Heller E-3A Sentry AWACS 1/72

[Uncle Pete]

Nice job and, as others have pointed out, a bit on the bulky side.  I realise 1/72 makes modern airliners and heavy bombers a bit on the big side but to me 1/144 never conveys the feel of "beef', no matter how well it's built.  I'd get a 1/72 BUFF if the wife had a better sense of humour.

[stevej60]

What a stunning beast!

[hsr]

4 hours ago, Uncle Pete said:

Nice job and, as others have pointed out, a bit on the bulky side.  I realise 1/72 makes modern airliners and heavy bombers a bit on the big side but to me 1/144 never conveys the feel of "beef', no matter how well it's built.  I'd get a 1/72 BUFF if the wife had a better sense of humour.

I recently built a P-8

which is a modified 737-800. I always thought of a 737 as a small airliner, but that thing was huge too. 

[Meatbox8]

That looks great.  A very nice and smooth finish, especially considering the acres of plastic that needed covering.  Looks like a superb collection too. 

[Unfinished project]

That’s cracking, there’s something about big aircraft done as 1/72 kits 👏👏👏

Edited May 26, 2018 by Unfinished project
Mistype

[Davey2310]

Hello, i am new to Britmodeller, 

 

I recently bought Hellers re-boxing of the E-3B Awacs however it doesn't come with the sprue to build an E-3D does anyone know of anyone who may of built the USAF/NATO variant and therefore has this sprue spare? 

I have attached a photo of said sprue, i am willing to buy one if there is one out there, If someone could get back to me that would be great! 

 

Cheers.

[coporal steiner]

On 5/22/2018 at 9:44 AM, hsr said:

This is my Heller E-3A Sentry AKA AWACS. I started this back in the beginning of March, but after getting part way through I realized that I had not ordered accurate TF-33 engines, so I put it aside and ordered a set of David Parkin's Flightpath engines and worked on the Italeri F-21A kit while I waited for them to arrive. While I was waiting I also ordered the Contrail's antenna upgrade kit. After the upgrades arrived and I finished the F-21A,

I returned to this the beginning of this month and finally finished it. This is the first Heller kit I have worked on in a while and I would based on this I would rank then somewhere between Mach 2 and Italeri as far as fit and finish goes. The fuselage went together well, but there were major fit issues with the wings. It it wasn't that they were the only game in town I would not recommend the Contrail antenna upgrade which includes chin, cheek and tail antennas. The parts were very crude and the were not shaped to fit against the fuselage well and took a lot of work and filling to get them to blend in. I also think their shape is suspect. On the other hand the Flightpath engines were very good to excellent. My only complaint is that the rear of the forward fan part of the engines are molded solid while they should be open, something the Heller engines got right. I tried to simulate the openness by painting the area black. The shear size of this made construction difficult and I can't count the number of times I broke off the wing tip antennas, including while giving it a final finishing coat, but it is finished and on to the pictures.

 

 

Next up is the Italeri AC-119 Stinger.

 

Enjoy

 

I am about to purchase the Heller kit but now I am most intrigued by the ccolour you used for the B-1B next to it in the last image. What coloru paint did you use? Thanks for the inspiration!

[hsr]

7 minutes ago, coporal steiner said:

I am most intrigued by the ccolour you used for the B-1B next to it in the last image. What coloru paint did you use? Thanks for the inspiration!

I used Humbrol 125. It is supposed to be a good match to Gunship gray. It is an interesting color in that depending on how the light hits it, it can look anything from a gark gray to a blue-gray. I have one more Heller E-3 that I am going to convert to an E-8 with the Flightpath conversion set.

 

Thanks

Howard

 

[coporal steiner]

2 hours ago, hsr said:

I used Humbrol 125. It is supposed to be a good match to Gunship gray. It is an interesting color in that depending on how the light hits it, it can look anything from a gark gray to a blue-gray. I have one more Heller E-3 that I am going to convert to an E-8 with the Flightpath conversion set.

 

Thanks

Howard

 

Wow thanks for the quick response! I'm goiing to order a tin of that paint but I'll have to match it in either mr color or tamiya since I really only use lacquer based paint. Looking forward to seeing your new builds mate!

[hsr]

Good luck with it.

[Nikolay Polyakov]

Top notch build, congratulations! 👏