Bell UH-1 Iroquois 'Huey'

It was my recent deviation from winged aircraft to helicopter scale models which lead me to one of the most iconic of them all, the Huey. I had already acquired one Huey model to construct before the idea even formed in my head to invest in Italeri's Operation Silver Bayonet 1965 kit which came with a second helicopter. Little then did I know how different they would be to build or the history behind them. 

 My Hueys participating in Operation Silver Bayonet 1965

The Huey first saw combat with the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. Originally designated the HU-1 it become known by the nickname 'Huey'. Even though in 1962 it was re-designated the UH-1, the name stuck and even Bell came to adopt it by casting 'Huey' into the metal of their rudder pedals!  

Approximately 7,000 Hueys saw service in Vietnam where it was used for a variety of purposes for which they bore different names based on the role they assumed. Gunships became known as 'Frogs' or 'Hogs' if they carried rockets and Hueys that only carried guns became known as 'Cobras' or 'Guns'. Troop transport Hueys came to be known as 'Slicks' due to their lack of weapons pods.

Huey duo - UH-1D Hornet and UH-1C Easy Rider

My two Hueys are the UH-1C and UH-1D variants. On the sprue they looked very different, so much so that I found it hard to believe they were from the same scale model producer, for quality let alone being the same scale! See what you think from the two fuselage sections laid side by side in the photo. The UH-1D is on top still attached and the UH-1C below.

Being Italeri models, nether helicopter was provided with any crew, so I sourced a set of PJ Production 1/72 resin figures, hoping that I could share the 4 crew members between the 2 models.

PJ Production 721129 1/72 US Helicopter Crew
(Vietnam war) Resin Figures

The UH-1C variant, which came with the Operation Silver Bayonet kit, was specifically developed as a gunship version with an uprated engine on the earlier UH-1B to provide the increased power required to carry additional ordinance in the form of guns and rockets. While development on the UH-1C, 'Charlie', version commenced in 1960, it did not go into production until June 1966 and thus its inclusion in this 1965 kit seems to be somewhat of an error on Italeri's part. Indeed, even the markings provided for the model are that of the 174th Assault Helicopter Company which didn't arrive in Vietnam until 1966!

Bell UH-1C Huey, US Army, Easy Rider | VN 1965

As this was going to be the gunship of my Huey duo, while I had a door gunner going spare, Italeri had provided neither model with a door mounted gun, so I had to improvise. Repurposing one of 6 ski mounted guns from my earlier MASH inspired Bell H-1 helicopter build, I fashioned a bracket to the rocket launcher and attached the .50 caliber machine gun. I would not like to have been the gunner when the rockets fired but just as this gunship would not have even been around in 1965, I'm not going to overthink it; but one thing's for sure, you can't have a picture of Hueys over Vietnam without at least one of them having a door gunner!

Bell UH-1C Huey door gunner with gun repurposed from a Bell H-1 

In the Hollywood version of the Vietnam War, the gunship is synonymous with Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 film Apocalypse Now, when, to the sound of Wagner's 'Ride of the Valkyries', the 1st Squadron of the 9th Cavalry Regiment attack a VC village at the mouth of the Mekong. 

Huey gunship of 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment as in the film Apocalypse Now

The second model, the UH-1D, was to be my troop carrier so that, as you may recall from my Westland Whirlwind post, I could finally create that diorama with soldiers deplaning into action. While earlier Hueys may have made good gunships, they lacked the cabin space that the US Army wanted so as to carry both a crew of four (two pilots and two door gunners) and also deliver an infantry section of eight to ten soldiers. Bell's solution was to stretch the UH-1B fuselage by 105 cm and use the extra space to fit two sideways-facing seats on either side of the transmission. This brought the total seating capacity to 15, including crew seats. In the picture below, the UH-1D is on the left, the UH-1C (the same size as the UH-1B is on the right) ... and yes, I should have left the roof off the D, 'Delta', version for this visual comparison! 

Extra seating capacity of the UH-1D compared to the UH-1C and earlier UH-1B

In addition to adding more space, the Delta had in place of the earlier variant's sliding side doors and single window, a set of larger doors with two windows, plus a small hinged panel with a window providing access to the cabin. A longer tail section was also designed to accommodate the longer rotor blades required to lift the larger unit. All these changes between versions now explain why my two models were so vastly different when placed side by side during the build.

US Special Forces deplaning into action from a UH-1D Huey

Interestingly, one anomaly in Italeri's scale model build of the Delta is that they have included a small rocket delivery system and set of guns beneath the crew doors which, maybe mistakingly, I affixed as instructed, somewhat thus deviating from both the US Army's and my intention for this Huey to perform a troop carrying role! But then again, I have read of units locally pimping their Hueys with additional armaments, so maybe this Huey is being flown by a gung-ho pilot who after dropping off his stick of Grunts, wants nothing more that to go shoot off some rockets!

Again, in the Hollywood version of the Vietnam War, the first ever troop deployment from Hueys is portrayed in Randall Wallace's film We Were Soldiers which was actually set in the period of my Operation Silver Bayonet diorama. If you look carefully you will see the Huey's are even of the UH-1D design.

Landing scene from the film We Were Soldiers

Development of the UH-1D began in 1960, with Army units receiving deliveries for use in Vietnam by 1965. Therefore, unlike the UH-1C, the UH-1D would have been involved in Operation Silver Bayonet; albeit my model is painted in the colours of US Army Wasp [also Hornet] Platoon, 116th Assault Helicopter Company from 1971. Although the116th did actually arrive in Vietnam in 1965, they were based near Saigon and not Pleiku around which Operation Silver Bayonet was centred. However, it does just add beautifully to the poetic licence of my Vietnam War Diorama, which, as I will continue to share in my upcoming posts, includes all the right views but not necessarily in the right order!

No Frogs, Hogs, Cobras, Guns, Slicks, VC or Grunts were harmed in the making of these models ;) 

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The model(s)

Brand: Italeri
Title: Operation Silver Bayonet Vietnam War 1965

Number: 6184
Scale: 1:72
Released: 2018 | Rebox (Model set)

Brand: Italeri

Title: UH-1C Gunship
Number: 050
Scale: 1:72

Released: 2007 | Rebox (Changed box only)

Brand: Italeri

Title: Bell UH-1D Iroquois

Number: 1247

Scale: 1:72

Released: 2010 | Rebox (Changed box only)