Helicopter Group Build 2009

Thanks Jeremy and John.
By the way John, I'm sure there's a rule somewhere that doesn't allow a second entry until I'm not done with my first one!
Man, you're fast!

In the meantime I've cut one of my helos in two:



Suddently I feel a pain at my heart!

Keep up the good work guys!

I will be starting on the Apache in short time, after I finish a 37 mm Flak cannon for the anti aircraft group build, with pics to come!

Justin

Klaus - I cringed just a little looking at your last picture!

John (Helo 53) - How did you get the blades to droop in the plate? You just left them in the sun? I don't think there is enough sun or warm temps this time of year in my neck of the woods. Any other recommendations? I like the plate method because it looks like the bend will be uniform across all blades.

jeaton01 wrote:

Jeremy, I'm way past senility, I'm retired! I did fix the misnaming though, check the offending post!

Glad you take it well... and you're the boss around these parts so you can refer to me by any name you want. That Klaus though... we need to get his act together! Styrene dust (does it make dust?) is getting to his brain I think!

Justin - I'm going to keep an eye out for you Flak cannon... they are cool! Went to a WWII reenactment back in October and got to see a functional 88mm Flak cannon in action. BOOM! This is me trying to claim her as my own

Update!

Sorry all my updates look pretty much the same but I'm excited about the way the old Hind is looking and I want to share.

I gave the panel lines a wash, coat of Testors flat, added a few doo-dads and unmasked her.

If you see anything that could be done differently with the fuselage, please let me know.

Jeremy ;

I guess I'm fortunate in my location [Sydney] , our winter months aren't very cold and now summer is coming along , nice warm weather . We certainly don't have the weather extreme's you guy's have in the Northern Hemisphere .

With the rotor blade droop , the "slight" bend in the rotors needs to be only where the dumb bell collar is sitting . If the blades bend too much in the center or out towards the ends , it doesn't look right .

I do remember another FSM member trying the same technique but I think he may of used a oven on very low heat . My only concern is what I mentioned above , that is the rotor blades end up with too much of a bend in the middle and out near the ends , probably more like a curve .  

Perhaps the best thing to do , is try it with a set of inexpensive rotor blades first and see if you like the results , I'm about to try it again with my Fujimi Seaking rotors so I'll post a pic shortly . I hope this helps...

                           John . 

Wow! Great!
I'm talking about the 88 not your Hind, of course.

... because your Hind is OUTSTANDING!

The faded color turned out marvelous and the overall look is amazing! Great work.

jeremy, I have already completed the build portion on my 88mm flak cannon, but I picked up the Tamiya 37mm four barrel flak cannonreally cheap, so I thought Iwould throw that in with my 88.  I did complete the build on the 37mm, and have begun construction on the Apache...pics to come later tonight...

 Helo53...I thought that was a barbell collar...thats agreat idea!

Justin

oh yeah, I forgot to mention...I have been working on the 1:1 subject of our group build.  I work for a bodyshop, and we recently picked up an account with a company called SEI America, who are a subcontracted company for Agusta Helicopters from Italy.  I am (I think I mentioned it before,but)repairing and painting interiors for corporate helos and medivac helos...the past two days, I have been repairing the result of too much force and too much flexibility on the part of the installers, over in the assembly bays (the flight line) and see aircraft in many stages of assembly.  I have to go over again today, so I will try to get some more pics...

Justin

Jeremy,

  The Hind is very very nice!  I really like that paintjob.

      Ray

 With Fujimi's Seaking rotor hub , there is a small bluge on top [Hydraulic oil reservoir] which prevents the rotor hub sitting flat on the plate ; So I placed a couple of metal washers under the hub first .

With the mercury nudging the century mark these past couple of days , normal summer weather , "despite the media carrying-on about the end of the world" ; It's perfect for placing the rotors outside and I'll check on them every hour or so to see how their working out .

                                John .

BTW , as a last minute addition I've decided to add a .50 cal machine gun to the side cabin door on the the super Frelon . I should get her finished later today .

 I've finished my 1/72 IDF Israeli SA-321G Super Frelon .

I'm really happy with how everything turned out , at the last minute I decided to add the .50 cal machine gun , I found this pic in one of my IDF reference books .

Thanks for all the words of encouragment guy's with this build and it's all steam ahead on my Sikorsky SH-3D Seaking .

Thank's to imageshack for hosting my pic's and thank's for looking .

                                              John .

John, it's hard to tell that Super Frelon started life as a Mach 2 kit, well done!  On a schedule as well, you could get work with the movies!  The blades look just right, and the paint on them is really nice.  One ting I do notice that we do is all the blades are evenly spaced, I probably did that on my CH-37 too, where if I remember right the blades usually are off a little in spacing on a fully articulated head.  On the CH-37 they had enough freedon of travel in lead-lag to balance out if one blade was lost.  An Oklahoma Guard CH-37 was lost when the crew took off after landing due to losing a blade, and the helicopter got out of balance and broke up.  Probably not a good decision on the crew's part.

Front page is being updated.

jeaton01 wrote:

John, it's hard to tell that Super Frelon started life as a Mach 2 kit, well done!  On a schedule as well, you could get work with the movies!  The blades look just right, and the paint on them is really nice.  One ting I do notice that we do is all the blades are evenly spaced, I probably did that on my CH-37 too, where if I remember right the blades usually are off a little in spacing on a fully articulated head.  On the CH-37 they had enough freedon of travel in lead-lag to balance out if one blade was lost.  An Oklahoma Guard CH-37 was lost when the crew took off after landing due to losing a blade, and the helicopter got out of balance and broke up.  Probably not a good decision on the crew's part. Front page is being updated.

Thank's Boss .

I actually enjoyed the Super Frelon build ; It's a shame the kits are so expensive , I paid $51.70 for the kit and as much as I would like to build two more , their just not really worth the asking price .

It was also interesting about the main rotor's not being evenly spaced on a fully articulated rotor head , it always great to learn new facts about helicopters .

The Fujimi Seaking is coming along nicely , as you mentioned before John , the kit almost falls together itself , certainly a nice change from using superglue and clamps to get fuselage halves to join up evenly .

I'll post some progress pic's tomorrow

                                            John .

Here are the frst pics

Cockpit

tail boom w/missing tail rotor mount

tail boom w/ new scratch built tail rotor mount

John,

   great work there! I love the cammo.

Stikpusher,

   Nice start on the 58.

 Ray

Thanks for the compliments everyone!

Avus wrote:

... because your Hind is OUTSTANDING!

After seeing your work Klaus, that means alot coming from you! Thanks!

Justin - I checked out your 88mm and I gotta say... man is that thing cool! Nice work on it. What scale is it? 1/35?  BTW - You must be pretty excited about working on the helicopter stuff... I sure would be. Do you work at an auto body shop? That may sound like a stupid question but I've been in the car business my whole life so if there is another type of body shop, I'm ignorant to it.

John (Helo 53) - Your Super Frelon looks great! It also looks BIG! I might have said this before, but I love the blue in that paint scheme... just such an odd color combination. I got my blades glued to the rotor head and once that dries up overnight, I'm going to give your plate trick a try... except i'm going to try it with an artificial sun.    Wish me luck!

stikpusher - Nice save on the mount! Looks like your putting her together pretty fast.

Ray - Thanks for the compliments on the Hind! What are you building this time? We need progress pics!

jmabx wrote:

Avus wrote: ... because your Hind is OUTSTANDING! After seeing your work Klaus, that means alot coming from you! Thanks!

You're more than welcome, Jeremy, but don't get carried away ...

John, your Frelon looks great!

stickpusher you're off to a good start!

Here's what I managed to get done this weekend.



Actually it's not a difficult thing to do, it's just tedious. Currently I've finished sanding and have to add the rivets and other detail that "disaapeard in the sanding process.
I hope to get this one done so next WE I can do the same on the other helo.

Jeremy, yes, I do work in an autobody shop, and what work I do on the choppers is not really as prestigious as it sounds...it is mainly just sanding...alot of sanding!  Thnk you for the kind words regarding my Flak 88!  It is indeed 1/35, it is the kit from Dragon.  It seemed that there were a million pieces in that kit, but it built up very quick!

Now, for some pics!

First, the apache:

The last chopper I did work on, an EMS helo:

Figures, I step away for a bit and here comes Helo53, joining in and finishing, and its not even some shake and bake kit.    

The Super Frelon looks great. Funny that the SH-3 is so rare down there, I run into them quite often in the US. Of course I guess we are probably the target market for them. It is exactly the same kit as the Japanese HSS-2 kit except for the decals, if that kit is more common.

The Hind is looking nice too, although I agree the camo does remind me of bath tub non-slip flowers.

I did manage to sneak in a little time at the bench, I've got the UH-19 all decaled up, just have a few little bits to finish and then it will be done. I'll try to get it into the photo booth tonight.

Aaronw wrote:

Figures, I step away for a bit and here comes Helo53, joining in and finishing, and its not even some shake and bake kit.       The Super Frelon looks great. Funny that the SH-3 is so rare down there, I run into them quite often in the US. Of course I guess we are probably the target market for them. It is exactly the same kit as the Japanese HSS-2 kit except for the decals, if that kit is more common. The Hind is looking nice too, although I agree the camo does remind me of bath tub non-slip flowers. I did manage to sneak in a little time at the bench, I've got the UH-19 all decaled up, just have a few little bits to finish and then it will be done. I'll try to get it into the photo booth tonight.

 Thank's for the compliments on my Super Frelon Aaronw and everyone else , I'm looking forward to seeing your H-19 build . It is interesting what you say about the availability of the Sikorsky version of the Seaking but I'll come back to that in a minute .

First off , I may have egg on my face in regards to my "dinner plate" rotor droop method . After sitting my seaking rotors out in the 100 degree temps for a couple of days , I didn't really achieve much of a droop at all . So now I've tried the alternative method of placing them on a flat surface and using coins to raise the tips up while holding down the center with a barbell collar . Hopfully this should work as well

Anyway I've never been able to figure out why the Fujimi Seaking kits are so difficult to buy in my neck of the woods , earlier this year I picked up two Fujimi Westland Seaking kits from Tower Hobbies there in the U.S .

The kits are identical to the sikorsky version , so I bought some VIP Seaking decals from www.hawkeyemodels.com.au . Each set has a choice of three options , so I bought 3 sets

Some changes need to be made to the side cabin door [two small windows instead of one large one] also the door needs to fit flush against the fuselage [it no longer slides open] . Also I need to figure out how to scratch-build some of those Auxiliary Power Plant [APP] that sit on the starboard sponson .

It's also strange that even in 1/48 scale the Sikorsky Seaking is hard to find . Back in 1992 I did find a Hasegawa 1/48 HSS-2B Seaking . I built the kit and scrounge around to find some U.S markings to put on her but I didn't have a lot of spare decals back then . I've since stripped the hand brushed paint finish off and pulled the Seaking apart to rebuild her .

I've had to make new cabin and cockpit windows from clear sheet plastic [the original clear parts were stained with hobby glue] . This is as far as I've gotten with the rebuild .

I picked up a 1/48 Revell Seaking kit about a year ago and that kit has alternative "low-viz" markings I could use on the Hasegawa seaking , however the Ice/FOD shield that came with the Hasegawa kit is different to the one the U.S.Navy uses , so I may have to leave it off the rebuild version .

I'm certainly looking forward to having a U.S.Navy Seaking in my display cabinet after all these years , Ive already made a place for her on the top shelf at eye level , front and center .

                                          John .

Would you guys accept a late entry? I have a Revell Longbow Apache which I have just started to build. It'll be only the 4th model I've ever built, and my first whirlybird, so don't expect anything special! Just looking for a GB to give me a bit of incentive - however if anyone can point me to any earlier builds of this kit I can use as reference I'd be very grateful (please not I don't have an airbrush, so this will be rattle can and paintbrush)

 Cheers

 chris

John, before everyone else jumps all over you, I am the one building the apache, not Jeremy.

no problem, just wanted to get it out there before someone else!

Justin

Justinryan215 wrote:

John, before everyone else jumps all over you, I am the one building the apache, not Jeremy.

I'm starting to think these guys are doing it on purpose...just to mess with us a little! 

jmabx wrote:

Justinryan215 wrote: John, before everyone else jumps all over you, I am the one building the apache, not Jeremy. I'm starting to think these guys are doing it on purpose...just to mess with us a little!

Uh, just checking to see how many of you are awake. I knew I should have gone back and rechecked the name!  It's fun to see all the builds going on, but it does make it harder to keep track.

Yimkin wrote:

Would you guys accept a late entry? I have a Revell Longbow Apache which I have just started to build. It'll be only the 4th model I've ever built, and my first whirlybird, so don't expect anything special! Just looking for a GB to give me a bit of incentive - however if anyone can point me to any earlier builds of this kit I can use as reference I'd be very grateful (please not I don't have an airbrush, so this will be rattle can and paintbrush)  Cheers  chris

I haven't done the Revell Apache, but did the Hobbyboss kit last year. There isn't a whole lot to the color selection green on the outside black on the inside. Don't worry about not having an airbrush, I have one but still do 99% of my work with a rattle can and paint brush.

 It's great to have you on-board Chris , I'm looking forward to seeing your AH-64 Apache build .

Aaron , I like that Hobbyboss Apache you built ; Is it 1/72 scale as I have two Hobbyboss Apache's in my stash and I copied your pic into my computer for reference .

Anyway things were progressing along okay with my Seaking build ; 

After glueing the fuselage halves together , I didn't need any clamps , the two halves snaped together and the glue held everything nicely .

However I have got myself a little confused about which sponsons and tail plane to use ???

Fujim's instructions say use the short tail plane for the SH-3D Version I'm building and the long sponsons . Squadrons H-3 Seaking book say's the SH-3D has the longer tail plane and support strut fitted and also I'm starting to think should I use the short sponsons for the 'D' version .

I started searching around the net for more info on the SH-3D and came across a web site of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Two , http://www.hs2.navy.mil/history.html

The pic of the Seaking on that site with the American flag on the fuselage looks like the SH-3H version , just like the pic in squadron's book .

To confuse me even more after reading the history of HS-2 , in 1970 HS-2 was deployed to Jordan for evacuation of U.S citizens and the signature flag that appears on the Seaking were originally painted on so they could be distinguished from Israeli H-3's operating in the combat zone .

I'm a big fan of the Israeli IDF/AF but have never before heard that the Israeli's used the H-3 Seaking ???

Anyway , it doesn't really take that much to get me confused about different versions of helicopters , am I overthinking things and just follow the instructions or do you guy's have any additional info with the SH-3D Seaking version .

                                Kind regards John .

Jeremy awesome Hind!! I like the camo I wish to build this helo in 1/35 scale one day <dreamer>

Klaus I suddenly fealt pain In my hart when I saw that you that you cut in two your Cobra;) but form this I can see that you realy enjoy this built and want this helo to as perfect as possible. Can't wait to see more pictures of yours.

And a little update from me . Some painting on the missles and the rotors. I want to paint the small parts first and them deal with the fuselage. The real challenge will be canopy together with those tiny Eduard's parts so I will take my time on this.

I also managed to do the front cannon from the medical needles, I ended up with couple of hours on this with cutting, and trying to get the egdes straight. Few times I wanted to throw it away but after day or two of break I was slowly making progress. So if something annoys you guys just put it away and come back to this after a while - patience is a key (but you of corse know that) :)). I used 1,2mm and 0,9mm needles. It is not perfect but at least I know that it wasn't easy to put this together. I also painted it with gun metal x-10 tamiya to see how it looks like and to cover any excess of super glue ;)

Thanks for looking

John (Helo 53) - The Sea King is shaping up nicely. You need to slow it down though... you're making me look bad! I only started the Hind back in July!

Polak - The gun looks great! What did you use to cut the tubing? I can never get good results.

Jeremy thanx

 I used the normal cutter for that and because I squeezed the metal completely that there is no gap left after  cutting I squeezed the hedge perpendicularly with minimmum force to make sure not to over do it. and when it looks more less round I putted metal spik inside and moved around to make it more round:) after that metal fine and file the hedge to get the result.

hope it helped