Dermo245 Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 (edited) Why give myself the ease of a straighforward build, when I can convert a tiny helicopter into a tiny movie/TV helicopter! This beauty.. From this.. There's obviously a dark side of my modelling brain which thinks; 1. I can do it 2. It will kind of look like the real thing 3. It will be finished in time 4. I won't go plain loopy with all those cockpit angles I'm blaming the paint fumes. Good luck with your builds. Dermot Edited July 1, 2012 by Dermo245 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CockneyCol Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Good luck with that....... Looks like a challenge and a half, excellent Tv Prog/film though Cheers Col' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Brave man. Good luck, will follow with interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham77 Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Good luck with this fiddly little kit. Am I correct in thinking the actual blue thunder was converted from a gazelle or similar? If so I wonder if there are any good sites out there showing how they did the real thing that would help you do the scale version.... Looking forward to your progress Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuprar Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Good luck, used to love watching blue thunder back in the days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 I'll be watching along. Does that mean I'm JAFO? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul - Brazil Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Very interesting project! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMChladek Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 I'll be watching along.Does that mean I'm JAFO? If you know exactly what the acronym means it does. I'm not going to say this project is impossible of course, given that I've seen some pretty cool things done of late with models that I never expected could be done. But, this is going to be one heck of a challenger for certain. Good luck man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Good luck on this one - I have a sneaky feeling you will need it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMChladek Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 The more I think about it, what about scouring the web to see if somebody has done a paper model for Blue Thunder? The nose conversion is mostly flat panels and if they could be sized right, they would work for cutting plasti-card. The tail, engine, skids and core of the frame are the same (albeit BT had some mocked up armor plating glued to it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 The more I think about it, what about scouring the web to see if somebody has done a paper model for Blue Thunder? The nose conversion is mostly flat panels and if they could be sized right, they would work for cutting plasti-card. The tail, engine, skids and core of the frame are the same (albeit BT had some mocked up armor plating glued to it). Just had a quick search and couldn't find anything about a previous conversion. This might be useful though: http://www.scale-rotors.com/news-reviews/f...under-fmd-22-32 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMChladek Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 I acquired a set of Fireball's 1/32 decals for my Monogram BT. They are EXCELLENT quality. And since he does ALPS prints (assuming he can still do that) he should have the ability to scale down to 1/72 scale. He may also offer them for the 1/48 Aoshima kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul - Brazil Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Hi! You can find a good Blue Thunder paper model here: http://www.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura/gallery...ails.php?id=616 I hope it helps you. Best! Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted March 6, 2012 Author Share Posted March 6, 2012 Hi!You can find a good Blue Thunder paper model here: http://www.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura/gallery...ails.php?id=616 I hope it helps you. Best! Paul. Thanks for link Paul - that's helpful, especially for some of the shapes around the nose. Thanks also to Smiffy for some great refs which I'll put to good use. So here's what you get in this kit... Looking at some side profiles, it's clear that I need to take away the cockpit to just above the skids... I've left the front canopy frame for the time being to help with alignment (sounds plausible!) Some of Smiffy's refs also show the cockpit interior so coupled with some pics of the 1/48 kit, the back seat area for JAFO needs some work. Out with the seat backs and cushions.. And in with the beginnings of the crew consoles. Still need to box these in fully. Thanks for reading and for your good luck messages (which I'll need!) All the best, Dermot 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonb13 Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Well, that's an excellent start, nice one Dermot! J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moofles Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 That's really looking ace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troffa Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Best of luck with that one, great idea for a conversion! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul - Brazil Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 It's really a great start! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Nice start on the cockpit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 Just a quick update here. Added some "insulation" to the cockpit behind JAFO and boxed in the consoles. Smiffy's reference pics show some feck-off big monitors back there (state of the art in 1983 I guess) but I've gone for slightly smaller sized ones. (Or what i could make last night) Also extended Murphy's instrument panel on each side.. Can't help but thinking this is the calm before the storm of trying to frame that cockpit! Thanks for reading. Dermot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMChladek Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Well, so far it is a good start IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 some feck-off big monitors back there (state of the art in 1983 I guess) Texas Instruments, prob'ly. Nice work. I must admit, I don't envy you when it comes to the exterior. The sides of the cockpit shouldn't be too bad, but when it all tapers down into the nose area... Are you doing it closed up, or will you have the canopy open?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul - Brazil Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 198something?... Maybe some "Dismac" calculators... Were they usual on Europe? 'till now, the build it's looking great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 This should be good! Blue Thunder is a proper TV helicopter, forget Airwolf, Blue Thunder ruled in my house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philp Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Always liked this one and would love to see it in 72nd scale so will be watching. Not sure if you have seen this yet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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