Martian Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 As some of the denizens of this forum may be aware, I have for a while been chuntering on about a large project that I have had in mind for some time now. The nature of this project is to build the two types of aircraft that formed the air group of the Dutch carrier Karel Doorman on it's final deployment in 1968: namely the Grumman S-2A Tracker and the Sikorsky SH-34 helicopter. This idea was sparked off by the issue, some while ago, of the Flevo Decals set on this very subject. I have the Kinetic kit of the Tracker and the Gallery Models kit of the H-34 laid down along with a raft of accessories, all or some of which will find their way into the project. Both kits will, naturally, be super detailed to within an inch of their lives. Regarding the Tracker, it is my intention to fully detail the flight deck and scratch build the two observers positions behind. The weapons bay will receive full detailing as will the radar compartment and I may well expose the radar itself to view. The wing fold will receive extra detail and the searchlight added from scratch. At least one engine will be exposed to view and I may or may not open up the nose cap. The SH-34 will have extra detail added to the engine and I will probably open up the transmission compartment. Extra detail will be added to the cockpit and the cabin will be fitted out for the anti-submarine role. Following a poll on the Cold War section of the forum, the two builds will be conducted as part of the same thread (over 80% in favour of this) and I estimate that the project is going to take the best part of two years. This is only a rough estimate as I have never tried such a complicated project before. I am also factoring in the probability that I will want to do the odd quick build of other subjects along the way in order to preserve what little remains of my sanity! as well as trying to finish things already in progress such as my Gotha. Thinking about it, as the builds progress, I will have no choice but to finish the Gotha as I will need the space big time! I had hoped to start this build in my forthcoming man cave but I have got fed up of waiting for the promised room to become available. I must admit that I am kind of hoping that, on this occasion, Sod's Law will work in my favour for once and the room will become available as soon as things get under way. Anyway, enough waffle from me for now. Here are some pictures of the raw materials for the project. Thanks for looking Martin PS: Both kits were presents from my wife Gill, the Tracker being a Silver Wedding gift. So no pressure at all to make a good fist of things then!! 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianthemodeller Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Right popcorn and beer at the ready. In your own time... begin! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huvut76g7gbbui7 Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 This is certainly one I'll watch with interest as it is a future project for me in 1/72. Remember that some of the H-34s (eg 142 and 143 ) had 'Wessex' style undercarriage.Don't know if they were ever converted to the three strut type. RG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted March 28, 2014 Author Share Posted March 28, 2014 Thanks Guys. I will be checking very carefully as to which undercarriage my SH-34 needs to have. I haven't decided on a particular cab yet though there is a very good video on Youtube of the air group doing a display. The helos have their cabin doors open which show the sonar to be fitted so I will probably go for one of them. Either way Scale Aircraft Conversions do the "Wessex" type of U/C so its no big deal either way. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shalako Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 This sounds like a very promising build Martin!!! I think you have described the first step of your build above so, what's the next step? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Great idea Martin. The Gallery H-34 certainly looks like a very nice kit and will probably be the benchmark for the type. I have one perched above my display in the ready use locker as it were. The S-2, I only have in the very old Hasewaga kit. I'l follow your build with interest. Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted March 28, 2014 Author Share Posted March 28, 2014 This sounds like a very promising build Martin!!! I think you have described the first step of your build above so, what's the next step? I think the first thing I will do will be to tape the fuselage of the Tracker together and cut away the panels I want to do open. I will then start adding floors, bulkheads and spars to give me a basic layout to work on. The SH-34 will follow along the same lines. All being well I hope to get things underway either this evening or tomorrow morning. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shalako Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Keep us posted on your progress!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted March 28, 2014 Author Share Posted March 28, 2014 Naturally. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbine_Man Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Looking forward to seeing this build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted March 28, 2014 Author Share Posted March 28, 2014 Thanks Turbine Man. Given the source of the two kits and the occasion on which the Tracker was given to me, I will be needing all the support I can get as clearly failure is not an option here! Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritag Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 PS: Both kits were presents from my wife Gill, the Tracker being a Silver Wedding gift. So no pressure at all to make a good fist of things then!!Your a lucky man Martin, I'm only a few months away from the Silver - and I'm pretty darned sure I won't be getting any kits from Mrs Fritag More likely some choice remarks about putting the plastic down and coming and doing something useful....... . Oh - and she'll want to go somewhere nice (and expensive) to celebrate......(oops if she now troubles to look at BM I'm gonna be in soooo much trouble....)Looking forward to this. Steve 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted March 29, 2014 Author Share Posted March 29, 2014 That's a shame Steve. We did go somewhere nice and she asked me what I wanted as a present! seems like a bit of re-education is called for in the Fritag household! Gill saw this an said it was a bit sad that you won't get what you want as a gift. Still, you can always enroll in my "Husband Disobedience" course. Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted March 29, 2014 Author Share Posted March 29, 2014 Right, enough of marriage guidance a la Hale and on with the build. As promised I got some cutting out of panels done yesterday evening and this morning. I began with the two escape hatches over the observers' seats, these were often opened when maintenance was taking place and, just for once, I discovered that much more can be seen through them than I had anticipated. The hatch just aft of the radome opening was opened up as was the dinghy hatch on the upper aft fuselage. The thought struck me that the latter might have also have been useful for access to the radome mechanism; I shall have to have a look at the Tracker maintenance manual and see if this was so. If not, I might still use a bit of licence and leave it open to the fuselage for viewing purposes, still, plenty of time to ponder that one. Thanks for looking Martin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homebee Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 (edited) For your Dutch Tracker, let's have a look here: http://www.opschaal.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=274 V.P. Edited March 29, 2014 by Homebee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted March 29, 2014 Author Share Posted March 29, 2014 Thanks for the link, there is some very valuable reference material in it which has been duly saved for this build I am not sure that the modeller has got the starboard rear fuselage interior layout correct but I have a copy of the servicing manual for the Tracker and this will sort this out. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted March 30, 2014 Author Share Posted March 30, 2014 I did a quick check on the starboard side rear fuselage interior just now, prior to turning in for the night. It would appear that my fears were groundless and the Dutch modeller in Houston's link does indeed have the correct layout of floors and bulkheads for this area. More tomorrow when we will start to sort all this out and, if all goes well, perhaps take a look at the SH-34 as well. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 Great idea - ever since a 2-week detachment with my Lynx flight to HNLMS Pieter Florisz in the 90s (their flight swapped to Broadsword, for reasons that are long lost in the mists of time, but it was great fun), I have had a soft spot for the Dutch Navy. Bunch of nutters, but the sort of nutters you want on your side rather than against you. I shall be following this avidly. Hup Holland hup! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted March 30, 2014 Author Share Posted March 30, 2014 Just a quick picture to show the work needed next on the Tracker. The rear bulkhead of the cockpit has a door that is completely the wrong shape and size and will need replacing. The cut out in the bulkhead for the weapons bay will need filling in anyway as the bulkhead will need to act as the front wall of the bay. This is down to the fact that the wall is moulded as part of the port fuselage half. On my kit at least this area was so badly moulded that I first mistook it for flash! This has been duly cutaway. The kit part for the weapons bay needs shortening to allow for the shorter fuselage of the S-2A and has been marked by the manufacturer as to where to make the cut. As this part has no detail whatsoever, I am not going to lose any sleep if it will not fit very well. I shall simply replace it with a new item made from scratch. If all goes well, I would also hope to get the bulkhead between the rear of the observers' cabin and the radar bay installed. Thanks for looking Martin 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abat Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 Look forward to watching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted March 30, 2014 Author Share Posted March 30, 2014 Great idea - ever since a 2-week detachment with my Lynx flight to HNLMS Pieter Florisz in the 90s (their flight swapped to Broadsword, for reasons that are long lost in the mists of time, but it was great fun), I have had a soft spot for the Dutch Navy. Bunch of nutters, but the sort of nutters you want on your side rather than against you. I shall be following this avidly. Hup Holland hup! In that case, how apt that we have a complete nutter doing the build! Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid de Koning Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 Nice to see a Dutch Tracker.. you might find my friends Tracker interesting as well, though his build is in Dutch.. http://www.opschaal.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=274&start=200 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted March 30, 2014 Author Share Posted March 30, 2014 Thanks Sid, looking at the site, I think that it is the build I spent some time making notes from last night. I speak a bit of German and this seems to help me at least get by with captions in Dutch, although I do have an illustrated book on the Karel Doorman and wish I could read the text properly. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted March 30, 2014 Author Share Posted March 30, 2014 A small update as today's progress. I have used the kit bulkhead as a template for a replacement and cut a correctly shaped door opening in it. I have done this slightly oversize to allow for a lip to be added at a later stage. While using the kit cockpit floor part to gauge the level to cut the door opening I noticed that when the floor fits correctly, the nose wheel bay does not fit properly and vice versa. this being the case I think it will be easiest to use the kit part as a template for a new floor, cut the kit part away from the nose wheel bay (they are supplied as one part) and fit the bay separately. They do say that no plan survives first contact with the enemy; in this case however, the plan for today has been diverted by Gill's offer of beer! I will get some more done this evening though as the sooner I get all the floors and bulkheads in place, the sooner I can get on with scratching the airframe structures, one of my favourite bits. I had a good look at the SH-34 kit and my suspicions that it was a trumpeter job in disguise (the instruction sheet is very Trumpeter in style) were strengthened when I began to notice irritating little and not so little errors in the kit. the top of the fuselage where the transmission is mounted is to high, leaving no room for a tail rotor shaft and the detail on the cabin floor continues over where a removable panel should be in the floor. This panel is crucial to the aircraft, either in the kit version, where it allows access to the under slung cargo hook, or in the anti-submarine version where it is where the dunking sonar exits the aircraft. I wonder what other little foibles the kit will bring to light as we progress? Anyway, here is a picture of the new bulkhead in place on the Tracker. Thanks for looking Martin 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted March 30, 2014 Author Share Posted March 30, 2014 The situation at the close of play tonight is that I have constructed a replacement cockpit floor and have glued it into the fuselage. It will need the slightest bit of a trim when the glue is set but the fit is already very close. I think that, rather than inflict a substandard picture on you all, I will wait and do one in proper daylight in the morning. I will then trim the nose wheel bay from the kit cockpit floor and either get it fitted or, if the whim takes me, scratch a replacement. Having read all the reviews of the earlier S-2E/F Tracker when it came out, I suspect that some of the slightly dodgy fit of interior parts on this boxing might well be down to Kinetic trying to use or modify S-2E parts on the new S-2A fuselage rather than supply bespoke parts. The earlier kit seems to be an almost perfect fit and would probably the better way to go for someone just wanting a Tracker regardless of mark in their collection or just wanting an easy OOB build. That said, there does not seem to be any insurmountable reason why a good model cannot result from this boxing with a small amount of extra work. I hope so as lets face it, I'm in the proverbial right up to my neck and beyond if I am wrong! A bit tired now so I think I will sign off for the evening Martin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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