My Academy 1/48th CH-53E build

Great start Doupnik

I built one of these monsters a while back but mine was straight out of the box, i hope to do another soon with all the added extras, right now i am saving / spending all my extra dollars on a 1/35 CH-47A with heaps of extras.

Again keep up the good work.

Robert

HawkeyeHobbies wrote:

Are you going to open up all of those vents and replace them with either PE or brass mesh?

 Probably not this time, I'll save that for the next build.

 mason

Great work,

I love that rivet detail.  It looks spot on.  The rotor head detail is looking great as well.  Congradulations and we look forward to seeing more. 

Semper Fi,

Chris

ridleusmc wrote:

Great work, I love that rivet detail.  It looks spot on.  The rotor head detail is looking great as well.  Congradulations and we look forward to seeing more.  Semper Fi, Chris

Chris - thanks for your note, as I mentioned your build has been very helpful to me on mine.

I am looking into filling the cabin and I was wondering about the pendants. You mentioned trailer hitches from a 1/35 Sherman, do they all have the trailer hitch, or better yet, is there aftermarket trailer hitches around?

Thanks,

mason 

No, sorry I don't have any of those trailer hitches around.  I think their technical name is "towing pentles," or something like that.  They were often removed from Sherman tanks, trucks or halftracks for various reasons.  I haven't built any armor in a while, and I don't have any of those hooks in my spares box.  It's a little funny that they look like lifting hooks for a helicopter.  Maybe there are some guys over on the armor forum that are able to help you out.  

Good luck with your 53.  It's a great machine and your model is looking awesome.  

You've inspired me to order a rivet tool (for models). 

Semper Fi,

Chris   

A quick update.

The rotor head is together and almost done.

And the EAPS are pretty much done. 

Thanks for looking,

mason  

Thanks a lot. Most of the detail is on the model. If you look really closely, you can see faint line where the rivets should be. It's like they changed their mind and filled in someone's work.

I also have a lot of detail pics that I have taken for over a year getting ready for this build. Checking my references and the model itself, I was able to get most of it done. It isn't 100% accurate, but it helps a lot.

The Landing Zone book on the 53 was also quite helpful with lots of detail pics.

Hope this helps,

mason 

Here's an update. The cockpit is close to done along with the cabin floor. Cockpit floor and seats are Cobra Company.

Extra bits are also CC.

Thanks for looking,

mason 

Hello Mason,

     You have done outstanding work with this build, sir, and apologize for not finding it sooner, but will certainly be following it now!        Thanks for the excellent coverage!

    Take care,

    Frank 

Thanks for the comments, guys. 

I am using the smallest pounce wheel in this set from Micro Mark.  http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=15200 

I am using a lot of Dymo tape to keep everything straight. For the actual lines, I am following the lines that are already in the kit, but barely visible, and a lot of reference pics. 

mason 

Got some things done this weekend. After a false start, here are my cargo area seats, half will be up, half down. And they are a bit fragile, definitely not crashworthy.

Here are my pendants.

My exhausts.

The bits for the cargo area are coming along, here's my raft.

And the cargo area sides.

Thanks for looking,

mason 

Got some more work done. The second test fit of the fuselage was fairly sucessful.

And then I worked on the interior some more. The cargo area walls are almost done.

Thanks for looking,

mason 

Those seats, belts, and interior walls look awesome!!!!
You should really keep those cargo doors open to help show them off.

Andy

Hi Mason,

    The beautiful detail you're creating and putting together on that plastic is awe inspiring!

   It looks like you could walk up to the ramp and smell the hydraulic fluid!

     Thank you for the updates!! 

     Take care,

     Frank

Thanks for the comments guys. I will be leaving the rear doors open, you just can't see anything otherwise.

I got the fuselage glued together. I probably should have done some more test fits as I ended up with some gaps on the bottom panel. I cleaned them up and it's starting to look like a helicopter.

And the interior:

Thanks for looking,

mason 

  Wow! Nice job on the interior!

 Thanks for sharing!

Andy

Oh wow,

That looks real.  I had some problems with the fit of the underside of the fuselage too.  I guess it's just a tricky part of that model.

 Great work,

Semper Fi,

Chris

Thanks a lot for the comments guys!

Got a little more done, sponsons are on and the blades are drooped, but I may work on that some more. I am also thinking about dropping the rotor head down a bit.

 Pics, 

Of course it pays to be very careful when taking the blades off,

I also got the exhaust pipe covers done, now I can put the engines together. RBF tags will be added later.

Thanks for looking,

mason 

   SWEET!!

Got some work done. Wired the IP, I used some artistic license here, I am trying to get the feel of the cable spagetti here.

Finally got most of the pieces together, it's looking like a 53 now. I also lowered the rotorhead a bit and re-drooped the blades.

Thanks for looking,

mason 

WOW!!!  She's looking great!  She's a real beauty.  Keep up the great work and keep us posted!

Awesome job! I don't frequent this forum much because !. 1. I'm not much into building helicopters, although I have a few in my stash, and 2. there usually isn't much to look at here. Most of the time it's a lot of questions, but not many builds. I'll be watching this one. Great job.

                                                                                   Ken
 

Thanks a lot for the comments, guys. Having fun with this one so far.

Started working on the main rotors, added foil and wire to liven them up.

This is my test blade. I am going to mask it off, then paint it dark gray and weather it darker.

Added lines to the refueling probe.

It's on now and the lines are finished.

The rear fuselage has most of the antennas on, it's looking like a good, warty Marine helo now.

I started on my decals. There aren't too many to do, they are black now, they will be 35237, right? The tail rotor stencils will be yellow. I am probably going to use the same people that RidleUSMC used.

Here are closeups of the blade tiedowns and the nose door art. I will be adding more depth and detail to the tiedown.

Thanks for looking,

mason