The kit
The helicopter SA330J Puma was developed starting with the 1960’s by Aerospatiale – France and it was a real success. It has been imported in numerous countries and built under license also in Romania. This helicopter has a rich history, both in military and civilian field. Today’s story will be only about the model kit SA330J Puma produced by Revell in 1:32 scale.
Item name – SA330J Puma; item number – 04412; scale – 1:32; manufacturer – Revell; total number of parts – 185; resin parts – 0; photo-etched parts – 0; transparent parts – 15; length – 45.20 cm; propeller diameter is ~ 47.10 cm.
Decals & instruction sheet – as for the markings, the producer offers two variants: Aerospatiale SA330J Puma, Bundespolizei-Fliegergruppe – Farewell Ceremony, 2008; Aerospatiale SA330J Puma, Bundespolizei, Fliegerstaffel Nord Fuhlendorf, Bad Bramstedt; Schleswig-Holstein; August 2005. The instructions sheet for the assembling of SA330J Puma is in black and white and gives detailed information about the model building, so it should not raise any problems.
Conclusions – SA-330J Puma
The SA330J Puma is a helicopter model with a pretty old matrix and it cannot be found easily on the market. It was molded in dark green plastic (leaf-green or NATO Green) with engravings in the positive and negative, presenting a good depiction of the helicopter SA330J Puma. The interior, especially the cockpit, requires an effort for rendering the correct aspect of the pilot chairs and the control panel. It has parts for finishing up three helicopter variants – terrestrial, naval or Search and Rescue helicopter. If one would like to improve this kit with aftermarkets or resin parts it would be practically impossible, as there are no such parts on the market. For the skilled ones there is also the alternative of making your own parts. I am not such an example and my intention is to build a Romanian IAR-330 Puma M – S.A.R. (Search & Rescue). This type of helicopter was build in Romania. So I think it will be difficult task. As a conclusion we can say it is a rare and interesting model and it can be found only in the scale of 1:72 and 1:32; there is no kit in the 1:48 scale. It is not an easy kit to find on the market. But with bit of hard work I think it will turn into a fine helicopter model.
