Bell 212 - Army Air Corps - 1/72 Italeri Twin Huey

[Pat C]

Been a while since I posted anything so here goes another eggbeater for the collection!

 

huey5 by pat cauthery, on Flickr

 

huey1 

 

This is the Italeri UH-1N Twin Huey kit as an Army Air Corps Bell 212 operating in Belize. 

 

huey9 

 

The kit is pretty much OOB although I did blank off some of the intakes in the top decking which otherwise would have been see-through, plus the aerial suite was added from bits of scrap plastic. Each of the AACs Bell 212s seem to have slightly different aerial fits and these also look to change over time so best to find a good picture (of which there are lots online) to check against. This is a massive tail sitter and the glazing prevents the front being loaded with weight. Mine has a plastic "crate" in the cabin which is filled with steel shot and you can get some weight under the cabin floor. 

huey6 

 

Paints were Hataka BS Olive Green over Xtracrylix Medium Sea Grey. The upper decking was Humbrol 209 Fluro Fire Orange over white primer. Decals were from the spares box with the yellow dashes around the windows being individually applied. In fact they should be dots rather than dashes but my sanity was tested enough putting the dashes on!!

 

Hope you like!!

Pat

 

huey4 by pat cauthery, on Flickr

 

[janneman36]

That is a neat looking whirley bird! Great job on the color scheme as well👍

I know it isn’t the best fitting kit around..

 

cheers, Jan

[stevej60]

Excellent build Pat,painting look's spot on,nice to see a British Huey.

[Mig88]

Superb job! It's awkward to see a Huey in british markings but it looks great! Well done!

 

Miguel

[Pat C]

17 hours ago, Mig88 said:

 It's awkward to see a Huey in british markings but it looks great!

 

I didn't realise until relatively recently that the Army used the Huey. I assume that they were cheaper to operate than having something like a Lynx in that role?

 

[phildagreek]

Nice!

[F-32]

Love it, very cool

[fids]

Nice job, like that a lot

[Vultures1]

Very nice work on that Twin Huey.  Looks good in the British Army colours.

 

I think the British Army Bell 212s are COMR (Civil Owned Military Operated) and were purchased specifically for the role in Belize and Brunei.

[tonyot]

Lovely job,..... I do like these AAC Bell`s,........ I`ve seen one at Middle Wallop and I think they operate in Brunei too. 

 

Cheers

          Tony

[speedy]

I’m doing the Italeri 1/48 at the mo for somebody’s leaving do. I work at MW and used to work on these, so I have the luxury of popping in the Hangar and looking. Yours is great and I’m at the painting stage so will source these colours. As far as the aerial fit they are at different mod states so pic a picture and model that.

 

Steve.

[Pat C]

4 hours ago, speedy said:

I’m doing the Italeri 1/48 at the mo for somebody’s leaving do. I work at MW and used to work on these, so I have the luxury of popping in the Hangar and looking. Yours is great and I’m at the painting stage so will source these colours. As far as the aerial fit they are at different mod states so pic a picture and model that. 

 

Steve.

thanks Steve - you would probably have worked on this very aircraft then! I think Hataka is the only source of the Olive Green used on things like the Lynx and the 212 in acrylic. I had seen mixed reviews but I found the Hataka behaved very nicely although as a water-based acrylic it does need to be handled carefully afterwards (same as Xtracrylix). Hataka also the only source of acrylics for RN helos - Olive Drab and RAF Blue/ Grey I believe.

Pat

 

 

[glatisant]

That's a good 'un. Super finish.

[speedy]

2 hours ago, Pat C said:

thanks Steve - you would probably have worked on this very aircraft then! I think Hataka is the only source of the Olive Green used on things like the Lynx and the 212 in acrylic. I had seen mixed reviews but I found the Hataka behaved very nicely although as a water-based acrylic it does need to be handled carefully afterwards (same as Xtracrylix). Hataka also the only source of acrylics for RN helos - Olive Drab and RAF Blue/ Grey I believe.

Pat

 

 

I’m thinking of going the RAF Msg Xtracrylix & Tamiya XF58. I have to work to a budget and £16 for 2 paints may not go down too well when the kit was only £20!.

 

Yes I have worked on them all. They come back to MW for their D check which takes about 11 months depending on what’s found and spares availability.

 

Steve.

[Pat C]

11 minutes ago, speedy said:

I’m thinking of going the RAF Msg Xtracrylix & Tamiya XF58. I have to work to a budget and £16 for 2 paints may not go down too well when the kit was only £20!.

 

Yes I have worked on them all. They come back to MW for their D check which takes about 11 months depending on what’s found and spares availability.

 

Steve.

 

My Wessex in overall XF-58. The RN Olive is a different shade to the Army Olive Green I think, but probably close enough for Government work 😉 

[speedy]

3 hours ago, Pat C said:

 

My Wessex in overall XF-58. The RN Olive is a different shade to the Army Olive Green I think, but probably close enough for Government work 😉 

Thanks for that and noted. I have now found a retailer that will sell a single paint. I’ve sprayed it MSG tonight and the upper surface of the blades are now white. So they’re residing in the airing cupboard as it’s damp as hell here.

 

Steve.

[Head in the clouds.]

I do like the 212 in AAC colours. Nice build Pat.

[Orion]

Hello Pat,

Impressive model. The color scheme has a lot to do with this.

Sharp in construction and finish. Regards, Orion