1/24 Bell 204 HEMS or fire/rescue

Hello everyone.

Just came across the threat and after just dusting off my old Monogram 1/24 scale Huey uh-1B, which is a gunship, I'm looking to convert it into a Medevac. I've been looking on the internet for anyone that has done a conversion with this model with no luck. Any suggestion would be appreciated.

Thanks

This sounds like a great project.  i don't have that many photos of civilian 204's but here are a few that might be useful.  Photos are all from the Wayne Mutza collection and were taken by Skip Robinson.

First up is a Bell 204B.  This bird served with Alta Dena Fire on 10-28-93 when theis photo was taken and was also a US Forestry Service contract helicopter.  The 204B was Bells civilian version of the 204 series which includes the military UH-1B, UH-1C, UH-1E, UH-1F, UH-1M, UH-1L, HH-1K.  The main difference externally from most military 204 variants was the increased length of the tail boom and the increased rotor diameter (the same features are also found on the UH-1F).  The rotor dismeter was increased from 44 feet to 48 feet and the rotor was the same as that found on the 205/UH-1D/H variants.  Since it used the 205 rotor, there were no blade counterweights as the 204 head uses tension/torsion straps inside the blade grips instead.  Also, you will notice this bird has two pitot tubes which indicates it had an autopilot.  Clearly this helo is also equipped for fire fighting with a reservoir under the belly.

 

Next is another 204B thta was also used for firefighting by Malibu Fire.  Pic is from 11/93

Next is a former UH-1E used by the San Diego Sheriff's department.  Photo from June 1992.  You'll note the shorter tail boom and the wide chord hinge door 540 rotor system.  Not really an option for your 1/24 build, but I thought you might find it interesting.

Next two are of a Ventura County 204B from July 1994.  This bird had the Lycoming T-33 L13 engine and was said to be a very good lifter. However, cracks in the airframe were discovered in november of 94 and she was retired.  You may notice as well that she has a roof mounted pitot tube.  I'm guessing the roof mounted pitot was a lte addition to the 204B production series.

finally, here is the one I would consider the most likely build candidate of the ones I've posted using the Monogram Huey. This is a Ventura County Sheriff's ex-UH-1B based at Camarillo airport that was used for both SAR and Firefighting work.   One majordifference between this bird and the one in the kit is the tail fin. She has had a UH-1C tailboom replacement at some point in her career and the tail fin is considerably wider on the UH-1C.  Also, the position lights on the tail boom are located on either side in front of the tail skid on the UH-1C instead of at the end of the tail boom as on a UH-1B.  Other mods are the Wire Strike kit,  mirror below the pilot's chin bubble and the raised skids to accommodate a water reservoir with skid steps.  

I know none of these are exactly what you were looking for, but I thought they might be of some use with your build.  I look forward to seeing how it turns out.

    Ray

Guys, thanks for the help.  The only references that I have found to use of the 204 in the Fire/EMS world is the pair of UH-1F's rehabbed for Los Angeles City Fire Department in the late 1970's.  

I found out that the first government funded civilian HEMS program was started in 1970 with three FH-1100s operated by Mississippi State University under Project CARE-SOM, a DOT funded evaluation program.  The FH-1100 was configured to carry 2 littered patients, as shown below.  After flying 1162 missions, a 239 page report touted the benefits of using helicopters to transport critically ill patients.

Other air ambulance services soon sprang up and seem to have used any helicopter that could fly with one pilot.  Aérospatiale Alouette III's and AS365 Dauphin II's, MBB/Eurocopter BO-105s, Bell 206 JetRanger, 222s, and the occasional 412.  I remember a friend that worked for a HEMS service that used dark green BK-117s and he was more than happy when they transitioned to EC-135s, but really sad when they went to EC-130s and put the patient's feet right next to the pilot.  

A lot has changed over the years with HEMS, and so have the helicopters.

This is going to be my winter project since it is going to require lots of scratchbuilding.  I'm going to approach this as a civilian purchased helicopter that is being used as a HEMS unit for a fictional air ambulance service.  I will take some liberties with the HEMS portion of the build as I plan to depict the helicopter in the early 1980s, so it won't be as fully equipped as modern day HEMS birds and as scarcely equipped as early HEMS units.  I will need to find some additional reference materials for factory built civilian 204s since most of the reference material I have found is for converted surplus UH-1Bs. 

I'll keep everyone posted on this build, but don't expect anything for a month or two or four. 

Where at LSP can I find the big Huey?

Sorry, typo.  I meant Bell 204.

Where can I find the build at LSP?

One correction Gino, the B/C was a 204, the D/H was a 205.

I don't know of any used by civilian agencies.  The UH-1B/Cs (Bell 205s) were used as a MedEvacs in the early days of Vietnam though.  Usually, there were 3 stretchers along the back wall and a jump seat for the medic behind the pilots seats.  It was not common to see both a bench seat and stretcher racks in them.  There just isn't enough room for both.  Don't go by Oliver's build as a standard model.  His skills are great and his helo looks good, but it would never be able to leave the ground with what he has inside.  It would be way over max takeoff weight.

Here are some early ones.

 

The stretcher setup was similar to in the UH-1D/H below, butthere were hooks on the back wall and the poles were in the middle of the cabin, with the hooks facing rear, to support them.  You can see the pole position above as well.

Lastly, I'm not sure what you mean by the following:

...modifications to the bulkhead wall to remove the flak panels...

On the back wall is the fabric troop seat back, not flak panels.  If you leave the troop seat out, you would need to remove this part though.  You can see the fabric troop seat backs in red below.