Dermo245 Posted August 6, 2019 Share Posted August 6, 2019 (edited) Hi all and am taking the plunge with this one, as displayed to the public about a month before my arrival in the summer of 1968! Heller Alouette III_Box by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr The Aircraft Alouette III's Nos 195 and 196 entered service with the Helicopter Flight of the Irish Air Corps on November 25, 1963. The first helicopters to serve with the Air Corps, eight in total flew in SAR, air ambulance, army co-operation and emergency relief roles until 2007. It's a credit to the crews and maintenance teams that 6 of the 7 machines still in service in 2007 were airworthy on their last day of ops, 44 years on. The 1968 Ballyfree Air Rally...and Tim Philips Tim Philips was an English entrepreneur and businessman whose father invented and patented the Ziplock. After selling that patent, his father moved the family to Ireland and bought Ballyfree House and grounds in Glenealy, Co Wicklow just outside Dublin. Educated in England, Tim worked in insurance following a short commission in the Royal Dragoon Guards before joining the family business in Ireland which was eggs - by the mid 1960's, their farm in Glenealy had over 120,000 hens supplying eggs to the Irish market. He also diversified the business into poultry farming and convenience foods which became highly successful. It was sold to global food company Kerry Group in 1985. Tim also had a passion for flying and kept his own plane in Glenealy. One of his personal aviation achievements was competing with co-pilot Vyrell Mitchell in the England to Australia Air Race in 1969, finishing fourth out of 75 starters in his Piper Twin Commanche. At home, he also staged and arranged a number of hugely popular Air Rallies (Flying Displays) in the 1960s at Ballyfree……...which is where Alouette 195 displayed in June 1968, the month before my arrival. A generous donor & charity supporter, Tim Philips passed away in 2010 aged 72. You can watch Alouette #195 in action on this 8mm cine which I found online - this was a big help for me getting going with this GB and excellent refs for the scheme she wore. 1968 Ballyfree Air Display The Kit I built this kit as a kid but it's long gone so time to give it another shot. Heller Alouette III_Contents_1 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Lovely red sprues with tiny parts! Heller Alouette III_Contents_2 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Heller Alouette III_Contents_3 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Clear parts and decals. Apart from stencils, the specific Irish ones will be from the stash. Heller Alouette III_Contents_4 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Sorry for the long read, good luck with your builds and model-building to follow shortly! Cheers, Dermot Edited November 12, 2019 by Dermo245 Completed! 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted August 6, 2019 Share Posted August 6, 2019 That’s a great intro Dermot and I do like both the subject matter and accompanying attachments. I too have this kit and was thinking about doing it next year as part of the Classic Heller GB. I will watch on with keen interest as (like a lot of us) do have some strange liking to aircraft operated by the IAC. Cheers, warm welcome and thanks for joining.. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinxman Posted August 7, 2019 Share Posted August 7, 2019 That looks a lovely little kit, and anything with a bit of day-glo on it gets a thumbs up from me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted August 7, 2019 Share Posted August 7, 2019 Great footage Dermot, it looks like it was a soft day around Ballyfree for the display. Good luck with your build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted August 8, 2019 Share Posted August 8, 2019 Is this 1/72 or one of the 1/50 helicopters Heller released in the late 60s early 70s. I built the Puma 1/50 last year in the RAF 100 GB. Lacking some finess it was still a good kit 40 years after it's release. Even more amazing is that the Puma is still in service. Good luck with the build. Colin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted August 8, 2019 Author Share Posted August 8, 2019 2 hours ago, Colin W said: Is this 1/72 or one of the 1/50 helicopters Heller released in the late 60s early 70s. I built the Puma 1/50 last year in the RAF 100 GB. Lacking some fine As it was still a good kit 40 years after it's release. Even more amazing is that the Puma is still in service. Good luck with the build. Colin Cheers Colin - it’s 1/72 and very tiny! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelh Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 (edited) It is very tiny. I made great progress building one some time ago, last century even. I even opened up the cutouts on the fuselage and added sprue inside. My intention was to build 211 as configured for border duty. Also because I flew in it from Monaghan barracks while on Summer camp with the FCA (army reserve). We I believe were the only FCA company trained in helicopter assault tactics. The real thing was small too. With a 'stick' of four it was tight. On boarding we were strictly ordered to keep our thumbs over the muzzles of the rifles so we didn't take out the pilot by poking him in the head. Look forward to seeing the rest of the build. I remember that colour scheme very well. There were a daily sight where I lived with that distinct ringing whining sound from the engine. Never saw the Ballyfree airshow film before. It was certainly up close and personal back then. Edited September 2, 2019 by noelh 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted October 28, 2019 Author Share Posted October 28, 2019 Thanks for all the positive comments and some work done on this one lately.. Cabin bits started, engine assembled and primed and fuselage joined up - just a smidge of filler needed. I've glued some weights under the nose of the floor, just in Heller Alouette III_wip_1 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr And then the canopy pieces. Took my time with these and masked as best I could. Heller Alouette III_wip_2 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr For some reason, I kept getting a 'step' when dry-fitting the nose piece, either on the 'back' (ceiling) side or under the nose. In the end, I made the ceiling join the level one and added a plasticard shim under the nose to try to help hide that one. Heller Alouette III_wip_3 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr I'm not sure if the clear parts are slightly bowed but am happy enough with the fit. Next job is to fill in some of the canopy gaps with white glue. Thanks for looking and enjoy your modelling. Cheers. Dermot 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 Great seeing this little chopper take shape Dermot. Is there not a canopy mask set for this kit?.. it's sure been on sale in many different boxes for quite a while now. Cheers.. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted November 3, 2019 Author Share Posted November 3, 2019 On 10/30/2019 at 7:02 AM, Rabbit Leader said: Great seeing this little chopper take shape Dermot. Is there not a canopy mask set for this kit?.. it's sure been on sale in many different boxes for quite a while now. Cheers.. Dave Thanks Dave and I'm sure there's a mask set somewhere alright..thought I would try and improve my masking skills! Back from the paint booth and with engine added...mostly happy with the result. Heller Alouette III_wip_6 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr A couple of small areas to fix. The nose canopy-to-fuselage fit isn't the best but I can live with that. Happy how the orange turned out. Heller Alouette III_wip_7 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Decals next and final small details. Thanks as always for looking and happy modelling. Cheers, Dermot 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 That looks very cute Dermot. How about a photo showing this model placed in the palm of your hand. Now unless you've got the hands the size of some Circus folk, I'm sure the comparison will be very surprising! Cheers and looking great!.. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeyboy76 Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 Looking good Dermot, love the colour scheme, always happy to see some orange. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted November 7, 2019 Author Share Posted November 7, 2019 On 11/3/2019 at 11:53 PM, Rabbit Leader said: That looks very cute Dermot. How about a photo showing this model placed in the palm of your hand. Now unless you've got the hands the size of some Circus folk, I'm sure the comparison will be very surprising! Cheers and looking great!.. Dave Now with decals - just some stencils, the Air Corps Celtic Boss and serial numbers, one of which went on upside down, grr) Heller Alouette III_wip_8 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Heller Alouette III_wip_9 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Cheers, Dermot 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 My lord Dermot... you've got a HUGE hand!! .. only kidding, we all know the Alouette is a petite little thing and this little gem of a kit is looking great!. Cheers.. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted November 12, 2019 Author Share Posted November 12, 2019 Thanks all and with final bits added, she's done. Some of the parts (like the steps) are on the heavy side and I was never quite happy with the fit of the canopy or main rotor. But she looks like an Alouette and happy to have finished it. Having done some more reading, this a/c 195 was Serial No 1151 and the first to be accepted in service by the Air Corps. So a nice coincidence there! Heller Alouette III IAC_Done (12) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Heller Alouette III IAC_Done (23) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Heller Alouette III IAC_Done (17) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Will post more pics in the Gallery and a big thanks to @Rabbit Leader and @Sabre_days for this one and for all your comments. Here's to the next GB and happy modelling. Dermot 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 Well done Dermot, that's turned out beautifully and I'm glad you were able to complete a kit for this GB in your home countries colours. There's something about the IAC that takes my fancy as well, just need to push through and get something finished. Cheers and thanks so much for taking part.. Dave 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeyboy76 Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 That’s a cracker Dermot, one to be very pleased about. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 A real beauty Dermot. Congratulations! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 Awesome work Dermot. There’s something about a delicate little model like this that really works for me. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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