MH-53E Sea Dragon model helicopter kit in 1/72 scale as modelled by Italeri

Italeri once again come up with a gem of a helicopter kit, this time with their 1/72 scale rendition of the large MH-53 Sea Dragon helicopter.

The model kit comes on four sprues, two large main sprues for the major components, one clear sprue for the transparent parts and an additional sprue with the Sea Dragon specific parts.

Italeri have made a number of helicopter kits based on the Sikorski CH-53 machine including the famous Jolly Green Giant as used in Vietnam and a USAF version. I believe all of these share the same basic moulding.

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Moulding quality is very good indeed on my example of the kit. Hardly any flash and most ejector marks are well placed. The model is moulded with fine recessed panel lines with accompanying lines of suble rivets (they look good and appropriate on this model heli).

The large fuselage halves dry fit very well together and appear free of distortion and exhibit no sink. A separate part is used for the under belly of the helicopter's main body which also has good fit. Crucial for a model of this type is the front end which contains the windshield and cockpit windows. Thankfully this area is also very well moulded and lines up with the main fuselage very nicely indeed.

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The cockpit is well appointed with cyclic and collective levers for both seats, you also get rudder pedals and an instrument panel. The cockpit is constucted on the inner floor piece of the model helcopter, this being sandwhiched between the fuselage sides.

The rotor head consists of seven blades, these being sandwiched between a three piece hub assembly that looks easily constucted. The four bladed tail rotor on this model is larger than the prop of any 1/72 scale WW2 fighter models I've built by a good margin (yes including the double wasp powered warbirds), this really brings home the size and awesome power of the fullsize CH-53 and variant helicopters.

Looking over the other parts fitted to all the sprues everything looks real finely done with plenty of small parts waiting to be cut off and glued to the model.

Decals are included for two examples of the MH-53E Sea Dragon. The first is a U.S. Navy helicoper in overall grey, the second is a Japanese machine with mostly white upper part and grey underneath. The decals look the business.

Despite this models large size it really looks like a fairly straight-forward build that would grace any cabinet or shelf. This kit deserves to be displayed by an M1 Abrams or something to emphasise the scale of this big bird.

Here's a picture of the full size MH-53 Sea Dragon in action.
Picture courtesy U.S. Navy