisp, accurate in colour and in register.  The decals are designed by Crossdelta and printed by Cartograf. My previous experience with Cartograf decals is they are very thin and conform well to surface detail.

Also provided is a very nice card replica of an aircraft carrier deck section with the helipad markings including tie down points. This is large enough to mount to a base and display the completed model.

Recommended for all modellers of average skill and experience.

Thanks to Lucky Model for the sample

Review Text Copyright © 2011 by Mick Evans
Images Copyright © 2011 by Brett Green
Page Created 20 April, 2011
Last updated 20 April, 2011

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