SEARCH FINESCALE.COM

Enter keywords or a search phrase below:

STRANGE BREW Canadian Seaking

2906 views
10 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    May 2013
  • From: Indiana, USA
Posted by Greg on Saturday, March 10, 2018 8:16 PM

You'd think I'd feel dumb when a joke goes over my head. But alas, it happens so often that, well, ....not so much. Big Smile

Just makes it all the better that you made them yourself. Thanks for letting me know. Yes

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Towson MD
Posted by gregbale on Saturday, March 10, 2018 11:52 AM

littletimmy

"I wont crash this truck ... It's a BEER TRUCK"!

Love the decal envelope ! 

HECK ... I love the whole thing !

Also....

Belated kudos to littletimmy, for having having noticed the envelope! I figured that was one only dedicated fans of the series would catch....

Greg

George Lewis:

"Every time you correct me on my grammar I love you a little fewer."
 
  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Towson MD
Posted by gregbale on Saturday, March 10, 2018 11:36 AM

Thanks, Greg.

Greg

Who made the decals for you? They look great. I've heard of sending away for decals, know zip about it.

That was a bit of a leg-pull. ('Melonville' was the fictional small town where the equally-fictional SCTV television station was located.)

I actually found various elements of the artwork online and put them together using MS-Paint, and printed them at home on my faithful 'cheapo' HP inkjet. Gives one a marvelous outlet for 'offbeat' or non-commercial projects like this one...and very satisfying to do.

Greg

George Lewis:

"Every time you correct me on my grammar I love you a little fewer."
 
  • Member since
    May 2013
  • From: Indiana, USA
Posted by Greg on Saturday, March 10, 2018 10:41 AM

That is extremely cool, Greg.

Great idea, well-executed to say the least, and wow is it little.

Who made the decals for you? They look great. I've heard of sending away for decals, know zip about it.

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Towson MD
Posted by gregbale on Saturday, March 10, 2018 9:54 AM

Thanks!

I have to say, I am really looking forward to the new AFV Club 1/144 kit, once it finally becomes available! It's said to be finely detailed...and at two complete kits to the box, the price looks to be exceptional.

With 3-4 schemes on each Sweet decal sheet...and having started with 4 kits...I've got quite an excess of really cool markings left over! The AFV Club kit should help put a dent in that pile....

I love Sea Kings!

Greg

George Lewis:

"Every time you correct me on my grammar I love you a little fewer."
 
  • Member since
    July 2014
  • From: Franklin Wi
Posted by Bakster on Saturday, March 10, 2018 8:53 AM

This is awesome. Really nice work.

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Towson MD
Posted by gregbale on Friday, March 9, 2018 3:34 PM

jackball74
Always thought Air Canada should have built an ad campaign around them with "Take off, eh?" as the tagline.

I came very close to using that line in the heading of my post! Big Smile

Thanks to all for the looks and comments.

 

Greg

George Lewis:

"Every time you correct me on my grammar I love you a little fewer."
 
  • Member since
    January 2011
Posted by jackball74 on Friday, March 9, 2018 1:10 PM

Oh man, this is awesome! Kind of brings a tear to my eye, as my late best friend was a modeler and we both loved Bob and Doug. Always thought Air Canada should have built an ad campaign around them with "Take off, eh?" as the tagline.

R.I.P. Orange Blossom Hobbies

  • Member since
    July 2012
  • From: Douglas AZ
Posted by littletimmy on Thursday, March 1, 2018 9:08 PM

"I wont crash this truck ... It's a BEER TRUCK"!

Love the decal envelope ! 

HECK ... I love the whole thing !

 Dont worry about the thumbprint, paint it Rust , and call it "Battle Damage"

  • Member since
    April 2013
Posted by KnightTemplar5150 on Thursday, March 1, 2018 9:01 PM

Greg - that is absolutely fantastic! Great work, hoser! Looks totally ready to take off for the Great White North, eh? You earned a beer with that project!

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Towson MD
STRANGE BREW Canadian Seaking
Posted by gregbale on Thursday, March 1, 2018 4:41 PM

Some years ago, Vintage Wings of Canada did a wonderfully-conceived---and beautifully-illustrated---April Fool's Day piece on their website, celebrating (with tongue firmly in cheek) the Canadian Air Force's new 'Icons of Canadian Culture' Tail-Art project. This project was said to feature, not the usual range of boring tributes to respected political figures, humanitarians and innovators in the Arts and Sciences---in capital letters---but to the even-more admired and revered scions of the more 'high-profile' aspects of the nation's wide-ranging and über-influential cultural heritage. Think a little more 'lowbrow': sports...television...and popular music.

As a life-long admirer of most things Canadian---and an enthusiastic consumer of much of that 'popular culture,' ranging from Molson (and Tim Hortons)...to SCTV (and Corner Gas)...'Hockey Night" (and much of the National Hockey League)...and what occasionally seems like about 3/4 of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, to boot---the piece was a good-natured hoot from beginning to end. It was also a highly-inspiring map of possible projects for the ambitious modeler, with a host of great photos of CAF aircraft in unique 'tribute' schemes, along with informative (leg-pulling) captions describing the details of the units and machines depicted.

 That still-accessible April Fool's Day masterpiece is here

 I've got a whole list of 'someday' projects from the piece...including the hard-rocking Geddy Lee CF-18 and the 'Count Floyd' Twin Otter...but I thought I'd finally get the great-white-northern-ball rolling with the CH-124 Seaking in the markings celebrating the toque-wearing Bob and Doug McKenzie of SCTV fame. The kit is the beloved Sweet 1/144 offering:

 

 The decals...received in a mysterious unmarked envelope bearing the postmark 'Melonville'....

 

 

And the results:

 The Sweet kit is tiny and fairly simple, a 'snap-together' offering meant originally for the popular 1/144 pre-decorated toy market in Japan, which Sweet licensed as kits for their various sheets of suberb (Cartograf-printed) decals. Despite that simplicity, it is really a treat, with mostly-excellent fit and fine detail, and several options that make it an excellent base for nearly any of the dizzying variety of Seaking configurations in service (at least at one time) throughout the world. For those who haven't seen the kit, check Sweet's website: the decal sheets alone are worth the price of the kits, offering some really appealing (and unusual) options for a wide range of birds of various military and civil services.

My build began as any Seaking build with any kit begins: figuring out what to leave and what to add. The Sweet kit is basic to start with...but I did have to remove a few lumps and bumps to approximate the largely-uncluttered fuselage form of the Canadian CH-124s. (It's also a good idea to at least 'round off' some of the square-corner molding of the tail boom and flying surfaces.) The kit did supply both the 'thimble' radar and the correct FOD guard for the intakes as optional parts. (It also included a pre-attached rescue hoist, in the form of a vinyl blob, which I did away with, preferring to replace it with something a bit more delicate.)

In addition to the hoist, I scratchbuilt a basic cockpit interior, and then the features common to the Canadian flavor of the bird: the sonobuoy chute arrays and assorted antennae for the underside; fuselage bits, including unoccupied ECM mounts and the distinctive CPI or crash position indicator (the 'red button' on the stbd. tail); and the equaly-distinctive FLIR mount on the nose. The tail-boom strake---common to so many Seaking configurations world-wide---is the seemingly-odd omission from the kit; but it was easily fitted out from a bit of styrene strip. The main rotor blades are probably the weakest part of the kit, being thick, 'segmented' along their entire length, and not very straight, ; I cut the blades away from the arms and replaced them with thinner (and easier to 'droop') ones made from more styrene strip. Last were the mounts for the 'clothesline' aerial strung along the port side, the aerial itself from my thinnest-gauge invisible nylon thread.

 

 [A final note for those wishing to make their own decals for these projects: a quick 'toddle' around the Internet seems to show that the exact images used by the article's original creators to 'decorate' their aircraft are still as relatively easy to find as they were when the article's photos were mashed up. I haven't checked every single one...but I was able to find a handful quickly and with very little extensive searching required.]

Happy April Fool's Day, a little early!

 

Greg

George Lewis:

"Every time you correct me on my grammar I love you a little fewer."
 
JOIN OUR COMMUNITY!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

SEARCH FORUMS
FREE NEWSLETTER
By signing up you may also receive reader surveys and occasional special offers. We do not sell, rent or trade our email lists. View our Privacy Policy.