Airfix 1/72 gazelle *FINISHED!*

[milktrip]

Hi folks

Long time lurker first WIP poster on this forum.

Apologies if this first post is a bit picture hungry and further apologies for the quality of my pictures (some are a bit blurry).

Anyway; I've given myself a project in which I intend to recreate aircraft my dad has worked on over his years as a helicopter engineer. I'm hoping, once they are all complete, I can present them to him as a retirement gift.

The first aircraft I'm working on, as the title suggests, is a gazelle. He worked on these in middle wallop and in Celle around the 1970s during his time in the REMEs (73 workshop),

Below are a collection of in progress pics (which appear on another forum) followed by the current state of the build.

You might be able to guess by the above that I'll be finishing the kit 'doors open' and will be scratch building new ones. I'll also attempt to scratch the engine and associated components with the covers in the open position too.

Above are some of the details added the the interior. I made new bulkheads, although the one in this pic was too small so I have since made a new one.

Seat cushions made from milliput.

The new bulkhead I mentioned, with the cushions in place.

And the photos below show her in the current state.

Above was a dry fitting of the rear harnesses. I'm using Eduards pre painted set for the 1/72 HAS. 2 S.A. If you're wondering why one cushion is blue: well, I found a reference shot where one cushion was different. I kinda liked the idea and thought it would bring some character to the finished kit. I'm hoping that it doesn't end up looking like I picked up the wrong paint pot!!??

I've started scratch building details for the roof. Still need to make the air brake, throttle etc and then curl up some copper wire for the radio cables.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by.

Comments, critiques, tips and advice all welcome

Oh, and any references on uk military gazelles based in Celle Germany around the 1970s (registration numbers, colours etc) would be greatly appreciated I hope you can understand that I'm wanting to keep this project under the radar from my dad, so I can't really ask him...

Thanks and regards

Aaron

Edited April 13, 2014 by milktrip

[Martian]

_{Impressive stuff so far!}

_Martin

[Natter]

Holy cripes. The Airfix Gazelle is tiny, that (excellent) scratchbuilding must be testing your eyesight and patience. I'll be watching this one with interest.

[Jason]

Fantastic work there

[MASU]

Stunning detailing!!!

[Work In Progress]

I can't be of any great help as I don't know very much about helicopters, but I am very much enjoying seeing you make something a bit special out of this one. I built this kit when it first came out and have always liked it, and the Gazelle is by far my favourite rotary-wing type (only flown in one a couple of times, alas).

[SimonR]

Great work, incredible detail on something so tiny!

cheers

Simon

[sticky847]

removal of the 'blue' cushion allowed access to the luggage comp below the fuel tank, add removal of the co-pilots seat and controls( a 2 min job) and a stretcher would fit in the gap created for medevac.

[snapper_city]

Looking good from here. The detailing is really nice.

Would have been a good entrant to the Helicopter group build currently running on here. Cough cough.

Welcome to BM & thanks for sharing your work.

[HAMP man]

That is qualitaay, great build, not a huge fan of egg beaters but this may just turn the tide!

Cheers

Strickers

[heloman1]

Impressive work, the Gazelle was one of Airfix's better helo kits of the day. Thanks for sharing your pics.

Colin

[John_W]

I remember it needing nose weight though.

[rotorheadtx]

I remember it needing a LOT of nose-weight. With all that lovely detail up front, I hope you've come up with a way of filling the tail with helium!!

Truly great work in the cockpit; you must have been a watchmaker in a previous life!

[crobinsonh]

Now this look like something special!

[milktrip]

Thanks everyone for the kind comments.

Cheers for the info sticky; makes sense about removing the seat and fitting a stretcher.

Regards the chopper GB. I've been eyeing up that group build and some great work and subjects going on. Bit late for me to enter, plus I'd probably feel I have to rush the build a bit and my work schedule wouldn't help matters at the moment.

Oh and the nose weight. She is an infamous tailsitter this one and I've taken that into consideration. I'm hoping that the additional details such as the milliput add that little bit of weight. I'm ordering up some fishing weights for this project and going to try and squeeze the weights in any space I can!!! With the doors being open, my thoughts are that the centre of gravity might move forward slightly and with some additional weight in the belly and around the engine (scratch built bit) will help her sit right... He says...

Just for your info guys, this is the 'working' list of the choppers I intend to build for my Dads retirement project. It will no doubt take a great deal of time so I'm starting early

Saro skeeter: probably not going to happen as the Aeroclub kit appears to be the only one in existence and seems impossible to get hold of (out of production i believe). Seen one go on eBay for a rather high price :'(

Gazelle: currently in progress.

Westland scout: got the kit (airfix) and the airwaves etched parts kit. This will need bubble doors. Does an after market kit exist for the bubble doors? If not then I'll have to think of something :think:

Bell 47: got the kit half built. But I've since discovered that there is a etched after market kit which I may have to purchase.

S.A. 330j puma in a Oman Royal flight scheme. Got the airfix kit and there's a good thread, on here I think, with a lad that built a South African oryx. Also got some photos of the Omani aircraft for reference.

as332L1 super puma (either Oman royal flight or Bond helicopters scheme). Got a heller kit I can use and Eduards etched set.

as332L2 super puma in a bond helicopters scheme. Got a heller kit I can use and Eduards etched set.

Another as332L2 but in the bond helicopters operated jigsaw project SAR scheme. Here's a link to a PDF PowerPoint with info on the jigsaw project if you are interested.

http://www.helicopter.su/assets/files/biznes/rabota_komitetov_avi/3_EC-Jigsaw%20SAR%20Helicopter%20Operations_HR-2011_Mickael%20Melaye.pdf

Slide number 12, region 1, North Everest is where I work

Next on the list is S61N in Irish coastguard markings. The chopper I intend to recreate was upgraded at bond Aberdeen in the mid to late 90s. Can't recall the exact years but I've got a load of pics that my mum managed to secure for me I've have the whirlybirds upgrade kit for the S61N; I just need to order a kit to work with.

Wow, it seems rather a lot when I write this down... There are a couple of other possibilities such as a dauphin and S76 but I'm not certain that my dad worked on these or not. Think I've got enough to keep me going for now and the next few years

Oh dear, I seemed to have rattled on for ages. Sorry about that.

Cheers and thanks for looking folks.

Enjoy the remainder of your weekend.

Aaron

[Sten Ekedahl]

I started building this kit many, many years ago - and stalled. But one thing I did succeed with was adding enough weight to prevent a tail sitter! I used a lead paste bought in a fishing tackle shop. It's like a modelling clay with a very high lead content. I filled every available nook and cranny beneath the cabin floor with this stuff, and lo and behold, the tail didn't drop!

Edited July 7, 2013 by Sten Ekedahl

[snapper_city]

Or something like THIS as it's thin and in strips. Perfect for going under floors.

[Fritag]

Stunning detailing!!!

Ditto. Great work Aaron. Definitely one to watch.

Steve

Edited July 7, 2013 by Fritag

[Jockster]

^{Your pics are just fine Aaron and sharper than ones I post, nice build and it seems a lot of us like building for our fathers, ( their fault for buying us our first models I guess) there is also lead wire and tape available from fishing tackle shops and armour modellers suppliers which can also help with the nose weight but Stens lead paste sounds like a great product. Good luck with the entire airwing your building. Jockster.}

[Acky190]

Coming on nicely, even at this early stage you can tell by your attention to detail that this will turn out to be a cracking little build when finished!

[MASU]

Rather than adding weight to a very small area, use a good base and then glue the skids too the base. Did this with a previous build and it works a treat.

[Nigel Heath]

Incredible detailing work here. I have two of these in the stash (well one's the Heller boxing) so watching with much interest.

[milktrip]

Hi folks,

Thanks for the kind words and all the information / ideas for adding weight.

The liquid lead does sound really good, but I've ordered some tungsten heavy metal putty from an online angling shop. If this doesn't do the job then I may stick the skids down to a base.

Update on the gazelle.

The main rotor lacks detail and the point where the blades attach to the rotor head doesn't look right. I've stuck some chopped up plasticard to the kit rotor with the intention to sand it down an file a gap inbetween the plasticard and kit plastic (if that makes sense?!)

Was going to post a pic of the main rotor but wasn't sure about copyright rules on the forum.

However, here's a couple of pics of what I've done to the rotor...

The above has since been sanded and I'll eventually cut / file a slit down the seam and insert the rotor blades in this.

As for the interior:

The roof panel is completed. The airbrake / throttle were from a spare eduard super puma etched set (chopped down to size).

The little dangly thing with the orange bit at the end (you can probably guess I'm not helicopter savvy - but at a guess I'd say its a locking pin for the throttle or air brake that's removed prior to flight?) - anyway, I made this from a bit of copper wire and a small square cut from aluminium tape. It should be dayglo orange, but I don't have any paint for that. Maybe in the future I'll dab a bit of dayglo on it.

The cables are made from copper wire wrapped around a pin (to create a spring) then pulled apart and rolled between my fingers to create a narrower spring. If I left as was, after wrapping around a pin, they would look far too big. Personally, I think I could do better with the cables but my eyes hurt and didn't want to go through all that again. Don't get me wrong, I'm still happy with this result.

I've also added a strip of plasticard to the inside of the front canopy. The compass(?) was made from a discarded bit of milliput sausage that I cut and sanded into a sort of ball shape. The other bits where from the same eduard super puma etched set used above.

Below are a collection of dry fit photos of the gazelle. Outstanding on the interior are the rear harnesses and sticking the seats to the floor. Thinking about this, not sure if I should leave the seats until the fuselage halves are stuck together? Will see...

Thanks for stopping by.

Tips, comments and critique all welcome.

Regards

Aaron

Edited July 9, 2013 by milktrip

[HL-10]

Incredible work, especially in that scale!

Great modelling.

[milktrip]

Thank you