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Great Western Air Ambulance - Fujimi 1/48 MBB Bo105

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  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Towson MD
Great Western Air Ambulance - Fujimi 1/48 MBB Bo105
Posted by gregbale on Friday, September 7, 2012 4:20 PM

Greetings all.

I came across some online photos of the UK's "Great Western Air Ambulance"--a charity-operated medevac Bo105 serving many of the west/southwestern counties of England--and immediately fell in love with it's dayglo lime green/royal blue color scheme. (For those interested in the photos, see http://www.ukemergencyaviation.co.uk/G-NDAA.htm)

The many photographs of it online show excellent details of fittings and markings. Best of all, a few of the shots of the unique markings were perfectly straight-on, with definition and clarity sufficient to "borrow" to make up artwork for my own inkjet-printed decals. I already had Fujimi's venerable 1/48 Bo105PAH-1 in the stash, which provided an excellent basis for the conversion.



Since the Fujimi kit was the original short fuselage, it required surgery to render the longer air ambulance (Bo105CBS) version, which had a ten-inch extension (with an extra set of small windows) added aft of the rear doors. I made a stepped cut that let me leave the landing skid mounts and the door rails in their correct positions, then added .040 sheet panels to stretch the fuselage. When everything was as straight and true as I could get it, I reattached the forward fuselage, then spent a few days puttying, sanding & priming until the body was smooth again.

I found a few clear interior shots of the aft cabin that helped me scrathcbuild the wheeled gurney (well, half of one), equipment bags and liferaft, plus assorted medical monitors and an additional rear seat for the flight paramedic. The Fujimi kit offers the option of easily cutting open both front and rear doors, so I did one side open to show off the fun stuff, and one side buttoned upo to show the complete markings


Hope you enjoy the photos!

Greg

George Lewis:

"Every time you correct me on my grammar I love you a little fewer."
 
  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England
Posted by Bish on Friday, September 7, 2012 4:23 PM

That's a lovely build. I think a lot of the Air Ambulances here use the same Helo, but they are usually yellow. This is a little different. Thanks for sharing.

I am a Norfolk man and i glory in being so

 

On the bench: Airfix 1/72nd Harrier GR.3/Fujimi 1/72nd Ju 87D-3

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Northern California
Posted by jeaton01 on Saturday, September 8, 2012 9:01 PM

Very well done, Greg!

John

To see build logs for my models:  http://goldeneramodel.com/mymodels/mymodels.html

 

  • Member since
    January 2006
  • From: NW Washington
Posted by dirkpitt77 on Saturday, September 8, 2012 9:21 PM

You've got a good shine on the finish there. What did you use for a gloss coat?

  Nicely done. I like it!  Yes

    "Some say the alien didn't die in the crash.  It survived and drank whiskey and played poker with the locals 'til the Texas Rangers caught wind of it and shot it dead."

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Towson MD
Posted by gregbale on Sunday, September 9, 2012 9:20 PM

Thanks to all for the kind words.

Gloss coat is 3+ coats of Future acrylic.

Greg

George Lewis:

"Every time you correct me on my grammar I love you a little fewer."
 
  • Member since
    February 2008
  • From: Chicago, IL
Posted by mike_espo on Monday, September 10, 2012 8:24 PM

Beautiful, excellent build! Did you do the instrument panel yourself? Included?

always liked this bird! Big Smile

On the workbench:

Trumpeter 148 MiG -21F 

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Towson MD
Posted by gregbale on Monday, September 10, 2012 9:02 PM

mike_espo

Beautiful, excellent build! Did you do the instrument panel yourself? Included?

Thanks very much, Mike.

The kit's main panel is just a flat part with the decal supplied on the kit sheet. It looked good to me, so I just used it as-is.

Greg

George Lewis:

"Every time you correct me on my grammar I love you a little fewer."
 
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