S-70B-2 Conversions

Armycast, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Mark Davies

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The Company

Armycast M&M’s website introduction gives a brief background of the company's four members. They obviously take pride in their products, and proclaim that they believe “their products will speak to you.”  Armycast M&M offer an interesting range of products in 1/72, 1/48 and 1/35 scales; and I encourage readers to take the time to check out their website.

Caveat

I have little knowledge of S-70 variants; so whilst examining these sets I found various items that are unknown to me and unnamed in the instructions.

I have have assumed, as presumably Armcast have as well, that S-70 buffs will know what they are looking at! I will take Armycast at their word and leave their images to do most of the talking.

Conversion & Detail Sets

As far as I am aware, it is the Hellenic Navy that operates the S-70B Aegean Hawk; so perhaps Armycast’s “Greek’s Army Variant” title got confused in translation somehow. (A similar error was made with Armycast's WAH-64 conversion set where the RAF was listed as the operator rather than the British Army.)   

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According to the box-tops both sets are suitable for use with the Hasegawa, Italeri and Hobby Boss SH-60B/F kits. However, the instructions contradict this advice. The instructions for the Greek version advise that the conversion is for the Hasegawa SH-60B, whilst the RAN’s list the Hasegawa and Hobby Boss SH-60B/F kits. Neither set of instructions mentions the Italeri kit. There is obviously some confusion here; and as my helicopter interests lie with earlier generations of rotary-winged machines, I cannot advise as to the suitability of one brand of SH-60 kit over another. The parts are all appear to be flush fit with the airframe surface, so I should think that they will be readily adaptable to any brand of SH-60 kit.

The parts and decals come in a small flip-top box with the contents enclosed in a zip-lock plastic bag. The parts are all well cast and nicely detailed (I did find one pin-hole on the Aussie set's main wheel, but this can be easily dealt with). A picture is worth a thousand words; so in addition to images of the parts I have included scans of the instructions, as these illustrate each conversion better than I could explain in writing.

It is good to see that someone has developed conversions covering both the Hellenic and Australian S-70B’s.  However, Armycast M&M need to pay closer attention to avoid conflicting information concerning the brand of kits the sets are intended to be used with. The same applies to translation; confusing the Greek Army with their Navy may undermine confidence in the research behind the sets.

It is good to see that someone has developed conversions covering both the obvious and more subtle differences of the Australian and Greek S-70’s. The decals are nicely done, and the conversion parts are good quality with nice levels of detail; whilst the instructions are clear enough for their purpose.

Recommended.

Thanks to Armycast M&M for the review sample

Review Text and Images Copyright © 2013 by Mark Davies
Page Created 29 April, 2013
Last updated 29 April, 2013

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