1/72 Airfix Westland Sea King HC.4

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Lovely job so far - and I speak as someone who is up to his eyeballs in a 1/48 Mk.5

[Pappy]

18 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Lovely job so far - and I speak as someone who is up to his eyeballs in a 1/48 Mk.5

 

Thanks EW,

 

I have been dropping into your WIP from time to time.

 

G'day people,

 

Well I started off with some easy stuff first, some PE loveliness for the tail rotor

 

 

Then the serious plastic hacking began. Once the dust had settled and the glue fumes had dissipated, I was left with this,

 

 

Test fitting with the rest of the fuselage

 

 

I still need to thin the transmission tunnel on the fuselage side and add the tail shaft gear face. It is disappointing that tail fold details were not included in the PE set as this is one area where PE would be ideal, especially since this is an option provided by the kit.

 

The fuselage went together quite well, but I did encounter a few troublesome spots. The first was the point where the cabin roof exits and meets the upper fuselage. There was a slight step here

 

 

 

Next up, the area behind the engine intake cowling

 

 

These were not too bad and will be easily dealt with. I found the the fuselage/hull underisde part left a noticeable seam.

 

 

I don't think this should be so prominent. perhaps I should have reduced the underside if the supporting formers?There is also some sort of moulding blemish around the small rectangular aerial mount. The kit suggests using one of the blade aerials to blank off the unused hole after cutting off the aerial. the base still sits a little proud. If i was to build another, i think I would just use some scrap resin or plastic and fill with CA.

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 3, 2017 by Pappy

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Superb tail fold detail; I know it's a pain to scratch, but the resultant 3D is far more convincing than PE

[perdu]

Yup, wot 'e says

 

Lovely

[Pappy]

16 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Superb tail fold detail; I know it's a pain to scratch, but the resultant 3D is far more convincing than PE

 

16 hours ago, perdu said:

Yup, wot 'e says

 

Lovely

Thanks fellas,

 

I am still plugging away at the seams. As expected, the upper seams tidied up pretty easily,

 

 

 

 

This is a pic of the nose section with the small moulded on box removed and the resultant hole filled in

 

 

The underside will take a few applications of filler to sort but it will get there

 

 

I have also scratched up the earlier countermeasures fit for the aft fuselage

 

 

In between bouts of sand, fill - repeat, I decided to reward myself but assembling the GPMG. I added a few extra details as per my refs

 

 

 

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

 

 

 

 

Edited February 4, 2017 by Pappy

[wasacop]

Absolutely love that tail fold! I added a bit but nothing compared to yours!

I also had the same hull issues as you! Loving your build so far!

[Pappy]

15 hours ago, wasacop said:

Absolutely love that tail fold! I added a bit but nothing compared to yours!

I also had the same hull issues as you! Loving your build so far!

 

Thanks very much!

 

G'day people,

 

I have spent today working on the small details.

 

I began by adding a little more detail to the tail fold, this time concentrating on the main fuselage side

 

 

Next up, in what would eventually become the festival of brass, the molded tail fold hinges were replaced with PE

 

 

Then the floodgates opened

 

 

 

Notice the molding flaw near the underside floodlight? I had a similar feature around the left hand antenna base

 

 

The kit supplies the cabin entry door in both two piece and once piece versions. The one piece is molded clear which will serve as an excellent aide to masking when the time comes to paint the beastie.

 

More PE goodness

 

 

IR jammer mounts

 

 

 

One thing I have noticed is that the Airfix items have a more correct shape at the top. The PE items are flat, while the top of the Airfix items slope downwards slightly

 

 

I can live with it though!

 

Finally, I bent up the troop step

 

 

Comparison with the kit item,

 

 

I actually think the kit items is pretty decent. To be fair, I did drill out all the lightening holes. I think if you drill out the holes and replaced the molded struts at the ends, the kit item would look pretty decent and being designed to fit the kit, it would make for an easier assembly. There is also a bit of a size discrepancy between the two items, the PE item is taller and wider.  I am not sure which one is more correct,

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

 

 

 

 

[Martian]

Lovely PE work Pappy. My initial reaction is that the kit step is nearer the correct size. It would be interesting to see them both offered up to the fuselage.

 

Martian

[wasacop]

3 hours ago, Pappy said:

 

 

 

Finally, I bent up the troop step

 

 

Comparison with the kit item,

 

 

I actually think the kit items is pretty decent. To be fair, I did drill out all the lightening holes. I think if you drill out the holes and replaced the molded struts at the ends, the kit item would look pretty decent and being designed to fit the kit, it would make for an easier assembly. There is also a bit of a size discrepancy between the two items, the PE item is taller and wider.  I am not sure which one is more correct,

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

 

 

 

 

Pappy, I hate to say this but your metal Commando step doesn't look right! It appears to be missing the end struts as on the plastic step and the front edge appears too thick. 

 

[Pappy]

3 hours ago, wasacop said:

Pappy, I hate to say this but your metal Commando step doesn't look right! It appears to be missing the end struts as on the plastic step and the front edge appears too thick. 

 

 

Yes, you are correct on both counts. The reason the end struts are missing is because I removed them. The PE struts  would look too flat as they form a square cross-section, so I was going to replace these with fine wire, which is why the bottom lip looks too big. The bottom edge will be folded over the wire to trap it, so in essence, I have not yet finished forming the part,

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

[wasacop]

15 hours ago, Pappy said:

 

Yes, you are correct on both counts. The reason the end struts are missing is because I removed them. The PE struts  would look too flat as they form a square cross-section, so I was going to replace these with fine wire, which is why the bottom lip looks too big. The bottom edge will be folded over the wire to trap it, so in essence, I have not yet finished forming the part,

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

Oops my mistake for jumping in a bit sharpish!

[andyf117]

Content withdrawn - I will NOT be threatened by a moderator, simply because I queried the actions of another...

Edited June 27, 2020 by andyf117

[Pappy]

3 hours ago, andyf117 said:

I suspect the etch items will look wrong once in place - there is a distinct downward angle, as this photo shows perfectly:

(from the Sea KIng HC.4 page in the walkaround section)

 

G'day Andy,

 

I think the shape difference is quite subtle and not many people will notice unless it is pointed out hence the comparison pic in my my previous post. The unit is actually mounted onto two supports which I have not taken pics of.  As per your ref pic, the IR jammer frame sits above the lower mount but hangs off the upper mount. I suspect that when I add these additional PE mounts to the kit, the IR jammer frames will sit out at an angle, so that for the most part they will look okay, it is just the angle of the uppermost frame that will not be correct.  I pointed it out all the same so that anyone faced with the dilemma can make their own decision. It would not be too hard to drill some lightening holes in the sides and top of the kit frames, but getting them symmetrical and lined up is the tricky part.

 

As I mentioned, I will live with it.

 

G'day people,

 

A small but important update today. The cockpit transparency consists of three sections, two side panels and a central portion. I had cleaned up the cockpit transparency parts and given them a dip in Future.

 

Now that the pieces are dry they have been offered up to the kit and the side panels were attached.

 

 

 

The centre section is not attached yet as I want the two side panels to dry and thus have a more rigid structure to attach the centre portion to, it is just placed in situ to help align the side sections, so the alarming gaps at the upper back edge will mostly disappear once the part is attached.

 

I sprayed a couple of thin coats of clear green prior to dipping in Future. The overhead panel was added once the Future was given 24hrs to dry. The console received a pre-painted PE panel that also included the manual throttle levers. I am debating whether to add the two Speed Select Levers (SSLs) as it may make this area a little too 'dense' detail wise - plus they are really small parts on a really small part so they are quite a challenge to represent!

 

 

 

Finally the winch was assembled and painted

 

 

 

The support frames were a little thick and there was not much of a gap between the struts. I considered replacing these and adding new struts but in the end I decided to scrape down the struts for a more scale like appearance

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 7, 2017 by Pappy

[heloman1]

Looking good Pappy, I do like the tail fold with the scratch parts much better than PE. That seem on the fus, underside looks a horror, ouch!

 

Colin

[moaning dolphin]

Just caught up with this, I do like that canopy, one area that I cannot seem to get right but that looks great. I did one of these for the Helo GB last year but back dated it to the 1990's. It did go together quite well but there are areas where if you don't get things nestled in perfectly it can be a struggle with annoying gaps. That said it is the best option around for the Seaking and good to see you have been able to do something with that awful sand filter. The only part of the kit that I feel is a let down.

 

Looking forward to seeing this progress.

 

Bob

[Martian]

The tinting to the canopy looks very effective!

 

Martian

[Pappy]

19 hours ago, heloman1 said:

Looking good Pappy, I do like the tail fold with the scratch parts much better than PE. That seem on the fus, underside looks a horror, ouch!

 

Colin

 

It was annoying and if I am being honest the fit could have been better if I had paid attention during test fitting as I think the v shaped sections under the cabin could have benefited from a little judicious sanding before adding the lower hull part. It wa nothing a little effort and filler couldn't fix.

 

18 hours ago, moaning dolphin said:

Just caught up with this, I do like that canopy, one area that I cannot seem to get right but that looks great. I did one of these for the Helo GB last year but back dated it to the 1990's. It did go together quite well but there are areas where if you don't get things nestled in perfectly it can be a struggle with annoying gaps. That said it is the best option around for the Seaking and good to see you have been able to do something with that awful sand filter. The only part of the kit that I feel is a let down.

 

Looking forward to seeing this progress.

 

Bob

 

G'day Bob,

 

I agree that time spent on getting the clear parts on helicopter right will certainly pay dividends later. I was not convinced by the sand filter decals, there is a lack of texture that the decals cannot represent. Onc ething for sure, beteween the tail fold and sand filter, there is an opportunity for some resin aftermarket goodies!

 

15 hours ago, Martian Hale said:

The tinting to the canopy looks very effective!

 

Martian

 

I should hope so Martian, or else the drivers will get very hot!

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

[Pappy]

G'day people,

 

I have masked the canopy as the painting stage draws near,

 

 

 

 

Some of the smaller parts have already received some paint,

 

 

 

and others are in-between!

 

 

 

 

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

 

 

[perdu]

• It is good to see this is still ongoing and looking very good for it

I do like its folded tail and the green's a convincing shade too

Edited July 15, 2017 by perdu

[matteo44]

Fantastic job!! 

[Cklasse]

I am thinking of starting my SeaKing for the new year and this is a fantastic build. Would love to use this build for reference.

 

Will there be any continuation for this build as it has stopped since 2017? 

[Pappy]

Still stopped

 

Pappy