Sikorsky H03S-1
AMP 1/48 Sikorsky H03S-1 by Jon Howes
MANUFACTURER: AMP
SCALE: 1/48
TYPE: New Tool, Injection Moulded
DECAL OPTIONS : 4 Decal options all US
Navy/Marines
PARTS: 70 plastic parts and 15 etchedT
he Sikorsky H03S-1 is a
variation of the Sikorsky
H-5, one of the first
helicopter designed by the Russian
born engineer Igor Sikorsky in
the United state. Igor Sikorsky,
a name helicopter enthusiasts
will have heard a great deal about
with the company producing
helicopters in his name even to
this date. The H-5 replace the R-4
helicopter which was the only
allied helicopter to see action
in WWII and was the second
helicopter to be mass produced by
the United States and also build
by the British under licence and
named the Westland Dragonfly.
I wasn’t too familiar with the
brand AMP, but after my research,
I believe they are a sister company
to MikroMir who produce limited
run kits. So I decided to challenge
myself and take on this review
sample to see how it went. On
opening the small flimsy box, it
is obvious that this will not take
too long, with the low part count
of around 70 parts and a small
etched fret which adds some
nice detail to the kit. I do needto thank Constantine from AMP
for sourcing the clear sprue for
me, as mine was missing on the
review sample. The clear parts
were OK, a little misty and you
could dip them into some Johnsons
Klear if you have some, but I
decided to go with what we had.THE BUILD
Construction starts with the
interior cockpit starting with thecontrol panel, which is a two-part
plastic assembly to which you add
etched brass and a piece of film
which supplies the instrument
dials. The panel was painted
interior grey and I then moved
onto the pilot and passenger seats.
These are straightforward build
and once assembled are painted
black. Etched seat harnesses are
provided but I decided to use some
spare Eduard pre painted ones from
the spares box. Apart from thecontrol panel, the cockpit detail is
very sparse so if someone wants
more detail then scratch building
would be required. The cockpit floor
was painted interior grey and then
the seats and panel were attached,
along with the control stick.
Due to the number of windows
required the cockpit and cabin of
the aircraft are sealed inside two
large clear fuselage parts. This was
quite tricky as AMP did their best to
add location pins to assist with this,58 • AUGUST 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
KIT REVIEWS
056-63-Reviews-0818.indd 58 12/07/2018 11:50