Revell 1/72 Eurcopter SA.365 Dauphin 2

REVELL (MATCHBOX) 1:72 EUROCOPTER SA.365 DAUPHIN 2

Reviewer: Richard Stracey (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted: 19 February 2003 (#62)

Kit Details:

EUROCOPTER SA 365 DAUPHIN II - REVELL # 04467 1/72

Aircraft History:

The single engined SA 360 Dauphin was designed to replace the classic Alouette III. It was the first helicopter to adopt the shrouded Fenestron tail rotor. The demand was for a more powerfull, longer range machine that developed into the 365 with two Textron Lycoming 680 shp LTS 101 – 750A – 1 engines. Some versions were also fitted with 650 shp Turbomeca Arriel turboshafts. In Cosatguard service the Dauphin was known as the HH-65A Dolphin.

The Kit:

You may remember this kit as the 1984 British Matchbox PK38. This time it is made in Poland for Revell Germany using Italian decals! The model consists of sixty six parts, unfortunately in red plastic! The instructions are good except that they consist of three double sided loose pages which take up a lot of modelling space and drives me crazy trying to find what colour “A” is etc. At one time Matchbox employed a design engineer who enjoyed making complex shapes. Sometimes it was necessary and sometimes not and sometimes it worked and sometimes not.

Construction:

Looking at the parts breakdown I feel that it could have been made much simpler. In future, when the dies have worn more, I can see big problems with fit. Although complex , the fuselage, cockpit roof and engine cover do go together quite well. The windscreen (47) needs trimming at the roofline otherwise it will show through the greenhouse transparencies. Dry fit it to see what I mean. The interior detail is adequate as long as the doors are closed. I just added seatbelts. The eyebrow/ greenhouse windows (48&49) need painting on the inside.

Revell insist on recommending their own paint. In this case a mixture. It is much simpler to use Tamiya X25 Clear Green or, in the case of the machine that I made, X23 Clear Blue. The sequence of assembly as shown in the instructions makes sense although I chose to leave off, till after painting, the windscreens wipers, wheels and pitot tubes. The sliding main doors can be modelled in the open position and, if required the pilots doors could be glued open too. The windscreen wiper arms need trimming to bring the mounting point closer to the base of the windscreen.

All photos that I have seen (as well as the box art) shows an air intake on the nose and a square one in the centre front of the engine “hump” Also shown on the box art but , understandably not supplied, are the VOR ariels each side of the rear fuselage. It’s easy enough to make them from brass wire along with foot steps at the lower rear edge of the pilots doors. Modern aircraft seem to sprout a variety of ariels so it is best to consult photos of the individual aircraft to get them right. I also drilled out the engine intakes and exhausts.

All in all, construction is simple. Painting is another matter as even a red machine needs all the window and door frames first to be painted the interior colour then undercoated in white then the exterior colour. As usual, it is best to look at a photo of the aircraft as some have a solid lower panel to the main , sliding doors.

Decals:

The decals are beautifully printed, very sharp and crisp, one for a mainly red HH- 65A US Coastguard machine at Patuxent River in 1991 and a white (!) one in French Air Force markings at Bretigny in 1997. Both would look very smart and I would have a hard time deciding which to make but I have a confession to make. I was seduced! Well, it isn’t the first time that I (and you?) have purchased a kit to go with an aftermarket set of decals. In this case I couldn’t decide between G-HEMS and G-HEMS. That is, Whirlybird decals # 72003 Virgin scheme in red and Whirlybird decals # 72002 Express newspapers in yellow.

The decals looked great but….. I don’t think that the problem lies with Whirlybird but more the limited run, computer printed method for producing them. Why they can’t be printed onto blank decal film, I don’t know. As they come they have no carrier film to the extent that each character is separate! This means that most of the sheet needs to be painted over with some sort of varnish (Johnsons Kleer, Microscale Liquid Decal Film etc.) to hold them together. Another problem that I found to my cost was that the decals don’t seem to have any adhesive qualities at all. I overcame this by painting the area to be decaled with white glue diluted with setting solution but not before I had lost one decal.

Once on the decals look OK but the fitting can not be recommended for anyone of a nervous disposition. Their instruction sheet is very good and includes a “ painting template”(it isn’t actually a template but is still very useful) for the complex main rotor painting. In hindsight I should have ordered Whirlybird’s WBA 72001 which is a resin Medivac interior suitable for G-HEMS (and I presume, others) then I could have slid the doors open. G-HEMS in the Express scheme was featured in Scale Aircraft Modelling December ’96 issue of (UK) “Police Air Support” which makes no mention of any under surface markings. Whirlybird however supply a large white cross on a red disc! Have the Swiss invaded England? I checked with Whirlybird who e mailed me a photo proving their decals to be correct…. Thanks Roger.

Conclusion:

Model Alliance also make various decals for Dauphins, available from The Aviation Workshop UK or Hawkeye models Australia. The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Aircraft V1 p.115 features the 365 including artwork for a different Coastguard aircraft. Scale Aircraft Modelling of Feb. ’85 and July ’02 reviews this kit. If you look up HEMS ( as in”Helicopter Emergancy Medical Services”) website you can find out everything about G-HEMS (except useful pictures) including a very nice card model in 1/48 or you could get the new Trumpeter 1/48 plastic kit. This Revell kit is suitable for all grades of modeller as it is really quite simple. It is just the painting of the transparencies that requires experience and next time Revell how about white, not red.

RHS/62

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