The Bell OH-58 Kiowa is a family of single-engine, single-rotor, military helicopters used for observation, utility, and direct fire support. Bell Helicopter manufactured the OH-58 for the United States Army based on its Model 206A JetRanger helicopter. The OH-58 has been in continuous use by the U.S. Army since 1969, where it served extensively in the Vietnam War as a light observation and scout helicopter. The OH-58 primarily performed low-level, low speed, visual reconnaissance (VR) missions to search for, find and mark for gunships the elusive enemy and conduct bomb-damage assessment (BDA) missions while being protected by gunships flying above. Due to their low-altitude missions the scout aircraft and crews often became victims of enemy small-arms fire. Repairing combat damage was the norm for those in maintenance.
This OH-58 Kiowa Helicopter model is built at the scaled ratio of 1/48 (made by Italeri) by Probuiltmodel team.