Zotz Decals

1/48 and 1/72 ACH-47A Chinook decal sheet

1/48 and 1/72 on one decal sheet 

Product # ZTZ/48-014 and ZTZ/72-025 for US$16.00

Product Article by Steve Bamford Dec 8 2006 

 

 

 

The history of the ACH-47A is as follows.  Four armed/armored ACH-47A Chinooks were specially built for the US Army by Boeing Vertol in late 1965.  Three of the four aircraft were originally fielded in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) for a six month temporary duty (TDY) test period assigned to the newly formed 53rd Aviation Detachment, nicknamed "Guns-A-Go-Go".  

The three ACH-47A's to deploy were 64-13149 "Easy Money", 64-13151 "Stump Jumper" and 64-13154 "Birth Control".  The first ACH-47A produced, 64-13145 (later known as "Co$t of Living") remained in the US for further weapons systems testing at Edwards AFB, California.  Following the test period, the unit was attached to the 1st Cavalry Division's 228th Assault Support Helicopter Battalion and re-designated as the 1st Aviation Detachment (Provisional).  By February 1968, only one of the original four gunships was still flying.  "Easy Money" 64-13149 was the only ACH-47A to survive the Vietnam War.

These aircraft were Chinook Gunships and as such....they experienced their share of combat. 

I'm pleased to be able to review this new sheet from Zotz Decals featuring 4 different ACH-47A Chinooks from the Vietnam War.  These 4 choppers include;

  • 64-13149 "Easy Money"  actually survived it's combat career and became a maintenance trainer in Vietnam at the Boeing Facilities until the withdrawl of US forces.
  • 64-13154 "Birth Control"  On Feb 22 1968 while participating in the big push to recapture Hue during the Tet Offensive, "Birth Control" received numerous hits from small arms ground fire while pulling up from a gunrun and had to autorotate into a dry rice paddy.
  • 64-13151 "Stump Jumper"  On Aug 5 1966, "Stump Jumper" was involved ina  ground accident with another A model Chinook and was destroyed.
  • 64-13145 "Co$t of Living"  On May 5 1967 "Co$t of Living" was lost in action when one of it's M-24A 20mm cannon forward mounting pins vibrated loose during a gun run, permitting the weapon to rotate upward and fire into the forward rotor system.  The blades quickly separated from the aircraft, causing it to tumble out of control to the ground.

All aircraft feature colorful noseart.

Decals are contained on 2 decal sheets with 3 pages of instruction sheets.  The paint schemes on all these Chinooks is overall green.  Recommended kits are 1/72 & 1/48 Italeri ACH-47A Armed Chinook. 

This is a very nice decal sheet and sure to be of interest to helicopter modellers interested in adding one of these 4 rare gunships to their display case.

I'd like to thank Zotz Decals for the review sample.

Steve 

Click on images below to see larger images of the instruction sheets

Photos and text © by Steve Bamford