UH-1Y Huey Yankee Venom

Mike F6F

Member since
November 2003
From: Virginia

UH-1Y Huey Yankee Venom

Posted by Mike F6F on Monday, February 8, 2016 4:37 PM

Having built the AH-1Z, I couldn't pass up building the other USMC H-1.

Since 85 percent of the two helos are interchangable, the kits contain some of the same sprues. If you are planning builds of either helo, I recommend you get both kits. You'll have some spares and duplicates that come in handy.

I eliminated the aft engine compartment bulkhead and the exhausts fit much better here.

Again the cockpits and the cabin are all black and I used the the Euro I Gray FS36081 instead of black for the cabin floor and bulkheads. The cabin seats started out as Gunship Gray, then I darkened them with a black wash. I added Edward's set of cabin seatbelts and some coiled wire to represent the long intercom cables that can be seen in reference photos.

I intended to mount the mini-gun and the Ma Deuce but the mini-gun, obviously made of very thin plastic, shattered as I tried to assemble it. So far I haven't found anyone that carriers an AM mini-gun in 1/48th.

I used the small rocket launchers from the AH-1 kit for this build since many reference photos show the smaller tubes mounted on the Hueys.

I drilled a hole and mounted some wire to represent tubing around the tail rotor hub. I did this on both models.

There were some fit problems with the clear plastic at the nose. I intended to mount the cockpit doors in the closed position and cut the small mounting tabs from the parts. Slight fitting trouble of the windscreen which includes the top windows in the single part, forced me to mount them open anyway so I used a little stock strip, that really dosn't show as a gluing surface.

There's no provision for mounting the cabin doors open short of just gluing them to the fuselage.

On both kits the main rotor blades are on identical sprues. They mount to the central hub on a single cross-shaped piece. Judging from multiple shots of both helos, the blades have little to no curve to them, but they do droop from the hub when at rest. To pull that off requires the cross-shaped piece to have some negative bending applied to it. This however can cause difficulty trapping the cross piece between the blade parts. This tends to straighten the cross piece negating any bend. After completing the blade assembly, I tried several different weights and methods to restore the proper appearance. They really didn't work. It was the only frustrating bit with either build.

I enjoyed both builds and encourage others to build both kits.

Mike

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

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wolfhammer1

Member since
March 2009
From: Yorkville, IL

Posted by wolfhammer1 on Monday, February 8, 2016 7:55 PM

Beautiful work on both helos. If you find a source for the minigun or the M2, let me know. I have a couple of helicopters I'd like to build with additional fire power relative to what the kits offer. This months Flight Journal has an article on the Seawolves, USN UH-1B/C Hueys armed to the teeth with mini guns, rockets, twin M-60s out one door and a 50 cal out the other. Be cool to model a Little Bird with mini guns also. Later

John

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scorpr2

Member since
July 2007

Posted by scorpr2 on Monday, February 8, 2016 9:45 PM

That's a good looking huey!

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allan

Member since
June 2003
From: Cavite, Philippines

Posted by allan on Tuesday, February 9, 2016 3:06 AM

Love this helo. Great job, and nice base! How I wish someone would come out with an injection molded kit of this in 1/72.

No bucks, no Buck Rogers

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HeavyArty

Member since
December 2002
From: Valrico, FL

Posted by HeavyArty on Tuesday, February 9, 2016 8:36 AM

It turned out looking great. Even through 1/48 is not my preferred scale, I am liking these two Kittyhawk Huey kits more and more. I just may have to get them.

Mike F6F

I intended to mount the mini-gun and the Ma Deuce but the mini-gun, obviously made of very thin plastic, shattered as I tried to assemble it. So far I haven't found anyone that carriers an AM mini-gun in 1/48th.

Cobra Company has 1/48 M134 miniguns in a couple of their sets; MH-53 Weapons Package (48049) and MH-60L Conversion (48031). I'm sure if you contact them, you can buy just the gun parts. Chris is a really good guy to deal with.

http://www.cobracompany.com/

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midnightprowler

Member since
February 2003
From: East Bethel, MN

Posted by midnightprowler on Tuesday, February 9, 2016 9:40 AM

Simply stunning. Hard for me though to get used to Huey's and Cobras with 4 bladed rotors, both main and tail, lol.

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hogfanfs

Member since
May 2013
From: From the Mit, but live in Mason, O high ho

Posted by hogfanfs on Tuesday, February 9, 2016 10:22 AM

Another fine example, Mike. Great job!

Bruce

On the bench: 1/48 Eduard MiG-21MF

1/35 Takom Merkava Mk.I

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Mike F6F

Member since
November 2003
From: Virginia

Posted by Mike F6F on Friday, February 12, 2016 5:05 PM

Thanks for all your kind comments and the Cobra hint for the mini-gun.

I didn't mention the bases used for both H-1s. They are made by 3Wire. The decks are printed on 1.5mm sheet styrene. They look very good and I believe are second only to a full flight deck dio base.

Mike

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

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Stuart06

Member since
December 2005
From: Toronto, Canada

Posted by Stuart06 on Sunday, February 21, 2016 8:39 AM

Excellant work.. Just curious. where did you get the heli base and how did you attach it to the frame?

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Mike F6F

Member since
November 2003
From: Virginia

Posted by Mike F6F on Sunday, February 21, 2016 11:57 AM

Stuart,

The base is a 3Wire printed photograph, reproduced on a 1.5mm thick piece of styrene.

I didn't mount it in a frame, I cemented it to the base of an Imex display case.

The Flying Mule http://www.flyingmule.com/ sells several different types and scales of tarmac and flight deck photo bases.

Mike

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

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