Friday, March 29

R2 Miniatures new crew & weapon sets for your US Army attack choppers....

R2 Miniatures have released several crew & weapon upgrade sets to suit your US Army helicopters like the AH-64 Apache & OH-58 Kiowa Warriors in 1/35th scale. We look at them in our preview...

R2 Miniatures new crew & weapon sets for your US Army attack choppers....

Elements of this have been in development for while, but now R2 Miniatures have released several crew and upgrade sets to suit your US Army helicopters like the AH-64 & OH-58 Kiowa Warriors in 1/35th scale. Modellers will be impressed we think.

AH-64 Apache pilots
3D sculpt by R2 Miniatures
Printed in Resin
Set No: R34-35 
1/35th scale
Price: USD $40 at Hobbyeasy
This set of two apache crew contain the pilot to sit in the rear of the cockpit, and Weapons system officer of gunner for the front of the Apache.
Both are 3D printed, and come in a single part, just needing to be taken out of their printing supports. These are designed to be as useful but as easy to remove as possible for the modeller. You can see the details of one of the figures in the photos below...
The gunner in position in the mock up of the Apache kit. You can see, he fits nicely in the space. The pilot is shown bottom right in this photo.


AH-64 Apache ground crew set with AGM-114 Hellfire Missile
3D sculpt by R2 Miniatures
Printed in Resin
Set No: R33-35 
1/35th scale
Price: USD $44 at Hobbyeasy
A set of two ground crew with hellfire missiles is the second set from R2. These could be servicing the apache or , say the OH-58 which also uses Hellfires if you like.
There is a single AGM-114 Hellfire missile and two containers, one open and the other closed, which is realistic enough for a loading scenario. You can see some sharp detail not only on the figures, but on the missiles themselves and the cases with their thin latches and fins on the missiles.


 AH-64 Apache ground crew with 30-mm caliber ammo
3D sculpt by R2 Miniatures
Printed in Resin
Set No: R30-35
1/35th scale
Price: USD $24 at Hobbyeasy
This figure is 3D printed, and comes with four boxes of 30mm ammunition and five clips of 30 mike-mike for a loading scenario. This can be used on the AH-64 Apaches or the Bell OH-58 Kiowa in 1/35th scale.
The pose is that of a crewmember holding the ammo in front of him loading it into the aircraft. Impressive is the detail afforded to the wrinkles on his clothing, and the equipment he is wearing.


U.S Army 30-mm Ammo Boxes(4 pcs)
3D sculpt by R2 Miniatures
Printed in Resin
Set No: R40-AC35 
1/35th scale
Price: USD $8 at Hobbyeasy
For those who do not want the ground crew, you can get this 30mm ammo boxes and clip rounds as a separate package by itself.
You can see the boxes are printed at an angle to have the supports underneath the box which leads to an easier and hassle free removal from the resin supports.


AH-64 Apache ground crew set with hydra 70
3D sculpt by R2 Miniatures
Printed in Resin
Set No: R31-35 
1/35th scale
Price: USD $47 at Hobbyeasy
A groundcrew in a set of two with two M261 launchers and thirty-eight single Hydra M229 rockets come in this set. 3D printed in grey resin.
You can see how the parts are printed to reduce removal stress and scores. Below a typical scenario for these two crew, loading from the front and the rear of the helicopter.
One man watches, while the other loads the Hydra rocket in this photo. You can see from the mock up with the kit they fit the scene properly and both have natural poses.


2.75 inch Rocket Hydra Pallet set with Hydra-70
3D sculpt by R2 Miniatures
Printed in Resin
Set No: R42-AC35 
1/35th scale
Price: USD $47 at Hobbyeasy
This is an interesting diorama piece, with the pallet of 2.75 inch hydras (thirty-eight in total) - abl to be shown inside and in a loading scenario.
The breakdown of the contents in this set show just how much is there for the modeller to use. Caps can be left on or off and the rockets can be used in the containers or out.
You can see here how the rockets can be shown in process of unloading.


AGM-11 Hellfire Missile Container Set
3D sculpt by R2 Miniatures
Printed in Resin
Set No: R41-AC35 
1/35th scale
Price: USD $53 at Hobbyeasy
This set contains six AGM-114 Hellfires plus eight containers that can transport the missiles. Printed in grey resin and sculpted digitally. You can see the fine detail of the clips and missile fins afforded through this printing process.
Again the boxes are printed at an angle to reduce the number of attachment points and makes sure most are on the bottoms of the containers.
The Hellfire, the top and bottom of the container for transport are shown below. The fine clamps for keeping the missile in place for transport ar ea great detail for the modeller.

You can secure one or any of these kits from the links at Hobbyeasy, or by contacting R2 Miniatures from their Facebook page...