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Whirlybirds 1/72 Sikorsky HH-52A Sea Guard helicopter US Coast Guard


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My first time joining a Group Build....

 

I’m going to build the Whirlybirds 1/72 Sikorsky HH-52A Sea Guard helicopter in USCG colors.  It is my first resin kit, too!    I figure a helicopter is a good way to start-  build the fuselage, and you’re nearly finished!😁

 

The kit looks nice, and fills an important gap in my collection of US Coast Guard subjects in 1/72.   The HH-52 has never been kitted in injected plastic- the closest kit was a 1/48 scale kit of the Sikorsky S-62, the civilian  version of the HH-52, by ITC in late 1950s.

 

Tonight I opened up the kit and cut the main fuselage parts free from the pour blocks. So I have officially  started!

 

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Edited by RC Boater Bill
Fixed typos, added new ones(?)
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Nice, I always like a good helo so I'll be following! Welcome to the GB, a word of warning, it's been said before: it's like Hotel California down here 🙂 

 

You mentioned a collection of US Coast Guard subjects, that sounds interesting, do you have time for a group shot in your busy build schedule?

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You're very welcome. Honoured that you settled here for your first GB. Some say they're confusing, maybe they just fit with my state of mind because I look on them as a virtual club night- a blend of jokes, encouraging comments and shed-loads of helpful advice and support. The resin wonder-workers have a simple majority on the types of build going on in here, and even amongst those not working in resin, there's plenty of expertise- so don't hesitate to ask for any comments and advice.

Remember the only stupid question is the unasked one, and rule 1 is to enjoy yourself.

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10 hours ago, dnl42 said:

Nice choice!  :popcorn:

 

I'd love to see a family shot, too! 

Here’s the collection, so far, all in 1/72 scale.

- Italeri DUKW, HO4S-3/HH-19G

- Trumpeter LCM-3

- Monogram HU-16E

- HobbyBoss HH-34F

- Airfix J2F-5, Grumman Widgeon

- Matchbox HH-65A

 

I picked up an incomplete second copy of the H-19  at a bargain price, to use as a parts donor in case the resin kit needs something.     The HH-52 used the same rotor head and blades as the H-19, and I thought I might need those, as I’m not sure how robust resin parts may be- the rotor blades may be heavy...?

 

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Edited by RC Boater Bill
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I have seen this manufacturers stuff before, it's really nicely produced with nice detail.

 

Plus I do like you collection, some lovely models there.

 

good luck with this build.

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The things that keep me awake at night: what are the rotor blades like? Conventional wisdom would suggest that's a lot of resin to hold it's own weight up, or are the a harder resin? Or is it time to really dive-in and scratch build replacements from plastic strip? Raiding a kit would be extravagant, but the rules allow for 25% IM parts and it might be a way out of a hole. 

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For my 1/48 MQ-8B, I've thought about gluing 6mil ceramic fiber under the blades. While they're stiff per se but I would hope to also get some stiffness from the lamination. :shrug:

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On 4/5/2021 at 4:15 AM, Mjwomack said:

The things that keep me awake at night: what are the rotor blades like? Conventional wisdom would suggest that's a lot of resin to hold it's own weight up, or are the a harder resin? Or is it time to really dive-in and scratch build replacements from plastic strip? Raiding a kit would be extravagant, but the rules allow for 25% IM parts and it might be a way out of a hole. 

 

I dove into the kit box a little deeper, and it is as “Whirly” said:   The rotor blades are made from a special black material, and not  from the same (traditional) resin material as the rest of the kit.

 

I also have the Unicraft resin kit of the HH-52– I got it a few years before the Whirlybird kit was released.  It isn’t quite as nice, so I figure I’ll do the nicer WB kit as my (first-ever) resin build for this GB.

 

When I built my Italeri HH-19 model a couple of years ago, it had been OOP for some time. I bought a two kit bundle on ebay- one complete, one only missing the clear parts, at a good price.  I figure I’ll never find replacement clear parts, and even if I did, I wouldn’t build a second HH-19.   My plan was to use the incomplete kit as a parts donor for the Unicraft kit,  as the HH-52 used the same proven rotorhead and rotors as the older HH-19, in case I needed them. (Hoist, wheels, interior bits, etc. may come in handy, too.). 


It is my first resin kit build, so It is nice to know that I have a reserve collection of parts in case I really mess something up here...😁

 

I’m not afraid of a little scratchbuilding, either!  Here’s a shot of my recently completed scratchbuild- a 42 inch long USS Guadalcanal in 1/144 scale:

 

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I finished it last fall, so it isn’t GB eligible. (I would have needed a GB that ran for a couple of years to meet the finish date, even with a 25% head start!)

 The only IM bits are the Avengers and Wildcats....

 

 

Edited by RC Boater Bill
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19 minutes ago, RC Boater Bill said:

I’m not afraid of a little scratchbuilding, either!  Here’s a shot of my recently completed scratchbuild- a 42 inch long USS Guadalcanal in 1/144 scale:

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Dang, that's awesome! :worthy:

 

And, I'm reading Hornfischer's Neptune's Revenge right now.

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47 minutes ago, RC Boater Bill said:

I’m not afraid of a little scratchbuilding, either!  Here’s a shot of my recently completed scratchbuild- a 42 inch long USS Guadalcanal in 1/144 scale:

Wooow! That's a giant beast, did you buy all of the sheet styrene in New England for it? I'm curious, are you actually floating it for the photo?

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I built the Whirlykits Dragonfly last year and black resin blades were fine and the model shows no signs of a problem with the blades. Whirlykits kits is run by Roger Evans and his son. He is a retired vicar and one of nicest people I have met and I have known him for the last 35 years. 

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4 hours ago, RC Boater Bill said:

 

I also have the Unicraft resin kit of the HH-52

I'm sure Pat aka @JOCKNEY is disappointed that you're not joining him in proving the Unicraft haters wrong and building that one! More likely he's scouring the internet to see if anyone else produces a Jager!

4 hours ago, RC Boater Bill said:

 

I’m not afraid of a little scratchbuilding, either!

Clearly you're in New England, because that's a British level of understatement, never mind a bigger boat, you're going to need a bigger pond!

I've no intention of touching one, but rumour has it that if you do have a go at the Unicraft model, you'd be better off scratch building!

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7 hours ago, JeroenS said:

Wooow! That's a giant beast, did you buy all of the sheet styrene in New England for it? I'm curious, are you actually floating it for the photo?

I did clean out the local hobby shop of their Evergreen grooved decking a couple of times!    Model is RC, hull is  fiberglass over balsa.  Hangar/flight deck is foam core board ( to minimize topside weight), skinned with sheet styrene.  Catwalks, galleries, island, etc made from .020 sheet styrene and lots of little bits of strip, tube, half round, etc.

 

I know I’m way off topic here, but here’s one last image: a 10 second video showing the animated elevator in action:

 

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28 minutes ago, RC Boater Bill said:

Model is RC, hull is  fiberglass over balsa.  

Of course, your nickname should have told me that 🙂  Very nice work. The Guadalcanal has quite a history.

 

I wasn't able to view the video though, it appears to be lost. 

Edit: it worked the second time around. Pretty cool!

Edited by JeroenS
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16 hours ago, Mr T said:

I built the Whirlykits Dragonfly last year and black resin blades were fine and the model shows no signs of a problem with the blades. Whirlykits kits is run by Roger Evans and his son. He is a retired vicar and one of nicest people I have met and I have known him for the last 35 years. 

I corresponded with Roger before  I bought a couple of kits and other bits from him last year. (I bought the HH-52 and the Dragonfly kits. )  I was very impressed with him, and even more so with the product!

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have started work on the kit, giving everything a bath, and cutting the larger parts off the pour stubs.

 

Here are the main fuselage pieces.  The windows were filled in with a very thin skin of resin. I had cut a few away before I saw the note in the instructions that implied they could have been left in place if I didn’t want to glaze the windows later.  (Too late, but wouldn’t have done that anyways!) 

 

The windows are about 9-10mm square- I guess I will need to figure out what to do to fill them!  I’m not sure that the PVA canopy cement glazing trick will work on such a large (to me, anyways) hole.....

 

I’ve  rough cut away the resin for the windows on the left side piece- still have one left to do on the right side, aft of the doorway.

 

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Hi Bill

Heres an idea for your windows:

1. Clean up all the window edges.

2. Lay a wide strip of masking tape over the windows from the outside.

3. Spray the interior with its final colour including the sticky side of the tape.

4. Remove the tape and stick it to your see through material for the windows like Eduard bubble packaging.

5. Cut out the windows using the painted patches as a guide.

 

I saw this tip from Mike Grant a few years back in a SAMI magazine in the Circuits and Bumps series they ran.

 

regards Toby

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OK, first goof made.

 

I was test fitting the hull halves, and noticed the mating edges weren’t quite true. So I taped some sandpaper to a flat surface and sanded them a little to true them up. I think I was a little over zealous, as now the cockpit floor is too wide.

 I was about to sand it down a little so it would fit,  when it occurred to me I should check to see  if it is really the floor or the hull that is off.   A quick check with the canopy tells me that  the floor is right- the hull needs to be wider.

 

Guess I’ll need some styrene strips to fatten up the hull a little..... at least I caught it before I made a small error worse!

 

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