French a/c group build 2012-13

Nice work on the Amiot Budd, another French type that I used to know nothing about.

I'll look forward to the petite little Nieuport BSY.

Cheers

Tony

I checked my group build calendar this morning and suddenly realised that this GB finishes at the end of Feburary ...

I guess I better try and getting going on the Sud Est H-34 Helicopters . I was going to use the Hobby Boss H-34A kit for the French Naval helo , however I've decided to use two Italeri UH-34 kits , one for the Navy and the other an Army Gunship Version ( Pirate) .

I also decided to use the Airwaves and Eduard H-34 PE sets fro both builds ;

The Airwaves set has some PE for a tail pylon fold , perfect for the navy bird and some cockpit frame pieces for an open cockpit window option .

The Eduard set has a nice cabin roof piece and some additional PE for the cabin door cannon which is ideal for the Army Gunship H-34A .

I suppose the best place to start is with the PE ;

I'm guessing but I'll probably spend the next four evenings just on drilling , filing and fitting the PE in place ;

I've made a tentative start ,

Hopfully I'll have some more WIP pic's shortly .

BTW , I checked the front page and the finished builds are awesome ...

John .

Perfect setup as ever John   Lost the count of your h-34 helo versions ,i'm wishing a third for me 

oui! je suis ici (lots of years i'm not write in french)

at the next!

Your build is looking good Bsyamato ...

As for me , my progress has been quite slow as I've been adding more scratch built detail than I originally had planned .

I've drilled out most of the screen and vent area's on the nose and fuselage pieces ; I started to wonder that the empty nose section might be quite noticeable once I add the PE screens and I suddenly remembered about an article in the Aprill 2005 issue of FSM with a modeler detailing a Revell/Italeri SH-34J Sea Bat ;

There are some 1/72 template bulkhead diagrams in the article , so I traced around the diagrams and made some for my two builds .

I then decided to try and put together an engine to fit inside the French Navy H-34A and I scrounged up an Italeri M4 Sherman and some extra bits ;

I also used two small resin sections from a resin S-55/H-19 engine

Front section ,

Rear fan ,

I'll cut the nose clamshell doors next to pose open and then fit the bulkhead pieces in place and see how the engine looks . There's lot's of PE to add to the cockpit as well and now I'm feeling a little more brave and crazy , so perhaps I'll try for a main rotor fold ...

John .

Only a small update on my French H-34 builds .

I glued the bulkhead pieces in place and cut the nose clamshell doors open for the French Naval helo

I'll have to add some thin strip ribbing to the inside of the doors like in this next reference pic ;

And I haven't worked out how to do the exhaust as yet , it seems to tapper in diameter quite a bit  and there's also lots of wiring to do . I may leave those two items till later and concentrate on getting the cockpit and cabin interiors glued in place and close up the fuselage halves .

I'll keep toilling away .

John .

Helo - WOW, that is a great little pile of photo-etch. The H-34s are shaping up well! I'm just popping in quickly at work, I'll have to get back in this evening to take a better look at your details.

Bsyamato - The Black Baron is gone! At least your decals have kept the Black Heart, a very nice looking machine, you're almost finished up.

Yamato- That bird is looking very sharp! It is interesting to me though, as the plane would not have been metal, so it is not NMF. I guess they actually used silver paint on them? Very neat.

Helo- Um, no words. The amount of work your are putting into that is... incredible. I feel ashamed. That is going to be a fantastic build in the end!

Superb work on the helo engine John 

That bird is sharp but also twisted wings  but now have wires 

At the next!

Great looking rigging in 1/72 Bsyamato - what are you using for that?? And just drilling holes into the plastic & attaching with CA??

I use to drill holes through fuselage srtuts and wings, starting often from fuselage i glue fishing tiny wire and after glued upper wing pull the wire to the end and glue (even with CA) keeping the wire under tension.

Ps upper twisted wing are not fault by wires  just old kit 

Good stuff on the Nieuport BSY, that's hard work.

Cheers

Tony

bsyamato... BELLISSIMO!!!

Hmm - Feb 28 is the original deadline date - how is everyone doing? I'll take a peek at the original "roster" & send reminders if necessary. Still considering adding something last-minute.

VanceCrozier

bsyamato... BELLISSIMO!!!

Hmm - Feb 28 is the original deadline date - how is everyone doing? I'll take a peek at the original "roster" & send reminders if necessary. Still considering adding something last-minute.

I'm reasonably confident I can finish the two H-34 helicopters along with the Noratlas 2501

I did spend a lot of time on the net researching 'French Wings Over Algeria' and got a little side-tracked starting other builds . I'll concentrate on the H-34's for the next four weeks , I must complete those two .

John .

John.. sidetracked... You're as bad as I am!!!

VanceCrozier

bsyamato... BELLISSIMO!!!

Hmm - Feb 28 is the original deadline date - how is everyone doing? I'll take a peek at the original "roster" & send reminders if necessary. Still considering adding something last-minute.

I'm fine with 28 feb as deadline ,but if the GB will extend will try to get in the leo_451   i'm with your decision about the end

Helo lots of pieces there 

The LeO!! ... Helo has lots on the go... I have another kit that I'd like to build for this one....  I think we need to extend this one folks, we may even pick up a modeler or two along the way.

Let's try for April 25th, first flight of the Potez 630!

yep :D i will try !!

The kit is the Liore et Olivier (LeO) 451 from Smer in 1/72, rebox of the old heller :) asap sprues and box

Yes, i'm glad you guys extended the build, I haven't had time to work on my Israeli Mirage IIIC.

John

Bsyamato - I have the Heller boxing in the stash as well, although I don't expect I'll be able to get to it right now. John - would love to see that Israeli Mirage!

Vance,

 I'll see if I can get some new pictures of it.  the camo is all on, I'm just adding transparent nav lights and detailing the wheel wells.

John

Don't you hate it when you get a kit down to those last little bits & pieces & then lose your momentum!

Yes,  I think I have 12 of those at the moment.  a friend of mine and I decided we would count up the kits we have started and shelved,  I think he had over 20. there's always the new "shinny" one to get your eye.

 We have a show this weekend and I'm already looking forward to the sellers corner, like I need anything else!  O wait I do!!!  1/48 scale f-4J exhausts!

VanceCrozier

The LeO!! ... Helo has lots on the go... I have another kit that I'd like to build for this one....  I think we need to extend this one folks, we may even pick up a modeler or two along the way.

Let's try for April 25th, first flight of the Potez 630!

WOW ! This is great news Vance .

I have a terrible track record for when it comes to finishing builds for Group Builds ; Except for the Korean War GB , the rest of the time I hardly finish my builds . I always end up researching the topic or time period and then go scrounging around my kit stash and  start re-organizing kits accordingly .

Like last week for example , I wanted to find out more about the aircraft the french were using in Indochina as a lot of my previous research on the French /Algerian war seem to lead me to pic's of french aircraft in use in Indochina . So I saw this book over at amazon.com and found a seller who do international orders and bought it ;

The first ten pages are about the French operations leading up to 1955 , with some great aircraft photos .

My local on-line hobby store had this Italeri kit in stock ,

I ordered it this afternoon .

And Kingkit in the UK had some P-63C Kingcobra's and Heller Fieseler Fi-156 Storch/MS 500 kits , so I ordered those as well .

I'm planning on continuing my French aircaft and helo builds for the rest of 2013 along with some RAF Gulf War builds and finish off some stalled Korean War stuff .

S there's lot's to do and I was getting a little nervous about my French H-34 builds being behind schedule but the time extension is great  and of course there will be no slackin' off on the H-34's , I need to post some substantial WIP pic's on  them before too long . Although while looking through my stash today and organizing some kits for the war in Indochina ......

......I did come across a few Mil Mi-8/17 kits which have what look to be the perfect size weapons bracing pieces to suit my French Army H-34 Gunship rocket pods , so I'm quite happy about finding something  I can use .

Anyway , I better get to the bench .

John .

Vance,

 I snapped this crappy picture at about 2am today,  hopefully this weekend I'll get to do more on it

John

VanceCrozier

Bsyamato - I have the Heller boxing in the stash as well, although I don't expect I'll be able to get to it right now. John - would love to see that Israeli Mirage!

The advantage of the smer rebox are newest decals :D as you can see from your copy the main problem of the kit are bad clear parts, i think will use original parts as mould for new ones with heatforming method  

Nice kit of ju-52 John  i have the same box in the stash , the kit is old but actually again the best ju-52 kit 

Yep! soon i will update my GB badges 

Just some retouch with matt coat and the nieuport finished 

Wow, stunning little neuport there!

OK, so I have been extremely quiet lately with my GB obligations, but here goes.

I have done a little more on my Hobbyboss 1/48 Mirage 3 cz in SAAF delivery sceeme of bare pollished allu.

I am waiting for some alclads to get here then I can start playing again. I just hope the red trim decals in the hobbyboss kit conforms well enough.

Theuns

Yamato that Nieuport is awesome! I love the staining around the engine! Really sells it.

Bsyamato - yes, my decals from the old Heller boxes are often, well, "already weathered" That Nieuport looks great - let me know when the final-final photos are up so I can post to the front page.

falconmod - lol, nothing like the "proof I've done something picture" taken at 2am! Looks like you are ready for decals & weathering?

Theuns, waiting on the paint! That will be a sharp-looking machine in the polished aluminum.

Thanx for comments guys  

Just finished today Vance, now waiting for a good day and time to get fial pictures 

Nice work on the mirage Theuns