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

[Terry1954]

34 minutes ago, DonH said:

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.

I got some time up in the cockpit on one flight and I do recall that two tone scheme shown in the pics. It was also SO much quieter than in the back!

 

Terry

[speedy]

Nice one Tony and now you’ve got your eye in..... This will be great and as you can see from some of the comments above, we all love a Herk and most of us ex-Military types have been in one.

 

What a great thread. And in line with your beret you’re first in👋

[woody37]

Just noticed this mate, what a great read so far, can't wait to see more before I start mine

 

[tonyot]

18 hours ago, janneman36 said:

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

It`s not a competition Jan,..... I`ll look forward to seeing your`s and hopefully pick up some tips along the way mate,

Cheers

            Tony

[janneman36]

6 minutes ago, tonyot said:

It`s not a competition Jan,..... I`ll look forward to seeing your`s and hopefully pick up some tips along the way mate,

Cheers

            Tony

That is absolutely true Tony, I had expected some more builds already by the way as they sell as hot buns at the moment!

Your build has surely my attention as I always liked the C1P and Fat Slags version and there is a phletora on pictures as well in your thread👍👍

 

cheers, Jan

[tonyot]

3 hours ago, Sabrejet said:

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

Thanks for that confirmation mate and totally agree about the two toned walls,...... the MoD has a fixation with two toned walls everywhere and usually in the most awful colours,....... in one block I lived in we had gloss orange half way up then standard magnolia,....... made your eyes water! The old Beverley had a blue and cream coloured interior cabin and cockpit, so maybe that was where it came from? 

1 hour ago, Terry1954 said:

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

 

 

Cheers Terry,...... you need to buy one mate, it is a lovely kit! 

1 hour ago, speedy said:

Nice one Tony and now you’ve got your eye in..... This will be great and as you can see from some of the comments above, we all love a Herk and most of us ex-Military types have been in one.

 

What a great thread. And in line with your beret you’re first in👋

Cheers mate,..... yeah we all love a Herk! 

[tonyot]

1 hour ago, woody37 said:

Just noticed this mate, what a great read so far, can't wait to see more before I start mine

 

Thanks Neil,..... looking forward to yours pal.

[fatalbert]

23 hours ago, tonyot said:

 

 

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

 

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

 

A sad day!

 

Fame at last,thats me on the brakes in the video above 🙂,just a little note re your excellent cockpit assembly,the two bottles at the front by the crews feet are oxygen bottles,they are black with white tops not red.

[tonyot]

Thanks for all of your comments and help folks,........ here is another update;

 

Got the cockpit finished now,..... I might yet add some white cookhouse ration boxes strewn around the cockpit bunk which is where most junk got left! The RAF had a second bunk above, so as mentioned earlier I used a left over Italeri item. The seat straps are Tamiya tape painted white which should suffice when the fuselage is joined;

 

And then onto the rear cabin. I have added some placards etc from the spare decal box, plus some yellow life jacket containers and fitted the Para doors in the open position, slid up into the roof over the pipes etc. The rear stantions for the para static line were folded down from their stowed position in the roof and I `ll later rig up two wires to each side as per the real aircraft. The seats are shown folded up, a very easy task on the real things and the section of manky Tamiya tape is just left there to blank the porthole temporarily;

 

 

So now the fuselage halves are ready to be joined!

 

Cheers for now,

                        Tony

Edited November 14, 2020 by tonyot

[tonyot]

2 minutes ago, fatalbert said:

Fame at last,thats me on the brakes in the video above 🙂,just a little note re your excellent cockpit assembly,the two bottles at the front by the crews feet are oxygen bottles,they are black with white tops not red.

I knew that somebody would recognise themselves on that film,..... good innit? Thanks for the heads up re the bottles,.... I can easily re paint them. 

[Tiger331]

Tony,

 

Picking this up late after a week away from home. Looking good, so far. A quick check through my logbook confirms that I have operated in over half the RAF fleet but simply cannot remember the definitive colours for the cockpit (seats in particular) although pale (faded) yellow in the early days for the seat cushions looks/sounds familiar. If it has not already been covered in this thread, I believe Jan has done a quick check to see if the Brengun resin flap set can be fettled to fit the Zvedza kit and evidently it can without too much work - That's good since I have a set which I thought was going to be redundant.

 

On the question of the lower fuselage protective coating, IIRC the first versions started to be introduced in the 1983-85 timespan. I see that XV195 features in one of your 'photospreads'. By the time I completed a memorable 'Red Flag' sortie in this aircraft (in 1985) it had been refinished in the Dark Grey/Green wraparound scheme with the black protective panel on the lower fuselage and the Astrodome retrofitted to allow ALM1 to act as an observer with two GIBs (Guys in the Back) doing the same out of the two paradoors (with individual restraint harnesses fitted and the doors having cargo nets fitted to provide an additional degree of comfort).....happy days.      

[tonyot]

A few more Herk pics from back in the day!

Confirming what Fat Albert said about the bottles visible in the cockpit side windows..... there were three of us jumping on this day and we were allowed onto the cockpit during the low level flying,.... what a great day out!

I`m number 2 in the stick! 

This shows the Para Step, which when fitted folds out after the door is opened to help you clear the fuselage,..... aided by the exterior flap opened to deflect the slipstream. The Para Steps were included in the old Airfix kit;

 

 

Me blocking the detail of the Para Door,..... en route to a night jump! Note the Para Step fitted in its folded position while the door is closed.  This is a stretched C3P. variant hence the extra block of seats behind the doors, not seen on the `normal' variants as the cargo tail gate door is here. 

 

The interior during a jump;

Seats up,..... fitting kit;

 

Hooked up and ready to go;

 

The last of the lads leaving,... showing the static lines streaming out of the doors;

 

My ugly mug blocking detail of the piping in the roof section!

 

Not my photo,.... but a good view of the Para Step in use;

 

 

Fox Covert DZ,.... Salisbury Plain;

 

Some of the kit if anybody is interested,..... PX-4 Parachute and reserve, life preserver, helmet;

 

Back in the day! This formation flew at Fairford one year during the late 80`s;

 

 

A good view of the extreme tail.... the kit does not provide this nd only has the early short style or a later style with ECM sensors fitted! I may re shape the section with ECM sensors,.... or use a section left over from an Italeri kit,..... watch this space;

 

Hurry up and wait! Myself and a good mate called Glenn (he later won Clothes Show Model of the Year,.. became a professional model and almost became a professional boxr too having become Army champion! He now owns a very lucrative gym and advises Man. Utd on fitness training! ) near the Rubb Hanger waiting to fit chutes at Lyneham;

 

Emplaning on a stretched C.3P variant at Lyneham for a mass jump;

 

 

You could also travel in style on a Herk,..... this was taken at 20 odd thousand feet over the Alps,..... camo nets on top of the wagons was a particularly good place to kip! Taken from the on top of the rear clamshell tail gate door,..... quite a weird sensation sitting up there at such a height!

 

Hope some of this detail helps,

Cheers

          Tony

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 14, 2020 by tonyot

[Tiger331]

Great shots, Tony. Thanks for posting......"Hurry up and wait".....great phrase, very apt and one I can associate with. Still never really understood you guys and this fixation with jumping out of perfectly serviceable aeroplanes !.

 

 

[perdu]

You do know that it was the only way to go to work don't you, for some fellows.

Seems that some people were not keen on having roughy toughy blokes walking over their property.

 

Can't imagine why they objected...

[tonyot]

1 hour ago, Tiger331 said:

Great shots, Tony. Thanks for posting......"Hurry up and wait".....great phrase, very apt and one I can associate with. Still never really understood you guys and this fixation with jumping out of perfectly serviceable aeroplanes !.

 

 

Cheers Mark,

                     A very common saying in the Army at OR level,..... another was `on the bus,....off the bus',....... but every service has the same! Every society also has to have its nutters I suppose who have more take offs logged than landings?

Thanks again for those decals pal,..... hope you ae keeping well?

Cheers

           Tony 

Edited November 14, 2020 by tonyot

[TheyJammedKenny!]

2 hours ago, fatalbert said:

Fame at last,thats me on the brakes in the video above

Great!  At which point in the video, time-wise, do we get to see you?  

 

Love the Happy Snaps, Tony!

 

Our USAF cockpits were similar to how Tony has rendered them, a kind of "sky" up to where the side walls met the curvature of the fuselage, followed by a Compass Grey or something similar along the ceiling and the windshield interior.  The seats/bunks had dark blue cushions, later fitted with lambs wool on the seat backs for extra comfort.  That, combined with the civilian style blue smoke-masks, prompted some pilots to remark that they felt like they were airline pilots!  But the missions were military, and deadly serious at that, so no mistaking them for anything "civilian."  Parachutes were on racks in the back, pre-flight adjusted for fit, and you'd have to quickly remember which one was yours in a crisis!  The front-end crew could hang their parachutes on the back of their seats for convenience.  Only approved means of in-flight escape was out the paratroop doors, assuming that we had successfully jettisoned the big antennas (on versions I flew on) in the back--which was a big "if."

Edited November 14, 2020 by TheyJammedKenny!
minor word changes

[tonyot]

28 minutes ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Great!  At which point in the video, time-wise, do we get to see you?  

 

Love the Happy Snaps, Tony!

 

Our USAF cockpits were similar to how Tony has rendered them, a kind of "sky" up to where the side walls met the curvature of the fuselage, followed by a Compass Grey or something similar along the ceiling and the windshield interior.  The seats/bunks had dark blue cushions, later fitted with lambs wool on the seat backs for extra comfort.  That, combined with the civilian style blue smoke-masks, prompted some pilots to remark that they felt like they were airline pilots!  But the missions were military, and deadly serious at that, so no mistaking them for anything "civilian."  Parachutes were on racks in the back, pre-flight adjusted for fit, and you'd have to quickly remember which one was yours in a crisis!  The front-end crew could hang their parachutes on the back of their seats for convenience.  Only approved means of in-flight escape was out the paratroop doors, assuming that we had successfully jettisoned the big antennas (on versions I flew on) in the back--which was a big "if."

To be fair I`m surprised you had parachutes!  I don`t think the RAF ever had them...... or if they did they kept it quiet from the lads down the back! I can well imagine how some of those antennae might just end up ruining your already crappy day too! 

Glad you like the pics mate,

Cheers

         Tony 

[fatalbert]

Thats the back of my head in the Marshall Video where we are towing the aircraft into the paint shop at 00:05.Am also in shot looking through the open window when the view is from the front 00:14.

Edited November 14, 2020 by fatalbert

[bigbadbadge]

Excellent progress on the interior Tony. GreT work and pics.

Chris 

[janneman36]

3 hours ago, Tiger331 said:

Tony,

 

Picking this up late after a week away from home. Looking good, so far. A quick check through my logbook confirms that I have operated in over half the RAF fleet but simply cannot remember the definitive colours for the cockpit (seats in particular) although pale (faded) yellow in the early days for the seat cushions looks/sounds familiar. If it has not already been covered in this thread, I believe Jan has done a quick check to see if the Brengun resin flap set can be fettled to fit the Zvedza kit and evidently it can without too much work - That's good since I have a set which I thought was going to be redundant.

 

On the question of the lower fuselage protective coating, IIRC the first versions started to be introduced in the 1983-85 timespan. I see that XV195 features in one of your 'photospreads'. By the time I completed a memorable 'Red Flag' sortie in this aircraft (in 1985) it had been refinished in the Dark Grey/Green wraparound scheme with the black protective panel on the lower fuselage and the Astrodome retrofitted to allow ALM1 to act as an observer with two GIBs (Guys in the Back) doing the same out of the two paradoors (with individual restraint harnesses fitted and the doors having cargo nets fitted to provide an additional degree of comfort).....happy days.      

Thank you for mentioning it, and about those flaps...fitting these can be a pain if you don’t take care and you need to be scraping of a lot of plastic..

I had some static problems after this job haha

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235083178-c-130-zvezda-flap-compatibility-attack-squadronbrengun/

 

Thank you Tony for the mugshots, it gives a very nice inside look of the paratrooper life aboard such an aircraft👍
 

cheers, Jan

 

[tonyot]

1 hour ago, bigbadbadge said:

Excellent progress on the interior Tony. GreT work and pics.

Chris 

Cheers Chris,.... glad you like it all mate.

 

1 hour ago, janneman36 said:

Thank you for mentioning it, and about those flaps...fitting these can be a pain if you don’t take care and you need to be scraping of a lot of plastic..

I had some static problems after this job haha

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235083178-c-130-zvezda-flap-compatibility-attack-squadronbrengun/

 

Thank you Tony for the mugshots, it gives a very nice inside look of the paratrooper life aboard such an aircraft👍
 

cheers, Jan

 

Wow thank for the link Jan,...... I`m a little nervous of all of that thinning down and as my missus has vacced the house today I might not be very popular for creating so much mess,...... so I may chicken out and leave the flaps this time,...... plus they are not where I thought I had left them and I cannot find them,..... so maybe something is telling me to leave it? I`ll have one more luck and then decide,

Cheers mate

                    Tony

[isaneng]

I first started flying RAF Hercs in '89, and the cockpit was 2 tone then, as depicted above. The lower colour was more 'interior green' than blue. The crew seats were a mixture - often orange cushions, armrests in black, or dark red, or in dark blue, headrest was normally black. Bunk cushions were normally green. Floor was normally grey, but I do recall other colours, such as a mid-light brown.

Later on the seat cushions became black, with a lambs wool type finish and the cockpits became. The original analogue engine instruments became 2 digital flat panel displays in around 2000.

[isaneng]

Oops, finger trouble 'the cockpits became grey', sorry!

[keithjs]

A great thread so far and very useful. Anyway, this is mine so far after the modifcation to the Beaver tail using the plans in an old Hercules Warpaint. Only took about and hour with some plasticard, superglue and wet n dry. Do you think it looks OK or needs some more fettling? As you can see I bottled the interior (although it is painted etc)...

 

IMG_0364

 

IMG_0363

 

IMG_0368

 

IMG_0366

[Max Headroom]

I’m late to the party again but excellent work so far👍🏻
 

I love that step with the directions! Will you be replicating that 🤣

 

Trevor