When I started TacAir Publications in the late 1990s, its
goal was to provide AMS modelers with useful references to
make their quest for perfection a little easier. The first
photo reference guide was this one for the HH-43 Huskie. At
that time, Testors released the old Hawk 1/32 HH-43
kit that
had long disappeared into collectors' stashes. At last we had
an inexpensive kit ($9.00 USD) to work with. Cobra Company
even released a super
detail set for the
kit, how cool was that?
With an inexpensive kit and a fantastic detail set, what more
could you want? Oh, no references out there? That could be
a problem. TacAir Publications to the rescue.
I had photographed the recently (then) refurbished HH-43 on
display at the Pima Air & Space Museum, which has since
had its windows painted over to protect the interior from the
sun. I had posted some of these photos online for other modelers
to enjoy, but from all of the requests I'd received for higher
resolution shots, it was time to put together a color reference.
In addition to the photo walk around of the aircraft, I also
extracted the USAF TO 1-1-4 painting instructions for the aircraft
as well as a reference list of aircraft serial numbers.
Since this title was released in 1998, there
has been only one other title that covers the HH-43, the Kaman
H-43 by Wayne Mutza reviewed here.
It has excellent coverage of the aircraft's history and operations,
but virtually no photography of the aircraft in detail.
When we released the first version of this title
(#8001), it had 20 pages with 24 nice color photos printed
two per page. The next version (#8002) had been updated with
31 color photos and two black and white
photos. There were
also three pages of diagrams outlining the fire suppression
equipment slung under the USAF Huskie.
The title has been updated with new photos
from several other HH-43s on display to provide clearer shots
of the instrument panel and other key details. Photos of the
Fire Suppression Kit were also added. Now we also have excerpts
from the pilot's manual to illustrate the instrument panel
and consoles, safety markings, and servicing stenciling.
This
new version has grown to 60 pages and to keep the costs low,
we now publish this on CD-ROM as an Adobe Acrobat file (you'll
need Adobe Acrobat Reader loaded on your computer). You can
print high resolution pages (or the whole title) on your own
printer to help you through your next Huskie project.
Stop by TacAir Publications to
see what else is new and you can stop by our
eBay
store to order a copy of this useful reference. The price
includes free shipping with the US and $5.00 flat rate shipping
for the rest of the globe.
