Dermo245 Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 (edited) Hi all, So with the F-16I Sufa almost done, it's on to the next build and one I've wanted to do for a while using this wee kit... And hopefully turn it into an EC-135 of the Garda Siochana (Irish Police Force) Air Support Unit (Photo by Jerry Gunner; Wikipedia Commons. No copyright claim intended) Some of the police bits will need to be scratched while others (including the high skids) come in a spare sprue that's included in this kit. Decals will be from Max Decals. Thanks for looking. Cheers, Dermot Edited April 22, 2017 by Dermo245 Photo wouldn't upload first time. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossofiron1971 Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 Nice Project! Good luck! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dude_gan_ainm Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 Nice subject,best of luck Dermot. Jimbob. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 And we're off with this one! Started by testing some nose weight in the instrument panel and drilling holes for the seats. I added some plasticard "screens" and "keyboard" for the rear observer (squint and you can imagine them) I also cut out the Port side canopy door. . A bit of paint and looks ok for the tiny scale. Added the cockpit decals and there's about 1.5 weight hidden in the instrument panel. Some more will go under the cabin floor. Need to go back and repaint the front belts as they should be grey, not black. Doh! Thanks for looking. Dermot 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Monday Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 I had a close-up look at the Garda 135s and only the pilot's side has the collective, cyclic and tail rotor pedals fitted. Good luck with this build. BM. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Nice start on a very interesting subject! Martian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 11 hours ago, Blue Monday said: I had a close-up look at the Garda 135s and only the pilot's side has the collective, cyclic and tail rotor pedals fitted. Good luck with this build. BM. Hi BM, Thanks for the info and out with the X-acto knife so. I found it hard to find close-up photos of this one so if you had any you could share would be appreciated Cheers, Dermot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bell209 Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 On 21/02/2017 at 8:01 AM, Blue Monday said: I had a close-up look at the Garda 135s and only the pilot's side has the collective, cyclic and tail rotor pedals fitted. Good luck with this build. BM. They're removable - blanking plates cover the stick stubs and the pedals are installed with quick-release pins. Most operators who operate single pilot take them out when a non-pilot is in the co-pilot's seat. Either configuration would be accurate. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted February 27, 2017 Author Share Posted February 27, 2017 Thanks for all the comments which are very helpful. I'm going with the best photo refs I could find online... I've added some weights under the nose to help with the stance and also added a comms cable of some sort to the rear ceiling. I know, not 100% accurate but takes the plain look off it. I also removed the front controls/pedals from the left side. I know the rear observer seat is a bit too far forward...I can live with it and my fault when I drilled the hole for the seat mounting. Buttoned up with the tail added. Still some filling and sanding to go.. Cheers, Dermot 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted March 3, 2017 Author Share Posted March 3, 2017 So a bit more done on this. Started last night on the tech pod that's underneath the a/c using paper card as a template and then tracing on plastic card. Measurements were Mk.1 eyeball using reference photos online. The small squares are stiffeners to keep it rigid and I'll cover it with more plastic card. Looks ok for starters!.. Cheers, Dermot 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaffajake Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 The scratched tech pod looks good underneath. Nice tidy work so far 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted March 10, 2017 Author Share Posted March 10, 2017 So a little more done on this. Finished the 'pod' for under the fuselage and added some weight to the front section to help ensure I don't have a tail sitter. The dividers are there for structural strength. And then the long skids glued in place and the pod glued on top of those. I also added some card and a piece of sprue as a spacer so that the FLIR turret sits level. And will fill the gaps around the pod of course! I'm happy with how it stands though the pod is possibly a little too deep compared with the real thing. But I was working off photos and Mk1 eyeball so happy with the result. Thanks for looking. Dermot 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaffajake Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 Looking good all buttoned up! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Arnold Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 Hi Dermot What 72nd Revell EC135 kit did you get the extended landing gear from as every one(I've got 5 of them) in my stash seems to have the short skids as I would like to make the west midlands police EC135 hoping you can help all I need is the Revell box number. thanks in advance. Geoff Arnold 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted March 14, 2017 Author Share Posted March 14, 2017 (edited) 20 hours ago, Geoff Arnold said: Hi Dermot What 72nd Revell EC135 kit did you get the extended landing gear from as every one(I've got 5 of them) in my stash seems to have the short skids as I would like to make the west midlands police EC135 hoping you can help all I need is the Revell box number. thanks in advance. Geoff Arnold Thanks Geoff. The extended landing gear (and camera/searchlight/speakers) is on a sprue marked "EC-135 Accessories" that comes with this kit. And here's mine almost ready for a coat of primer.. Cheers, Dermot Edited March 14, 2017 by Dermo245 Grammar! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted March 19, 2017 Author Share Posted March 19, 2017 So a couple of coats of white later, here's where we're at. For the Blue, the colour of the real a/c looks different depending on the light and conditions and I couldn't find a reference for it. So I tried out some blues that I already had and another two that I bought...results below.. From looking at photos, I think #51 on the left is the nearest match..it's Revell's Ultramarine Blue 36151. (For what it's worth, the other colours L to R are Revell Gloss Blue 52; Night Blue 54 and Matt Blue 56) With the door open, I also added a helmet in the back which was donated by a pilot in the spares box. God, that Macro really shows up all the flaws! Thanks for looking. Dermot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted March 31, 2017 Author Share Posted March 31, 2017 So got started with paint on this one and really happy with the colour. Two coats, brushed with hairy stick. A little mask creep here and there but nothing that can't be tidied up. Then started on the decals...these seemed to be going well at first, thin backing, solid colours. But then, trouble. First up, i hadn't masked exactly correctly for the blue to match the curve of the fuselage decal so that will need to be filled in.. Then the tailboom decal refused to meet the fuselage one and when I tried to get it to conform to the fuselage....snap, crackle, pop. Shattered into multiple pieces. While the decals were bought 2nd hand, they were totally unused and sealed in a ziploc bag. Not a happy camper. Unfortunately, there aren't spares on the sheet. So plan B was to repaint the yellow sections and match in the blue cheat line somehow. As this is a police chopper, the yellow has a particular flourescent hue to it, if you know what i mean. Without a readily available paint match, then it's on to plan C! These a/c have now gone to a plain blue and white scheme so I'll work to matching that. Getting there.... Thanks for dropping in! Dermot 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaffajake Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Bummer about the decals not matching up but hopefully you'll work some magic to get it all sorted! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 I am not sure how I managed to miss this build. A lovely little project! Martian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uilleann Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 Looking the part! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted April 21, 2017 Author Share Posted April 21, 2017 (edited) Thanks everyone and got some more work done on the 135. To go with the new scheme, I extended the blue upwards on the tailboom - this was done on the real a/c when the dayglo yellow faded. I wasn't happy with how the kit windows looked so I took them all out and replaced with acetate instead, leaving the windscreen and lower nose windows in place. I used the kit parts as templates for cutting the acetate. Not bad for a first time trying it but a lot of fettling to make them fit. Not sure I'd do that again! Got the decals finished which aren't many, just the aircraft number (256), national flag and police force name and badges. I also used the window frame decals from the kit. For the thin blue cheat line, I was going to use decals cut to fit and so got on the hunt for blue decal strips. I then remembered I'd used a very fine tip permanent marker on my Pride of Boelcke Tornado and had been really happy with the result...and the control using the pen. So, I got a permanent blue marker that was as near a match to the blue on the chopper. After some time spent masking, a deep breath and got drawing! This is probably modelling heresy and while there were some areas needing attention, I was happy with how it looks. I went light with a wash as these a/c are usually clean so just kept it local.. And cleaned up. I've also added many of the lumps and bumps from card, sprue and some of the kit parts. Home stretch now! As always, thanks for looking. Dermot Edited April 21, 2017 by Dermo245 Photo wouldn't upload first time. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaffajake Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 That's looking very tidy, Dermot. Certainly looks good after the wash. Jake 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted April 22, 2017 Author Share Posted April 22, 2017 Thanks very much lads. She's finished and while she has some little issues here and there, I'm happy how it turned out. Good from the '6-feet-away' rule! Will post some more pics in RFI. Thanks for all your comments and until the next one, enjoy your modelling! Dermot 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ÉireGoBrách1922 Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 (edited) On 3/31/2017 at 2:09 PM, Dermo245 said: So got started with paint on this one and really happy with the colour. Two coats, brushed with hairy stick. A little mask creep here and there but nothing that can't be tidied up. Then started on the decals...these seemed to be going well at first, thin backing, solid colours. But then, trouble. First up, i hadn't masked exactly correctly for the blue to match the curve of the fuselage decal so that will need to be filled in.. Then the tailboom decal refused to meet the fuselage one and when I tried to get it to conform to the fuselage....snap, crackle, pop. Shattered into multiple pieces. While the decals were bought 2nd hand, they were totally unused and sealed in a ziploc bag. Not a happy camper. Unfortunately, there aren't spares on the sheet. So plan B was to repaint the yellow sections and match in the blue cheat line somehow. As this is a police chopper, the yellow has a particular flourescent hue to it, if you know what i mean. Without a readily available paint match, then it's on to plan C! These a/c have now gone to a plain blue and white scheme so I'll work to matching that. Getting there.... Thanks for dropping in! Dermot Actually the yellow reflective stripe decals on both EC (Eurocopter) 135 T2 helicopters and on the BN (Britten-Norman) 2T-4S Defender 4000 fixed wing aircraft had faded overtime and what was left was eventually just peeled off. You will see this from many photographs from 2008 (introduced into active operational service) to 2016. They were meant to be redone late 2016 or in early 2017, but it was decided to leave them as they are, white with blue trim. Nicer to see it in it's original colours as intended. Great work done by the way. Edited April 22, 2017 by ÉireGoBrách1922 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dude_gan_ainm Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 Very nicely done Dermot.Tis a tricky kit in parts & pity the yellow decals acted up on you.One to be proud of there boy. Jimbob... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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