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Airfix 1/72 Sikorsky SH-3D Apollo 13 Recovery


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This is the ancient Airfix kit I can remember building as a child, revisited for old times' sake.

I bought one on eBay, and found the parts needed a lot of filling and sanding to produce an acceptable result. The decals were yellow with age, so i replaced them with the (in any case much more accurate) Apollo 13 recovery set from Old 66.

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I was driven very close to demented by the rotor blades, all of which had twists and kinks as supplied. I'm still not happy with them, and I think I've drooped them excessively, but I was so relieved to have them all roughly the same shape I just stopped while I was ahead.

Edited by Hamiltonian
ambiguity of original post
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1 minute ago, Learstang said:

Very nice! I'm old enough to remember when the 1:1 scale versions were fishing astronauts out of the ocean.

 

Yes, me too. I built my original kit in a fever of Apollo-mania, complete with a little recovered astronaut dangling from the winch.

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Fond memories of old 66. The Airfix box art was very evocative. Brings back memories of staying up all night to watch the moon landing. Sad end to the real thing though.

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Thanks for the kind words.

One of the curiosities of this kit was that it came with a dipping sonar for the antisubmarine version, which you could wind in and out of its bay by twirling the main rotor. I liked this so much when I was a kid that I built it as a hybrid anti-submarine / Apollo recovery version, so that the astronaut in his recovery net was dangling improbably next to the sonar rig. What could go wrong with an arrangement like that?

 

It was a bit of a wrench, this time, to modify the kit by blanking off the sonar bay at floor height.

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Very nostalgic........I think this too, was my first delve into the rotary wing world. IIRC I bought one of these when I was 12 and temporarily living on the Isle of Wight between my Dad's regular overseas postings. I built it straight from the box and do clearly remember that one of the highlights was to acquire that cotton thread to sandwich between the dipping sonar parts and thread up through the cabin to attach to the main rotor. I seem to also recall it had a retractable main undercarriage too and the obligatory sliding cabin door. 

 

You have made a great job of this old kit which was not the easiest to put together as I recall !.

 

   

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Classic old modelling, and some great build stories.

 

I  never built the US Navy version of this kit, instead an RAF Rescue painted Renault Racing Yellow acrylic. Similar comments about saggy rotors, and that uppy/downy sonobouy.

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1 hour ago, theplasticsurgeon said:

Similar comments about saggy rotors, and that uppy/downy sonobouy.

Here's how my rotors came out of the box:

Img_1497.jpg

I made myself a little jig and then treated them gently with some hot water, but still ended up with the various little kinks that show up in the picture. One rotor blade even seemed to have one end that was more resistant to heating than the other end!

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Nice Sea King

 

a very smart build too

 

I'd "LIKE" it but I seem to have a "LIKE" deficiency at the mo'

 

I also quite like Hamilton but the old place seems awfully different now Tuphall Rd is full of aspirant housing now the back closes have all gone

 

;)

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1 hour ago, Mark4700 said:

Very nice build. I built a couple of these as a child in the 70's. Brings back memories. 

 

41 minutes ago, perdu said:

Nice Sea King

 

a very smart build too

 

I'd "LIKE" it but I seem to have a "LIKE" deficiency at the mo'

 

I also quite like Hamilton but the old place seems awfully different now Tuphall Rd is full of aspirant housing now the back closes have all gone

 

;)

 

Thanks, both.

Don't think I've ever been to Hamilton. But I can see why you might think I had. :smile:

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Hello,Hamiltonian - Welcome to the Forum.My favourite helicopter and scheme.I remember this classic Airfix kit and my attempt at it many moons ago.

It's a pleasure to view this superb build.I love the quality and detail of the painting and finishing work.The tinted overhead glazing,sharp colour demarcation and the clean 'classic' appearance all add to a splendid tribute to the aircraft and a credit to your skills.

😉👍 All the best,Paul.

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1 hour ago, mcdonnell said:

Hello,Hamiltonian - Welcome to the Forum.My favourite helicopter and scheme.I remember this classic Airfix kit and my attempt at it many moons ago.

It's a pleasure to view this superb build.I love the quality and detail of the painting and finishing work.The tinted overhead glazing,sharp colour demarcation and the clean 'classic' appearance all add to a splendid tribute to the aircraft and a credit to your skills.

😉👍 All the best,Paul.

You're very kind. :)

The overhead tint was ... interesting. I was all set with some Humbrol transparent green enamel, when I found out the overhead panes on this aircraft had been replaced with blue by the time of Apollo 13. I eventually found some little bottles of pigment in my local hobby shop, used by folks who paint glass to produce a stained glass appearance. ( I didn't even know that was a thing.) It's designed to pool on a flat surface, so it was awkward to use on those curves - I ended up applying three thin coats with the canopy propped in a different position each time, so that all the pooling combined to produce an (almost) even coat.

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