Introduction
The following introduction is as supplied by Gecko Models:
The Patrol Air Cushion Vehicle was a hovercraft design that was used by the US Navy, the design was by the British Hovercraft Corporation built in the US under license by the Bell Aerosystems as the SK5. As the Vietnam War was escalating hovercraft were sought as a fast transport for troops and vital supplies from ship to shore at speeds of up to 80 knots. Weighing 7 tons, The PACV could transport a crew of 4 plus 12 troops, some of these on the outside of the craft. It could operate over water, snow, sand and over reeds and water plants.
A total of three PACV were ordered and the served initially in San Diego from 1965 as experimental craft to learn its capabilities and for crew training. They were tested with various weapons installed and in 1966 were deployed as patrol craft in Vietnam in early 1966. They were used in several combat operations transporting troops, including Special Forces. The US Navy purchased another three craft in 1967, these were known as ACV Air Cushion Vehicles. The US Navy continued to use the PACV’s for riverine patrol. Although the hovercraft was noisy, its high speed often caught the enemy by surprise. The craft were later fitted with light armour plate to protect their crews. In 1970, the hovercraft were retired from military service and passed on to the US Coast Guard.
Review
This offering from Gecko Models arrives in a large and deep cardboard tray, with a card lid. The box itself is packed to the gunnel's with plastic goodness. The contents are in a mix of sealed and ZipLok plastic bags. An examination of the contents reveals no moulding issues, despite the amount of plastic in the offering, the parts count is far lower than I would have expected. The gates used are of a reasonable number and not excessive in size.
The crew portion of the model is an area where I have to trust that Gecko Models has got it right, as I could not find images to assess the accuracy of the interior. With that said, canvas type seating on metal frames would seem appropriate for the time period. Beneath the rear most seats appears to be ammunition storage. Moving forward to the crews seats, these are more akin to the seating in a modern armoured vehicle having padded seats and also having photo etched harness detail. Instrument panels at the front of the vehicle, I again have to take on faith as being accurate and decals have been provided for the various instruments provided. There is also a device which looks very much like a radar screen with the surround that enables you to look at the display without light obscuring the screens.
The area behind the crew compartment is where the fan assembly for inflating the skirt is situated, and is designed along the lines of a venturi fan such as you fins in a vacuum cleaner, where the air in drawn in, compressed and blown down into the skirt. It should be noted that you end up with a sizeable amount of plastic on your desk, as once the interior is complete the upper structure of the hoover craft itself becomes a part of the model. The detail added to the rear of the structure is blocky and so quickly adds to the mass, and this is prior to it being added to the skirt portion of the model. Fortunately the skirt in moulded in black plastic, where as the structure of the vessel is grey and so you have good demarcation between what is skirt and what is vessel.
The roof assembly over the crew compartment looks to me that it could be kept off of the model until you have done your detail painting and so I consider this a plus. It should be noted that this vessel could carry 12 troops as well as the 4 crew and there is only seating for 4 inside plus the crew locations and so that would indicate that 8 troops would have to be 4 each side outside the vessel and with the amount of water that hoover craft tend to kick up and the high speeds that can be achieved would make it an unpleasant prospect I feel.
The door of the crew compartment lifts up and this can be replicated in the model. There is also a short ramp enabling the troops to disembark and clear the skirt of the vessel. A twin 50 Cal turret is mounted on the roof of the crew compartment, detail looks to be of a high standard and includes the belts feeding to the guns being well replicated. There is some photo etched sights and such that will need to be added, but this looks to be a very complete aspect of the model. You may of course choose to change the barrels for metal ones, but if you don’t Gecko Models have provided 2 barrel types.
Down the centre line is the nacelle for the motor for the propeller which gives the vessel direction. The propeller itself can be left off until you have done the painting. There are number of small grab handles and such on the roof of the cabin, and I still do not want to be on the outside of it while it is moving. The unlucky troops that are on the outside are provided with what look to be wooden deck trestles, which is an aspect that is present in most on-line images and well replicated here.
The direction control fins are fixed and so the direction is set, what surprises me is that you have troops outside of the vessel with a large diameter 4 bladed propeller rotating at high speed with no guard present. Everything tells me that this vessel is an accident waiting to happen for those outside, and I find myself wondering if that is why they spent such a short time in service. An aside element that is provided in this release is a resin carrier/stretcher such as would be slung under a helicopter.
4 finishing options are included in this release, which covers 4 of the 6 vessels purchased, but no detail is supplied as to what exactly they represent in terms of location of use. Also the painting instruction for this model only supplies mission model paints and the colour to which each paint represents.
Conclusion
This release from Gecko Models is one of those releases that you expect to be a resin special, as has been the case up until now. The details that I have been able to verify all appear to be correct, and so those that I am unable to verify I also believe to be accurate. A crew for this release would have been a nice inclusion, and I would not be surprised to see something from Gecko in the future. Also, possibly, a future release showing these vessels as they looked after being handed over to the US coastguard. It is my understanding that the turret with the twin 50 Cals had a number of different set ups and so it is possible that future release with different weapons set ups could be released, or the after market will cater to it. The decals have been very nicely done, and the photo etch I am pleased to say is not excessive in quantity.