Work on the Herc

[bar side]

Figure with a broom you say - I’ll get on it!

 

Just one ridiculous moment this morning when I looked at one wing tank & some of the tail & decided that it would be bigger than most 1/72 builds.  Bigger than some 1/48....

 

Now those landing lights.  I have fitted them slightly tilted just to try & throw some light ahead when it is ground running.

 

 

And with it on

 

 

Filed put the recess for the wing tip navigation lights.  Then cut down down an led to fit in

 

 

And closed inside

 

 

The tip lights will get painted red & green eventually but for now all 4 lights are wired, elevators are done ready for fitting.  Just need to extend those engine nacelles and the wings can go together

 

[Bell209]

10 hours ago, milli21 said:

Not sure at which point of takeoff/landing they were extended or retracted though 

Just before entering the runway they were extended and retracted as part of the After Takeoff Checks 'Gear up, Lights off, Retract' was the call from the flying pilot. Extended as part of the Before Landing Checklist and retracted again on the After Landing Checklist after leaving the runway. On an unprepared strip we sometimes left them on for a short time to help guide the way but they tend to overheat on the ground

[Bell209]

7 hours ago, bar side said:

Then cut down down an led to fit in

Wow; didn't know you could do that!

[bar side]

7 hours ago, Bell209 said:

Wow; didn't know you could do that!

Ok quick run down on what I have figured out so far on leds.  I picked up a strip of 50 a few weeks back (before lockdown!) so I can cut them off as needed.  They only need 2 aa batteries & often come with a battery pack.  Top tip - cut the battery pack off with one led still connected & then strip back the wire ends beyond the led.  That way you can check your bulb still works by touching it on the striped back ends.  But the one still connected led will tell you if your batteries are dud before you test.

 

Right as to the ‘bulbs’ themselves.  Small flat led element in a cylindrical clear plastic block. Pictures of the stages from left to right

 

 

On the left as it comes from the string.  If you slit the side of the casing it will come away.  There is an opaque plastic block that keeps the contacts clear of each other.  This can come out or stay in as you please.  The wires can get removed - I usually replace them with two wires stripped out of a telephone extension lead.  Then you have the middle bulb.
 

The led element is flat and doesn’t reach the end of the clear cylinder.  So with a dremel disc cutter I take off the end.  You can then sand down the sides and reduce as much as you dare.  If you go to far and expose the element chances are it is dead.  Trial & error, but if you have 50 you can get some wrong!  Then solder on the leads you want (heat doesn’t seem to be a problem from the soldering iron), wrap any insulating tape, test fit & then test the bulb 

[bar side]

Starting work on the engine extensions.  I had hoped to bend some plasticard round in a single piece, but it proved a little to brittle. Yep, it snapped!  So managed to get a single bend around the base.  That will take the weight and a thin piece of curved plasticard can fit over the top

 

 

Lots of superglue and a test fit of the engine

 

 

Needs a cross brace to stop the two sides spreading but otherwise looks ok.  
 

 

The gentle slope down underneath has a bit of a flat spot now, and the curve down towards the spinner is still a bit too steep,  it generally an improvement.  Have two done & will carry on tomorrow.  Now, the two vents on the top just ahead of the wing, are on the engine case, not the new section - do they need moving back& are they on the surface or recessed?

[milli21]

The two vents on top of the engine look like they will need moving back. They sit proud on the surface of the upper cowlings. There is a hole in the panel underneath the raised part.

 

[bar side]

Thanks @milli21 I have cut the vents off the back of the engines with a view to moving them back.  I will then fill the gap on the top of the engines.

 

 

So first one cut.  Now with the cut off vents re attached to the back it looks something like this

 

 

Now clearly the engines won’t look like that as they have a great chunk missing that will need filling.  But the engine lengths look ok

 

 

I have now cut all 4, painted the insides, glued in the motor mechanism, and attached them to the extension sections on both wings.  Need now to fill the gap once they have dried over night.  Might have to glue the wing halves together tomorrow once I have tested the motors and lights again.  I see lots of filling & sanding to come.  But it’s progress.  Once the wings are together they and the tail sections could get pained.  Not going to put the whole beast together before painting.  Which means decision time on colour scheme.  If I am honest I want to do wrap around camo.  Means ordering some more paint and some decal paper to print on.  Never done that before but I can produce black serial numbers to order that way, and replace any dodgy decals from the sheet.  Seems wrong to get this far in to a build & then try new things.

 

Keep reminding myself - must add nose weight!  She is a tail sitter and heavy

[LorenSharp]

Looking great so far barside! Printings not that ard, if you can print on a white background thats the best way. The printing comes out sorta translucent. But that also means you have to trim off everything thats not white.

there is a company there in the U.K. that might have what you are looking for. 

https://www.fantasyprintshop.co.uk/shop/united-states-45-degree-id-numbers-8-12-fp830-1-48-scale/

Their stuff is pretty good and reasonably priced. I've used them on The White beast and the Big Bird.

[LorenSharp]

2 hours ago, bar side said:

Thanks @milli21 I have cut the vents off the back of the engines with a view to moving them back.  I will then fill the gap on the top of the engines.

 

 

So first one cut.  Now with the cut off vents re attached to the back it looks something like this

 

 

Now clearly the engines won’t look like that as they have a great chunk missing that will need filling.  But the engine lengths look ok

 

 

I have now cut all 4, painted the insides, glued in the motor mechanism, and attached them to the extension sections on both wings.  Need now to fill the gap once they have dried over night.  Might have to glue the wing halves together tomorrow once I have tested the motors and lights again.  I see lots of filling & sanding to come.  But it’s progress.  Once the wings are together they and the tail sections could get pained.  Not going to put the whole beast together before painting.  Which means decision time on colour scheme.  If I am honest I want to do wrap around camo.  Means ordering some more paint and some decal paper to print on.  Never done that before but I can produce black serial numbers to order that way, and replace any dodgy decals from the sheet.  Seems wrong to get this far in to a build & then try new things.

 

Keep reminding myself - must add nose weight!  She is a tail sitter and heavy

They do take a lot of weight, I built the gunship version years ago. When I finished and hung it up I didn't account for the extra tonnage and the line snapped. Didn't fly too well. Pilot must have been busy taking care of business.

[bar side]

14 hours ago, LorenSharp said:

Looking great so far barside! Printings not that ard, if you can print on a white background thats the best way. The printing comes out sorta translucent. But that also means you have to trim off everything thats not white.

there is a company there in the U.K. that might have what you are looking for. 

https://www.fantasyprintshop.co.uk/shop/united-states-45-degree-id-numbers-8-12-fp830-1-48-scale/

Their stuff is pretty good and reasonably priced. I've used them on The White beast and the Big Bird.

Could really do with clear backed decals.  Cutting around serial numbers would be tricky.  I will have a look at Hannants for stock number decals too

14 hours ago, LorenSharp said:

They do take a lot of weight, I built the gunship version years ago. When I finished and hung it up I didn't account for the extra tonnage and the line snapped. Didn't fly too well. Pilot must have been busy taking care of business.

Yeh, wouldn’t fancy hanging this one up!

[bar side]

So with the engines glued in place I thought I should test things.  With the wings pushed on the lights in the wings are all ok.  So to test the engines then.  Left side

 

 

Then the right side
 

 

And pushing my luck, all together

 

 

Props are not fully pushed on & everything is very Heath Robinson, but

 

 

[LorenSharp]

48 minutes ago, bar side said:

So with the engines glued in place I thought I should test things.  With the wings pushed on the lights in the wings are all ok.  So to test the engines then.  Left side

 

 

Then the right side
 

 

And pushing my luck, all together

 

 

Props are not fully pushed on & everything is very Heath Robinson, but

 

 

Don't you just love a good 4 part harmony. Great job on test run up!

 

[bar side]

1 hour ago, LorenSharp said:

Don't you just love a good 4 part harmony. Great job on test run up!

 

Yes only had a couple come loose & spin across the room!  Need to run the internal wiring loom to link everything up now.  So this is how she looks inside.

 

 

i took the other side off as that hadn’t been painted yet.  I still had a thought of making para seats for the forward section of the cargo bay.  Would take a bit of work but probably never be seen.  Not sure if it would be worth the effort.  Still got to sort out the ramp to match the cargo bay floor as it still has the kit style loading system.

 

Made some card templates for the missing engine top sections

 

 

Now wondering if these should get glued in and covered in P38 & sanded to shape.  Other options include cutting strips across the short width and gluing them in to form the shape.  But that would mean P38 & sanding over the strips anyway.

[LorenSharp]

55 minutes ago, bar side said:

Yes only had a couple come loose & spin across the room!  Need to run the internal wiring loom to link everything up now.  So this is how she looks inside.

 

 

i took the other side off as that hadn’t been painted yet.  I still had a thought of making para seats for the forward section of the cargo bay.  Would take a bit of work but probably never be seen.  Not sure if it would be worth the effort.  Still got to sort out the ramp to match the cargo bay floor as it still has the kit style loading system.

 

Made some card templates for the missing engine top sections

 

 

Now wondering if these should get glued in and covered in P38 & sanded to shape.  Other options include cutting strips across the short width and gluing them in to form the shape.  But that would mean P38 & sanding over the strips anyway.

Since both mean covering with P38, it boils down to which is the stronger structurally. You'd be surprised what you can see in the cargo bay once its buttoned up.

[bar side]

I was admiring the para seats in the Chinook @chrislowe has just finished

 

 

Very nice - scratchable if they are tucked down inside?  You probably can’t even see this much

 

 

[chrislowe]

15 hours ago, bar side said:

scratchable if they are tucked down inside?

Definitely. I'd say you'll probably get a more realistic result, too. If I was scratching it I'd get an evergreen rod and hang making tape seats off it. Seeing how you've made fearless progress on the airframe, I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do with the interior.

Edited April 19, 2020 by chrislowe

[bar side]

22 hours ago, chrislowe said:

Definitely. I'd say you'll probably get a more realistic result, too. If I was scratching it I'd get an evergreen rod and hang making tape seats off it. Seeing how you've made fearless progress on the airframe, I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do with the interior.

Found some evergreen rod...

 

[Bell209]

No shoulder straps in C-130 Cargo Compartment seats - they're just the standard silver-grey lap belts with brown leather backings on the female ends.

[bar side]

Had a play with some cereal box card & masking tape attached to those 2 evergreen rods.  Not intended to be the final version, more a size test

 

 

I think there should be another strap on top above each seat, but as I say, more a test

 

And in situ.  Would have upright legs on the front down to the floor

 

 

 I think I can get 3 sets of 3 seats between the main undercarriage casing and the cockpit bulkhead.  Probably 2 sets of 3 opposite to keep the doorway clear

 

[Bell209]

From memory (and it's been a couple of years now), there are four two-man seats at the front, followed by a single seat adjacent to the Booster Hydraulic system in front of the right wheel well. Same on the left in front of the Utility System but (on most US and RAAF C-130s I've flown in/rigged), the front pair is always folded/rolled up. The seats are usually zipped and clipped together anyway, so you can't really see where each starts and ends. At the rear behind the wheel wells, there are two two-man seats that are almost always down for the loadmaster(s) and their stuff. Nothing rear of the para doors on standard-length aircraft.

 

There's a heap of different seating configurations you can use, though and the centre seats are almost always stowed rolled below the fitted side seats (you can just see some under the left rear seats in the photo above). The staunchions for the centre seats/stretchers are stowed at the rear of the FS245 bulkhead at the front of the Cargo Compartment - there are five visible in the above photo.

[bar side]

Cheers @Bell209 as you say an endless configuration of seats.  I am not planning to do centre seats and the plan is to have seats down on the right hand side, a couple of individual seats down on the left and a set of three/ four up & clipped away.  None down the section around the wheel wells and just the rails by the para doors.

i made up three sets of the seats I tried yesterday and painted them.  This is how they looked put together

 

 

And the view form the ramp

 

 

Couple of bits made up so the back end looks a bit more interesting

 

 

And final bit today.  Put the front legs on the seats and added a shelf above them

 

[Bell209]

That'll do nicely - paint the rods aluminium and Bob's your uncle! This is coming along very nicely indeed!

[bar side]

9 hours ago, Bell209 said:

That'll do nicely - paint the rods aluminium and Bob's your uncle! This is coming along very nicely indeed!

Should have painted the rods before building the seats.  Will do on the other side

[bar side]

Actually modelling them rolled up looks way trickier than having them open!

[bar side]

AnI was looking at the seats earlier & wondered how they would look with a scale person on them.  Found a couple of guys not very busy

 

 

So raw materials for the other side

 

 

And with a bit of effort and some masking tape you get this

 

The basics are together, but still needs the front legs & more doing.  But in position the 2 single seats and a 3 block would look about like this