Fujimi CH-46D Sea Knight 'USMC Vietnam'

[Smudge]

A bit of a late start I'm afraid, so can't promise this will make the finish deadline (nothing new there then).

 

Had this box for a while and been keen on doing it. When I saw there was a STGB for the 'Frog' (should that be Phrog?) I knew I had to be in it. Here we go..............

 

 

 

 

 

She'll be finished as a USMC Vietnam war era Phrog, in Field Green with white letters and numbers etc. courtesy of Microscale,

 

 

Cheers.

[modelling minion]

Welcome aboard Smuge and really glad that you have been able to find your kit.

Very nice choice of scheme and decals as the CH-46 was almost as ubiquitous in Vietnam as the Huey was, and I do like the eyes on the nose!

[Smudge]

So, one of the first things I need to do is make sure I'm doing the right Mark. This is obviously the E/F box, but I need to make a D version. Looking at the sprues and the kit instructions, I think I am good to go, as the right engine exhausts are included.

 

Is there anything else I should be aware of?

 

Any help/advice appreciated before I make a foopar. 

[Smudge]

Thanks for the welcome @modelling minion

 

Glad to be aboard.

[modelling minion]

As far as I know the exhausts are the main difference and as you say you have the correct ones in the kit, you might want to look at the intake covers as they might be different but I can't think of anything else.

And we are glad to have you join in.

[Smudge]

2 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

As far as I know the exhausts are the main difference and as you say you have the correct ones in the kit, you might want to look at the intake covers as they might be different

Thanks, that's a good point.

 

Nice to have some help, I'm not really fully 'up' on the Sea Knight and my references are a bit thin. 

[modelling minion]

Me too, and I'm running the GB!!

[Nigel Heath]

I can provide plenty of reference material if required but a simple Google search of walkarounds should provide most of the information you require. (But not all as I have found). Good to have you on board, you are of course a bit late but my build is quite on the slow side so plenty of time to catch up. I do like the look of those Microscale decals and am looking forward to seeing them applied. My experience with them is good.

[wimbledon99]

Hi Smudge, looks like you already have a lot of support here. To add to that, I’m doing the same build (right down to the white lettering) but in 1/48. If you need any pictures from the instructions for reference, just let me know. Cheers. Nigel 

[Whirly]

Hi Smudge,

 

time available is subjective: depends on your penchant for super detailing and speed of build 😉

That Microscale sheet is really one of the very early ones, should make a fine model. The other subjects are also interesting, didn't know there were Jolly Green Giants in overall Engine Grey.

[Smudge]

18 hours ago, Nigel Heath said:

I can provide plenty of reference material if required .............

Ah, now you've put your foot in it Nigel 

 

Vietnam era Phrogs seem to have a red panel where the lights(?) are located in the nose of later helo's. Is there a light in this panel, or would a painted red square suffice? Is it just a protective cover of some sort?

 

This is the best picture showing the 'panel' I could find

 

 

 

 

What is that paneling on the right hand side between the pilots side window and the front cabin door, Armour plating? and why there? 

 

Cheers.

[modelling minion]

Can't help with the red panel I'm afraid but the panels between the window an the door are definitely armour plating and are positioned to protect the pilot from any nasty pointy metallic objects that want to enter the cockpit from the small part of the cockpit section that isn't glazed and therefore particularly easy to penetrate.

[Smudge]

13 hours ago, wimbledon99 said:

........I’m doing the same build (right down to the white lettering) but in 1/48. If you need any pictures from the instructions for reference, just let me know. Cheers. Nigel 

Thanks, I think I will certainly be using your build for reference  That's a pretty comprehensive set of stencils on the decal sheet.

[Smudge]

2 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

........the panels between the window an the door are definitely armour plating and are positioned to protect the pilot from any nasty pointy metallic objects that want to enter the cockpit from the small part of the cockpit section that isn't glazed and therefore particularly easy to penetrate.

I kind of thought as much, but it is unusual and not really seen on any other types, like Jolly Greens or Chinooks. Maybe they just have it on the inside. Plus it seems a bit random just to have it in that one small area. Still I guess if you were a pilot, you would be glad enough of it.

 

Thanks.

[Smudge]

On 02/04/2019 at 10:41, Whirly said:

time available is subjective: depends on your penchant for super detailing and speed of build 😉

That Microscale sheet is really one of the very early ones, should make a fine model. The other subjects are also interesting, didn't know there were Jolly Green Giants in overall Engine Grey.

Hi Whirly,

Yes, I know what you mean. I am going to try and keep it simple and not get too carried away with 'super detailing' The plan is to have the cabin doors closed, so that will solve the issue around lack of interior detail. Might try and do something with the rotor heads, as they don't seem to be overly complex on the real thing, but could do with a bit of detailing.

 

The decal sheet is a gem in terms of subjects. All different types which I'd be happy to do. I have an old Revell Jolly Green which is earmarked for this scheme 

[wimbledon99]

On 4/2/2019 at 9:31 PM, Smudge said:

 

 

Vietnam era Phrogs seem to have a red panel where the lights(?) are located in the nose of later helo's. Is there a light in this panel, or would a painted red square suffice? Is it just a protective cover of some sort?

 

 

 

The 1:48 kit has a decal for the red panel and it's appears to cover the 2 headlamps. Not sure the original purpose but paint would represent it quite well.

[Smudge]

Thanks, @wimbledon99 I think a small square of red decal will probably suffice. Certainly be easier than trying to fit two small lights in there.

 

Ok, so here we go. 

 

 

I was only going to do the cockpit, but...

 

I've noticed that a few of you Guys are fitting the rear of the tail pylon/fuselage to the main fuselage parts before they are joined together, rather than later after the two halves are joined (as per instructions!). After some dry fitting and fettling, I decided that that was probably a good idea. They are not the greatest fit, being quite a convoluted and many contoured shape. I found that when I had the top lined up nicely, the bottom was slightly out, and vice versa. Much easier to do this before the two halves are joined.

 

So that's a top GB tip, thank you.

 

[modelling minion]

Off to a good start, fitting the rear of the pylons first is definitely the way to go. Although these kits were state of the art when they were first released (over 30 years ago!) their fit is not as good as new tooled kits, not that they are bad kits just that technology has moved on since they were tooled.

[Smudge]

On 01/04/2019 at 21:18, modelling minion said:

 ...........you might want to look at the intake covers as they might be different but I can't think of anything else.

Yeah.....I have been thinking about this, and this might be a problem. Most of the Vietnam era Phrogs seem to have what I will call the 'short' intakes and unfortunately my kit only has the 'long' intakes. Like this

 

 

I'm still pretty keen on doing the option on the Microscale sheet, so I am toying with the idea of either cutting these kit parts back, or possibly scratch building a replacement part. They will be covered by the long fine mesh intake filters of the period, so I might be able to get away with them being slightly less than perfect.

 

Cheers.

[modelling minion]

I see what you mean about the intakes, I think your idea about cutting down the intakes should work, especially when you cover the ends with the mesh intake guards.

[Whirly]

 

On 4/8/2019 at 10:03 AM, modelling minion said:

Off to a good start, fitting the rear of the pylons first is definitely the way to go.

 

I confirm this approach is the way to go: I made some progress on my build but not posted images yet. I found the rear pilon halves already glued by the previous owner of my kit and had to fight hard to align the parts and then to fill the joint.

[Smudge]

Unfortunately I've not had a lot of time to spare lately, but here is a little update.

 

I've been working on opening up some of the intakes, which are just moulded detail on the kit. The rear pylon....

 

 

and the front.....

 

 

 

I don't have a file small enough to fit in the gap, and a little more cleaning up is required, but I'm fairly pleased with the result. I will just place some plastic card inside the pylons to prevent any 'see through'.

 

Edited May 8, 2019 by Smudge

[Smudge]

Next little job is to try and open out the engine exhausts. I used a little electric drill to grind out the moulded detail. Then used some plastic tube to represent the exhaust pipe.

 

 

I did consider cutting the whole lot out and replacing it with some brass tube, but the pipes seem to be a very close fit to the engine bay covers, so the kit representation seems quite accurate, it was just the lack of depth that was bothering me.

[modelling minion]

Very nice work Smudge.

The extra work you are putting in will certainly make a difference to the finished model and the extra depth on the exhausts looks very good.

I hope that you are able to get some more time to spend on your build as it will be great to have another USMC bird in the gallery.

[Smudge]

So, further to the discussion about the intakes of the D model, here are a couple of pictures comparing the kit parts of the E/F.

 

 

 

(I bought a CH-46D kit........)

 

I have decided against trying to scratch build a copy. I have been following a few builds on Britmodeller where the builder has moulded copies of parts from resin. This has intrigued me, so I thought I would give it a go and see if I could copy the D model intakes, and use them for this build. So here what I bought from everyone's favourite internet auction site.

 

 

There are no instructions, other than what is written on the labels. Hopefully by watching how others have done this, I might be able to pull it off 

 

Off to work now, but thanks for looking.

 

Cheers.