Kitty Hawk 1/35 SH-60B Seahawk

[Peterpools]

The Interior Seats

With medical issues and my wife’s upcoming procedures this coming week, bench time has been in short supply, as it should be. I decided to follow Oliver’s suggestion of using Werner’s Wings interior upgrade set, as KH’s rendition needs some help. AM sets ordered.

Knowing I would be waiting most likely a month plus, I decided to keep moving forward on what I could accomplish on the interior components until the need for the AM parts would put a halt on this area of the build and I would then start working on some of the exterior assemblies. Of course, deciding I would now use some AM parts, I could no longer compete in the OOB category and instead would enter in the all-inclusive Helicopter category.

The seats

I removed the major parts for both the pilot and co-pilots seats and as with the weapon officer’s seat, the same rear seat frames for all three seats were slightly twisted and some ends bent in the same spots on all three seats frames. Guessing, most likely the damage was the result of either how the frets were removed from the molds or handled in packing them in the clear ‘protective’ bags. Side frame supports are ‘tender and delicate’, and of course, I broke the first one without even knowing it.

I don’t think anyone could have designed a more frustrating assembling procedure if they tried. Add in the poor instructions, coming up way short of helping the builder achieve a clear understanding of the part orientation and correct attachment location. After struggling with the first seat, I finally figured it out and moved on.

Of course, the seat cushions for all three were a bit too wide, needed sanding to actually fit. Not a biggie, but come on, just seems there was a lack of caring. To add insult to injury, the instruction calls for the first three seats built to use seat cushions HE19. Of course, there were only two HE19 cushions provided and I substituted HE20, another cushion that looked nearly identical. Come on KH, did anyone ever check to see if the number of parts needed matched what is in the box? Maybe the error lay with the instructions, for being incorrect again, who knows?

I built up the remaining three seats, six in total, all suffered from the instructions just not being clear enough on how the parts go together and with the correct orientation for assembly. Injector pin marks needed to be filled in and surely the seat backs for the rear two cabin seats, could have been reversed in design so the injector pin marks would have been on the back and remained unseen. Just not enough care in how the parts were designed.

I started to test fit the bulkheads and partitions in the interior cabin and some of the other larger parts and  part fit is sloppy, with much needed precise locating pins being completely absent. You need to hunt and look through the instructions to find a clue as to what the proper part location should be. Better instructions with precise part locations would have been a huge help but just not to be.

Next up is painting and lightly weathering the seats.

So far, the kit has fallen below my expectations and seems to follow the reputation Kitty Hawk had earned. As John b says: a high cuss factor for sure.

Just a few images to where I am and no indication of the amount of work and frustration to reach this point.

 

 

 

 

[JohnB]

1 hour ago, Peterpools said:

Thanks John

Very much appreciated. Fingers crossed for sure, as the procedure is tomorrow morning.

 

 

Hoping all will go well Peter.

[Peterpools]

Thanks John

Very much appreciated

 

[GazzaS]

Despite all of the extra work, Peter...   it looks good.

[Peterpools]

Thanks GAz, very much appreciated.

With my Wife's procedure being very successful, I spent some hours late last night working on the Seahawks engines and OMG, every part so far, needed cleanup and the mold lines removed. KH did manage to again locate sprue gate tabs in some poorly chosen spots, requiring a lot of time and careful work to remove them. Even one sprue gate tab was located right next to a male locating pin requiring a very delicate touch. So far, par for the course on the Seahawk.

 

 

 

[Bomber_County]

13 minutes ago, Peterpools said:

Thanks GAz, very much appreciated.

With my Wife's procedure being very successful, I spent some hours late last night working on the Seahawks engines and OMG, every part so far, needed cleanup and the mold lines removed. KH did manage to again locate sprue gate tabs in some poorly chosen spots, requiring a lot of time and careful work to remove them. Even one sprue gate tab was located right next to a male locating pin requiring a very delicate touch. So far, par for the course on the Seahawk

Peter, so glad the procedure went well and hopefully she will be on the road to recovery. 
Do I get the impression this is not a Tamiya esq build……….looking good in spite of the factors. I was considering a KH helo but Takom have bought out the UK Apache and Airfix the SeaKing so really not sure which to go for…..

[DocRob]

All the best to your wife, Peter. What you show here, looks nicely detailed, despite the obstacles, mainly through the bad manual and some ill fitting. I hope, putting the cabin together will not prove too difficult, or have you already tested the fit?
Welcome to my world of delivery time assumptions. A month isn't so uncommon, even sometimes from the Spanish mainland. There is no place for bad planning or immediate build bursts .

Cheers Rob

[Landlubber Mike]

That's really great news Peter!  Best wishes to your wife!

[GazzaS]

I'm glad the procedure went well, Peter.

[CANicoll]

Hey Peter, Very happy Diane's procedure went well.  A relief.  Whew.  

[shark64]

Did u see the stuff fromRedFox studios for the Seahawk.. real nice.

[shark64]

[Peterpools]

Thanks Phil so much. Diane is recovering nicely and one procedure to go.

The KH Seahawk is surely anything but a Tamiya kit and just not very well executed from A to Z. While still waiting for the Werner's Wing AM Resin Detail Sets, I started working on the two GE T700-GE-401C 1890 engines. While they at first look good, they have been a nightmare so far, almost to the point of binning the build. More later in my next update.  Thank goodness for the reference photos as I wouldn't otherwise have a chance. 

 

 

 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Rob, so greatly appreciated.

Details look good, once the builder figures out how the assemblies need to be built. I've only been test fitting the interior parts/assemblies and the main issue is seems to be, sloppy fit, lack of accurate locating pins and vague instructions. Right now, the interior is on hold, waiting for the AM to arrive. My wait is due to the detail sets first needing to be molded. I can feel for your frustrations, not knowing how long shipping will be for orders to actually arrive.

Trying to hang in there, keep moving forward and now dealing with the two GE T700-GE-401C 1890 engines, whose constructions mirrors the same issues I been dealing with all along. Oh, what fun.

 

 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Mike, much appreciated, and Diane is feeling better and better each day. Just takes time.

 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Chris so much for your well wishes. PM sent.

 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Gaz, so very much appreciated,  Diane is starting to feel much better after from the procedure at the beginning of the week, just takes time.

 

 

[Peterpools]

Hi Oliver

I haven't used any of the Red Fox Detail Sets yet, as I've been a big user of the Quinta sets. There are a number of differences between the two companies' approach and offerings. For me, one of the biggest differences is Quinta includes seatbelts and harness with their sets and I do like them and have used then on my past few builds.

While Red Fox does have a set for the SH-60B, I haven't purchased it as of yet, as I first need to see if it will be needed with the Werner's Wing Detail Sets. 

 

[shark64]

3 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Hi Oliver

I haven't used any of the Red Fox Detail Sets yet, as I've been a big user of the Quinta sets. There are a number of differences between the two companies' approach and offerings. For me, one of the biggest differences is Quinta includes seatbelts and harness with their sets and I do like them and have used then on my past few builds.

While Red Fox does have a set for the SH-60B, I haven't purchased it as of yet, as I first need to see if it will be needed with the Werner's Wing Detail Sets. 

 

Makes perfect sense to wait on Floyd's stuff.  I never knew the KittyHawk kit has so many build issues. Are  you detailing both engines?

[Peterpools]

Oliver

Right now, I'm just working on actually getting them to build up as per the instruction's drawings. I might add a bit of extra detail but I'm way away from that at this point.

 

 

[Peterpools]

TRASHED

Without question, the KH SH60B has to be the one of most frustrating, ill-fitting and poorest engineered kits I've ever wasted my money on. It has become a losing battle with an enjoyment level of zero for me. Yes I know the kit can be built by better modelers then I, as I have seen examples completed online but mine will never be one of them. I've ordered and wasted more money on AM that I don't even have yet (Werners Wings) and Oliver had so graciously sent a nice amount of Eduard PE (which I will be returning).  Lesson learned even at my old age. The grand plan of a contest model has ended in complete failure. 

I have nothing more to say as the Seahawk has beaten me into submission and I just have no desire, energy or will to continue the fight and do battle. Maybe dealing with all the illnesses my wife and I have faced the past few years has something to do with it, who knows. I'm done fighting a losing battle.

At 2:30 AM this morning, I boxed up the kit, threw in the towel and all the plastic components are now in my recycling bin, the paper and carboard will also to be recycled.  

 

[DocRob]

A wiser fella once said, sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes, well, the bar eats you. Peter, what can I say. Sometimes it's better to step on the brake than to go further only fighting a build with no fun at all.
Your description of the building experience sums it up, there are these kits out there, which just are no fun to finish and others, far from perfect kits, which are somehow stimulating and taking all out of you, but are satisfactory. 
That leaves satisfaction and fun as the determining measurements for modeling, and if both lack, why not binning the kit.
Do you have an exit scenario for your competition model or do you abandon the idea?

Cheers Rob

[Bomber_County]

I’m sorry to hear that the build is no more. Whilst I very never actually binned a project (yet) the SOD is always there. Did you complete your P38? I reckon a Tamiya build to reset the mojo…….

[PanzerWomble]

Something deeply satisfying about saying enough is enough and just binning some manufactures shoddy work . Airfix 1/48 sea harrier … binned….ICM Hs126hit ……binned. What’s worse is they already have taken your cash , but you don’t have to waste anything more on junk models . I was really tempted by the KH jaguar as it’s the only new deal for that aircraft in 1/48 ( I’ve done the Airfix that’s as awful as the harrier) but reviews all said the fit was dire on that one as well and with them trading for daft money will have to wait until a new mould appears . Have a beer Pete, watch a favourite movie and treat yourself to a nice model 😄

[Landlubber Mike]

Sorry to hear this Peter, but sounds like it's for the best!  This is supposed to be a fun hobby, and not a self-imposed torture chamber.  I binned a wooden model ship kit years ago because I came to realize that to fix all the inaccuracies would take me way longer and would ultimately mean I would need to essentially scratch build the thing.  Figured there was no sense in killing myself for many months on it, so instead, I'm hoping to be able to scratch build it down the line.

Looking forward to your next build my friend!