**** DONE: GB-37 1/48 ACH-47A Chinook - Helicopters / Military a/c of BoB 1940 (1 Viewer)

Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules

mikewint

Captain
8,271
1,991
Feb 17, 2010
Lakeview, AR
Username : mikewint
First name : Mike
Category : Intermediate
Scale : 1/48
Manufacturer: Italeri
Extras : Guns-a-go-go decal sheet

This Helo will not be the standard transport Chinook but one of four special armed Helos.
The first three birds arrived in Vietnam in 1966, and they engaged in six months of operational testing. They were assigned to support the US Army's 1st Cavalry Division as well as a Royal Australian Task Force.
With two 20mm cannons, a 40mm automatic grenade launcher, five .50-caliber machine guns, and two weapon pods that could carry either 70mm rocket launchers or 7.62mm miniguns, the armored ACH-47A Chinook could fly into the teeth of enemy resistance and fly back out as the only survivor.
The aircraft boasted overlapping fields of fire and 360-degree coverage.
Operating under the call sign "Guns-A-Go-Go," these behemoths were part of an experimental program during Vietnam to create heavy aerial gunships to support ground troops. Four CH-47s were turned into ACH-47As by adding 2,681 pounds of armor and improved engines to each bird.
Though the gunships performed well in combat, the Army was hesitant to expand the program because of high maintenance costs. Also, conventional CH-47s were proving extremely valuable as troop transports and for moving cargo.
Of the four ACH-47s created, three were lost in Vietnam. The first collided with a standard CH-47 while taxiing on an airfield. Another had a retention pin shake loose on a 20mm cannon and was brought down when its own gun fired through the forward rotor blades. The third was grounded by enemy fire and then destroyed by an enemy mortar attack after the crew escaped.
Since the gunships were designed to work in pairs, one providing security while the other attacked, the Army ordered the fourth and final helicopter back to the states. It was used as a maintenance trainer by the Army until 1997, when it was restored. It is now on display at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama.
 
Last edited:
The Kit:
IMG_2242.JPG
IMG_2243.JPG
 
Nice choice Mike. I have the Academy offering modelled as a Japanese J.A.S.D.F. helo to be converted to a Canadian CH-113.....if I get off my keester and start and finish my Defiant. Does this kit give you the option of folded rotors?
 
Does this kit give you the option of folded rotors?
I think so, no written instructions as such just pictures. The blades have mounting holes at the end and the rotor cap has male mounting pins. I am assuming that if I do not use glue at the joint they will be free to move.
Complicated instructions and a million pieces. The body has an inner fuselage and then the outer fuselage goes over it!!! None of which will be visible...of course.
 
Could go fibre optic, open the back door, put a battery in a box and add some internal lights........................:smile2::smile2::smile2::smile2::smile2:.................only jesting Mike.
 
Could go fibre optic, open the back door, put a battery in a box and add some internal lights
Actually I was thinking of a small robot camera on tracks that could move throughout the interior sending live motion to a nearby monitor!!
Yea sure, now the real world. Did some interior and cockpit work. Not a bad looking dashboard with three nice decals AND SEATBELTS!!!
All parts are cast in OD Green plastic so light colors like the Lt. Ghost Gray need two coats to cover. The two tone floor is Ghost and Gunship Grey which covered the OD much better. Still some details to add...
IMG_2244.JPG
IMG_2245.JPG
IMG_2246.JPG
IMG_2247.JPG
 
Last edited:
Used to use them when a full team was needed (20-30) 'course the Yards were tiny. The Chinooks were always referred to as BSTs (Big Slow Targets) and did not maneuver either quickly or very well. Anything over 30 degrees produced stress cracks in the fuselage.
We were in one once when a massive BANG shook the entire aircraft. The aircraft continued on and no red lights. On landing we found that a crack had opened around the aft work platform allowing it to open and the slipstream had torn it completely off. Had that 3x4 piece of metal hit the aft rotors my name would be on the wall
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back