Sikorsky HO4S-3
U.S. Military Helicopter

Italeri, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Glen Porter

Italeri's 1/72 scale HO4S-3 will be available online from Squadron.com

Becoming operational in 1950, the H-19 Chickasaw was introduced to combat in the later part of the Korean conflict and surpassed expectations in every task that it undertook. The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard knew it as the HO4S and the U.S. Marines called it the HRS. Many were built under license out-side the U.S.A. in the U.K., France and Japan, the most notable being the Westland Whirlwind. Despite it's high praise, it was always thought of as underpowered.

As far as I know, this is the third Chickasaw that Italeri have produced and apart from the second having pontoon floats, I don't know if there is any difference in the plastic. However, like other helicopter kits from this manufacturer, there is a very high level of detail both outside and in, to the point where most fixed wing aircraft modellers will be green with envy.

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The “A” sprue carries the three rotor blades with droop moulded in, most of the interior panels, some rotor head parts, wheels and cockpit seats. There is no sign of flash of any kind and the few ejector pin marks will not be seen after construction.

The “B” sprue has the forward fuselage and tail boom as four separate parts split vertically. There's also the four undercarriage struts, tail rotor, canvas passenger seats, various aerials and other external parts etc. Like the “A” sprue, it's beautifully moulded and blemish free.

The nine parts on the clear sprue are also very crisp and come wrapped in a plastic bag unlike the rest of the kit.

There are markings for three aircraft. The first is a Search and Rescue unit of the Royal Canadian Navy marked as red 4 from HMCS Bonaventure, 1953. Next is a U.S Marines HRS-2, Korea, 1953 and then a French H-19 from Algeria, 1956. Oddly, the Canadian aircraft marked red 4 in the instructions and decal sheet, is shown as yellow 4 on the box front.

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With this level of detail, even a moderately experienced modeller should be able to get a good result.

Highly Recommended.

Thanks to Italeri for the review sample