Cobra Company 1/32
HH-43 Huskie Superset

Cobra Company has released their latest masterpiece, a complete overhaul for the Testors (or Hawk) 1/32 Kaman HH-43 Huskie helicopter! As many of you will remember, the Hawk releases of the Huskie featured a working intermeshed rotor system (at least one release of this kit was motorized), sliding doors and a workable set of rear clamshell doors.

Externally, the kit was a great representation of the actual aircraft. Internally, the detail was what you might call "sparse". This was typical of the kits released in those days. However, with as much glass as there is on the Huskie aircraft, it was hard to hide the kit's spartan interior.

Many of us were pleasantly surprised to hear of Testors' plans to re-release this kit. We were even more surprised at the $9.00 suggested retail price! At that price, I'll definately be stashing a number of these kits away!

The folks at Cobra Company did some significant homework and designed this multimedia superdetail set. It is comprised of no less than 50 resin, white metal, and photo-etched parts. This first photo shows the new rear cabin floor, ceiling and sidewalls, forward bulkhead (dividing the cabin from the cockpit), and the cockpit floor. While the photos may not show it, the detailing on all of the pieces is very nicely done.

This second photo reveals the bulk of the details, including overhead cockpit framing, pilots' seats (w/seatbelts), overhead console, instrument panel, radios, fire extinguisher, and the aircraft battery. Also included are a few necessary external details, such as the loudspeakers and mounts for the nose of the aircraft, new landing gear wheels, cargo hook, and landing/spot lights.

The last shot shows the white metal cyclic and collective pairs, and the nice photo-etched fret. The photo-etched parts include the engine intake grills, rear cabin frame, door handles, antenna holders and a host of other subtle details. The only items missing are the aircrew checklists and frequency cards.

I know that I will be ordering a few more of these sets so I can build the standard grey CONUS aircraft, the arctic version, and the Vietnam camouflaged version. The suggested retail price for this set is $39.95, which is extremely reasonable for a complete interior and some exterior enhancements for the basic kit.

Don't get me wrong, the basic kit from Testors is a good exterior representation of the HH-43. With this set installed however, your Huskie could become a contest winner. I highly recommend this set to anyone with at least intermediate modeling skills and to all Huskie lovers everywhere!

This detail set is available directly from Cobra Company (www.cobracompany.com).

For more information on the HH-43 Huskie, including color photos, stop by the Kaman HH-43 Huskie Home Page at http://www.cybermodeler.com/aircraft/hh-43/huskie.shtml.