C-2A Greyhound

[Mike]

C-2A Greyhound

1:48 Kinetic

The Greyhound entered service with the US Navy in 1966, as a workhorse delivering supplies, mail and manpower to the floating cities that modern aircraft carriers have become. It is essentially a widened derivative of the E-2 Hawkeye, having a widened fuselage and a rear ramp for loading and unloading. Its wings and engines are the same as the Hawkeye, and the aircrafts wings fold in exactly the same way.

A reprocurement in 1984 led to the purchasing of 39 new airframes with various improvements in structure and avionics to replace the originals that were beginning to show their age. Latterly, a Service Life Extension Programme (SLEP) has led to them being scheduled to stay in service to 2027!

The kit arrives in a typical Kinetic box, although the box artwork is a significant improvement, using a CGI painting to great effect. The box is deep too, and on sliding off the top opening lid, you are presented with yet another very full box from Kinetic. There are 16 sprues of styrene, most in light grey, but two prop sprues are in a dark styrene reminiscent of their F-16 releases. A small clear sprue contains all the cockpit and airframe glazing, and the package is completed by an A4 instruction booklet and a large decal sheet.

The fuselage parts are large, and on the sprue are a friction fit within the box, and it becomes immediately evident just how much wider the fuselage of the Greyhound really is. Surface detail is excellent, with crisp raised and recessed detail, consisting of panel lines, strengthening plates and access covers, and inside the doorway at the rear, large rib detail is provided. Further inside the fuselage however, the walls within the passenger compartment are blank, relying on some very nicely detailed internal skins to do the job, which it does well.

The floor of the passenger compartment extends right to the front and therefore includes the raised floor of the cockpit, which also has some nice side-console detail moulded in. Six rows of double seats line each side, and the seats are provided as separate pairs. The seats are surprisingly well done, although the supporting lower frame is simplified to ease moulding, and a set of four-point harnesses will need adding to each seat for accuracy's sake.

The cockpit has a large instrument panel with a central panel between the two pilots, and a pair of control yolks are also included. Add to these the moulded in side console detail and you have a fairly busy cockpit out of the box. There is no instrument panel decal, so the modeller will either need to paint them of apply individual decals from the likes of Airscale. The pilot's seats are also a little simplified, but not much will be seen once the fuselage is closed up, so adding a set of belts should satisfy most people. The cockpit is divided from the rear compartment by a bulkhead part, but the side facing the cockpit is blank, with some basic detail provided on the other side where it is unlikely to be seen. A few reference photos will soon allow the modeller to scratch build a little detail to busy the area up, and failing that, Kinetic or Eduard are bound to release copious Photo-Etch sets in the near future.

The canopy glazing is a three-part moulding, with the main part including the majority of the cockpit roof, where a number of smaller windows are placed. The two blown side windows are moulded separately to facilitate easy removal from the mould. The modeller must deal with the seam with the fuselage that this approach requires, but it is infinitely preferable to installing lots of individual windows into the fuselage with the potential for them to disappear inside at some point during the build. The clear parts are nicely detailed and have good clarity, as does the single pair of windows in the passenger compartment, presumably for the benefit of the load masters.

The roof of the passenger compartment has a basic lattice structure supplied, along with a "cage" for stowage, but the intrepid viewer with a torch will doubtless be able to see the fuselage seam if looking skyward through the rear access door. How many people will be bothered by that is moot, but the references are out there to add extra detail if you so wish. The rear accessway is designed to be posed open, and the installation is a little vague, so skipping forward to see the part in place will help here. I suspect a little adjustment might be needed if you wish to close the hatch, which is a shame, as not many flights are made with the rear open!

Anyone familiar with the build of the Hawkeye will immediately recognise a lot of the wing and tail parts, and the wings have posable flaps and ailerons, with finely moulded static wicks moulded in. The choice of folded of unfolded wings simply requires the modeller to replace the detail bulkheads of the unfolded parts with a short set of spars that join the inner and the outer sections. The engines are built up from a multitude of parts, with a short length of intake and exhaust trunking supplied for each of the Garrett Turbo Prop engines. The intake has a nice rendition of the compressor face moulded in, which will look good with some careful painting.

The landing gear is nicely detailed and can be installed after the majority of the build is complete, although test fitting the main gear would be wise, as some trimming of the attachment pegs might be required. The bay roof is passable, but could benefit from some extra detail if the mood takes you. A choice of large four bladed prop or the new NP2000 eight bladed props is available, and the gear bay doors are all nicely detailed, with hinge points included to give a strong bond. The wheels have a weighting bulge moulded in, which may be a little over-done, but please check your references before sanding any away.

The build is completed by the installation of all the various aerials, sensor domes that are so common on modern aircraft, with a gaggle on the aircraft's underside and another just aft of the cockpit area. A pair of windscreen wipers are a nice addition to add a bit more realism to the finished article.

The decals are designed by CrossDelta Decals, and have been printed by Cartograf of Italy. They are bright, in good register and with good colour density and include dozens of prop tip decals to save the modeller from an interminable masking job. From the box you can build one of the following two airframes:

• Bu.No. 162161 VRC-30 of USS Ronald Reagan, 2010
  
• Bu.No. 162166 VAW-120, 2009
  

The former is the more colourful of the two, with a fetching sunburst on each of the outer tails. Both have the same basic paint scheme however, with grey wings and fuselage sides, and a white upper and lower fuselage with a wavy demarcation on the underside. Doubtless there will be some of the more brash colour schemes forthcoming from the aftermarket decal companies before too long to brighten up your Greyhound.

Conclusion

This is the first 1:48 kit of the Greyhound, and as such will please a great many, especially those with a love of US Carrier aviation. It builds into a sizeable model, and with careful painting should look great in your display cabinet. There are also much fewer rough edges to the tooling, which is a good thing, requiring less in the way of tidy-up or scratch building than earlier kits from the brand.

Recommended

Review sample courtesy of

[Shar2]

It does look very nice and is on my wants list to go with my Hawkeye.

[Irishgreek]

Hmmmm, that looks very interesting...

[Mark M]

why is it i want every single kenetic kit, thanks mike

quick question was the greyhound and the hawkeye the same airframe? i thought it was but not sure

Edited October 20, 2011 by markmarples

[billybigbananas]

Having been lucky enough to see the real thing at Yeovilton earlier this year, I'm really tempted to splash the cash on this one - looks great.

[pigsty]

quick question was the greyhound and the hawkeye the same airframe? i thought it was but not sure

Basically they are. The C-2 has the same wing (with engines and undercarriage) and tail surfaces as the E-2, attached to a new fuselage. Because the rotodome isn't attached, there's no tail dihedral and the fins are all vertical, and if memory serves they still have the odd four-fins-and-three-rudders arrangement.

[Stephen]

I believe there are decals forthcoming from Fightertown Decals for this kit.

Stephen

[Shaun]

Would like to do a "Rawhides" Greyhound myself after seeing the CODs at Yeovilton in May.

Shaun.

[Antoine]

Nice review, thanks Mike.

What about a Aeronavale whif?

I'm sure that we'll buy some one day, as they proved themselves working with CdG during Harmattan.