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Academy 1/48 MH-53 Sea Dragon


Red Dot

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14 hours ago, modelling minion said:

Blimey that is looking fantastic Andy!

As you say it really is unusual to see anything but a clean Japanese aircraft and it makes for a very interesting subject. You are doing a cracking job mate and I can't wait to see her in the flesh.

 

cheers Craig, it will be at the club on Friday, but you won't if I remember correctly. One day..............

 

andy

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15 hours ago, exdraken said:

Great work! As MM already said, a dirty Japanse aircraft!

 

Not sue what panels are cleaned...

Loks a bit random ;)

 

 

 

cheers ex-Draken. Most of the panels are for engine access or emergency exits, but I don't know why the sponsons are partly cleaned.

 

It's interesting to see that the exits over the rear of the sponsons aren't cleaned as the dirt doesn't go that far forwards from the engines. Very efficient these Japanese, why waste time?!

 

andy

Edited by Red Dot
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  • 3 weeks later...

At the risk of sounding like Dixon of Dock Green, evening all!

 

I've been working away on the Sea Dragon and have now finished the fuselage by adding lots of small details based on what i found on the many walkaround photos. These include grab handles, aerials, lights, wiring and yet more weathering based on the pictures. The fiddliest bits were adding the partly open front windows but at last it's all done.

 

The last part i have to do now is the tail rotor assembly but it feels like i have to start all over again as it needs riveting, scribing, etched grilles adding plus some scratch-building of gearboxes inside the tail itself. Then painting and weathering!

 

Anyway, to the pictures so far.........

 

AX9_O7738.jpg

 

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Hope you like it all so far

Andy

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13 hours ago, modelling minion said:

I certainly  do!

She looks great Andy, all those extra details are well worth the effort and the weathering looks just like the photos.

Well done mate.

hi Craig,

 

Thanks for the comments, but you failed to notice the upside down window latches!

 

I can't believe that I did this especially as I was checking the walkarounds as I did it. I will take them apart and do it again though.

 

see you tonight maybe

 

Andy

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5 hours ago, Red Dot said:

see you tonight maybe

Not unless you are coming to see me at work!

I know the old fart isn't going tonight as Rachel is getting married tomorrow, and Richard is on holiday so not sure how many will be going.

Sorry I missed the latches mate, will have to check your work more thoroughly in the future.

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6 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

Not unless you are coming to see me at work!

I know the old fart isn't going tonight as Rachel is getting married tomorrow, and Richard is on holiday so not sure how many will be going.

Sorry I missed the latches mate, will have to check your work more thoroughly in the future.

ahhhh, makes me wonder how we are going to get in then unless Alan is there. Only one way to find out.

 

I was going to lie about the latches but it seems to have slipped out!

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17 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

I believe Alan is going, at least Alan was told by Keith that he wasn't going, whether or not that means Alan will actually turn up I don't know as he sometimes is late because of him working away.

i'll give it a go and if no-one is there by 8.15, it will be home time. I will also send out a mail, but we know what good that does ;-)

 

Let's see if anyone else spots the deliberate error

Andy

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hi all,

 

Here's another update on the Sea Dragon.

 

I've changed those annoying window hinges round so the main airframe is finished. Can you see the difference? :o

 

Work has started on the tail assembly and is going really well.

 

First up was the rivetting which was an awful lot easier than on the main fueselage, mainly because there was less of it, it was easy to hold the smaller parts and lastly, because i've done it before, i had some confidence. You can see it on the pictures below.

 

Once this was done, i chain drilled the grille holes and cut out the scrap centre pieces before filing the edges neatly. Note that it doesn't need to be perfect as the etched metal covers the edges. After a coat of liquid cement to smooth things off, i added some Evostik PVA wood glue with a sharpened cocktail stick around the holes and then stuck the grilles into place, pre-bending them if they needed it. Any excess glue can be cleaned away with a wet paint brush. Rather amazingly, as this was the part i was dreading, it all went perfectly.

 

It's incredible how much you can see through the holes, so i need to scratchbuild some gearboxes and linkages next. Luckily, there is plenty of roonm inside the tail

 

Hope you like it so far

Andy

 

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Edited by Red Dot
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hi Intruder503,

 

Thanks very much for the compliments and I'm glad you liked the thread so far. I can't believe that I have taken so many photos of the build.

 

Hopefully there will be some more shortly as the end is in sight

 

Andy

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  • 2 weeks later...

hi everyone,

 

The photos below show the work that i did inside the tail rotor assembly to at least give an impression of something behind the mesh grilles and amazingly, you can actually see this on the finished model, so it was worthwhile.

 

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Once this was completed, it was a simple task of sticking the two halves together, adding the tailplane, various other smaller parts and then spraying it all white. I weathered it using the Flory models wash and pastels method that i described earlier in the thread, again using photos of the real thing for accuracy. I particularly like the way the clean inspection panels stand out. All of this achieved the effect below.

 

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The riveting work also came up really well and i'm incredibly pleased with the results of all of this new stuff that i have been trying out for the first time.

 

Once the final mat coat had gone on, it was a simple case of fixing the tail to the main airframe and it's job done after nearly eleven months! The trouble is, it's too big to photograph and store properly!

 

AX9_O7774.jpg

 

I've posted more pictures in the Ready For Insprection area (you can use the link below) and you might well be able to see the real thing at Telford in November (thanks for the help on that one Craig).

 

 

I really hope you enjoyed the ride and hopefully see you again soon

 

Thanks for looking

Andy

Edited by Red Dot
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Woah!  For a few moments there I genuinely wasn't completely sure whether I was looking at a picture of a real tail pylon or your model.  Superbly realistic; I look forward to seeing the real thing at Telford.

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  • 2 years later...

Wow, what a great looking build, makes me thirsty to build the two MH-53E I have in my stash! I do have a few questions, if you don't mind, starting with the PE.

 

I have never found a eduard set for the MH-53E, but I thought that most of the BIGSET for the CH-53E would work with this kit. Is that accurate?

 

I have also seen some very nice aftermarket RESKIT rotorhead and tail sets, they seem amazingly precise, did you consider these sets, and if so, what made you reject them for this build?

 

RESKIT also makes seats w/ armor plates, have you seen those? If you built another kit, would you consider them, or just repeat what you have done here?

 

Finally, I am unsure of the final build configuration, but every photo I have found, shows extra fuel tanks on both sides of the sponsons. Does the kit contain these fuel tanks, or the proper mounting gear for them?

 

I am sure when it comes time to build mine, I will have a thousand questions, I hope you don't mind me coming back to pick your brain. Don't worry, it won't happen any time soon, I have neither the space, or the equipment to truly start building again, and I have a whole lot of practice that needs doing before I can consider building one of these birds. It will be interesting to see how different my first build is, from my second build, when I get around to them.

 

Anyway, thanks for the inspiration,

 

Anthony D'Agostino

 

PS. The grill on the tail, was that part of the eduard set, or did you scratch build that? Also, what in the world is "chain drill"?

Edited by Stalker6Recon
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hi Anthony,

 

Thanks for your comments. From them, you are obviously looking to build either a US Marines CH-53 or a USAF MH-53 Pavelow, not a US Navy/JMSDF MH-53E Sea Stallion as i did. The two former helicopters are totally different to the latter, which has one extra engine, one extra rotor blade, huge side sponsons and a different tail rotor configuration and angle amongst many other details too.

 

When i made my model, the only resin available was from Wolfpack, which i used. Since then Reskit and Blackdog Resin have produced bits, which along with Cobra Company parts would easily suit your models. They all look to be excellent. I did use the Eduard BigSin set you mention for the CH-53, but realistically, the cockpit brass is the most useful item,as little in the interior can be seen on the finished model. The exterior set provided the grills around the airframe, including the tail.

 

I am very lazy when it comes to scratch-building, so would definitely splash out on all the resin and brass parts to suit the style of finished model i wanted.

 

I don't think my MH-53E Sea Dragon kit had the fuel tanks (as they don't carry them) but can't say what is in the other boxings i'm afraid. If you have them in your stash, you will need to take a look.

 

Chain drilling is the method of removing a panel of plastic. You drill holes around the inside of the panel lines and then cut between the holes to remove the excess material, then file the hole to size. Google it and you will see some images, far better than my words!

 

cheers

andy

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28 minutes ago, Red Dot said:

Chain drilling

As soon as I read half of the sentence, my brain kicked in, that's logical now. I guess my brain envisioned a hybrid chainsaw/drill machine made by the gods of some dying star.

 

What you said about the tanks also just clicked, that us why the MH-53E has those giant sponsors, so it doesn't need the extra fuel tanks, another "duh" moment.

 

OK, here is the kicker. In your open, you said this.

41 minutes ago, Red Dot said:

From them, you are obviously looking to build either a US Marines CH-53 or a USAF MH-53 Pavelow, not a US Navy/JMSDF MH-53E Sea Stallion as i did.

I am not sure what you meant there, because I have two identical kits. I have been trying to find the CH-53E, but it is gone, no store has them, and the only person on ebay selling one, want nearly triple the price, which I won't be doing, too broke.

 

I guess my only other confusion, is the BIGSET, but I think you confirmed it to me. The PE does work, especially the exterior stuff. The only interior parts that work, are the cockpit. Everything else from the interior set, is useless on this build.

 

Would that be an accurate statement?

 

Anyway, thanks so much for sharing such a wonderful build, she really is a thing of beauty. While I may have two birds, I guess I can configure one in folded position, with engines open etc, just for creative difference. I definely have a lot of time to research out my plans. Since I am unable to truly start the build yet, I think I will start by correcting the lack of surface detail, which can by done long before the build starts. I found Galaxy models rivet tool, which looks a lot better than the plastic trumpeter set. It's a little more expensive, but if the reviews are accurate, probably worth it for durability and ease of use. I looked at some close-up photos of the tail, some places have two lines of revits on both side of a panel line. That is four lines of rivets, together! In some areas, it looks like rivets held together by skin, not the other way around.

 

Finally, the only thing I need to consider now, is whether or not to spend the extra cash on Black Dogs engine/electronics big set. I am sure you have seen them, and it adds a lot of super detail, especially good for those of us that don't know anything about scratch building. Something that I have never done before. Most of what I will be doing with these kits, will be totally new to me. I just hope I can gain skills rapidly, I am already 50, not getting any younger any time soon.

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony

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hi Anthony,

You are correct about the Eduard sets. it is better to buy the cockpit and exterior sets separately and not the BigSin one.

 

You need to decide how to configure the model before you buy all the resin as some mayt be a waste of money. I isued a similar riveting tool on my MH-53E. It simply takes time and lots of comparison to photos. If you mess up a line of rivets, fill them and do it again. Eventually it works out okay.

 

Beware the instructions in the Academy kits. They are pretty poor in their sequencing. Use common sense regarding the build and all will go well. You can leave the engine pods off for painting as the fit is excellent

 

Andy

 

 

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