Small Scale Military Headquarters

This appears to be a new Merit UH-1 Sharkmouth gunship----it doesn't have the nose grenade launcher and the miniguns are pylon-mounted and not door-mounted.

Link: http://www.hlj.com/product/MER60028?utm ... -225677266

That's cool! So glad they ditched the launcher.

Nice look indeed !

That does look really nice! I may have to get a 4th Huey... The "Firebirds" Huey they just released is fantastic unto itself and this one seems to go the next step for a nice modification that's similar, but different enough. I agree with YT's comment about liking how they have (supposedly) ditched the grenade launcher and of course the new rocket tubes and miniguns are nice additions.

the old one .....

Got this e-mail today:

Wow I will try to pick this one up. Funny, at first I thought Merit might have made the gun feed chutes a little too long. Turns out they really were pretty long, I suppose to give enough slack for the guns to traverse and elevate. Did some quick research and found a forum with a lot of great pics, especially the first page. Make sure you got the Stones' "Gimme Shelter" playing in the background.
http://www.armchairgeneral.com/forums/s ... p?t=117873

I swore off more 1/18 models because of lack of space, but the pylon miniguns I want as I had posted on the previous "Firebirds" UH-1 with the door-mounted miniguns.
I wish Merit had included M60 machine guns (tether-mounted?) for the doors....and crew figures.

I hope these links work for everyone...

Video of IMHO the greatest, most versatile helicopter ever made.
A must see for any Huey fan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QNlebUDb8U

The next time we feel sorry for ourselves or think we had a terrible day in traffic or we're mad because the latest toy we want isn't going to be available or you have to mow the grass again, watch this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMl_9AtOD30

The actual Mexican Express, courtesy of the 174th AHC...

I just got the new JSI 174th AHC "Sharks" Huey repaint/retool from The Flying Mule yesterday



There's not much to say that hasn't already been said about the 21c/JSI Huey since we've been familiar with the overall design since 2001, however, the latest offering from JSI is quite nice. It comes in an identical box to the previously-released "Firebirds" Huey, so no surprises there.... I like the new mounts for the miniguns and the removal of the grenade launcher from the nose. I also like the ammo box stowed under the cabin seats and the ammo belts connecting to the miniguns. The weathering is very similar to the "Firebirds" Huey and is a really nice touch compared to the clean all the 21c Hueys had. The new "Sharks" Huey makes a very nice companion to the "Firebirds" Huey and the the modifications are different enough to warrant the second purchase.







Still, the model has some small issues with paint/markings misalignment. The white teeth on the nose along the seam between the two fuselage halves are misaligned with one side being slightly higher than the other. That can easily be corrected with some masking tape and black paint (and I did that on my example before photographing). The worst issue is the misaligned "United States Army" stenciling on the tail boom. You can see where the alignment is off between the letters T and A in "STATES" across the seam where the boom joins the main fuselage. This error just makes an otherwise fine model look a bit sloppy. This is a system-wide error, however, not just unique to my helicopter. The misalignment is visible in all the promo pics from Merit and in photos of other "Sharks" Hueys, such as those seen on Flying Mule's website.

Misalignment on white teeth has been corrected (more or less):


Misaligned lettering on "United States Army" stenciling:


Paint issues aside, the new 174th AHC "Sharks" Huey is a nice model of the UH-1C and has some nice differences compared to the previous "Firebirds" release including the difference in markings and loadout/tooling. Both are a good updates to that continue to give an old model some new life

"Firebirds" Huey and "Sharks" Huey together:

Really nice review. If i were still in 1-18 I would make these a must have.

Another excellent review from Tmanthegreat.
If Merit can do a good job with the miniguns, why not complete it and include two M60 door guns. No door guns is like a P-47 with five machine guns.
And I'm not going to mention my usual complaint about no crew figures.

If like so much other 21st tooling, pilot molds are probably gone. Years ago 21st reported Spitfire molds were cracked; then stolen; then got burnt in a fire and finally, I think, were hit by a meteor.

Okay. Mine came in last Monday. Ordered it from Historic Aviation. I've just now gotten the opportunity to put it together. I had the same issues as Tmanthegreat with the paint. Right at the seam in the center of the nose, the top edge of the white from the shark teeth was halfway between 1/16 and 1/8 of an inch higher on the right side. In some areas the teeth were not very solid, as if the spray wasn't close enough to the model. I took care of it all with a few quick touch-ups.



And of course, the GLARING stencil issue on the left side of the tail boom. I took some dark green paint and covered a section over the A and T. It's not an exact match, but I think I can figure out something to do with it. I feel if I try to re-stencil the letters closer to where they're supposed to be, there will still be a noticeable curvature in the type. Perhaps I'll just leave it as is, maybe as a patch-up repair with a thin silver or black border around it. To really take attention away from it, I may try to install the old zig-zag RF antenna down the tail boom. The real-life Mexican Express didn't have one, but hey, it's my helicopter.



Last issue was the packaging, or lack thereof. The outer box is basically a sleeve that fits snuggly around the aircraft box. No space in there to pack in some styrofoam popcorn or balled up newspaper, basically zero protection. The last JSI product I ordered, the Boelcke F-104, was packaged and shipped the same way. For the life of me, I can't remember who I bought it from, but it was still a good buying experience. Anyway, this time, as I saw the box on the front porch, I said to myself Geez, they sent it like that again... Oh, well... Then I saw a huge gash in the bottom of the package. I opened it and the bottom of the aircraft box had it, too. I had a HOLY CRAP moment. But I pulled the helicopter out and looked it over. It was OK. Whatever tore through the boxes stopped just short of the back of one of the skids. Anyway, this isn't exactly my idea of a good way to ship something, but it made it OK and I'm really happy with this chopper overall.

The new Huey is priced at $99 till June 1st
http://www.ebay.com/itm/322107464798?ss ... 1558.l2649

Hi guys, I'm new to the board as you can probably tell. Just wanted to introduce myself and a little bit about me. I'm a 1:18 collector of planes, helicopters , jets and tanks. I been collecting since 21st century started selling 1:18 scale and been in love every since. I have a pretty big collection of opened and boxed items and I have sold many as well. My newest one is both of the new Merit Huey's which are pretty good models. Well now that I have my first post out the way I hope to have many more with all yall.

Thanks, aviationguy78

Let me be the first to welcome you to the forum !!!!

Thank you, glad to be a member!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome! Always great to see another name on the roster. A great group here, always room for more.

I don't collect choppers but this offering looks cool.

Hey Aviationguy78, welcome to the site! It sounds like you've been collecting for quite a while, I've never
been able to keep anything boxed.

Welcome aboard Aviationguy78.

Cheers
Studly