TonyOD

Like all my builds this one has its fair share of "ah cr*p" moment. Today's was when I realised that I'd thrown away the transparent sprue, still with the remaining window for the cabin door attached. Cue anguished howl. Fortunately it occurred to be that I have the Revell HAS.3 in the stash, which is from the same moulds. On that variant there is no window in the cabin door, but - oh happy day! - the full complement of windows is right there on the transparent sprue. In fairness I probably wouldn't have even thought of it if I hadn't been watching @Andwil's HAS.31b build in the helicopter GB, wherein he has added the window. So thanks for that!

I don't think I've ever seen a 1/18 kit before! Looks like a monster!

Thanks Patrice. I'm thinking of spreading my wings a bit and building an axis aircraft as well as a Fleet Air Arm one - maybe Operation Pedestal offers some possibilities. I quite like look of some of the Italian planes, but I need to do some research! I have time...

A bit more tinkering this morning, the cockpit and cabin are in place though it took a fair amount of dry fitting, sanding and trial and error to get a good join for the fuselage halves (smart move to take a dremel to those internal pins, @Andwil). I'm slightly vexed by the gap between the fuselage and the cabin floor, surely a trip hazard for a commando exiting the aircraft. Those troublesome steps are now more-or-less where they should be. Nose not stuck on at this point.

Lovely job. Forgive my ignorance but what does COD mean?

Silk purse from a sow’s ear!

Can you add me please Patrice? Thanks.

Now I get it. I might have a go at this one. Plenty in the stash would fit the bill. Maybe one of those Operation Torch planes with the US roundels...

Thanks @Andwil, got at least four Airfix harriers in the stash and I will build one sooner or later.

Oh, I don't know, I'm very easily satisfied!

@Andwil PS can you point me towards your Sea Harrier thread from the In The Navy GB? Ta.

Grab handles? Nobody ever said anything about grab handles! I had another look at the instructions last night and in fact Italeri would have us glue the two out-of-line steps on alongside those two little recesses, that don't appear on the actual aircraft far as I can see. I'm sure they just make this stuff up as they go along. And that rotor...

I can't do weathering. Looks amazing.

Surely not the Crimea River, who taught me everything I know about Mosquito canopies?

Amazing job @Ozzy. Do you mind if I ask what the glossy areas around the decals are? Is it just a varnish base to make them sit better or something?

I’m not, sadly!

I'm relieved about the aftermarket bit @Wez cos I've already picked my decals! The Smer kit I've ordered comes with a photoetch thingy to tart it up a bit. I gather the cockpit is a tad spartan. I've seen @John Masters' build, and will be nicking all his ideas.

Yep...

Bit special, that.

Hi - I've been skulking around the GB forum a bit to see what it's all about, I think I'm going to have a go at the Heller GB as my first attempt. I'm going to do the Smer Corsair which I'm reliably informed is a reboxing of the original Heller kit (though the purist in me thinks I should actually find a "Heller" branded box!) I'm aware there's a Corsair GB going on at the moment but I'm not feeling confident enough yet and besides I'm being given the runaround by a helicopter right now. I did an Airfix Corsair recently, it came out, well, alright. My aim will be to build the Heller one to a better standard! As a kit surely can't be any more basic?

Thanks for that @hendie. Without trying too hard I've identified that with this kit there is incorrect step configuration, two windows the wrong way round, an incorrect squadron insignia and the strong possibility of a dodgy rotor. Now I'm no rivet counter but this is a bit much. Plus the box states that this a/c was with HMS London in 1981, far as I can see it never went near that ship at any point in its career. (It's feasible that in fact this is an accurate representation of XS522 at some point in time, but the labelling of the a/c on the box is wrong?) I've found a nice looking Modeldecal aftermarket sheet which I can pick up for a few quid. There are two representations of XS522 (in 1976 and 1978) plus numerous other options, I wanted to go with all-over green rather than camo so it looks like a good punt. The pics of it online aren't very clear but I can see the "Busby" nose art that Italeri purports to have been on this chopper, interestingly alongside 707 NAS squadron insignia. It's all very confusing! (I remember my very first build being an Airfix Spitfire PR XIX, new issue at the time, and very quickly noticing that the fuselage roundels were too small. How can they get this stuff wrong, I thought to myself!)

I have fallen out with Italeri a little bit on my (non-GB) Wessex, research has shown up some accuracy issues on the HU.5 kit!

The plot thickens... research confirms that in 1981 XS522 was indeed on the strength of 772 NAS. Thing is, the squadron badge on the decal sheet isn't for 772 NAS, it's (as far as I can tell because it's pretty crudely printed) for 707 NAS, to which this chopper was transferred around 1984 (having also been with this squadron in 1975-1977). What to do? This is a pretty big inaccuracy. Maybe shift across to the camo version, seems a bit more reliable.

Still is now for me This is going to look amazing. Surely it will finish up bigger than the dog. Will follow with interest!

After a substantial amount of jiggery polkery with a drill and needle file I've opened up two 5mm x 2mm slots and got the upper steps where they need to be. I've filled the misplaced recesses for the lower steps in readiness for more of the same later on (more like 3mm x 2mm this time, directly below the upper steps). I've found myself laughing out loud while investing this time because nobody would ever know. Meanwhile, the only other progress I've made is to paint the rotor blades and the canopy framing the wring colour . I've been pondering how to paint the tail rotor. There are two FAA options, one with a camouflage paint job that has a light grey tail rotor with red/white tips, and the other (that I'm doing) with overall dark green, tail rotor in the same dark green and red tips, according to the instructions at least. I've found a pic of XS522 with the grey rotor and different numbers. Looking around on the 'net the only dark green Wessexes I see with the dark green tail rotor are those with low visibility roundels (though some of these had light grey). When carrying standard red/white/blue roundels (as here) they're invariably light grey. I'm wondering if when XS522 was with HMS London, carrying different numbers, the rotor might actually have been repainted or replaced with the green? Any Wessex experts able to advise, or should I just trust the darn instructions? My Wessex in 1977, four years before the kit depiction. And what's with the lighter shade on the nose? Also, the bulged window is aft according to the instructions. A few other configurations... Green/low-vis/green Green/low-vis/green Green/standard/grey: