Bell 222

Mike F6F

Member since
November 2003
From: Virginia

Bell 222

Posted by Mike F6F on Sunday, February 7, 2016 4:18 PM

This model is built from the 1/48th scale AMT Airwolf kit. The kit is known for some exagerated details and less than perfect fit.

I built the Aoshimia Airwolf several years ago, so I wasn't motivated to build the AMT one, but the kit had the option to be built as a stock Bell 222B. To my knowledge this is the only kit available of what is certainly one the most attractive helicopters ever built. It is shame that no other manufacturer produced a kit of the pretty bird.

Using plenty of available online photos, I gave it a shot:

I wanted the helo to be somewhat dark so I used the Deck Blue and Ocean Gray paints I had left over from the Merit 1/350 USS Yorktown I finished and posted last summer.

Of course there are no am decals for a "triple deuce" so I had to raid the spare box. The registration numbers you may recognize from the Minicraft Cessna 172. I used a few stripes and a danger arrow on the boom.

I scratchbuilt a couple of antenna and added seatbelts in the cabin. The distortion of the clear plastic made most of the cockpit detail effort worthless. Many of the executive 222s I saw in photos had very dark-blue shaded cabin windows. To match the reference photos I was using, rendered the cabin invisible.

The kit's exhausts were horrible. I made some from some 1/4 inch tube.

The Bell 222 is such a striking machine, it could be a wonderful model project with some photo etch, etc., in a modern kit.

Another thing. It is easy to find decal sheets of military style numbers and letters, since there is a great demand for them. It would be nice if just a different font or two were available, but I imagine that a modeler printing his own markings will be the only answer.

Mike

"Grumman on a Navy Airplane is like Sterling on Silver."

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rotorwash

Member since
January 2007
From: Auburn, Alabama

Posted by rotorwash on Monday, February 8, 2016 7:10 AM

Pretty bird, Mike. A nice change of pace from military subjects. You definitely made the most of what you had to work with. I agree a modern 222 kit would be nice.

Ray

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Theuns

Member since
April 2010

Posted by Theuns on Monday, February 8, 2016 10:11 AM

Very cool, I wach these "cripple two's" all day at the airfield I work, very destinctive rotor sound :-)

Theuns

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Gamera

Member since
November 2009
From: SW Virginia

Posted by Gamera on Monday, February 8, 2016 11:26 AM

Very cool, I've always the 222 was one of the best looking whirlybirds out there. Did AMT ever reissue the kit just as the civil version? I don't recall ever seeing it.

Really nice work, I like your choice of colours.

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen