Hobby Boss 1/48 CH-47D Chinook Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

In June 1976, the Army awarded a contract to modernize the Chinook with three prototypes coming out of the CH-47A, CH-47B, and CH-47C fleets. The selected airframes were stripped down to their basic airframes before being refit with two T55-L-712 turboshaft engines rated to 3750 shaft horsepower at 100 percent torque and up to 4500 shp at 123 percent torque. The transmission was rated to 100 percent torque in twin-engine operations. In addition to engines and transmissions, other improvements incuded a revised cockpit, improved electrical systems, improved avionics, and advanced flight control systems. A total of 447 D-models were produced which included three all-new airframes in addition to the remanufacture of the A, B, and C models.

Here is another much-anticipated release from Hobby Boss - the CH-47D Chinook in 1/48 scale. The kit appears to be a scaled-down version of the Trumpeter kit released in 1/35 scale over 15 years ago. Molded in light gray styrene, the kit is presented on nine parts trees, plus three additional trees of clear parts.

Assembly begins with the cockpit and this is a nicely detailed affair. The instrument panel is molded in clear and a decal is provided with instrument faces.

The center console is nicely detailed and will look great with some dry-brushing to make that detail stand out. The crew seats are also nicely done and these are complimented with photo-etched seatbelts and harnesses.

The Chinook has a pair of bulkheads that separate the cockpit from the cargo compartment. In between these bulkheads are racks for aircraft avionics and supplies. This is rendered nicely in the kit and would be enhanced with a little cabling if such detailing would be visible from outside the model.

The cargo compartment has detailing molded on the insides for the fuselage halves, and separate cargo floor and ceiling are provided to 'box in' the compartment.

For a change, the engines in this kit are not over-engineered with lots of details. What Hobby Boss has done is provided just what is needed to render the powerplants with the engine nacelle covers closed. Don't worry, you'll still see engine as all of the vents and grilles are rendered in photo-etch.

The crew entry door can be positioned open or closed. The rear cargo ramp can also be positioned open or closed

There is a nice array of antenna posts mounted on the port side of the aircraft, which will require significant care in handling considering how early these are installed. I will probably wait until the very end to add these posts. What is interesting is that Hobby Boss didn't provide any instructions for routing the HF antenna wire through these posts, so you'll have to hit the internet or your references to see how to properly route your antenna.

This is an impressive kit straight out of the box and will lend itself to some interesting displays and dioramas at the next round of IPMS contests.

My sincere thanks to Model Rectifier Corporation for this review sample!