Helicopter Group Build 2009

Nice work Klaus!   You are definitely a brave one! The extra work will really pay off I think.

Little bits of progress here and there on the Hind for me. Tonight, I made her earn that squat in the rear...

 The "extraordinary" effort your putting into your Cobra build Avus , is nothing short of amazing

I recently ordered some Helicopter books from amazon.com and they arrived today .

Lot's of interesting reading ahead , I think I'll start with the H-43 book and hopfully get inspired and finish off my stalled Mach 2 H-43 Huskie build .

                                   John .

Some amazing progress going on:

polak great work on the bun barrels, I might steal your idea!

stikpusher your 58 is proceeding splendidly

Aaronw your uh-19 is great. I love NMF

John (Helo53) you're a building machine!

As for me I've completed making one fuselage longer (will have to add the removed rivets) and started modifying the canopy:

I removed all the surface detail from the canopy and am currently trying to get the correct shape.
As you can see there's still a lot to do.

jmabx wrote:

Aaronw - What can I say? That old beast looks amazing! I really like the finish on it. Is it future? I don't know if I can say this but the nose with the national insignia on it looks like a big boob with a patriotic pasty.   Well done! Now... weren't you working on a skycrane?

I didn't notice that but it does look like a pastie, I'll never look at again the same way.  

Yeah, I started the Skycrane but its is on the long term plan since it is going to be a lot of added work. I'm going to have to add bubble windows on the side, and build the tank. Also the engines are very exposed so I'm going to want to do some extra detailing there. It will come along but probably not before this GB is over.

Here is a teaser, I started this one last night.

John if you need info for yellow USCG helicopters I tracked down quite a bit for my builds.

I also have this HUS-1 using the Hobbyboss UH-34 near completion.

I did the decals for this and the HO4S-3G, if you send me a PM I think we could work something out.

Stikpusher - The OH-58 is lookin' good. Looks like that kit has some decent detail right out of the box. I can make out some raised lettering on the starboard side of the nose... what does it say?

Aaronw - What can I say? That old beast looks amazing! I really like the finish on it. Is it future? I don't know if I can say this but the nose with the national insignia on it looks like a big boob with a patriotic pasty.   Well done! Now... weren't you working on a skycrane?

John (Helo 53) - You are a madman! Can't wait to see the next few come together... and the next and the next!

Go for it, John.  You are a real factory, wish I could build that fast.

I have one book with a photo of the early C-123 scheme, it doesn't really add anything to the one you have.  It looks like pretty simple markings to me, mostly the nose number and the U S Coast Guard on the side.  It really depends more on what you want than the decal maker.  

Helo 53 wrote:

The reason I ask is if I wanted to build Mach 2's C-123 Provider into a USCG version ,[I bought 3 of these kits] , ...

OMG that's like having three ex-wives!!!

jeaton01 wrote:

Congratulations, everyone, we have seven completed builds already, which are all on the first page of the build.  There are two months left, but if the interest keeps up perhaps we should extend the end date.  Stikpusher, looks like you are making good progress on the Jetranger.

 Hey Boss , is it okay if I add another 3 Helicopter kits to this Group Build ?

The SH-3D Sea King build was a lot easier than I expected and is not long from being finished ;

Aaronw H-19 Chickasaw is really inspirational and with the level of workmanship everyone else is doing on their helicopter builds , I'm quite keen to keep going right up to January 31 .

I would like to add Revell's H-19A Chickasaw USCG .

Second , Revell's SA-365 Dauphin with Hawkeye Models alternate 'White over Red' HH-65A Dolphin decals .

Thirdly , Italeri's HH-60H with Hawkeye Models HH-60J USCG resin conversion and decals .

I have already done a little preliminary interior airbrushing on some of the parts of the HH-60 but nothing has been glued together as yet .

I'm not sure if someone may have mentioned in the past about having decals made "to-order" by Joseph Osborn at Fireball Modelworks . The reason I ask is if I wanted to build Mach 2's C-123 Provider into a USCG version ,[I bought 3 of these kits] , how much information do I need to have about the markings that appear on the aircraft . As all I have is what is in Squadron's C-123 Provider book

I like the early style paint scheme of Natural Metal and yellow , I was also thinking of the overall yellow scheme on the H-19 and H-34 Helicopters for the USCG but I don't have any real info on the markings of those two helicopters ;

So apart from a couple of B&W pic's , how much info do I need to have before I make a request for made to order decals ???

                                                John .

Congratulations, everyone, we have seven completed builds already, which are all on the first page of the build.  There are two months left, but if the interest keeps up perhaps we should extend the end date.

 Stikpusher, looks like you are making good progress on the Jetranger.

Thanks, I do like these ugly old things. Next up something even stranger but you will have to wait a day or two to find out what it is.

rotorwash wrote:

Aaron,    Nice H-19!  Any words of wisdom or problem areas building the Italeri kit?     Ray

On this particular kit, the floats were the biggest problem. Getting all 4 wheels on the ground, and keeping the floats paralell was a challenge. They really wanted to spread out and / or get pigeon toed.

In general for the Italeri / Revell H-19 kits, the biggest problem is the seam that runs the length of the fuselage, the seam on top of the tail boom can be a problem too. I would suggest fitting the fuselage and tailboom together and sanding these seams before you even start the kit. It would have been very nice if Italeri had made the doghouse / cockpit and the rib along the top of the tail boom seperate pieces which would have covered up a large part of this seam.

Other than that the kit fits together well and really doesn't have any major problems. The interior detail is quite adequate for this scale, but a full detail 1/35 kit would be fun.

That is one big, ugly helo....GREAT JOB!!!

keep 'em coming!

Justin

Stickpusher,

  Great start on the 58.

Aaron, 

  Nice H-19!  Any words of wisdom or problem areas building the Italeri kit?

    Ray

Superb Aaronw ,

I saw that you posted pic's in the Helicopter Forum section and I replied in detail to your post there as well .

Great build

                       John .

All done and only 4 months.

As a reminder since its been awhile, 1/72 Italeri USAF Air Rescue Service UH-19A.

I have the basic cockpit colors down. I next ahve to do a washa nd then drybrush to bring out details but here is how she looks so far

all parts in place and fuselage sides held together

same as above but looking up to view overhead console

opposite side views of cockpit interior

all painted parts so far

Aaronw wrote:

Well nothing on Israeli H-3s, but the SH-3D should have the long tail plane and short sponsons. However it does say that because many A models were upgraded to Ds, and many D's were upgraded to Hs you can find examples with only partial conversions so, you can have Ds with short tails or long sponsons.

 Thank's for the help Aaronw

The Sea King build momentarliy stalled these past 3 day's as I spent a bit of time browsing the internet for info on the "D" version .

I guess I'll go with what is in squadron's H-3 book ; I'll use the longer tail plane and support strut , as in the pic on page 47 .

The other interesting thing about my two Sea King kits is that the kit I purchased recently had an extra port side sponson on the sprue which wasn't included on the Fujimi kit that I've had in my stash . The sponson is slightly longer than the two shot one's supplied in both kits and looking at the fuselage development side profile sketch in squadrons book , it looks like the best option for me .

As far as the Israeli's using the H-3 , the only other info I found was in one of my IDF/AF books which lists the IDF using the Sikorsky S-61R version . This is the CH-3C/ HH-3E model but I think the information is just incorrect as the same book mentions the Israeli's using the Boeing CH-47C Chinook , another "phantom" helicopter the IDF never used operationally .

Anyway I'll glue the canopy on tonight and start masking tomorrow for airbrushing .

Thank's again for your help

                                             John

jeaton, aero, et al - many thanks! My AH-64 is 1:48 - prefer to work in the larger scales as I have clumsy fingers, and find the larger scales easier as a beginner.

 No pics yet, but I have finished the cockpit, so anticipate that the rest of the build should be 'reasonably' quick. Main mistake so far was applying cockpit side panel decals over raised detail, when I think I should've sanded it off!

I am just learning, and anticipate to be doing so through the whole of my model building career, but I appear (to my own standards) to be getting better with each build, so all looks good!

Well nothing on Israeli H-3s, but the SH-3D should have the long tail plane and short sponsons.

However it does say that because many A models were upgraded to Ds, and many D's were upgraded to Hs you can find examples with only partial conversions so, you can have Ds with short tails or long sponsons.

John, that is the 1/72 Apache, it was a pretty easy build except the sponsons are wrong, the kit still has the AH-64A sponsons, the back end of the sponsons was changed on the D. It isn't really a difficlut fix though, just chop off the end and use a little plastic to reshape it.

If you can find them World Air Power Journal Vol 25 and Vol 26 have a very detailed break down of the Seaking, Vol 25 covers the Westland models, Vol 26 the Sikorsky models. As I recall you have quite a few Seakings waiting to be built, so you might find them worthwhile. Also Wayne Mutza is supposed to be working on a new Seaking book to be published sometime next year.

I'll look at the WAPJ and see if it has anything to answer your questions on the SH-3D or Isreali H-3s.

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

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 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

 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 .

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.

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.

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! 

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