The Little World

I was prepared for the little Marine attack helicopter kit to be two things; crude and unshapely. It may be the latter but it certainly is not the former.

The plastic from which it is moulded is a little more brittle than Airfix but not by much. It sands and cuts well, and the feed gates are both commendably small and well-placed. All the parts for the tiny cockpit and even tinier swivel Gatling mount went on and fitted. The gun trains and swivels.

The fuselage may close well, but that’s to be seen after the pit is painted. There are locating tabs but they are tiny.

As far as ungainly goes…I may be judgemental, but the thing looks like it was made of parts taken out of a kitchen drawer. Designers only seem to get so far with helicopters before sleek ideas run out and they have to start welding angle iron on it.

I am led to believe that some helicopters do have armour panels on the side – recognising that they will be operating close to areas full of small arms fire. This seems a good idea, as does the thought of equipping the machine with multiple forms of offensive capability. I see rocket pods, separate rockets, and even an air-to-air missile on this one…as well as the gun. The crew have any number of ways of expressing their disapproval.