RAH-66 Comanche
Hi folks, just a quick build whilst I take a break from the big harrier currently on the bench. This is Revells 1/72 kit of the Boeing-Sikorsky RAH-66 prototype. I made an impulse buy for £8 at the local model shop!
The Comanche was originally designed to be a stealth reconnaissance scout helicopter, which could either designate targets for the AH-64's or engage smaller targets itself. There were two prototypes built and the first made it maiden flight in 1996. The program was eventually scrapped in 2004 costing the tax payer 6.9 billion!
The Comanche was armed with a 20mm Gatling cannon and could carry 6 hellfire missiles internally. There was also an option of fitting external stub wings capable of carrying a further 12 hellfires, at the sacrifice stealth capabilities.
The kit itself builds up... well like a sixteen year old, £8 Revell kit! There is the option of opening up the internal side stores to show the missiles, and also the stub wings are included along with the additional ordinance if desired. I decided to do a simple build and keep everywhere closed up to show the sleek stealthy shape of the air frame.
The prototypes were a light olive green, but I went with my own plan and built a 'what if it entered service'. I painted it all in Tamiya XF-1 matt black and didn't use any varnishes at all to try and capture the radar absorbing finish. This obviously meant no decals, so I left it completely unmarked.
The actual helicopter was quite small and measured 14 meters in length, and the model itself measures about 12cm. I was going to put a paint jar in one of the photos to get an idea of scale, but then forgot...
In all, well worth £8 and a fun little build! Thanks for looking.
This is one of (if not the first) Comanche I've seen built - it looks good.
Cheers mate! I had a look on scalemates.com, and apparently they released a 1/48th kit as well. It's long out of production though. I Had a look online for one but no luck!
Nicely built model of an interesting aircraft! That black really hides details - much like the real finish would, had it been used.
Very nice!
Thank you very much mate.
Nicely done Richard, almost looks like a Matchbox kit with those heavy panel lines !
Thanks Allan. It's definitely a budget kit! I could have filled and rescribed them, but that would be hard work!
A great build!
Thanks Robert. Much appreciated!
A cool little diversion, Richard, now get on with that Harrier!
Cheers George! I'm on holiday right now but I promise I will as soon as I get home.
I'm going with an arctic camo scheme on it. I'm almost ready to start the painting!
I always liked the shape of the Comanche. You did a very good job on this one!
Thanks mate. They look great with the wheels up! It would be good to model it like this, but stationary rota blades wouldn't look right.
🙂 ... Greetings ... 🙂 :
Interesting subject Richard. That for sure is a very good and different choice to get a little break from your Harrier project.
Cheers mate, it was a nice break!
I just stumbled across this buildup while looking for images of the Comanche to help me with my own build.
Youve done a really great job creating a really matt black finish that still shows some nice mottling character beyond just a uniform drab finish.
This looks really awesome.
A previpus reply mentioned the large panel lines.
True enough, the panel lines on this one are huge for sure.
I have two of the 1/72 and one of the 1/48 kits of this that I picked up years ago living in Seattle.
I decided I would go the route of closing up all the surface panel details and recribe them much finer.
It is more work but I figured what the heck...I'll give it a try.
That part is still in process...very slowly.
I decided to pick up a second 1/72 kit when I did so i could model one all closed up and Stealthy, and then one modeled with the bays open and the ESS stubs attached with some extra armament just to show the differences in the two.
Your build here definitely inspired me to get busy on mine.