Ex-FAAWAFU

Sorry - only just noticed this question, and I wish I could give you a more scientific answer… but I can tell you that it’s at least 80% Smoke, maybe more. I just put the Smoke & Mr Levelling Thinners into my airbrush and then added drops of green until it looked about right!

I very much hope that someone has produced some after market masks for this kit by the time I build my next one…. bit of a saga, but it’s done and the canopy is now glued in place. Earlier impressions that the fit of the clear parts is good are confirmed; in fact it’s almost perfect. My model will have the passenger door open but I have used the closed version provided by Airfix as a blank to fill the door. I’ll tack the cargo door in place with white glue. Tip to my future self & anyone else building this; remember to fit & mask the starboard side window *before* fitting the sponson & compression strut. I didn’t (following the order in the instructions), and it makes masking much harder. Just got to mask the gear bays and nose lights and then we’re ready for some of Jamie’s RAF Blue Grey. (The primer coat is MRP) Edit - plus the ECU exhaust areas; they were bare metal in early Sea Kings More soon Crisp

I can’t really comment about that, because I spent 1989 - 1994 away from the Sea King world flying the Lynx (& doing a bit of fish-head-ery). 820’s HAS5s in 1986-1988 definitely didn’t have the strips; 819’s HAS6s in 1994-6 definitely did. So the collective brains sound about right to me. I’m not entirely sure whether the two were connected or not, but during my time on 820 flying Mk.5s, the big problem was the Frame 290 crack. Frame 290 is the one that attaches to the rear bolts of the main gearbox; there are 2 bolts at the rear and 4 at the front (something like Frame 243, from memory). With all the additional weight that we’d shoved down the back in the evolution from HAS1 to HAS5 (notably the LAPADS table and extra seat), the stress on the rear frame was becoming an issue. We had to do ultrasound NDT tests on Frame 290 something like every 50 hours, and I seem to recall at least 2 (of 9) squadron cabs found small cracks during Outback 88. We also had to calculate the aircraft’s centre of gravity carefully before each sortie with 4 crew (GFP without back seat crew was OK), and manage the fuel carefully to ensure that we emptied the tanks in the right order. You weren’t allowed to have the Aircrewman in the 5th seat above certain weights in the hover - i.e. you always took off with him alongside the Observer, and then he’d move aft once you were safely in forward flight. That’s also the reason why you see regular pictures of HAS1s and 2s carrying 4 weapons, but HAS5s generally with 2 at the most, and always on the forward weapon stations. [If you see a picture of an HAS5 with 4 torpedoes, it’s either a trials aircraft or one with very little fuel, posing for the photo; unsurprisingly, we didn’t want the Opposition to know about the weight and CofG issues with the aircraft. If you didn’t manage the CofG properly, it was possible to get to a state where the CofG limits were exceeded, which in turn could present problems with running out of control authority in some combinations of weight and relative wind. The HAS6 solved all this, because the passive ASW stuff was integrated with the Aircrewman’s console, so there was no 5th seat.

Me too; I flew with my side window open in almost all weathers, and so did most pilots I know. From Airfix’s pov, however, it would add to the complexity and risk compromising the fit of the clear parts (which as I progress seems to be pretty much perfect; not easy to achieve with so much green-housery). I’m building this OOB apart from adding seat belts. But I’m also using it as a recce to gauge the possibilities for detailing future builds… and they are many! [I am particularly awaiting ResKit to do a main rotor head, as I am sure they will in due course. I have a single sortie in an SH-60B in my logbook, so have one in my stash for a future build… and the ResKit rotor head and tail rotor for that are stunning].

No; they mentioned at the launch event that the “without” option is for people who prefer PE wipers. Airfix don’t do PE, and a convincing wiper would be way too thin for injection molding. I commend their attention to detail, though; they’ve depicted the tube (& that’s all it was; we’re not talking sophisticated) at the top of the windscreen that dispensed washer fluid. An aircraft designed to spend long periods in a 40’ hover over the sea ends up wearing a lot of salt!

Varnish it. And if that doesn’t work, re-spray it! Though it’s not too late to match the edges with masks & spray inside. Might do that before fitting

Outside; easier to mask the edges P.S. note to self; don’t forget to reinstate the rivets in front of the intakes. For almost all builds of this kit even that seam won’t show, since it will be covered by either the “barn door” or the Centrisep filter thingy. The HAS1 had neither - but it’s worth saying that the small seam immediately ahead of the engine intakes is the only filler I have used on the entire model thus far.

And finally for this morning, the overhead quarter-lights sprayed a mixture of Tamiya X-19 Smoke & C-25 Clear Green, in preparation for masking in the normal manner to paint the frames

Added the overhead panel (engine controls, fire levers, manual throttles etc) just to make trebly sure I don’t get carried away with masking the clear parts, and end up finding this on my bench after everything is glued in place!

I can’t yet give a definitive answer, because I’ve only done brief dry-fitting so far (I’m currently into the joys of masking..), but I’d say it fits very well. I’ll be able to give a better answer when I’ve stopped wrestling with Tamiya tape & a Swann-Morton No.11. [Later edit]. Promising, I think Yes, there are some of the parts for an HAR3, as well as appropriate window openings; as previously discussed I will be amazed if Airfix don’t do both HAR3 and HC4 releases in the future. However, it depends on how accurate you want it to be, because there are definitely things missing too - for example the second battery bay on the starboard side behind the pilot (present in both HAR3 and HC4 but not the ASW versions), as well as more specialist SAR equipment. If that doesn’t bother you, then go for it, but if it were me I’d wait until Airfix do the work for you

Really starting to look like a Sea King now; engine bays and port sponson added. The canopy is dry fitted to check angles - it’s not the one I will be using, since Airfix provide one with one without molded wipers. More soon Crisp

It seems a good time to comment on the engineering of this kit. Airfix tend to get a lot of stick in many quarters - some of it deserved in the past, but my more recent experience (notably the 1/48 Walrus) has been far more positive. This Sea King is excellent; Airfix have reached the point where if sobethong doesn’t fit, then you have made a mistake. The design has a number of clever features, partly to make other versions a possibility in future, but also to make the build pleasurable. For example (& sorry for forgetting to take photo before fitting)… … the unpainted part in the foreground has the two ECU exhausts attached to it. The instructions are very clear that you should only dry fit this part, not glue it. The reason becomes apparent once you fit the fuselage sides, because you need to be able to jiggle the exhausts just a little to get them to fit through the hole. Also, they’ve made it so that there is almost no seam between the fuselage halves that requires clean-up/filler/sanding; the radar has a short section of TR drive shaft, and the rest of the shaft is a separate part. This again allows different radar versions, but also different aerials down the spine. I have seen one build review that said they had to do a little work to make this spine fit; mine was perfect out of the box. Kudos to Chris, the designer More soon Crisp

Take a good look for the final time; this interior is now complete; Airfix have repeated the design approach they used for their excellent Lynx, namely an internal ‘shell’; The inner wall of this is the interior you see, and the fuselage parts fit around it, giving excellent rigidity (& opportunities for detailing, but not in this build!). Here are the rear seats as seen from the cargo door: And here with the fuselage closed up: More soon Crisp

Even I might build an HC.4 (having worked on the flight deck of Fearless during the Falklands’ War). Not sure I can lower myself to building a Crab machine, though. After all, they were pretty minor - around 5% of the airframes built by Westlands. Besides, yellow is a bitch to spray…

Some weird ESM stuff, an’ all. But nothing insurmountable; the sponsons probably the hardest bit… but @71chally is right; I hadn’t realised that the single port side rear window was so far aft. The Airfix kit has two positions for this window, but they are both further forward:

Talking ballast = the non-Pilot members of the crew; in the Sea King case, the 2 guys in the back

We have a cockpit: I reckon that’s complete now - and I have to say that wrestling with lead foil isn’t my favourite activity. Away today, but tomorrow do the same for the Talking Ballast and then I can close up the fuselage. More soon Crisp P.S. If anyone is wondering why all recent photos have been with the interior balanced precariously on top of two cans of airbrush cleaner, it’s because the sonar body sticks out of the bottom of the airframe until the full boat hull is in place. I have almost forgotten about 50 times, and I do not fancy having to re-work the pit head gear after a visit from CPO Clumsy

The Airfix Lynx is also an excellent kit. As for future versions, all that’s lacking for an HAS2 are markings, and since both lengths of cabin are included already, that makes a lot of non-UK versions viable out of the box, if you can source markings: - Mk.42 / Mk.42A India - Mk.43 / Mk.43A Norway - Mk.47 Egypt - Mk.50 / Mk.50A / Mk.50B Australia - Indian Mk.42B & C would need extra parts (Sea Eagle & nose radar respectively), but far from impossible - Pakistani Mk. 45 / Mk.45A likewise (Exocet instead of Sea Eagle) - German Mk.41 ditto (Sea Skua & associated radar) - Belgian Mk.48 is a kind of HAR3/HAS5 mash-up - extra battery bay and avionics of the former, radar of the latter; really cool scheme, though, plus Historic Helicopters (where the launch event was) have 2, so I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see that as a future release. For UK versions, HAS6 would be easy (minor avionics & aerial changes, plus different Aircrewman sonar console), but I suspect many people are awaiting HAR3 and/or HC4. The parts already in the box give some very heavy hints (notably window openings, but also items like the IR jammer which [as far as I know] only deployed on the HC4. Let’s face it, Airfix would be mad not to do a Junglie cab. The only versions that would need really major changes are the Baggers (AEW2 & ASaC7). They would need big internal changes in the back, quite apart from the obvious radar on the side. I’d be less certain that they will appear in future Airfix plans, so if you really want to do an AEW cab, I’d search out the Hasegawa boxing. Hope that helps

It’s in a different league from Hasegawa, trust me - unless you want to build a Sikorski / Mitsubishi. Assuming you want Westland, then the detail & fit are significantly better, and I speak from personal experience.

I did consider it, briefly, before concluding that the effect would be massively over-scale

Those chocks don’t remove themselves, you know! The “bathing cap” thing is interesting; it’s the first manifestation of having started to cross-operate & harmonise procedures with the USN (one of the more ‘interesting’ changes being that the US signals for “go higher / lower” to an aircraft on finals were the opposite of ours…). Nowadays the identification of trade / purpose on deck is via coloured shirts / surcoats, but initially it was headgear. Pink = radio mechanic; radar/radio maintainers are known as “Pinkies” to this day Love the matelots nonchalantly standing outside the guardrails on the front of the island. Elf’n’safety still some way in the future!

Even Steve can’t resist a steely-eyed young blade of a Seafire pilot in an entirely spontaneous, in no way posed - no Siree - photograph. [The Crab-Roc-tribute-act thingy is gorgeous, obvs].

Today was time to work on the seats. To my mind they are one of the less good parts of the kit; they're not bad (and they are way, way better than the Hasegawa seats, not least because Westland seats are not the same as Sikorsky/Mitsubishi seats), but I think they can be improved fairly simply. Hat tip to Geoff of Scale Modelling Now, who is also building one of these, and who gave me the idea for the seat covers... Read on). A reminder of what we're trying to reproduce here; from above (in an HU5 with an NVG cockpit, which is why everything is black instead of grey): Note the infamous faux-sheepskin cover turned the wrong way up, and the visible notch cut out of the front of it - this is where the harness came up between your legs. This cover was not exclusively for the comfort of the aircrew (though the seat-pack liferaft, made from hard plastic / GRP material, was rock hard and mighty uncomfortable after 4+ hours of wobbling around them there skies) - it contained survival aids that would not fit inside the seat pack. It was SOP to turn these the wrong way up when the aircraft wasn't flying, to avoid contamination from oily & dirty Grubber boots; seeing Geoff do this on his model was what gave me the idea that follows. Now seen from below and the front (this time XZ574, the FAA Museum's HAS5) - the sheepskin job is the right way up here): Note two things in particular; the prominent lip at the front of the lift-raft pack (which is the yellow thing), and the fact that there is also a cut-out in the seat pack. [The green cushion thing between sheepskin cover and liferaft pack contained yet more survival aids and was added during my career, so I am assuming that the HAS1 wouldn't have had it.] This is the basic seat Airfix provide, before fitting the cushion - thus far very good (this is the spare 5th seat for the HAS5 which I won't need - hence the rather bodged hasty assembly that I did simply to show you what it looks like). And here with the cushion in place (apologies for the paint smudges - some paint mule action in its recent past!): Airfix want you to paint the whole cushion orange, which is what it would look like without the seat life-raft pack, but that is where I think we can do better. To do this I have added two simple things; a) a thin slice of styrene sheet cut and filed to the appropriate shape and painted to represent an upside down seat cushion, one for each seat: ...and b) the notch filed into the front face of the Airfix cushion part, then the underside of the front edge filed flat to give an approximation of the prominent lip I mentioned above, and then a short rod of 2 x 1mm glued underneath; the resultant cushion part looks like this after paint: When fitted, in merciless Macro, it looks like this (with the original Airfix version for comparison) And from above, like this: The LH seat (which is the only one fitted yet) thus looks like this (ignore the fact that I have snapped the collective for the second time; I have the stray bit and it’s staying off until I have finished fitting belts!): ...vs the real thing: Now for the seat belts, which will be tomorrow's game. More then Crisp

Nice work, Alistair. Hunter & FAA? Unbeatable. Plus your thread title now has Free firmly in place as today’s ear worm, and that can never be a bad thing.

One of those days when you spend 3 hours at the bench doing odds & sods but seem to have very little visible progress to report at the end of it. Jump seat added and quite a lot more detail painting (admittedly, much of it not visible in this photo!). Nearly done with the interior now - so running out of excuses for not tackling scratch building the damn belts! More soon Crisp