Hi Ya'll;
It seems years ago I found this bird and then it was labeled the "Flying Banana" in Yellow., Is that right or am I wrong? The reason I ask is this. I found this one in the Box( The original) sealed (With the original tape!) and it was labeled on the box the "Piaseki H -21 Workhorse"!) Oh! it was priced at $24.00 bucks. Was that too much? Well, I don't care I am going to build it anyway. I like unusual helicopters anyway.
Well I opened the box and got a shock. Heavy moldings and a mold Pin release point right in the middle of the way thick canopy! Sinkmarks all over the fuselage and on the smaller parts including the sliding doors into nothing! The back of the instruments had a canyon that needed to be filled and the ends of the seat platform as well. Surprisingly the Fuselage had few. The only poor fit there was on the top where the 2 1/2" flange forced the opposite side up. I got that fixed already.
The Canopy? Well, it got sanded to remove the pin mark that was INSIDE of it. Right in the center.!. I went through the numbers from 180 all the way to 12,000.Viol'a it was Successful! The canopy is clear and fits right. Lotsa rubbing with Polishing compound by both Novus and Meguires! The frames, Well, what I could see were nothing like the picture on the box ,but, that's okay. As per Aurora's doings the frames were heavy in front dissappearing to almost nothing on the sides. Just like the F -111 was !
You may think I lost it, but no, I enjoy taking these trips back in time Wow! These were considered the "Cat's Meow" Back in the day. If anyone put out something like this now, they would be out of business toots sweet! Just hadda let ya know what I was up to in "Choppers" Oh, By the way the decals were there, but toast. The background paper was actually brown! The Plastic, Swirly Silver as to be expected but smooth as a baby's butt except where the not so bad, but noticeable where they were, Rivets, Very few panels worth, compared to the F-86 from the same era!
I have to add this. I find building these OLD Helo kits more fun than the later Revell and Monogram releases. I have never built any from any other Mfgr. Granted these were re-purposed even then. But an almost 1/32 scale model of the old helo from "M.A.S.H in Korea was awesome. My Step Grandfather served on one flying guys to the various M.A.S.H. units. After Chosin Reseviour!