Hughes/MD500 1/72 kit comparison.

[Loach Driver]

Here is a comparison between the 1/72 Italeri AH-6A Night Fox kit and the new Hughes MD500/500E kit from AZ Models.

Here is the box top artwork for the two new kits.

Here are the various markings options for the two kits.

What you get in the box. This is the Hughes MD500D Defender kit.

First to market of the two brand new 1/72 H500/MD500E kits are this pair from AZ Models. These kits represent two of a total of four different versions of this kit. The next two in the list are the Kawasaki-Hughes OH-6D and the Nardi-Hughes NH500E. So what do you get in each box?

Both boxes contain two complete kits! Two sprues of plastic parts, two clear sprues (one bubble nose and one pointy nose), enough resin parts for two kits and also two frets of photo-etched parts.

The fuselage parts are the same length in both kits so there is no scale discrepency between the two kits. The surface detail is much more comprehensive in the AZ kit. The fuselage halves come with all four doors in place and there is also a rain-guard running over the top of both sides above the doors. The hinges for the front door appear to be a little overscale. The large skid mounting stubs present on the Italeri fuselage are absent on the AZ fuselage. The one thing missing in the AZ MD500E kit is the flat aerodynamic surface that sits on the top of the main rotor transmission doghouse. This is a strange omission.

The main rotors measure out at the exact same length. The root detail on the AZ blades is more comprehensive but the Italeri blades have subtle detail as well. The rotor head is almost identical in both kits. The swash plate needs to be detailed with fine rod or stretched sprue to complete this area and this is highlighted in the instructions. The AZ main rotor shaft is far too long and will have to be modified or replaced with a scratch-built item. The Italeri rotor shaft is also too tall but not as bad as the AZ one.

The cockpit floor and front and rear bulkheads are similarly detailed in both kits. The AZ forward bulkhead has finer detail including seatbelt inertia reels which aren't in the Italeri kit. The instrument panel is in resin in the AZ kit and has finer detail, which will require careful painting. The cyclics and tailrotor pedals are also in resin but the collective levers will have to be made from plastic rod in the AZ kit, while the Italeri kit has a full set of controls.

The AZ kit comes with both short and tall landing skids. Again, the short ones are very similar to the skids in the Italeri OH-6A kit while the tall skids are more accurate that the tall Italeri skids, although the rear skid steps are too low.

The tail assembly is identical in shape and size in both kits although the detail is finer in the Italeri kit. The D-style end plates are in plastic while the E-style endplates are in photo-etch. I think I will make thin plastic end-plates for my 500E when I build one. The tail rotor is more accurate in the AZ kit but will require care when removing it from the sprue.

The resin sprue also contains the TOW missile pods and mounting arms, Blackhole IR surpressors and M-65 nose-sight as well as the finer cockpit details already mentioned. The Italeri TOW pod mounting arms are more accurate.

The two clear sprues come with bubble or pointy nose glazing so each kit, be it Hughes 500 MD Defender or MD500E will actually allow you to build either two D or two E models or one of each. The bubble nose has very fine framing lines while the pointy nose has much thicker, proud, framing but it should be OK after careful painting. The pointy nose is the earlier version that first went into production in 1983 and doesn't reflect the current production version but thats not a major problem as the Profiline kit will have the later pointy nose.

The two identical etched frets contain the E-style endplates, various style of aerials, foot steps for underneath the rear doors and the wire strike kit.

The decals are quite comprehensive in both kits and appear to be in perfect register. The Mexican and Chilean decal options actually feature the MD530F so the engine doors and tail rotor gear box will have to be modified accordingly.

Conclusion.

Overall, the new AZ Models kit is an improvement over the now rare Italeri AH-6A Night Fox kit. Some details are finer in the Italeri kit but it is nothing to loose sleep over. This is also the first 1/72 MD500E and this is a major selling point. The 500E in this kit is the early production version while the Profiline kit will be the later version. It is great to see this new kit on the market and should be a great seller. After all, you get two complete kits in each box and at a very good price. Even if you plan to get the Profiline kit, don't overlook the AZ Models kit as it has much to offer.

LD.

Edited September 2, 2010 by Loach Driver

[MarkoZG]

Do you have a Profiline kit or at least intend to buy it? It would be interesting to add it to comparison too.

[Loach Driver]

Do you have a Profiline kit or at least intend to buy it? It would be interesting to add it to comparison too.

Nope. I don't have them yet. When I do get the kits from Profiline I will modify that first post into a three-way comparison.

LD.

[EDWMatt]

Great review, LD!

One note. The 'surfboard' on top of the doghouse isn't present on all 369E's. It was found to shed asymmetric vortices under some flight conditions, leading to directional instability, so it was eliminated fairly early in the production run. Although if the kit has the early style pointy nose framing, they probably should have included the 'surfboard'

[RotorheadTX]

LD, thanks for the fine piece of work there. I look forward to reading the three-way comparison, but in the mean time I really must scare up a couple of these AZ kits!!

Kudos!!!

[ChernayaAkula]

Very helpful review! Thanks!

[Steven H. McLain]

Very helpful review! :D Thanks!

Where can you buy the AZ kits?

[Loach Driver]

Where can you buy the AZ kits?

Hannants in the UK have these in stock, but I got mine on ebay from a seller in the U.K. at a very reasonable price. I don't know of any retailers in the U.S.

I should soon be in a position to do a three-way head-to-head between the Italeri and AZ Models kits and the new Profiline kit very soon. Stay tuned.

LD.

Edited August 6, 2010 by Loach Driver

[Fanakit]

Very interesting, thanks for this review

Ivan

[Loach Driver]

Here is a look at the two new 1/72 Hughes/MD 500 kits from Profiline. I haven't included any photos of the parts but there are plenty of good photos in the Profiline thread here on ARC.

Looking at the Hughes 500D kit first, you get a tan plastic sprue containing most of the parts, a clear sprue containing the forward fuselage halves and four doors, a massive decal sheet and a small adhesive sheet for the instrument panel. Here is a breakdown of the parts in this kit and how they compare to the Italeri and AZ Models kits;

1. Tail assembly.

The vertical section of the tailplane is nicely detailed with some very nice little rivets. The tail strobe light is there but the little tailskid at the bottom is not present, unlike in the Italeri and AZ kits. It shouldn't be too difficult to make one from fine wire. The horizontal tail surface is of a greater chord than the other two kits and this seemed to be out of scale. I had a look at a few photos of D and E model 500s and it seems there is an early- and late-style horizontal surface. The D model 500 (the full-size helicopter) had the smaller one initially, until the early eighties, possibly. It then seems that the larger chord tail plane was introduced with the E and F versions and some D models have been fitted with the larger plane. The end plates are provided in plastic for both the D and E style and look a little thick but should be OK.

2. Tail rotor gearbox and tail rotor blades.

The tail rotor gearbox appears to be the long version for the MD530F/AH-6J Little Bird versions. It can be easily shortened for the D and E models to reflect the shorter gearbox on these helicopters. The long gearbox will, of course, allow you to convert the E version into the MD530F Big Lifter version or the D into a Little Bird, although I think a Little Bird kit is to follow later this year. You get two pairs of tail rotors so you can build a standard two-blade version or the quiet four-blade version.

3. Fuselage components.

The tailboom and main transmission housing are made up of two halves in tan plastic. The two forward fuselage halves for the cockpit section are moulded in clear plastic. The tan parts have nice surface detail although the tailboom seems to be of a larger diameter than the other two kits. I checked it against the scale plans in Maurizio Di Terlizzi's book on the 500 and the Profiline tailboom appears to be of the correct diameter but is actually a little short and will need to be extended by about two milimetres. The Italeri and AZ fuselage halves are slightly under-scale, according to these plans. I also checked the E fuselage against the plans and it seems to be spot on. I dry-fitted one of the doors to the fuselage and these will need a little careful sanding if you want to have them closed. The exhaust pipe is a flat piece with little depth but when painted will probably look fine. It could always be replaced with a small section of plastic tubing to give an impression of greater depth. The "Surfboard" is included for the E version but the E in this kit is the late-production version which had the surfboard deleted. You can add it to your AZ Models 500E though because that kit doesn't have a surfboard but is the earlier version and actually requires it!

4. Main rotor system.

The main rotor blades include the sections with the increased chord, correct for the D and E versions. The hub detail is a little better on the AZ models kit but is still good in this scale. It will be painted black anyway so it is difficult to see the detail. The blades have a little flash but it will be cleaned up easily with a scalpel. They are possibly slightly overscale in chord near the hub but the length looks OK. The blades will need care in construction, but that is the same for all three kits because the whole assembly is so small. I used a small jig on my Italer kit (OH-6D) and it will be necessary to use one for the AZ and Profiline kits as well.

5. Interior.

The fuselage floor has the rib detail on the rear floor and the rear bulkhead wall also has some nice detail. The rear face of the forward bulkhead has an intercom box. The rear compartment has a nice little bench seat. The front seats are made up of two parts each and have a little flash but look good. The forward floor section has a console normally seen only in the military versions so if you are building a civilian D or E version, this will have to come out. The instrument panel is also for the military D model but is suitable for the civilian E version. The Profiline kit has two pairs of cyclics, collectives and tail rotor pedals.

6. Undercarriage.

You get two sets of skids in the Profiline kit, short and tall. The short skids are possibly a little too tall and the top of all four skid legs will need to be trimmed to get the correct length. It might be possible to add the short skids from one of the other two kits. The tall skids have steps on the front and rear skid legs. The legs look to be the correct length and the skids are also of the correct length.

7. Decals.

D Kit - the colour options include markings for the Finnish AF, Colombian AF, Italian AF, and civilian versions from the U.K., Germany and Austria plus two U.S. police helicopters from Honolulu and the Riverside PD.

E Kit - the colour options include markings for the Argentinian AF, Italian AF, Mexican AF, Finnish AF, Mexican Navy, Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force x 2 and civilian helicopters from Hawaii and the Czech Republic. Markings are also included for the red-and-white tail rotors.

8. Conclusion.

All three kits have their good points. The Profiline appears to be the most accurate kit when compared to the plans I have. To get the ultimate D, E or F model of the Hughes/MD 500 helicopter, I would probably use the Profiline kit as a base and add some of the better details from the Italeri and AZ Models kits as well. But don't write off the Italeri or AZ Models kits on their own. If you want an early version E model, the AZ kit is the way to go. The only OH-6A/Hughes 500C kit available is still the Italeri kit and their AH-6A kit builds into a nice 500 M-D TOW Defender. It appears that the M-65 nose sight from the Italeri kit will also fit the glazing on the Profiline kit so you can convert it into a TOW Defender too. The Y-tailplane and four blade main rotor head can also be taken from the Italeri OH-6A kit and added to either the AZ or Profiline D kits to make a Hughes 500C/M. It's been a great year for the 500 modeller so now it's just a question of finding the time to build them all. And we still have the NOTAR and Little Bird kits to look forward too!

Thanks to Stepan for supplying the review kits and apologies for taking so long to post this.

LD.

[Loach Driver]

Here is a link to an out-of-the-box comparison build of the AZ Models and Profiline kits, courtesy of Alexandr. It has plenty of very useful photos.

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index....mp;hl=Profiline

LD.

Edited September 6, 2010 by Loach Driver

[Loach Driver]

Here is a link to a thread on Britmodeller with a photo of the ultra rare 1/72 Scale Cast Hughes 500D. I had heard about the plans to produce this kit but I had never seen one. They apparently had an OH-6A, 500C, MD500E and MD520N in their range but again I don't know if they went into production.

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=74257

LD.

[Viasistina]

Great review and much appreciated but you forgot the part where the clear parts on both sides and both doors of the AZ kit simply fall through the openings. I've fiddled with them several times and I cant get them to stay in place prior to permanent attachment. Maybe some better modeler then me can figure it out, but the windows are just undersized enough to drive you nuts. My solution..take the best and newer parts plus PE plus decals and build a batch of updated Italeri kits. Overwise, I wait patiently for a recommended solution.

As a side note, my build sequence is to complete the kit sans interior allowed more room to fiddle with the windows after all is done without havingt to mask them. Then I complete the interior piece and slide it in gently after I mounted the windows. Everything slides into place real nice then I glue the front wind screen in place..and voila!!!

[Loach Driver]

To compliment the up-coming AH-1G in 1/72 scale, here is an "OH-6A in Vietnam" release from AZ Models.

http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AZM74026

The thing I find really interesting is the decal sheet, with markings for one of the YOH-6A prototypes. Nice!

LD.

[hawkwrench]

I wish somebody would come out with the "silver eagles" decals. For those that don't know, the silver eagles were the Army's flight demonstration team back in the 70's I believe. Maybe Ray has some pics in his archive. Preferably 1/35 scale , but 48 and 72 will work also for the decal sheet.

[rotorwash]

I wish somebody would come out with the "silver eagles" decals. For those that don't know, the silver eagles were the Army's flight demonstration team back in the 70's I believe. Maybe Ray has some pics in his archive. Preferably 1/35 scale , but 48 and 72 will work also for the decal sheet.

Hmm, here's a few from the USAAM archives:

This bird turned out to be Hugh Mills Miss Clawd IV that was sent back stateside and used by the silver eagles:

The Silver Eagles also carried on a tradition started way back with the H-19 of performing with the helos decked out as clowns. Bozo was the star attraction.

Of course the Silver Eagles were known for their precision flying:

Last but not least a couple of shots on the ground: