1/72 Airfix "Classic" Sea King - FINISHED

[AdrianMF]

Hello All,

I started the Airfix classic Sea King over the Easter weekend. I'm hoping to build it as "Old 66", the helicopter that recovered the Apollo 11 capsule. Ultimately I'd like to do a diorama, but I will settle for finishing the helicopter before the GB ends!

First, the kit. There are actually two boxings - 66 has a frogman and a net, and some extra decals for "66" as well as for the original "63":

Sprue shot:

The decals are well past their sell-by date, so I bought some after market ones from Hannants. These are for the Apollo 13 recovery but it's possible to get a "close enough" Apollo 11 version from them with some judicious trimming (apparently the Apollo 8-11 decals are available again now but this is what I bought):

The fit of the parts was excellent when the moulds were new:

The pilots are the standard post-war Airfix pilots, with rather unhelpfully crossed legs. The plastic is just about soft enough to cut the limbs apart and bend them into a more useful pose:

I've detailed the kit seats, made a more accurate instrument panel and added pedals:

Pilot #1 in place. Apparently in a helicopter the left-hand seat is for the co-pilot. Didn't know that! I found it easier to glue the control sticks to the figure, not the floor, so I can paint it all as a cohesive unit rather than having to fiddle with the hand fit later on.

As the hatch will be open, I need some interior detail. First I put in a ceiling below the motor section, made from curved plastic card:

Then some detail (some taken from photos, some made up) inside:

The folding seats were made from plastic rod, stretched sprue and wine bottle foil:

And painted:

I thought I'd have pilot #2 looking over his shoulder to see how the recovery was going, so this guy got some serious surgery:

He was given a uniform made from acrylic putty, and I had to add a new nose because there wasn't one on the figure (although the other, nearly identical, pilot was fine). Anyway, I painted them both up:

And we have got to here:

I need to detail the instrument panel and centre console, then I can think about installing everything and closing it up.

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

Edited June 5, 2016 by AdrianMF

[Learstang]

Already looking nice, Adrian! I'm old enough to remember these recoveries when they happened. The Space Race - exciting times!

Regards,

Jason

[modelling minion]

A very nice start indeed Adrian, I look forward to seeing what you can do with this classic kit.

The fit of the parts looks miles away from the more recent re-issues, should go together quite nicely.

Craig.

[HOUSTON]

Adrian,

Neat and great start..

Keep it coming.

[Pappy]

G'day Adrian,

Great start and mad skillz on display here. It is great to see the 'classic' kit given some love and the work with the figure has really paid off, and all in the 'gentleman's scale' too,

cheers,

Pappy

[CliffB]

I'm very impressed Adrian - you've done a fantastic job on lifting this old kit to another level, using only basic materials.

I love the face painting too!

Cliff

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Nice work Adrian

I have one of these lurking in the stash, will be keeping an eye on this one and maybe give mine a go soon. I Like what you have done with the figures and detail work in the cabin

[stevej60]

Great to see this kit getting the treatment Adrian,those molds do look good,will follow with interest,great start too!

[AdrianMF]

Thanks all!

I had a shot at detailing the instrument panel. The dials are drawn with a fine marker pen and the white bits are simply scratched back to the plastic with a needle. I did consider a drilled sheet overlaying the panel, or a printed photo of a panel but this was quick and easy. Given the viewing angles in the cockpit and the quality of the canopy it will be good enough. I am going to strip down and re-do the centre console though.

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

[825]

Great work. I was going to just say I love the pilots but the IP is great as well. I have a starter kit RAF version which I was going to mothball in place of the new version. But you show what can be done. Look forward to the rest of this.

[AdrianMF]

Thanks! I think it's worth remembering that this mould is nearly 50 years old, and the later mouldings from it were very ill-fitting. So mothballing the starter kit and buying the new one is a very sound idea.

Regards,

Adrian

[John_W]

I seem to recall my brother building one of these in the 70's, and having the sonobouy extend and retract by turning the rotors.

[Planebuilder62]

Good going Adrian

Don't forget to add the Yagi antennae to the sponson struts and the 2 movie camras fitted aft of the sliding door. I have the details if you want.

Regards

Toby

[Tomoshenko]

Great workmanship. I remember building this kit myself back in the 70s. Good to see it given a makeover. Detailing looks superb.

[AdrianMF]

I seem to recall my brother building one of these in the 70's, and having the sonobouy extend and retract by turning the rotors.

Yep - this kit has that feature. There is a spool to be stuck below the rotor to wind up the thread and a horizontal tube to drape the thread over. Sadly I won't be using it this time!

Good going Adrian

Don't forget to add the Yagi antennae to the sponson struts and the 2 movie camras fitted aft of the sliding door. I have the details if you want.

Regards

Toby

Thanks for the offer Toby. The instruction sheet for the aftermarket decals cover these, so I think I'm all set.

Regards,

Adrian

[moaning dolphin]

This kit is really a bit long in the tooth now especially with Revell and the new Airfix offerings, but having said that nice to see a lot of effort going into this build, it is looking very nice!

Bob

[AdrianMF]

Hello All,

Had another go at the central console. Happy enough now:

It looks rather scary in close up (looks fine when you are working on it with no magnifier!), but now I've fitted the pilots, I am really wondering how much I will be able to see:

As you can see, I've made another hand for the R.H. pilot so he is now holding the instrument panel as he turns round. I still need to add belts - I can get a belt around the L.H. pilot with no problems but I think I will have to show the other guy out of his harness. And the foot well windows are in - they have come out very clear with a dose of Future.

I had a go at painting the tinted canopy roof. I used tube acrylic diluted with Future. It is a bit blotchy, but it is (a) transparent green and ( you can't really tell how blotchy it is when it's on. I will sleep on it before deciding whether to give it another coat:

At this point I'm kinda glad I don't spend a king's ransom on painted PE to detail the cockpit...

That's it for today. An early start for the Shropshire Show at Cosford tomorrow - my daughter talked me into it because she wants a road trip! If you see a tall man with an even taller teenager, that will be me!

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

[06/24]

Coming on really nicely, the figures are superb and truly belie their humble origins.

[Pappy]

Simple techniques = advanced results

Magic stuff, keep the pics coming,

cheers,

Pappy

[Dermo245]

This is excellent stuff Adrian - the interior, pilots....love it.

Must bookmark this thread for future reference!

Dermot

[heloman1]

Looking good Adrian, the kit really is showing it's age now, good luck with it.

Colin

[SoftScience]

I am floored by the figures. You're an incredibly talented painter.

The interior looks great too.

I remember building this kit when I was about 12. The day I finished the build was a smorheringly humid August day in Chicago. We had finally gotten an airconditioner that year; a window unit installed in the dining room. I took my sea King with its freshly painted wheels and sat it on the dining table to admire my work and sit in the chill breeze of the AC. We had a spectacular thunderstorm later that day.

Its funny how a model can evoke such deep rooted memories of the way things felt 25 years ago.

Thanks for sharing your build. This is a nice trip down memory lane for me

[Martian]

The figures are really something and that's from one who almost never adds pilots to his models.

Martin

[TimV1969]

Excellent work, especially the crew figures. Am bookmarking this thread so I can find it when I get round to refurbishing/rebuilding a 40-year-old model of it that I have...

Tim

[HOUSTON]

Adrian .

OUTSTANDING workmanship..