Vietnam Huey

Geordie,

WOW. Great build there. Is this ship part of the "Toon Army"???

What after market stuff , if any, did you use or was alot scratch built. I love the way you've done the rear bench seats and belts. Very realistic. Very nice subtle weathering and shading as well. Thanks for sharing with us all.

Cheers,

Rich

The D model was created with a larger cargo capacity in mind and had twice the seating capacity of the B and C model, in terms of medical litters it could carry, or troops, or as a "Log bird" carrying supplies.

The H model designator was given to indicate a D model that had the power plant upgrade which was necessary due to inadequate power in high temperatures (something that still plaques helicopters today). The H model Huey has a 1400 HP Lycoming T-53-L-13 powerplant. Another difference in the D and H model is the placement of a pitot tube and blade antenna on the cabin roof.

Geordie,

Wow! Fantastic UH-1C, Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Amazing amount of detail, love the work on the nose section and the inside of the doors. The crew compartment looks awsome! I think its the only MRC UH-1C i have seen with the miniguns mounted.

Did you use the eduard sets for the seat belts, wind shields and ammo chutes? In the first picture the burnt color variation on the back of the rocket pods looks great. What paint did you use and could you post a close up pic of the pods?  

You can see just how much work has gone into that build. Fantastic 174th AHC Shark

Thanks again for posting the pics.

Andy

Howie,

Thanks for the info, As far as white medevac helmets go, some of the early medevac hueys were white, so it kinda shows how much thought was put in. But like you say, the Geneva convention probably had alot to do with that. I suppose, looking at it from the side of anyone that doesnt follow the convention, the sight of big red cross on an enemy helicopter means little more than a great target to aim for as does a white helmet.

Just out of curiousity, was there ever a time going into an LZ or something, when you looked around at the other guys and thought " was it realy a good idea to paint my helmet" ?

As for the Panda kit, i think its still the same DML helo crew. After lots of failed attempts and(nervous twitch inducing) last minute bids, i managed to get hold of a few sets of the figures. They are good but then we dont have alot of helo crews to choose from! I think the option for two mounted M60s seems like a fair and obvious inclusion for the kit (but then you wouldnt have to buy two kits, would you! $$$ £££).

Like you say, it would be nice to have something new. Luckily i managed to get hold of some limited edition heads, for the DML crew, made over here in the UK. So i have the option of visor up or down now.

Ray's made a thread with pictures of all the bits in the Panda kit. its on the first page i think. il grab the link and post it here next time im on

Andy 

Snake36Bravo wrote:

The D model was created with a larger cargo capacity in mind and had twice the seating capacity of the B and C model, in terms of medical litters it could carry, or troops, or as a "Log bird" carrying supplies. The H model designator was given to indicate a D model that had the power plant upgrade which was necessary due to inadequate power in high temperatures (something that still plaques helicopters today). The H model Huey has a 1400 HP Lycoming T-53-L-13 powerplant. Another difference in the D and H model is the placement of a pitot tube and blade antenna on the cabin roof.

Most D models were brought up to H standards by upgrading the engine, pitot tube still remained on the nose. The only way to check would be to look at the data plate

Melgyver wrote:

Andy, Thanks for the "plug" for my two threads on the Huey Rotor Heads.  Yes indeed there is still a lot on interest in the "old" Huey!  Best darn chopper I've ever crewed and got "stick" time in!

Have to agree with Mel, best chopper ever made, I crewed many a year in them

Andy/Rich - thanks for teh comments.

 I used all three of the Eduard PE sets (internal/external/weapons) and also some scratchbuilding for the engine bay and part of the nose radio compartment.  I used the radios from the Seminar 1/35 UH-1C kit (about the only pieces I used from this kit).

The rockets pods were painted using Tamiya dark copper and then I used Tamiya smoke to replicate exhaust staining to the rear of the pods.  The rear seat was scratchbuilt, the frame being made from plastic rod and tissue applied for the fabric.

I still have a few things to finish - the cover over the tail rotor drive shaft and adding some clutter in the rear compartment.  Unfortunately a lot of parts were broken off in a recent move from the UK to the US so I have been recently sticking all the bits on again.

 I've attached another photo of the rocket pods as requested (I still need to reattach a cable following the damage caused by my move).

 Finally - a photo of the real Ace of Spades:

Geordie,

Thanks for posting the picture, i have a couple of MRC 1C's in my stash and im gona go with the "Frog" minigun version first. I decided a while back that i wanted empty rocket pods, so i got hold of some tubing ready for scratch build, but wasnt quite sure how to go about getting the exhaust stain look, (my quick fix idea about putting a lighter to the brass tubes failed miserably lol) so a pot of dark copper and smoke is next on the list now .

I keep hearing good and bad things about the Seminar UH-1B, I dont know if i read your post right but does the seminar kit come with bits for an open nose section? 

As for clutter for the rear compartment, i saw somewhere that Chris at Cobra Company is bringing out some "clutter" sets soon, with rags and cans and stuff for hueys, i cant remember off-hand where i saw the post but hopefully if he sees this, he can pop some details in here.

Anyway thanks again for the pictures, its a real treat to see another great huey build.

Andy

Andy,

  TheSeminar kit comes with parts to make the electronics bay in the nose.  I have no idea how accurate the parts are, but here is what the electrnics bay should look like:

[img]http://[

This is the "229th" H model that I sent you pics of earlier.  They pilots at the reunion agreed that it looks just like the configuration did back when they were in Vietnam.  I can post pics of the Seminar parts when I get back home if you want.

   Ray
 

Andy,

 Yes, the Seminar kit comes with radio compartment details  - it's about the only good part of the kit and the only parts I used.  I used the front part of the frame and added my own horizontal and vertical dividing walls from plastic card.  I also used most of the radios provided in the kit.  I used photos in the Squadron books (UH1 in Action and the Gunships Walkaround) as reference and also some photos I took of a Huey which sits in the Philippine Military Academy (I covertly lifted the radio compartment hatch and took some photos when nobody was looking!).  I've attached a photo below.

 I'm looking forward to Chief Snake producing the huey clutter - I think it will make a great addition to huey builds.

Good luck with your huey build - looking forward to seeing it..............

 Cheers

 Simon

Geordie,

I'll pile on with the compliments too - great looking model!  Sorry about the travel damage...

for those of you adding 'clutter' - don't forget tie-down belts to hold the loose stuff to the floor.  We had, behind the center console, a large toolbox and a black plastic jerry can of water.  You might have a carton of C Rations and/or MREs stuffed under the gunner, CE or passengers' seats.  As the door gunner, my M-16 would be wedged vertically between my seat and the back wall (ditto for the CE's M-16), smoke grenades would hang on the end posts that held up the back seats (and would have been used for medevac stretchers).  There's not really much else that would be back there. 

clear right

Howie 

Grimmo wrote:

Thanks for that. So with the engine upgrade, were any engine acess panels changed? Different shape? I am going to try and model a 9 SQN Bushranger, so it should be fun!

Engine upgrade required no external changes

Andy

re "Just out of curiousity, was there ever a time going into an LZ or something, when you looked around at the other guys and thought " was it realy a good idea to paint my helmet" ?

Most of the grunts wrote or drew on their fabric helmet covers with a pen or marker and I guess it was 'subdued' being black or blue - you'd have to be close up to see it.  My helmet didn't become a magnet - nothing ever came close enough to make me want to paint it out.  The more than occassional smiles from them made it worth keeping.

clear right

Howie

Ok, let's say you had a white helmet, but you wanted a OD helmet, and there was no paint around. What do you do?  Why OD duct tape, of course!

[img]http://

This is a 118th co-pilot from 1965.

  Ray
 

90 MPH tape fixes EVERYTHING in the Army!

David 

LOL good find Ray .

Its funny how you find the answers to questions by accident at times, i was listening to an interview with a crew chief the other night, who said that when he first started he had no idea what the hell he was doing, he was asked to do the pre flight checks and tried to look like he knew what he was doing lol, there were no tool boxes or manuals on the ships as they either get pinched by other crews or are kept by the maintenance guys when a new huey first arrives. But one of the first things he was told by the pilots was to hunt for some OD helicopter paint ASAP to cover his white helmet. 

Thanks for posting that Picture of the electronics bay.

Andy.

PS if you get chance to post pictures of the seminar kit parts that would be great.

grandadjohn wrote:

Grimmo wrote: Thanks for that. So with the engine upgrade, were any engine acess panels changed? Different shape? I am going to try and model a 9 SQN Bushranger, so it should be fun! Engine upgrade required no external changes

Thanks mate. i picked up the Academy UH-1C Frog so i can pinch the weapons from it to go on the Bushranger.

Isn't there a difference in airframe between the D and H? I heard the nose was shortened on the H.

I'm building up a few UH-1s myself. But I work 1/72 scale. I started with B and C. I have a few D'd set up for build. I'm getting parts together to make an E and maybe M model. I started a UH-1F but I'm researching the roof antennae set up and I'll probably make second one to make a P model. Maybe you guys can help. I know the P model had the 2 UHF one behind the other, but this F model from Italeri uses the same cabin roof as the B and C, which have that hump for antenna behind the UHF. Here is the question- is that antenna "hump" supposed to be on the F and P or is it flat? I figured that on the P it would not be there since the secound UHF is in that spot, but i can't find any picture with an angle on the roof. Also, the kit has a roof mounted pitot instead of the single nose mounted pitot. WTF! I was just going to build it until I stumbled onto some pictures of the P model in some Vietnam books I have. One other thing, i was going to modify the rescue hoist that comes with the D model to make the E model. Good idea? or waste of time?

Can anyone help?

Kris

('98-'03 UH-60 Chickenhawk CE)

Kris,

  The only difference between the D and H models is the engine (T53 L11 in D and T 53 L13 in H) and the location of the pitot tube (nose mounted on a D model and roof mounted on a H).  Most D models were upgraded to the H standard later on, but the pitot tube should still be on the nose of most birds that were originally D's.  I assume you are building the Italery kits of the B, C , and F models.  ALL of the rotors are way too small and they ALL rotate the wrong way (Italian built Hueys have rotors that rotate clockwise, Us Hueys rotate counterclockwise) -having built one of these now I know this is incorrect, Italeri 1/72 rotors rotate caunterclockwise, it's their 1/48 stuff that is wrong.  To my knowledge there is NO 1/72 scale Charlie model that can be built accurately.  The main problem being that the Italeri C model kit has the same undersized rotors as the B and F kits.  Cobra Company did a replacement rotor, if you can find it.  The Charlie model had a much wider chord rotor (27 vs 21 inches) compared to the Bravo.  Also, the C model used the 540 rotor system and the kit comes with the 204 rotor the is significantly different.  The charlie model also has the fuel filler on the left side and the Italeri C model kit has the same fuselage as thier B model.  If you want to build and accurate B model, use the rotors from the ESCI/AMT/Italeri UH-1D kit.  They will be a little too long, but that is easily corrected.  Don't forget to put blade counterweights on the rotorhead as the D/H models lacked these.  The M model is EXACTLY the same as the Charlie except for the T53 L13 engine upgrade.  As for the Echo, the earliest Echos were built after the Bravo model and looked identical externally except for the rescue hoist.  Most Echos, however, were built after the Charlie model and in 1/72 scale you will have the same problem as i mentioned above.  THe main difference between Echos and Army Bs and C's was that the frame was aluminum, there was a rotor brake installed, the avionics were different, and the rescue hoist was added.  Also, the armament package was significantly different.  The Army used the M156 universal mounting system and the Marines used the TK-2 mounting system (use the search function in this forum for more info on each one).  That should be enough info to get you started. Most if not all of this stuff can be found in various Huey threads in the forum.  More on the F/P model later when I get home and can post pics of it.  Hope that helps.

     Ray
 

yes, I am using the italeri kits. The only one I've completed is the B model since I built it straight out the box. with the C I stopped before putting on the cabin roof since I decided I was going to add stuff to the interior and a 40mm greanade launcer on the nose. Then I found a decal set with markings for a certain C model I saw in several pictures in some books I have. I saw someone post a picture of that one in one of these forums but they said it was a B. Now, the pictures I have, the decal sheet, and everything I read from you guys, tells me C model. I bought the CMK UH-1B exterior kit, which included the canister and feedtray for the 40mm that sits in the cabin. Now, I want to build folded up seats for the back, add a crew and some other stuff to the back. I also got the CMK Vietnam UH-1 crew. 2 pilots that don't fit on any UH-1 seat that I have, be it B, C, or D and only 1 gunner. What am I supposed to do? The exterior kit also has the stuff to set up the helicopter with open engine and nose compartments (I'll leave that for a different model.)

I'm pretty sure the rotors on all of these turn counter-clockwise. I'll check them when I get home today, though. that would really tick me off.

Well, thanks for all the help so far.

Kris,

  Trust me the Italeri B, C, and F 1/72 kit's rotors turn backwards relative to US Hueys -never "trust" me, make me prove it! wrong again.  Also, as I said before, they are too small anyway, even for an A model!  Also, the rotor blades lack trim tabs which are very obvious on Hueys.   It can be difficult to tell a B model fom a C model because during the course of the Vietnam War the original air intakes were replaced with the particle filters usually associated with C models. Also, some B model tailbooms failed and were replaced with C model tailbooms.  However, you can always tell a B from a C by the horizontal stabs, rotor head, and easiest of all, the fuel filler position.  The horizontal stabs on a Bravo are symmetrical in cross section and are narrow.  Charlies have an assymetrical cross section and a wider chord.  As I said before the 540 and 204 rotor heads are very different. Finally, the Bravo has the fuel filler on the right and the Charlie has it on the left.  The pitot tube is on the nose in a Bravo, but on the roof in the Charlie.  The nose mounted FM antennas aren't reliable as many were replaced with a roof mounted antenna during the war.  My guess is that it is identified correctly on this forum.  The guys here know their stuff.  If you still have a question, post the photo in question and one of us will ID it for you.

  Ray
 

Ummm... I'm looking at them from the top... and they turn counter-clockwise... all of them.

besides that, this is the Huey I'm building as a C model. Wait a minute, Ray, you posted this one in the unusual hueys thread. The info I have says: UH-1C #36 of 121st AHC SOC TRANG on both the books and the decal sheet. The differences between this picture and the one in the books, the Grenade launcher has a cartoon bunny called Thumper on the left side, and and the yellow marking on the roof of this one, and I don't see the bunny in this picture. Oh, something else, the pitot on this one is on the nose... I can't tell in the books, but the decal sheet has it on the roof. Now, I don't know WTF to do.

Kris,

 Sorry about that, i've always been told the rotors on all Italeri kits were wrong, but it looks like it's only their 1/48 and 1/35 scale kits-see I finally got it right!  As I said it really doesn't matter since the tiny blades supplied with the kit are virtually unfixable.  i have never really looked at them as closely as I should.  As for the 121st Huey, its a B model with the C model tail boom installed and the particle filter exactly as I mentioned above.  It has the 204 rotor head and the narrow chord horizontal stabs and the nose mounted pitot.  Case closed!

    Ray
 

Ok... I'm glad you can pat yourself on the back because you know it's a B model. Now, are you going to help me out or what? The yellow on the roof... do you know what the deal is? since the aircraft in the picture IS A B MODEL, I should just change the stabilizers, get different blades, take off the pitot from the roof, call it a modified B since that's what it is, and try again for a C model. Where can I get the parts that I need?

What about the F model? any info?

Kris,

  The yellow on the roof would be a stripe painted to keep helos from hitting each other in flight (a high vis marking).  These markings varied by unit and by the time frame which the aircraft served. If you want to build the aircraft you posted (using the Italeri B as the base) simply get the rotors of the Esci/Ertl/Italeri UH-1D (take 2 scale feet out of the middle of each rotor).  Then get the particle sperator and tail fin from the Italeri C model.  Scratch build the nose mounted pitot and the roof mounted "towel bar" antenna. Use the horizontal stabs included in the B kit and viola, you got the bird you posted.  

   As for the Uh-1F/P.  The UH-1F was designed originally for the Air Force to service ICBM missile sites.  Because the Air Force had a bunch of GE T58-GE-3 engines laying around they asked Bell to design a Huey around it. That's why the exhaust comes out the left side unlike all other Hueys.  The UH-1F also incorporated the larger 48 ft diameter rotor of the UH-1D and thus required the D model tailboom which made the whole ship longer than the other short fuselage variants.  The rotor head is the same 205 rotor head found on D and H models.  When the 20th SOS went to Vietnam they camouflaged their hueys.  Colors were Dark Green (FS34079), Tan (FS30219), and Light Gray (FS36622).  The slick transport birds were armed with twin M60A's on Sagami mounts.  When armed as a gunship with 7 shot 2.75 inch FFAR rocket launchers and M-93 minigins in the door, they were referred to as UH-1P's.  This model is officially described as a psyops bird, but that was because the 20th SOS was conducting a lot of cross border operations and didn't want their true nature disclosed.  The unit was called the GREEN HORNETS.  The twin blade antennae were VHF/UHF dua antennas and were characteristic of the USAF UH-1F/P.  That should at least get you started.

   Ray
 

Here is a link to Bell Helicopter screen savers, including a tribute to the HUEY:

http://www.crescentair.com/coolbottom.htm 

Thought some of you might like it.  There are some 1st CAV pics from Vietnam in the slideshow as well as a cool pic of a XM-22 outfitted YUH-1D test bird.  Overall a neat screensaver.

     Ray
 

Great screensaver! Thanks Ray .

Andy