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ZE419, a Sea King HAS5 that (temporarily) forgot how to fly


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OK, time to take stock; I think - apart from the barn door, which obviously has to wait until the masking is removed before it can be added - that I have now added every lump, bump, greeblie and aerial to this beauty, so she is now ready for a polish and some primer.  That will be tomorrow, but for now here is a series of all-round photos so you can see what she looks like:

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And this is what the re-worked window looked like before I masked it; not perfect, but a big heap better.

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Tomorrow we get to the airbrush, albeit (first up) just for some Mr Surfacer...

 

Crisp

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1 minute ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

 

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That is a great looking helibijopter Crisp (helibijopter being my 2 year old grandaughter's appelation for her dad's Chinook!) - even the heffer in the background looks like she likes it!

 

Can't wait to see the paintjob go on!

 

Keith

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That winch a couple of pages back is a thing of steampunk beauty in its raw state! The cumulative effect of all these tiny details and structures is just lovely. I completely agree with you about the quality of Flightpath's stuff and the microfiller primer.

Tony

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The obligatory screw driver for the battery compartment in stuck in the up-lock of the nose electronics compartment door latch...

 

I loved it when I was allowed to lift it out, attach the battery connector, and close the two dzuz fasteners... (many years ago as a kid...)

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Bloody Hell.  This aircraft is fighting me every inch of the way.  I picked it up just now to look at something.... and heard that tell-tale rattle of something that has come adrift inside.  I have absolutely no idea what it is, and I cannot think of any sensible way of getting it out.  

 

So until the masking comes off, it is all guesswork...  

 

Still aggravating, though!

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Final tiny bits before primer - mostly weapon related.  Firstly this thing just by the port stub-wing:

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Special Weapon related, I think, because it only appears on the port forward station.

 

My effort is cobbled together from two spare bits of Eduard PE, suitably filed into shape - two unused torque links from the undercarriage, to be specific:

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Sorry - not easy to photograph.

 

More later - though the next time you see this helicopter it might be black!

 

Crisp

 

P.S. Here is the equivalent on the other side:

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...and here is the snag list, which proves that the next thing to do is prep the surface and apply primer.

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Edited by Ex-FAAWAFU
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2 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Bloody Hell.  This aircraft is fighting me every inch of the way.  I picked it up just now to look at something.... and heard that tell-tale rattle of something that has come adrift inside.  I have absolutely no idea what it is, and I cannot think of any sensible way of getting it out.  

 

So until the masking comes off, it is all guesswork...  

 

Still aggravating, though!

 

Not wishing to minimise your aggravation, but I am heartened to hear that such things also happen to modellers much more skilled than myself !!

 

Keith

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Sooo close! It'll be nice to see her with a bit of paint on, certainly be looking mighty cool in black primer! Just a small note when admiring @andyf117s hi res photo below

 

RAF Seaking Winch

 

I was doing a bit of rivet spotting (yes there is an avdel rivet on the winch cover missing its mandrel!) and then noticed that whacking great handle under the winch. Not sure if they were fitted in the timeframe your modeling but I do now remember using it as a step when working around the winch with them fitted to bog standard mk 6's. I do like that picture though!

 

Bob

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They certainly weren't fitted to bog standard front line HAS5s in the late-80s.  I also happen to know (because I tracked down the original photo to see whether there were any more where that came from) that this is an HAR3 (presumably a "Grey Whale").

 

But yes, there is some top rivet action in that shot!

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So, when the UFO nutters go on about black helicopters, is this what they mean?

 

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It will now not be touched until at least tomorrow morning, so for once I am lying when I say...

 

More soon

 

Crisp

 

P.S. The bottle of Alclad Black MIcro-Filler / Primer is visible in some shots.  This is my first large scale use of this stuff, and my immediate impression is that it is worth every bit of the smell etc.  Sprayed nicely having been thinned 60:40 with Mr Color Levelling (which I use for everything) and appears to be drying beautifully - though I won't be sure of that until I can touch it, so not yet.  Like all modellers, I know exactly where the rough bits are going to be, if there are any!

 

It took about 5 refills of the airbrush to get this level of coverage.  

 

I am very happy with today's progress.

 

P.P.S.  I also used Panzer Putty (to cover up the tail) for the first time in this session; again, impressed thus far.  Having the tail and the two nose Orange Crop aerials at least gives me something at each end I can use to pick it up with to turn it over. 

Edited by Ex-FAAWAFU
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OK, so not a Grey Whale - but it is a specialist SAR cab, with all the extra bits of kit that implies - semi-Commando step, FLIR, winch mods, etc etc.

 

But it's not black, and I'm into black helos today!

 

[None the less, as an ex-819 NAS (fore-runner of Gannet SAR Flight) SPLOT, remedial recognition for me!]

Edited by Ex-FAAWAFU
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I know this is the entire point of this stuff, but I am well impressed with how the Alclad primer has sorted out the surface.  Yes, I did a lot of preparation, but you only have to look at almost any of the photos over the preceding pages to see just how much hacking about, modification, sanding and general abuse the original kit had put up with over time.  It's hard to photograph, but...

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The work I put into sorting out the seams in the spine and the Sea Searcher radome has certainly paid off:

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So far (with detailed inspection having to wait until I am prepared to touch the surface), I have only spotted one obvious seam that needs a bit of work - on the nose - and even that isn't terrible:

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Bravo to Mr Alclad!

 

C

 

Edited by Ex-FAAWAFU
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I hadn't used that Mr. Color Levelling on the MF/P when I used mine, but based on the lovely finish here, will give it a go next time. That Sea King is currently slick as midnight.:thumbsup2:

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Warty?  That's called character!

 

In order to prevent myself from going anywhere near the fuselage (yes, I know it's lacquer and thus dry by now, but I want it to get a full 24 hours to cure fully before I go anywhere near it), I have been working on the tail rotor.  Regular readers will know that my TR is going to have a gust lock fitted, which means that the blades must be both flapped and feathered to their full extent. 

 

After sitting scratching my head for a while, I decided that this means that the moulded connectors between feathering hinge and the spider have to come off (because otherwise they will be at the wrong angle), and that the entire root needs to be replaced in order to get the right coning angle.

 

Cutting is easy; the more nerve-wracking part is drilling holes in the hub and the blade roots: not much scope for it to be off-centre:

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Here you see the first blade completed - from above (showing the brass blade root)

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From end on (showing the feathering angle):

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...and from the side (showing the flap / coning angle):

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Now the challenge is going to be getting the other 5 to match; here they are with the drilling etc done - plus a reminder of where we started:

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Stunning work sir. I must say in black it has a somewhat evil touch, dare I say a Darth Vader USN feel about things. Personally I have had no issues with the Alclad black to date, although quite a few folk on here have (and of course now that I've tempted fate I expect the portholes of Hell and Event Horizon dimensions to engulf me).

 

Seriously impressive though. Keep it coming.

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