Zvezda 1/72nd Hercules C.1P,.... RAF Herk!

[tonyot]

Hiya Folks,

                 As many will know I have a very soft spot for the old Herk and the recent release of the new Zsveda C-130 Hercules kit was music to my ears,..... I never understood why Revell never went for the C-130 to add to its C-160, Atlantique, C-17, Grizzly/Atlas but I am so happy that Zsveda bit the bullet instead because this Ukrainian company have produced what at first sight appears to be a beautiful kit of the old girl with an obvious intention of producing other versions in the future judging by the left over parts, including a stretched fuselage variant. Having recently built an stretched RAF Herk C.3P from the Italeri kit I thought it would be interesting to build the new Zsveda kit on the back of it and so here we go!

 

Well the first thing I noticed was the wing walk lines for the RAF version,..... Zsvesda provide yellow walk lines,....... but in fact the RAF used yellow walk lines with red hatching alongside on their grey and green camouflaged aircraft. The kit includes an option to build the RAF`s XV215 when it wore the `Fat Slags' artwork on the nose from the Gulf War and as I was intending to build that very aircraft soon using an Italeri kit,......I may just be going falong with the kit option for a refreshing change! 

Now Xtradecal did have a few sheets available for use on the the Italeri kit that contained the wing walks and roundels for an RAF Hercules, one was for XV292 in its 25th Anniversary markings and another including two sets of wing walks and roundels from the same set,..... but unfortunately neither are currently available now,...... I have messaged Hannants to inform them about the above,..... so we shall see whether they re issue it into their Xtradecal range. I have heard that 26 Decals MAY be releasing a sheet of wing walks to accompany their excellent early RAF Hercules decal sheet depicting the  original desert scheme,...... so we shall see. In my case a fellow Britmodeller came to my rescue and sent me a set of wing walks from Xtradecal,.... so thanks very much Mark,.... I owe you one mate! 

 

I had also bought a set of Brengun wing flaps for the Italeri kit as I was intending to add them to my Italeri Hercules C.1P, XV215,.... so I may try to use them on this kit instead,........ we`ll see;

So on with the build,.... the parts are just superb,....... nice recessed panel lines and the shape of the parts are much more Hercules like when compared to the old Italeri C-130 kit with its raised panel lines. When dry fitting the cargo floor into the fuselage I noticed that the raised edge detail encroached on the side para doors,..... and as this area was actually flat, for obvious reasons,.... I cut this detail away and filed it flat. Still with the cargo floor,....... most Herks have non slip pads on the bare metal floor and these can vary between operators,...... I know the RAF floor looks very different to a USAF floor pattern for instance,........ so I found some photos and tried my best to replicate it, by first masking it with tape and then painting the pads in black. Speaking about decal sheets earlier,....... this would be another good idea for the kit,..... to release a decal sheet for the floor pads,...... as they are very hard to get right by painting them. The cockpit detail is excellent and a revelation to anybody used to building the old Italeri kit,...... all I added was a second bunk position left over from an old Italeri kit. Here is the part constucted cockpit and the cargo floor having masking tape applied prior to painting the non slip pads,....... of course I have rather simplified mine as the `pattern' was quite intricate in some areas, especially around the para doors and on the end of the cargo tailgate;

 

Here is my cockpit and cargo floor so far,...... ready to fit into the fuselage. I painted the cockpit interior using Aeromaster USN Light Gull Grey (thanks Jon!) as I thought that this ws a good match for the padding and interior metalwork,...... with Sky (light green!) used for the ceiling of the cockpit area and Dark Earth for the lino flooring;

 

So that is me so far!

Cheers

           Tony

Edited November 13, 2020 by tonyot

[keithjs]

Morning Tony,

                        I'm at pretty much the same stage as you with the hercules but I've done my seats Khaki and a light grey floor.. If you're sure they're orange and a brown floor I'll gladly repaint them. Any idea on the seat belt color? As its quite easily seen I'd like to get it right.

 

Thanks

Keith

[tonyot]

Now during my own association with the RAF Hercules during the 1980`s and 90`s the camouflage was transitioning from a Dark Sea Grey and Dark Green scheme with Light Aircraft Grey undersides to a wrap around scheme of Dark Sea Grey and Dark Green and having replicated the latter on my Italeri C.3P model I want to build this one in the former and many were looking quite tired and faded which is the look that I am going for;

 

The aircraft that I have decided to most likely replicate is XV215 and to illustrate how the paintwork had faded,..... here it is in the early 80`s in fresh finish;

https://www.airliners.net/photo/UK-Air-Force/Lockheed-C-130K-Hercules-C1-L-382/536433/L

 

<Copied photo from Airliners.net removed due to copyright issue - please only LINK to their content>

 

And by  the mid 1980`s,.... with the addition of its refuelling probe during the 1982 Falklands War,..... here is how XV215 looked;

 

And during the Gulf War period of 1990-91 with the addition of its `Fat Slags' artwork taken from Viz magazine which was essential reading in HM Armed Forces at this time,..... I even got my nickname from within its pages,..... and I`m not telling you what it was!! I think it also had black rubber coating added to its belly for protection during rough field landings,.. I need to double check this; 

 

And here are a few more pics as reference to illustrate how much the scheme could weather with age on XV215`s sister aircraft;

 

 

This excellent pic was taken from a thread here on BM,..... higlighting the type of tail used on these RAF Herks which is not actually provided in the kit which states to use the early style short part,...... so something to fettle with later!

 

Also for interest,..... here is the interior of an RAF Herk;

 

And the RAF C.1P(K) tanker,.... used in the Falklands;

 

 And another interior,..... but I don`t think this one is RAF and looks more like a later C-130J ,.... however it is still it is an excellent view of the pipework, seats and padding which is included with the Zsvesa kit;

 

Here is a link to a stripped out RAF cockpit,..... oh how I wish that I could afford this and have somewhere to put it! Why did the RAF Museum acquire a USAF C-130 cockpit for the museum at a time that real RAF Hercules with so much service and history behind them are being withdrawn from service and scrapped,......crazy! 

https://shootaviation.com/sets-and-mockups/cockpit-mockups/c130-hercules-cockpit/

 

Cheers

           Tony

Edited November 17, 2020 by Mike
Copied photo from Airliners.net removed due to copyright issue - please only LINK to their content

[tonyot]

1 hour ago, keithjs said:

Morning Tony,

                        I'm at pretty much the same stage as you with the hercules but I've done my seats Khaki and a light grey floor.. If you're sure they're orange and a brown floor I'll gladly repaint them. Any idea on the seat belt color? As its quite easily seen I'd like to get it right.

 

Thanks

Keith

 

I`ve gone from memory and photos Keith,...... I have seen the seats khaki too,..... I think the cushions were that colour and the orange was a cushion cover? I remember the seat section having lambswool for a comfier bottom,..... the cockpit seat belts were blue,.... I have yet to add some.  Best to check some references mate,..... there are lots of pics on Google.

Here is a link to one pic from 1991;

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-19th-january-1991-the-cockpit-of-an-raf-c130-hercules-transport-plane-83200126.html

 

The cushions could get pretty manky and I believe that they were later replaced with black covers,..... and the seat straps were changed to white too,..... so it depends on the time frame you are going for too.

 

Here is a stripped out RAF cockpit;

https://shootaviation.com/sets-and-mockups/cockpit-mockups/c130-hercules-cockpit/

Good luck with yours mate,

                                            Tony 

Edited November 13, 2020 by tonyot

[Lord Riot]

Cracking stuff! Can't beat an RAF Herc, and some great photos there, perfect for reference. I need to build mine at some point. How does this kit compare to the Italeri one?

 

 

[tonyot]

5 minutes ago, Lord Riot said:

Cracking stuff! Can't beat an RAF Herc, and some great photos there, perfect for reference. I need to build mine at some point. How does this kit compare to the Italeri one?

 

 

Thanks mate,..... glad they will be of use,...... the kit is excellent and blows the Italeri kit out of the water,..... you can tell the Italeri kit is 20th Century while this new kit is most definitely 21st Century. The surface detail and the shape of the model represents the real aircraft far more accurately,..... although the extreme tail could be a problem as the optional tips do not include the type used by the RAF! 

[tonyot]

 

 

I quite fancy doing a 47 Sqn SF Flight Herk too.....

 

C-130J,.. Anniversary markings being applied;

 

A sad day!

 

Edited November 13, 2020 by tonyot

[OutcastJoel]

Awesome modelling and as a bonus, this thread is turning into an excellent source for the lazy researcher (i.e. me 🙄).

 

[Harrier/ViperFan]

This is amazing work and info. This is one plane i admire but i have never actually built or owned. The size puts me off a little but she can't be that much bigger than a Victor right?

[perdu]

Blimey Tony I can hear the rattles, grunches and mumbles from here as the overhead orchestra gets itself into tune and begins the 'Let's Go To Leipheim*' tune, from here.

 

I am keeping all those images for my Herkyfile, OK?

 

( I may never get to build another Herk but if I do you just made it possible.)

 

The first time I flew in a Herk it was 202 in crud and custard in the early 70s, the last time it was a green and grey bird whose identity slips my mind but she took us to Leipheim for Reforger 77*

 

To be fair that time I had just qualified to do sigs from our boltholes in the trees and I was going over "diddydahdahdiddit" and other Morsey bits of noise and the love affair with the Herk was muted in turmoil as I got my head into the radio kit I was going to be mated to.

 

This Zvezda baby looks extremely nice, wonder if Debs has seen it yet?

[tonyot]

40 minutes ago, Harrier/ViperFan said:

This is amazing work and info. This is one plane i admire but i have never actually built or owned. The size puts me off a little but she can't be that much bigger than a Victor right?

Thanks mate,..... yeah roughly Victor size I suppose, considering that it is a totally different shape! 

 

38 minutes ago, perdu said:

Blimey Tony I can hear the rattles, grunches and mumbles from here as the overhead orchestra gets itself into tune and begins the 'Let's Go To Leipheim*' tune, from here.

 

I am keeping all those images for my Herkyfile, OK?

 

( I may never get to build another Herk but if I do you just made it possible.)

 

The first time I flew in a Herk it was 202 in crud and custard in the early 70s, the last time it was a green and grey bird whose identity slips my mind but she took us to Leipheim for Reforger 77*

 

To be fair that time I had just qualified to do sigs from our boltholes in the trees and I was going over "diddydahdahdiddit" and other Morsey bits of noise and the love affair with the Herk was muted in turmoil as I got my head into the radio kit I was going to be mated to.

 

This Zvezda baby looks extremely nice, wonder if Debs has seen it yet?

LOL,

          -.-- --- ..- / -.- -. --- .-- / -.-- --- ..- / .-.. --- ...- . / - .... . / .... . .-. -.-

I intend to build a grey bellied one and a crud and custard one from this kit and possibly an overall green SF bird too,....... although I`d like to do a stretched C.3P in green if possible..... we`ll just have to see what other variants come out,........ I`m half expecting a C-130J next,..... maybe in a Revell box? 

 

I`m pretty sure Deb`s will be well on the way to building one of her old mounts by now!

1 hour ago, OutcastJoel said:

Awesome modelling and as a bonus, this thread is turning into an excellent source for the lazy researcher (i.e. me 🙄).

 

LOL,.... thanks,..... the video`s that I have posted are a decent reference too,..... as well as bringing back a lot of memories for many!

 

Cheers folks,

                    Tony 

[Billy54]

Very nice work and the pictures are very much appreciated. I shall be following this build as I have ordered this kit from a popular auction site and it is scheduled to arrive early next year. I was planning to build the Airfix gunship C-130 next year but this kit may jump ahead of it.

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Tony: I'd be very interested if you build the SOF version of this RAF bird.  Lots of interesting kit hanging off of it, much of which I assume you'd have to make from scratch, no?  Also, I think the Russians would be miffed to find out they've been annexed by Ukraine!  Zvezda is based in the suburbs of Moscow.  LOL!

[tonyot]

1 hour ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Tony: I'd be very interested if you build the SOF version of this RAF bird.  Lots of interesting kit hanging off of it, much of which I assume you'd have to make from scratch, no?  Also, I think the Russians would be miffed to find out they've been annexed by Ukraine!  Zvezda is based in the suburbs of Moscow.  LOL!

Oh yeah LOL,...... that Russian flag on the box is a bit of a give away,....... now you can see why I jumped from Herk`s and didn`t fly them! 

Yeah I`d have to raid the spares box and do a bit of fettling for some of the lumps and bumps,..... I have a few in my spares box from the Italeri MC-130E kit and at least the Zvesda kit includes the large lumps on the side of the rear fuselage. 

[tonyot]

2 hours ago, Billy54 said:

Very nice work and the pictures are very much appreciated. I shall be following this build as I have ordered this kit from a popular auction site and it is scheduled to arrive early next year. I was planning to build the Airfix gunship C-130 next year but this kit may jump ahead of it.

Thanks,...... I would expect a gunship to follow in due course from Zvesda or using the same basic kit from Revell,...... it is broken down to allow multiple variants and it looks as if slide moulding may have been used too to allow different sections to be incorporated in the mould. 

I hope you enjoy the kit,.... I certainly am,

                                                                 Cheers

                                                                            Tony

[bigbadbadge]

Good to see a TonyOT build thread again,  was a bit concerned.   

Great looking kit and can't wait to see how it builds up.  I am sure you will do it justice fella.

Great photos and backround info and pics.

I am curious now as to what your nickname was now from VIZ.  I used to get that although haven't got it for a few years now.

Great start.

Chris

 

[tonyot]

3 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

Good to see a TonyOT build thread again,  was a bit concerned.   

Great looking kit and can't wait to see how it builds up.  I am sure you will do it justice fella.

Great photos and backround info and pics.

I am curious now as to what your nickname was now from VIZ.  I used to get that although haven't got it for a few years now.

Great start.

Chris

 

LOL,.... I`ve not been known by that nickname for some time but it involved drinking! I`m a reformed character now! 

Thanks Chris,..... yeah I`ll just tootle along with this one,..... I did plan to build this model using the Italeri kit,..... so it is nice to use such a refined kit instead. 

All the best mate

                           Tony 

[bigbadbadge]

A reformed character!!! I like it fella.  

Will watch with much interest. 

Chris

[janneman36]

You beat me to it Tony in being the first one to build 😁 I was planning to start a thread today as well🙃....

Like what you already managed to be done 👍

 

cheers, Jan

[RichG]

8 hours ago, tonyot said:

I painted the cockpit interior using Aeromaster USN Light Gull Grey (thanks Jon!) as I thought that this ws a good match for the padding and interior metalwork,...... with Sky (light green!) used for the ceiling of the cockpit area and Dark Earth for the lino flooring;

This may have changed over time, but RAF Herks as originally delivered (and possibly all C-130s) seem to have the flightdeck painted in a two tone scheme with a distinctive "sea foam blue" / turquoise colour from floor to midway up (to the lower edge of the windscreen) and a beige colour from there up to the roof. I have seen it in numerous contemporary photos and most noticeably recently in an RAF recruitment video from 1971 where a senior officer (Lyneham Station Commander?) is being interviewed from the aircraft captain's seat: "Fly with the RAF" a great video unfortunately not on-line.  You often see the blue colour on the flight deck steps in photos which suggests the area below the flightdeck is also in this colour; as were the seat structures and control columns. Not sure of the floor colour but brown would be a guess although i have also seen dark green on a USAF spec.

 

I shall definitely be following your thread Tony, you've made a great start! 

Rich

 

P.S. Although not all RAF aircraft, these images hopefully show what I'm on about! 

 

 

 

Here's a few more: 

 

 

and a few more to whet the appetite/ for inspiration... enjoy 

 

 

 

Edited November 13, 2020 by RichG

[71chally]

10 hours ago, tonyot said:

 

 

Here is a link to a stripped out RAF cockpit,..... oh how I wish that I could afford this and have somewhere to put it! Why did the RAF Museum acquire a USAF C-130 cockpit for the museum at a time that real RAF Hercules with so much service and history behind them are being withdrawn from service and scrapped,......crazy! 

https://shootaviation.com/sets-and-mockups/cockpit-mockups/c130-hercules-cockpit/

 

Cheers

           Tony

That's now stored about 500 yards form me at St Athan.  There's also a  far more substantial and complete section.

 

The Herc cockpits I've been in were grey, so I guess they got a repaint at some point.

Hercules C.3 XV202 cockpit by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

 

Great to see your build underway, great work, you don't hang around Tony!

 

 

 

Edited November 13, 2020 by 71chally

[tonyot]

5 hours ago, RichG said:

This may have changed over time, but RAF Herks as originally delivered (and possibly all C-130s) seem to have the flightdeck painted in a two tone scheme with a distinctive "sea foam blue" / turquoise colour from floor to midway up (to the lower edge of the windscreen) and a beige colour from there up to the roof. I have seen it in numerous contemporary photos and most noticeably recently in an RAF recruitment video from 1971 where a senior officer (Lyneham Station Commander?) is being interviewed from the aircraft captain's seat: "Fly with the RAF" a great video unfortunately not on-line.  You often see the blue colour on the flight deck steps in photos which suggests the area below the flightdeck is also in this colour; as were the seat structures and control columns. Not sure of the floor colour but brown would be a guess although i have also seen dark green on a USAF spec.

 

I shall definitely be following your thread Tony, you've made a great start! 

Rich

 

P.S. Although not all RAF aircraft, these images hopefully show what I'm on about! 

 

 

 

Here's a few more: 

 

 

and a few more to whet the appetite/ for inspiration... enjoy 

 

 

 

Cheers Rich,..... some superb pics there mate, thanks a lot. They confirm what I thought about the two toned cockpit walls,...... I thought they looked like Sky and Grey,..... but I see what you mean. Excellent pics of the airborne Herks too showing the walk way matt paint on the early sand and spinach scheme

 

2 hours ago, 71chally said:

That's now stored about 500 yards form me at St Athan.  There's also a  far more substantial and complete section.

 

The Herc cockpits I've been in were grey, so I guess they got a repaint at some point.

Hercules C.3 XV202 cockpit by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

 

Great to see your build underway, great work, you don't hang around Tony!

 

 

 

 Thanks James,........ it is a crying shame that some of those Herks that were stored in the hangar at St Athan for so long were not saved,..... they were in such good nick too,..... I believe Duxford were offered one and turned it down due to lack of space,..... but are or at least were considering a 747! How many wars/ conflicts etc has the RAF Herk taken part in,...... but the IWM turned one down,...... we only have one preserved in the UK and it is fading away at Cosford. Even Hendon bought an ex USAF C-130 cockpit rather than use a bone fide RAF one!

 

I`ve got quite a bit done on the interior tonight and I`ll take some pics in the morning,...

 

All the best lads,

                          Tony

[Sabrejet]

In case it helps, the seat base was orange, basically a big block of carved foam with an orange fabric zip-up cover over it. It fits nicely into a Sabre ejection seat...

 

Cockpit as I recall from '87 to '05 was that two-tone colour, but I can imagine it changed soon after I departed that particular job

[DonH]

I'm pretty sure they painted the cockpit in two tone colours to match the decor in the RAF crew rooms. It really does look institutional.

[Terry1954]

20 hours ago, perdu said:

The first time I flew in a Herk it was 202 in crud and custard in the early 70s

Such memories Bill. I was fortunate enough to fly in 182, 222 and 302 at around that time, all in delicious earth and mid stone, and all from Fairford where they were temporarily based at the time IIRC. Happy days!

 

This will be a great one to follow Tony. Seriously considering getting myself one of these Zvezda Hercules. Nice start on the innards.

 

Great pictures in this thread also, especially the ones of 217 and 191 from @RichG, but I would say that wouldn't I cos they are in proper colours!!

 

Terry