Hughes 500C

Interesting build! Keep us posted.

Question: what's the net gun for?

Nice one, Zac!

How did you get the passenger doors with the big windows? From a D-kit?

Isn't the net used for catching deer?

Keep us informed!

Gertjan

Looks like a cool project! Its always a bit more fun when your doing aircraft that you know of or have served with.

Now...What does HUT stand for and what kind of work do they do?

Geez 1/72 is TINY for that size of Helo!

Okay, a few things I'd like to say.

First off, thaks for your interest guys!

Papa Echo - ZK-HUT is the registration (New Zealand's civil register has the ZK prefix, just like the US has N, the UK G etc, all helicopters have a ZK-Hxx or ZK-Ixx rego).

AirMed - aw, shucks! BTW my build has basically the same scheme as your last pic. My dad once built the 1/32 Revell kit for me...over the years parts steadily disappeared and the basic egg was painted by me as...you guessed it - HUT!

Gertjan - the big windows and doors came with the kit! Despite on the box and painting instructions there are small pax windows, only big ones came with it! Thank God for that, quite frankly, otherwise it would've killed my project.

And yes, the netgun is for catching deer. During the 1970s there were "Deer Wars" where the Government basically allowed hunters and pilots in 500s, 300s and Hillers to roam the Kiwi heartland shooting and capturing deer. Major story.

Just finishing the fire extinguisher for the cockpit...that's right! Pics when more stuff happens.

Cool!

Thanks for the info mate.... can't wait to see her complete.

Well there has been much progress since my first post...sorry, no pics because I'M AT WORK!!! Won't be home for another five hours, but once I get back I'll be able to show you ZK-HUT in all her practically-completed glory.

I'll give you a full progress report with the pics. I'll just say she's my first "superdetailed" build...ie seatbelts, fire extinguisher, deer blood on the cabin floor, you get the drift!

COOL!  Hey mate thats looking very sweet! At 1/72 what will the total length be?

Pizza huh?......Where is the Dink Di dog food box?

Pizza

The total length will be about 12cm!

Looks like it's coming out pretty well.

Please keep posting pics as you progress.

I was referring the PIZZA BOX or add besides the Helo.

Right, the Pizza Ad, that's on the map for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas I have taped to my closet. Handy reference, you see .

Cellotape is, well, cellotape - just your normal average "sticky tape". Clear, slightly yellow, basically NOT masking, duct or any other kind of tape. The buckes are....Tamiya Chrome Silver X-11, that's all. I had to cheat on the pilot's side because the belts weren't as long. If I could get good enough detail with the camera you'd see.

Here's what she looked like just after I posted that other pic:

Like I say, excuse my shaky hand. All I need to do now paint-wise is touch up the white areas on the tail (fun, huh? white over red!) and the skids.

PROGRESS REPORT
I'm working on touching up the red with white (tidying it up) and painting the tail rotor, Had to reattach the warped left skid because it was slipping. It'll always be wonky, but I don't mind. I'm going to try and track down the pilot so I can send him pics when its complete. More pics when progress is major and visible.

BTW anyone got a canopy mask for her?

As promised, here's more progress. Canopy painted (AAAAAAAAAARGH) and tail rotor on, main rotor all painted and dry-fitted. Imagine this is how she looked coming out of the Hughes factory before delivery.

A closer look. This is my first real attempt at "superdetailing".

More pics when the decals have arrived and are on or the netgun is ready....whichever comes first.

Will spend tomorrow assembling the scratchbuilt "gotcha gun".

Time for some more progress. The netgun!

Here's the original (stretched for some reason):

And my scratched version (pretty much actual size, this pic):

Whaddya think? The orange cannister is two 1:144 F-14 undercarriage doors trimmed, the body of the gun from some thing and the struts from Airfix's 1:72 Super Etendard and Revell's 1:72 Bf109G-10 amongst others. I mixed the orange myself.

I still need the cargo hook from Hasegawa's UH-1H if someone has a spare. :D

Nice precision work, Zac! I especially like the net gun.

I experienced the same problems on the 500's canopies.  An idea that actually works for me on canopies is the use of thin decal stripes (f.i. Xtradecal Parallel stripes). They come in different colours and white is definitely one of them. If you use a Decal setting solution, the decals follow the shape of the canopy very well.

Thank you for sharing!

Gertjan

Thanks for your advice Gert, I'll keep that in mind for my next 500 build (got one soon for a Group Build at ARC).

My friends, may I present my completed tribute to the "Meat Hawks": Hughes 500C ZK-HUT!

These pictures were snapped by shooter Duncan Sutherland on a recovery trip into the Tararua Ranges in New Zealand's North Island on January 11 1986.

Pilot Richard Paku has driven to deliver a load of three live deer to the truck for transport to a deer farm.

I hope you have all enjoyed watching this build as much as I have had doing it. "Labour of love" has never really meant anything to me until now. Thanks for all your support and to Ashley Messenger for doing the decals - a million thank-yous.

For those who are interested, here are some pics and explanation of ZK-HUT's demise.

In February 1986 the aircraft was performing a demonstration at the Royal New Zealand Aero Club's pageant at Hood Aerodrome, Masterton, chasing a decoy (a 44-gallon drum towed by a quadbike) up and down the airfield.

After netting the decoy with both skid-mounted and hand-held netguns, Duncan got out of the helicopter whilst Richard was hovering, to "tie up" the "deer".

Richard, more used to flying in the steep hillcountry, attempted to back away.

Regular practice on a hillside, but often fatal on flat ground.

The chopper's tailrotor dug into the ground, and the tail assembly ripped off. The chopper spun clockwise twice before coming to rest on its left side.

The rotors were twisted off, the left skid crushed, and the tailboom disintegrated. Both crew escaped unharmed. The whole crash took about five seconds.

I have absolutely no idea of what has become of man and machine following this accident. I have Googled my way everywhere but found nothing.

Your model came out very nicely.

Ouch! The real helo ended up pretty banged up; what a shame.

Zac, thank you for this great post! I enjoyed every inch of it and it seems the model came out very good! Fascinating pictureseries of HUT's tragic end. Fortunately the crew escaped unhurt.

Thanks again!

Gertjan