1/72 - Lockheed (A)C-130H & J Hercules by Zvezda - released

[RichG]

Also hoping that the instrument panels in the Microdesign C-130 flightdeck set are in 3D - they look really special 

 

Edited November 20, 2020 by RichG

[Владимир Мишонин]

2 minutes ago, RichG said:

Also hoping that the instrument panels in the Microdesign C-130 flightdeck set are in 3D - they look really special 

 

)))))))))

[LN-KEH]

13 hours ago, RichG said:

Also hoping that the instrument panels in the Microdesign C-130 flightdeck set are in 3D - they look really special 

 

I can confirm they are printed with 3d effect and will be more than sufficient for the cockpit area - you don`t get to see much from the outside.

Ordered my C-130 sets directly from Microdesign in Russia, and they arrived in Norway a little more than two weeks later.

I don`t think I will need the Eduard sets as well, plenty of fiddly bits included.

[RichG]

If anyone is planning on detailing the inside of their C-130, the National Musuem of the US Airforce website has a number of 360⁰ virtual tours of the aircraft interiors of their collection, including their C-130E. For the C-130 this includes from both the pilot and co-pilot seats, a flight deck overview as well as both aft and forward cargo areas.  Worth a look... might tease out that bit of information you weren't sure about...  

 

Of course it probably goes without saying that as this particular aircraft had a long life having entered service in 1963 and finally retired in 2011 (including courageous service during the South East Asia conflict) it was probably subject to many mods and changes over its life and so may not be quite representative of your build.

 

Cockpit360 Images

 

Rich

 

Edited November 21, 2020 by RichG

[MrB17]

On 11/20/2020 at 8:29 AM, RichG said:

Here's the full Eduard list from Hannants Future Releases if you want to see what's planned... Link

 

I really like the look of that cargo floor, particularly as it looks like its in steel... how good will that look when its down (OK I know its not really right for an RAF aircraft but if you don't say anything I won't...  🤫)

 

Rich

 

The ADS (Air Delivery System), is nice to see, although you probably have to supply the tubes to make the rollers.

[MrB17]

Eduard C-130 sets are up for preorder at the big H.

I like that Eduard have done an ADS (Air Delivery System), I imagine you will have to supply the rod or tube stock for the rollers. The floor is nice, only the black anti slip patches need to be painted. Unfortunately, the pattern of the anti slip patches seems to differ quite a bit on the real thing, so if you are picky, you might want to check reference images, for the Herk you are doing. This set limits you on your Herk to model, having to match the anti slip patches pattern. With the “Microdisign” cargo floor section, the pattern of the anti slip patches is the same as the CC-130’s I worked on in the late 70’s. The ideal aftermarket floor would be nickel silver with no patches. Then if someone were to release a set of paint masks for the anti slip patches, with different versions, well I can dream about it. I have noticed that the photo etch exterior gives you 3 oval dry bay access panels and the 2 outer rectangular panels. If you are doing an H, the outer rectangular panels are the same oval as the other ones. Unless you might be doing an E upgraded to H, in which case the rectangular panels were retained. I am not an expert on the difference between the K versions, but the C.1’s at least have the rectangular outer dry bay access panels. Here are images of the sets coming, with the exception of the masks. On the exterior set, parts 17 (dry bay #2 and #3) 20 centre access panel, 24 dry bay access panels for #1 and #4, the other two oval panels #14 are for the underwing tank drains. On the flight deck, you have belts, seats and platforms, instruments, even the steering wheel. On the cargo seats set, a nice touch with the sagging red webbing. On the cargo interior, you get overhead frames and components, with the paradoor runners and crew door with steps. Some Herk’s have square windows on the paradoors, but only the round ones here.

 

[MrB17]

13 hours ago, RichG said:

If anyone is planning on detailing the inside of their C-130, the National Musuem of the US Airforce website has a number of 360⁰ virtual tours of the aircraft interiors of their collection, including their C-130E. For the C-130 this includes from both the pilot and co-pilot seats, a flight deck overview as well as both aft and forward cargo areas.  Worth a look... might tease out that bit of information you weren't sure about...  

 

Of course it probably goes without saying that as this particular aircraft had a long life having entered service in 1963 and finally retired in 2011 (including courageous service during the South East Asia conflict) it was probably subject to many mods and changes over its life and so may not be quite representative of your build.

 

Cockpit360 Images

 

Rich

 

Thanks for the link @RichG. These are extremely useful for anyone detailing the interior. Being able to see the rear of the flight deck, with the bunks and escape hatch, the trash bin, etc. brought back many happy memories.

[RichG]

2 hours ago, MrB17 said:

The floor is nice, only the black anti slip patches need to be painted.

Hi @MrB17 I would imagine that with other parts of the sheet pre-painted, then the black anti-slip patches on the cargo floor come pre-painted too. So no need to mask/paint them... unless you really want to! But as you say the pattern does differ and in the case of the C-130K in the RAF its a completely different floor (as discussed in some detail earlier in the thread, by those more learned than me).  However even though I'm planning an RAF build, in the absence of anything better, I think I'll use some artistic licence and go with this - it looks far better than I could achieve.  

 

Rich

Edited November 22, 2020 by RichG

[LN-KEH]

For those who does not have access to a full size C-130H, I have placed a walk-through/around of the one in RNoAF "Flysamlingen" on WeTransfer.

https://we.tl/t-FbYtLAQqjP

For personal use / references only; if you want to publish any of the pictures, please check with me first.

[Hoops]

3 hours ago, LN-KEH said:

For those who does not have access to a full size C-130H, I have placed a walk-through/around of the one in RNoAF "Flysamlingen" on WeTransfer.

https://we.tl/t-FbYtLAQqjP

For personal use / references only; if you want to publish any of the pictures, please check with me first.

Thank you for the upload, saved for personal reference!

 

Hoops

[RichG]

9 hours ago, MrB17 said:

The ideal aftermarket floor would be nickel silver with no patches. Then if someone were to release a set of paint masks for the anti slip patches, with different versions, well I can dream about it.

Well it occurs  that if there was sufficient demand for different cargo floor configurations for this kit it would not be the hardest job in the world for those that make these things to do a set of masks or decals to match and, provided it's symmetrical, just flip the Eduard cargo floor and apply to the reverse. How about it Eduard? Or just apply to the kit floor. I guess its a question of demand but I suspect that this kit will be the benchmark for a Herk for the next 10 -20 years so there could be at least as big a market as for any external markings decal sheet or windscreen mask set.  

 

Lets all dream... very hard! 

 

Rich

[Владимир Мишонин]

14 minutes ago, RichG said:

Well it occurs  that if there was sufficient demand for different cargo floor configurations for this kit it would not be the hardest job in the world for those that make these things to do a set of masks or decals to match and, provided it's symmetrical, just flip the Eduard cargo floor and apply to the reverse. How about it Eduard? Or just apply to the kit floor. I guess its a question of demand but I suspect that this kit will be the benchmark for a Herk for the next 10 -20 years so there could be at least as big a market as for any external markings decal sheet or windscreen mask set.  

 

Lets all dream... very hard! 

 

Rich

The C-130 from Zvezda has as many flaws as there are certainly worthy moments. He will not become a leader. They will "walk alongside" with the Italeri kit

[Fanakit]

6 hours ago, LN-KEH said:

For those who does not have access to a full size C-130H, I have placed a walk-through/around of the one in RNoAF "Flysamlingen" on WeTransfer.

https://we.tl/t-FbYtLAQqjP

For personal use / references only; if you want to publish any of the pictures, please check with me first.

Many thanks for sharing !

 

Ivan

[MrB17]

10 hours ago, LN-KEH said:

For those who does not have access to a full size C-130H, I have placed a walk-through/around of the one in RNoAF "Flysamlingen" on WeTransfer.

https://we.tl/t-FbYtLAQqjP

For personal use / references only; if you want to publish any of the pictures, please check with me first.

Thanks for the incredible photos @LN-KEH. These are extremely useful, and again the pattern of the anti slip patches on the cargo floor are the same as the E’ and H’s I worked on, like the Microdisign etched cargo floor. I only wish it was full length. If only I had the foresight to take these kind of photos back in the 70’s. Thanks to you, we now have excellent interior references to work with. Thanks again.

[MrB17]

5 hours ago, Владимир Мишонин said:

The C-130 from Zvezda has as many flaws as there are certainly worthy moments. He will not become a leader. They will "walk alongside" with the Italeri kit

If you are not picky and don’t know or care a lot about C-130’s then they may “walk alongside”.

However, having been “ intimate” with real C-130’s, I can only say that the flaws on the Zvezda kit are very easily correctable. If you want to correct the more serious flaws in the Italeri kit, you might as well get the Zvezda kit. The amount of time and money you would spend on aftermarket resin to correct the Italeri kit, notwithstanding the serious correction to the fuselage cross section, for which there is no aftermarket, makes the Zvezda kit clearly the leader. Personally, before the announcement of the Zvezda kit, I had planned on using the Airfix C-130, with a few parts from the Italeri kit and all of the resin aftermarket components available up to date. The Zvezda kit has changed everything for me, and I doubt any modeller who knows their Herk’s would disagree. The cost of building a more accurate C-130 with the Zvezda kit, now becomes much more affordable.

Now I can build my vintage Airfix C-130K OOB as a nostalgia build, and I suppose you could do the same with the Italeri kit.

That said, I do give top marks for the products that “Bring It” has done for the C-130 to date, and I appreciate the attention to detail.

Jeff

[71chally]

8 hours ago, Владимир Мишонин said:

The C-130 from Zvezda has as many flaws as there are certainly worthy moments. He will not become a leader. They will "walk alongside" with the Italeri kit

There's nothing like good, constructive criticism.

[ESzczesniak]

Has anyone heard anything rumors about when LuckyModel will get these instock?  I'm in the States and preordered mine from there, figuring it'd be a toss up coming across the Pacific or the Atlantic.  Seems I was wrong.  Most of the EU stock seems to have already come and gone and it's still on preorder at LM awaiting arrival.

[tonyot]

21 hours ago, MrB17 said:

Eduard C-130 sets are up for preorder at the big H.

I like that Eduard have done an ADS (Air Delivery System), I imagine you will have to supply the rod or tube stock for the rollers. The floor is nice, only the black anti slip patches need to be painted. Unfortunately, the pattern of the anti slip patches seems to differ quite a bit on the real thing, so if you are picky, you might want to check reference images, for the Herk you are doing. This set limits you on your Herk to model, having to match the anti slip patches pattern. With the “Microdisign” cargo floor section, the pattern of the anti slip patches is the same as the CC-130’s I worked on in the late 70’s. The ideal aftermarket floor would be nickel silver with no patches. Then if someone were to release a set of paint masks for the anti slip patches, with different versions, well I can dream about it. I have noticed that the photo etch exterior gives you 3 oval dry bay access panels and the 2 outer rectangular panels. If you are doing an H, the outer rectangular panels are the same oval as the other ones. Unless you might be doing an E upgraded to H, in which case the rectangular panels were retained. I am not an expert on the difference between the K versions, but the C.1’s at least have the rectangular outer dry bay access panels. Here are images of the sets coming, with the exception of the masks. On the exterior set, parts 17 (dry bay #2 and #3) 20 centre access panel, 24 dry bay access panels for #1 and #4, the other two oval panels #14 are for the underwing tank drains. On the flight deck, you have belts, seats and platforms, instruments, even the steering wheel. On the cargo seats set, a nice touch with the sagging red webbing. On the cargo interior, you get overhead frames and components, with the paradoor runners and crew door with steps. Some Herk’s have square windows on the paradoors, but only the round ones here.

 

Thanks for posting these,...... I`m especially interested in the para seating and may hold on my build to incorporate them. 

[RichG]

3 hours ago, 71chally said:

There's nothing like good, constructive criticism.

and that's...

 

Anyway I love my Zvedza Американский военно-транспортный самолет С-130 whatever its faults may be! 

 

Rich

[RichG]

1 hour ago, ESzczesniak said:

Has anyone heard anything rumors about when LuckyModel will get these instock?

Yes what a pain I had one ordered for similar reasons (oh and the price...). Notice on their website reads Zvezda New Arrivals due mid Dec (a lot of them and includes the C-130). 

 

Rich

[ESzczesniak]

1 hour ago, RichG said:

Yes what a pain I had one ordered for similar reasons (oh and the price...). Notice on their website reads Zvezda New Arrivals due mid Dec (a lot of them and includes the C-130). 

 

Rich

 

Thank you!  I didn't notice that before, but see it now.  I can definitely wait a few more weeks given how many other active projects I have.  Curiosity started to get the better of me.  I thought LuckyModel would have gotten them sooner. 

[MrB17]

I don’t think Zvezda expected the C-130 to sell out. I have 2 en route from Moscow, I ordered these even before Hannant’s had them. I ordered the 3rd from the local HS, but I doubt I will see it until next year. @Scooby already received his 2 from Hannant’s, we are both in the great white north. I have ordered the “Bring It” resin props and prop decals, they are spectacular, in a word. After looking at the reference photos by @LN-KEH, “Bring It”, really nailed the props and markings, especially the cuffs. I will be ordering the stressed skin control surfaces when they become available, they are also spectacular, and really look the part! “Bring It” customer service is excellent, I overpaid my shipping, and very quickly got a refund for the difference. Hopefully “Bring It” will do more for this kit. I also have all the Attack/Brengun resin, although the only sets of use, are the flaps and wheel assemblies. I am still making my mind up about which photo etch to get, I do want the cargo compartment with seats installed, and no load, so you can see all the way to the forward bulkhead. I imagine if ABER were doing the floor, it would have separate tie down rings etc. hahaha. If you are doing a full load, then the floor will be mostly obscured, and the seats mostly stowed away or up. There are external details being done in PE, Although most of the real access panels are flush, if your panel is .005 thick, that would be well over 1/4” proud of the surface in scale. There are no Herk straps, or chains being done that I am aware of, but the hook and ratchet ends could be done in PE or resin and straps printed on cloth or cotton paper. The straps were off white with the black dashed line running along the centre. The ratchets and hooks were cadmium plated steel, so bare brass would look very close. The cargo compartment was extremely well lighted in white or red, and the reflection off of the aluminium parts of the floor at night was really cool. The floor panels were removable and this was a job to do, with a great many counter sunk Phillips screws being filled with crud. For this we carried a special tool made by hand, from stainless rod, a loop at the top and the other end pointed, about 5” long. We called it a “Sh’t pick”, every airframe tech had one. Lots of other equipment could be stowed against the inside of the fuselage, and this varied quite a bit depending on the user and mission. The flight deck is going to be very difficult to see, once assembled, there are a lot of variations there as well, one of the less illustrious jobs, post flight was emptying the ashtrays! 

[MrB17]

To break the monotony, I have a funny Herk related story. If you are at all queezy about wounds and blood, stop here.

 

This took place at CFB Namao just north of Edmonton Alberta, during the winter of 78/79. Aside from working on the Herk’s, there were other duties that you could volunteer for. Such as, search and rescue etc. On one occasion I had volunteered to be a casualty in a crash simulation. This was done to enable the practices involved to be carried out with no harm being done. Medical personnel, made us up using morticians wax and chicken bones. There were 6 of us “casualties” with different kinds of injuries. After they made us up, we were put in a Herk and towed out to the field. We were each given a pint of fake blood and when we heard the sirens, we were to douse our wounds with it for added realism. So, it was the middle of winter at CFB Namao and about -30 Celsius. We heard the sirens and doused ourselves with the fake blood, myself having been made up with major head trauma and a broken arm. So splash, and we took our positions. The sirens went right on by us. Here we were, with the goriest wounds and red icicles hanging from us and no one came. We were stranded on the middle of the field and getting very cold. After about 20 minutes, a bus came and picked us up. We were not very happy about being passed by. The driver asked us where we wanted to be dropped off, and I noticed that the “Sacred Sow” our Boeing 707 was still refuelling on the ramp. The passengers were waiting in the AMU (Air Movements Unit) lounge as is customary during refuelling. I had an idea, and the others agreed. We said drop us off outside of the AMU please. We got off of the bus and walked down to the AMU lounge and through the front doors amid the very pale looking passengers, who had no idea what to think. A lot of “Oh my God!” and other reactions occurred. The looks on the faces of the passengers, many who were dependants and non military was of shock and disbelief. They had heard the crash alarm and then the sirens, and then they saw us, the “ walking wounded”.
We learned that another Herk had declared an emergency and was down at the other end of the field. The flight engineer thought that they had a major fuel leak. As it turned out, the fuel leak was excess deicing fluid pooled up in the flap well. This is why the sirens went right on by, and everyone thought that the crash exercise was continuing as planned. Finally, tower called ops and told them we were stranded and cold, and sent transport to get us back to 5 hangar. We thought we were going to get chewed out, but nothing was ever said by the powers that be. Amongst ourselves, we often chuckled about that day.

Take care and stay safe.

Jeff

[Karl737]

On 11/17/2020 at 4:19 PM, Scooby said:

Odd, I have never ever had difficulty with Belcher decals. And I use them in large numbers.

Hello Scooby!

 

Actually the Argonaut decals from Belcher Bits were printed by Canuck Models, not by Microscale has he usually does. That might explain de quality problems on these decals.

 

Does anyone has experience with Canuck Models decals (especially with the decals for the CC-130 reference CMP 72 010)?

 

Stay safe.

Karl

[MrB17]

On 11/24/2020 at 2:17 AM, Karl737 said:

Hello Scooby!

 

Actually the Argonaut decals from Belcher Bits were printed by Canuck Models, not by Microscale has he usually does. That might explain de quality problems on these decals.

 

Does anyone has experience with Canuck Models decals (especially with the decals for the CC-130 reference CMP 72 010)?

 

Stay safe.

Karl

Hi @Karl737. Did you mean Argus decals? I have the Canuck decals for the 1/72 CC-130, I have not used them because I was originally going to have to do a lot of work, getting the Airfix kit spruced up. The Zvezda kit has changed that, although I will be going to town on my Canadian one, so it will be some time before I get to the decal stage. I will pull the Canuck decals out and test on a scrap wing with sections I won’t be using. I will report the results here, when I finish.

Take care and stay safe.

Jeff

Update. I have cut out and applied to the wing. No issues with cracking whatsoever. I used very warm water, immersed the decal for 10 seconds and let stand for 1 minute. The decal slid off of the backing   paper easily. I applied to a raised rivet surface, brushed on some Mr. Mark Softer and it seems to be snuggling down nicely. I will update when it has dried and set.

Jeff

Update. The Canuck decals 72-010 CC-130 sheet tested. The decal has dried and cured, I brushed on some Solvaset after the Mr. Mark Softer, just to see if the decal would react adversely to the strongest of decal solutions. No problems at all. Additionally, the decals have been sealed since the day I purchased them and stored in a dark dry place. Unsealing and exposure to different temperatures and humidity would no doubt have an effect. 
Here is a photo of the test decal, I used the Canuck logo, as it has the same composition and carrier film as the rest. 
For some added fun, see if you can identify which kit the wing is from.