1/72 Italeri CH-47D Chinook

by Anthony DeTora

--------------------

 

Here is a model of a CH47D Chinook used for training at FT Rucker Alabama.  I am a Helicopter mechanic fortunate enough to work on these aircraft. This model was easy to build and very straight forward.  This kit was built for a friend who works with me so I built it straight out of the box.  It was painted using Testor's Model Master Paint. The cockpit is not bad but don't waste too much time making the instrument panel look real
because you won't see it.  (EVEN ON THE REAL ONE). The entire cockpit was painted black.  Seats are black with the seat belts painted white with steel buckles and the rest of the cockpit was dry brushed gray.  It could use some scratch building in the pedal department.  Brake hydraulic lines and wire bundles coming out of the instrument panel would be good additions. The ramp can be placed in the up or down position.  I chose leave it up so the sparse interior wouldn't be seen.  The biggest flaw I can see in this model is with the rotor blades. They represent the earlier models which were metal and
not the composite design. 

Click on images below to see larger images

I painted the exhaust cone first with aluminum and then airbrushed gold over it. Overall color of the Chinook was helo drab and black on the rotor blades and rotor heads.  Ft. Rucker Aircraft have orange painted on the aft and forward pylons and tunnel covers to help identify the aircraft as a trainer.
We don't have too many aircraft like that anymore. Mix and match is more the norm.  (See photo #6) Weathering was done with black and brown pastels.  VHP (vertical hinge pin) leaks were simulated with a black wash and a tooth brush.

The fit of the windscreen was excellent but the cabin windows gave me a little bit of a problem.  As for the avionics package, the D model has been upgraded since the release of this kit so it's a little outdated especially the antenna that runs along the entire left side of the fuselage (the American version) so I just left it off since some of our Chinooks at Rucker are void of one.  I HATE using decals so I choose the easiest way to elevate that problem. Some of the aircraft here don't have any markings except some stenciling and tail numbers so I added on only the tail number 1649 in black dry transfers (DT) on the aft pylon and white DT's (69) between the cabin windows.  You may notice no pitot tubes. Since I built this for somebody I was worried they would break off while delivering it so I left them off. 
All in all it's not really a bad kit and I'm building one for myself now (with some modifications of course).  If anyone is interested in some great reference photos of Chinooks and Blackhawks go to my web page
http://groups.msn.com/heloshots
Tony

Click on images below to see larger images

Photos and text © by Anthony De Tora