In 1950 the Marines and Navy put a request for a
heavy lift helicopter that could carry 26 fully-equipped troops. Sikorsky
answered the call with this, the S-56. First flown in 1951, the USMC and
the US Army both received deliveries in 1956.
After reading all there was to read about all of the
designations given to this aircraft I decided that if you care enough to
learn all about it you can. It gave me a headache to read what little I did
read. By the time I gave up trying to learn the different types I found
out that the army's version started out as CH-37As but were all later
upgraded to CH-37Bs. It appears that the Marines Mohave fleet eventually
all became CH-37Cs. What does all of that mean? Heck if I know, or care.
All that matters is that this is one very cool looking helicopter.
When the CH-37 entered service it was the biggest
helicopter in the west. It held that title until the Chinook came around.
The CH-37 was powered by piston engines. That fact had a hand in the
relatively short service life of this line of helicopters. In the late
sixties they were starting to replace it with CH-54 Skycranes, which were
powered by turboshaft engines. The type was eventually completely out of
service from even NG units by sometime in 1974.
This
little beauty comes on three gray trees. All of the parts look to be in
good condition and only one part had even fallen off of it's tree by the
time it got to my house. There is very little flash to seen anywhere and
the surface detail is about 95% recessed. There a
re
a few raised details but only where appropriate. Not much seems over or
under done with this kit.
The clear parts come in their own bag and are crisp
and clear. The clamshell doors are molded in two parts so no cutting will
be needed if one were to build it all opened up. But since it doesn't have
anything to go into the cargo bay only the scratch builders will be
utilizing this feature I suppose.
The resin parts, big surprise, came in their own bag
as well. With as many as there are it would not have hurt my feelings if
they would have came in two bags. Past that the resin parts are very nicely
done, a few look to be a tiny bit grainy but nothing terribly bad. It even
has resin rotor heads. For a long time I have wanted to work with resin
rotor heads, I'm kind of giddy about alone.
The
photo-etched parts are in with the decals. They seem to be well done. I'm
a bit intimidated by the fact that each seat has seven parts to each
seatbelt. The smallest being about as thick as an eyelash and maybe three
millimeters long. This will be a squinter for sure. There is a piece of
that film for the instrument panel and I hope this go down as one of many I
remember only after the bird is almost done.
The decals look to be in register and well done, too
bad I won't be using them. I'm building this for one of guys I work with so
he can give it to his uncle who used to fly these for the United States
Marine Corps. If I was using them I would have three options to choose
from. Well sort of. The first two options are pretty much the same with
only the 'eyes' being changed on the front of the engine pods. The third
option is quite a bit more colorful and if this wasn't being built for my
friend I would go with the third one.
This is a beautiful kit of a unique looking
helicopter that served our armed forces. While I wouldn't recommend it for
the beginners out there I will give it a resounding YES for everyone else.
The only real complaint I could give would be the lack of any cargo bay
detail.
If I am as impressed by the build as much as I am
impressed by the pre-view I may just have to buy one for myself.
Many thanks go out to my co-worker for giving me the
chance to build such a unique subject, and to Special Hobby for creating
such a wonderful model of a well overlooked helicopter.
This
little beauty comes on three gray trees. All of the parts look to be in
good condition and only one part had even fallen off of it's tree by the
time it got to my house. There is very little flash to seen anywhere and
the surface detail is about 95% recessed. There a