A couple of weeks ago, on a visit to my local hobby shop, I couldn't resist the temptation of buying the new Special Hobby 1/72 scale kit of the US Army version of the CH-37B Mojave. It is just so butt-ugly, but at the same time so cool looking!

It is a very good kit, including a lot of resin and photo etched details. The only major trouble I have found so far is the engine pods/nacelles. They are maybe a bit over enginered, 9 plastic parts, a resin wheel well plus an etched mesh over the air intake on the front of the pod.. This is not made easier by the fact that some of the plasic parts are slightly warped. I had to glue strips of PC inside some of the joints, make the assembly in stages and use superglue on the most stubborn joints. Other than that it looks to bee a rather trouble free project.

In a search for references on the net, I stumbled over a very good site with a load of photos that already have been very useful: http://www.yolo.net/~jeaton/mojave/ch37.htm If you are building this kit, or planning to do so, this site is wholeheartedly recommended!

BTW, from the layout of the sprues and that some kit parts are not used for this version of the CH-37, it is most likely the a later issue of this kit will portray the later C-model used by the US Marine Corps. Main differences are a different stabilator arrangement and no sliding cargo doors on the starboard side of the fuselage.

Sounds pretty nice. Be sure to post some pics of it when you get a chance. This kit has been the holy grail of helo modeling for some time. I would love to see it built up.

Good luck.

Wow, I have never really seen any good quality photos of the Mojave. I am excited to see the turn out! Please post some photo's!