"Helimed 06"- Midlands Air Ambulance EC135 (G-OMAA)

[Antti_K]

Hello Sam,

 

I dug out some photos (For reasons unknown I have quite many EC135 photos) of our helicopter.

 

About the decals: here is the first one you had marked with a question mark. Not quite similar as in your bird.

 

Then the pilot's door; I couldn't find a close up of the door but it is identical to the passenger door. Only "SLIDING DOOR" and "OPEN" and the arrow are missing.

 

And here is "Yours Truly" after a mission. Look at my muddy shoes... It was a very hot afternoon and we've just returned to base from a rather nasty mission. An attempted suicide; a young girl collided with a lorry head-on in her tiny Peugeot traveling some 100 km/h. We planned to land on the highway just in front of the accident scene but the crowd didn't clear the area. They were too busy photographing and videoing with their mobile phones. I chose the nearby field instead.

 

I will certainly keep an eye on this build as I have the kit in the stash. If there is any photo needs, don't hesitate to ask.

 

Cheers,

Antti

 

[Antti_K]

Oh, and I forgot one detail; the stencil just above the rear door. It reads "STATIC VENT" and "KEEP CLEAN" just below it.

 

Cheers,

Antti

[heloman1]

Excellent work on the cockpit updates an d detailing. Some great reference images too.

 

Bill, bitter yes please.

 

Colin

[cathasatail]

Morning all!

 

That's tremendous @VooDoo-S8 and @Antti_K, brilliant stuff, thank you!

 

I thought it might be a good idea to spend a few hours on the instrument panel, and ended up finishing it relatively rapidly (unfortunately forgetting to take one or two photos in-between).

 

The kit part is nicely detailed but something just doesn't seem right about the shape of those displays (navigation and primary flying displays?). In reality it seems as though a larger gap should be present between the centre instruments/displays and the two outer screens.

 

But just in case things turned south, I made a backup instrument panel template.

 

First things first, I shaved off the displays i question and fixed the instrument panel to the coaming. Filler was then applied to clean up that gap, and replacement panels were fashioned from plasticard.

Now, this is where I forgot to take photos...

 

Taa daa! The paintwork has since been tidied up, and the area around the keys (at least they seem like a set of keys attached to a fob on many reference photos- on the left of the instrument panel coaming) touched up as well.

 

I haven't the foggiest idea what this "lump" on the topside of the coaming is, yet it appears on many of the references so I thought I'd better include it.

 

 

Again, the dust will be cleared away soon enough! But despite that I think it's starting to come together relatively well?

 

 

So that's it for now- I have already made/painted/glued the fabled torch, friction brake, as well as the ELT, and have been progressing with the front seats (hoping to have them finished at some point today).

 

Thanks again for dropping by. Best wishes,

Sam

[perdu]

Nicely, very nicely done Sam.

 

I dont know what that little lump is either but, it reminds me a of the GPS Responder module that used to be fitted to the roof of my AA van when we began getting GPS and telematics fitted to our patrol vans.

 

Being where it is I would not be surprised if satellite/GPS was not involved.

 

I often get deeply involved in the philosophical bits of modelling, "what, where and why?", takes a reset to remember all that actually matters in plastic is should it be there?

 

Looks good to me.

[Fritag]

40 minutes ago, cathasatail said:

think it's starting to come together relatively well?

 

How about upgrading “relatively” to “really”?  Lovely work Sam.

 

There are so many impressive helicopter builds on BM at the mo’ I’m in danger of becoming a fan 

 

On 6/24/2021 at 8:15 PM, Antti_K said:

And here is "Yours Truly" after a mission.

 

Nice piccie and cool shades Antti.  Randolph Engineering Aviators (or at least similar)? 

[VooDoo-S8]

40 minutes ago, cathasatail said:

Morning all!

 

That's tremendous @VooDoo-S8 and @Antti_K, brilliant stuff, thank you!

 

I thought it might be a good idea to spend a few hours on the instrument panel, and ended up finishing it relatively rapidly (unfortunately forgetting to take one or two photos in-between).

 

The kit part is nicely detailed but something just doesn't seem right about the shape of those displays (navigation and primary flying displays?). In reality it seems as though a larger gap should be present between the centre instruments/displays and the two outer screens.

 

But just in case things turned south, I made a backup instrument panel template.

 

First things first, I shaved off the displays i question and fixed the instrument panel to the coaming. Filler was then applied to clean up that gap, and replacement panels were fashioned from plasticard.

Now, this is where I forgot to take photos...

 

Taa daa! The paintwork has since been tidied up, and the area around the keys (at least they seem like a set of keys attached to a fob on many reference photos- on the left of the instrument panel coaming) touched up as well.

 

I haven't the foggiest idea what this "lump" on the topside of the coaming is, yet it appears on many of the references so I thought I'd better include it.

 

 

Again, the dust will be cleared away soon enough! But despite that I think it's starting to come together relatively well?

 

 

So that's it for now- I have already made/painted/glued the fabled torch, friction brake, as well as the ELT, and have been progressing with the front seats (hoping to have them finished at some point today).

 

Thanks again for dropping by. Best wishes,

Sam

Hi Sam, 

 

It’s a GPS antenna that (I think!) has something to do with the HUMS kit. I’m not a greeny (nuts and bolts not amps and volts! 😂) though so I would have to ask avionics what it’s exact function is..

 

IP looks fantastic! 

[Antti_K]

3 hours ago, Fritag said:

Nice piccie and cool shades Antti.  Randolph Engineering Aviators (or at least similar)? 

Thanks Fritag🙂 I only wear Randolph Aviators; the only ones that really work with the helmet. Here in Finland taxi drivers wear Ray Bans...

 

Cheers,

Antti

[Fritag]

2 hours ago, Antti_K said:

the only ones that really work with the helmet.

 

Agreed; even tho’ the only helmet I wear mine with these days is for skiing in…..

[Terry1954]

You will gather by the number of likes Sam, I've just found this rather impressive build, and I'll tag along if I may. I'm mostly a 1/72 builder, but getting lured by these bigger scale kits these days. Love that I/P.

 

Carry on with the great work!

 

 

On 6/28/2021 at 9:07 AM, Fritag said:

There are so many impressive helicopter builds on BM at the mo’ I’m in danger of becoming a fan

 

Ssshhhh, OK, I won't tell Crisp 🤣

 

Terry

[cathasatail]

Thanks everyone!

 

More progress has been made...

 

^I had a pop at making the seat belts and adding in the elusive ELT

 

 

^Some reference photos I've seen has the fire extinguisher's exposed side facing aft, and some have it facing forwards. I thought I would model it facing aft based on this source of the Devon Air Ambulance, and a single photo of it in a MAAC helicopter (unsure of which one). (You may also have noticed I tried to extend the left-hand seat rails rearwards, and added in the raised black flooring in the back- the dimensions were based roughly on sources but also slightly on guesswork).

 

Fabric seams were added to the two rear seats with masking tape.

 

In need of touch-up, but this is supposed to be the cabinet which sits behind the centre console.

 

I haven't the foggiest idea what exactly this is, but on a MAAC reference photo it is shown suspended from rails on the roof of the rear cabin. (The part was trimmed down to form a primitive box, and then plasticard was used to make the side circular panels and the curved orange structures, as well as the frame that will eventually suspend it).

 

Now this, I believe, is supposed to represent a Zoll ECG monitor (video of said equipment) and the bags attached to either side. It's still awaiting a matt varnish coat- hence the bags being rather shiny!

 

Next time I'll try to take a photo showing the friction brake and the infamous torch (which both have already been installed).

But until then, that's it for now- I've been building up a few of the major structures in advance (rotor blades, tail section, etc).

 

 

I did have one question though... I could be wrong but the landing skids for this boxing of the EC135 seem a little too "tall" for the air ambulance variant. I know that the air ambulance boxing of the Revell kit has a separate sprue for the other type of legs, but they're not included in this kit. Does anyone have any definitive information on whether the skid height is indeed different? (If so, I might have to do a bit of trimming and modification to the kit parts).

 

Thanks again, and best wishes,

Sam

Edited June 30, 2021 by cathasatail

[VooDoo-S8]

27 minutes ago, cathasatail said:

Thanks everyone!

 

More progress has been made...

 

^I had a pop at making the seat belts and adding in the elusive ELT

 

 

^Some reference photos I've seen has the fire extinguisher's exposed side facing aft, and some have it facing forwards. I thought I would model it facing aft based on this source of the Devon Air Ambulance, and a single photo of it in a MAAC helicopter (unsure of which one). (You may also have noticed I tried to extend the left-hand seat rails rearwards, and added in the raised black flooring in the back- the dimensions were based roughly on sources but also slightly on guesswork).

 

Fabric seams were added to the two rear seats with masking tape.

 

In need of touch-up, but this is supposed to be the cabinet which sits behind the centre console.

 

I haven't the foggiest idea what exactly this is, but on a MAAC reference photo it is shown suspended from rails on the roof of the rear cabin. (The part was trimmed down to form a primitive box, and then plasticard was used to make the side circular panels and the curved orange structures, as well as the frame that will eventually suspend it).

 

Now this, I believe, is supposed to represent a Zoll ECG monitor (video of said equipment) and the bags attached to either side. It's still awaiting a matt varnish coat- hence the bags being rather shiny!

 

Next time I'll try to take a photo showing the friction brake and the infamous torch (which both have already been installed).

But until then, that's it for now- I've been building up a few of the major structures in advance (rotor blades, tail section, etc).

 

 

I did have one question though... I could be wrong but the landing skids for this boxing of the EC135 seem a little too "tall" for the air ambulance variant. I know that the air ambulance boxing of the Revell kit has a separate sprue for the other type of legs, but they're not included in this kit. Does anyone have any definitive information on whether the skid height is indeed different? (If so, I might have to do a bit of trimming and modification to the kit parts).

 

Thanks again, and best wishes,

Sam

Hi Sam,

 

Looking very good! The orange box is the Oxylog 2000. As for the fire extinguisher, the exposed side is usually aft facing. The “raised black floor” is actually the stretcher plinth which allows the stretcher to slide on rails for side or rearward loading/unloading. All of our 135 fleet have the low skids so yes, you are correct in thinking that they will need modified. I’m back in at work tomorrow so I can get the dimensions you need to adjust.

 

Cheers,

 

VooDoo.

[VooDoo-S8]

Also, one of the rear seats has the normal fore/aft travel and the other sits on a swivel base so that the paramedic can turn to face/work on the patient. A square block of plasticard under the seat should give you the look required. 
 

I can’t, for the life of me right now, remember which one it is that actually swivels and I don’t want to give you duff gen so I’ll check tomorrow and get back to you.. 

[cathasatail]

Right, time for another update!

 

With thanks to the superhuman help of @VooDoo-S8, I've had a go at making the cabinet enclosing the gas cylinders that sits behind the right-hand seat.

 

 

 

The eagle-eyed amongst you might notice that the original kit parts have cut-outs for the starboard cockpit door and port cabin door to be modeled open. I quite fancied having the "Midlands Air Ambulance" lettering (running along the side of the fuselage) visible in its entirety. And so, the starboard cockpit door was fitted into place, and the port cockpit door was cut from the fuselage.

At this point I have also added in the inner fuselage wall inserts and frames, as they will be far easier to detail there than when attached to the floor.

 

Sadly this change necessitated trimming off the gas hoses running down the side of the cabinet (although thankfully this can be easily hidden).

 

^You can easily see the door/fuselage modifications in this image.

 

Talking of the cabin walls, I have also been pottering along with the roof and back wall...

 

While waiting for flue to dry, I have also had a go at building up the tail of the helicopter...

 

 

 

Now, anyone fancy a game of "spot the difference" when it comes to the tail rotor (compared to image 3 here: https://ukemergencyaviation.co.uk/G-OMAA.htm) ?

 

Answer: there seems to be a fairing over the various linkages on the port side of the rotor. I could be wrong but there doesn't seem to be a kit part for the fairing... so that's something that needs to be thought about.

 

 

The next items on the agenda are getting the two cabin seats finished (just awaiting the belts at the moment), building up and painting the interior walls, and starting on the decal-designing.

I'm thinking of starting with the decals at this point because although the kit decals include some of the more prominent interior stickers (ie: "Exit" above the cabin doors), a number are absent and I would quite like to rectify this!

 

Best wishes,

Sam

[VooDoo-S8]

36 minutes ago, cathasatail said:

Right, time for another update!

 

With thanks to the superhuman help of @VooDoo-S8, I've had a go at making the cabinet enclosing the gas cylinders that sits behind the right-hand seat.

 

 

 

The eagle-eyed amongst you might notice that the original kit parts have cut-outs for the starboard cockpit door and port cabin door to be modeled open. I quite fancied having the "Midlands Air Ambulance" lettering (running along the side of the fuselage) visible in its entirety. And so, the starboard cockpit door was fitted into place, and the port cockpit door was cut from the fuselage.

At this point I have also added in the inner fuselage wall inserts and frames, as they will be far easier to detail there than when attached to the floor.

 

Sadly this change necessitated trimming off the gas hoses running down the side of the cabinet (although thankfully this can be easily hidden).

 

^You can easily see the door/fuselage modifications in this image.

 

Talking of the cabin walls, I have also been pottering along with the roof and back wall...

 

While waiting for flue to dry, I have also had a go at building up the tail of the helicopter...

 

 

 

Now, anyone fancy a game of "spot the difference" when it comes to the tail rotor (compared to image 3 here: https://ukemergencyaviation.co.uk/G-OMAA.htm) ?

 

Answer: there seems to be a fairing over the various linkages on the port side of the rotor. I could be wrong but there doesn't seem to be a kit part for the fairing... so that's something that needs to be thought about.

 

 

The next items on the agenda are getting the two cabin seats finished (just awaiting the belts at the moment), building up and painting the interior walls, and starting on the decal-designing.

I'm thinking of starting with the decals at this point because although the kit decals include some of the more prominent interior stickers (ie: "Exit" above the cabin doors), a number are absent and I would quite like to rectify this!

 

Best wishes,

Sam

Looks amazing mate and absolutely spot on!

 

Cutting the port doors out is actually a good shout as that’s where all of the loading/unloading is carried out from.

 

There is absolutely a fairing that covers that side. Underneath it looks jack s**t like the kit offering either! 😂

 

That’s me off shift for four days but I’ll have a dig around my phone for photos and send it to you. 
 

Feel free to upload/distribute those photos I emailed you if anyone else needs them 👍

 

Cheers.

[Anthony in NZ]

Sam you are a man after my own heart!  

 

I LOVE these BK/EC family of Helicopters and am quite a way through correcting and superdetailing an old 1/32 Revell BK-117 using lots of EC-145 parts and custom etch and scratchbuilding.  Must pull it off the SOD after seeing this!

 

Keep up the great work, I am absolutely loving this!

 

Cheers Anthony

 

 

 

[cathasatail]

18 hours ago, VooDoo-S8 said:

 

Cheers sir, I got them through!

 

 

I've been making a start on the decals and already have a fair few done, here's a quick sample:

(These look slightly pixelated, but zoomed in they're all fine and the lettering is readable)

 

These DIY decal sheets (courtesy of "Expert-Choice decals") are great, but you need a light base coat (even with the white-backed sheets) to prevent the decal colours being obliterated by any bright base paint colours behind them. So, when the model's been assembled, I plan to give it a few coats of primer/filler/sanding to smooth things over, and then coat it all with a white base coat. After that I will add the decals at that stage (with the appropriate coloured background), seal them in, mask them off and then lay down the red and yellow main colours onto the model.

 

The blue on the above decals will be replaced by the appropriate red or yellow, depending on where it is to be placed.

 

Now... the question is, what shade of red and yellow shall we go for?

-For red, I intend to use Vallejo Model Air 71.003 (Red- RLM23)

 

On a white base coat it should give a nice bright red!

 

The more difficult question is what yellow should be used?

My first thought had been Medium Yellow...

 

...but after playing around with it on a bit of paper, it seems a bit too "bright"- the yellow on the MAAC helicopters appears a tiny bit paler.

 

What about another shade?

 

 

...that seems more reasonable?

 

I think I will get a bottle of the IJA Chrome Yellow and see how the 2 compare over a white base coat.

 

But until then, the decals and interior work continue!

 

Best wishes,

Sam

Edited July 5, 2021 by cathasatail

[redleader]

Hi Sam, great progress! 

This the beastie you looking for? Part 309 of Revell's 04484.

The Kit is 'discontinued' but I managed to get one from ebay.de (not cheap!) I Could knock out a cast copy of the part for you (Oyumaru/Miliput). 

 

 

And how the real thing looks on Helimed 76. Voodoo-S8 will probably have pics with better detail. Regards, Ian

 

[cathasatail]

19 minutes ago, redleader said:

This the beastie you looking for?

Hi,

Oh that's the one! Just checked through the sprues again and alas no sign of the part in the 04982 boxing.

That's very kind of you, and I'll send you a PM. 😊

 

Many thanks,

Sam

Edited July 5, 2021 by cathasatail

[redleader]

Re your decals: could the yellow be Euro Sulfur Yellow RAL1016? Hataka do a 17mm acrylic

[perdu]

1 hour ago, redleader said:

Re your decals: could the yellow be Euro Sulfur Yellow RAL1016? Hataka do a 17mm acrylic

Sulfur Yellow RAL1016 looks ideal, a bit more 'piercing' to the eye than the Vallejo offerings

 

Helimed 06 has the look and feel of one of those models one will follow avidly, enjoying every nuance at the mo'

[cathasatail]

Well, well, well... it's been a jolly busy week and so I haven't had a vast amount of time to devote to this project.

 

However, I have had the pleasure of receiving copies of the hallowed tail fairing in the post, courtesy of the wonderful @redleader:

 

The obligatory before....

 

...and after.

 

Progress was also made on the main rotor:

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing too painful was encountered on the build of the rotorhead or blades, but a great deal of masking tape was sacrificed in the process of painting it. The yellow blade tips are courtesy of the kit's own decals.

Two things of note with the paintwork on the rotor blades: firstly I believe the colour of the blade's leading edge is a bit lighter than it shoulder otherwise be, yet I'm becoming increasingly tempted to stick with it, what do you guys think? And secondly, you might notice the occasional patch of darker grey paint on the main area of the blades... this definitely wasn't the result of using the wrong shade of grey to carry out paint-repairs... but it certainly gives the impression of a well-used (and loved) helicopter.

 

Slower progress was made on the interior...

 

 

The two rear seats were installed, with a strip of plasticard used to represent the swivel-base, as evidenced in @VooDoo-S8's fine reference photos.

 

The roof is very much still a work-in-progress job, but I would greatly appreciate some thoughts on the fitting of the parts...

 

(Forgive the shoddy paintwork and smears of filler, still a work-in-progress)

 

I have cut the roof part into multiple sections to make fitting them easier, so:

The question is....

 

-The main horizontal roof part, is that to go beneath the rear coaming of the main front windscreen (as shown below):

 

-Or should it instead fit behind the coaming, like so:

 

I am tempted to go for the latter, at the moment.

 

 

On the decal front, I have received word back from the lovely folks at the Midlands Air Ambulance, who have very kindly said that the font used for the "Midlands Air Ambulance Charity" decals is "DIN Next LT Arabic Bold".

Armed with this information, I have had a crack at designing said decals:

 

 

And on the paint front, as recommended, there's a bottle of Sulfur Yellow on its way right now!

 

So, that's in from me at the moment. As always, thank you for dropping by and thanks for all your help so far.

 

Best wishes,

Sam

 

P.S: A certain delta-winged giant arrived last week, as well as some new paint for it, so I'm desperately resisting the urge to start it!

[VooDoo-S8]

4 minutes ago, cathasatail said:

Well, well, well... it's been a jolly busy week and so I haven't had a vast amount of time to devote to this project.

 

However, I have had the pleasure of receiving copies of the hallowed tail fairing in the post, courtesy of the wonderful @redleader:

 

The obligatory before....

 

...and after.

 

Progress was also made on the main rotor:

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing too painful was encountered on the build of the rotorhead or blades, but a great deal of masking tape was sacrificed in the process of painting it. The yellow blade tips are courtesy of the kit's own decals.

Two things of note with the paintwork on the rotor blades: firstly I believe the colour of the blade's leading edge is a bit lighter than it shoulder otherwise be, yet I'm becoming increasingly tempted to stick with it, what do you guys think? And secondly, you might notice the occasional patch of darker grey paint on the main area of the blades... this definitely wasn't the result of using the wrong shade of grey to carry out paint-repairs... but it certainly gives the impression of a well-used (and loved) helicopter.

 

Slower progress was made on the interior...

 

 

The two rear seats were installed, with a strip of plasticard used to represent the swivel-base, as evidenced in @VooDoo-S8's fine reference photos.

 

The roof is very much still a work-in-progress job, but I would greatly appreciate some thoughts on the fitting of the parts...

 

(Forgive the shoddy paintwork and smears of filler, still a work-in-progress)

 

I have cut the roof part into multiple sections to make fitting them easier, so:

The question is....

 

-The main horizontal roof part, is that to go beneath the rear coaming of the main front windscreen (as shown below):

 

-Or should it instead fit behind the coaming, like so:

 

I am tempted to go for the latter, at the moment.

 

 

On the decal front, I have received word back from the lovely folks at the Midlands Air Ambulance, who have very kindly said that the font used for the "Midlands Air Ambulance Charity" decals is "DIN Next LT Arabic Bold".

Armed with this information, I have had a crack at designing said decals:

 

 

And on the paint front, as recommended, there's a bottle of Sulfur Yellow on its way right now!

 

So, that's in from me at the moment. As always, thank you for dropping by and thanks for all your help so far.

 

Best wishes,

Sam

 

P.S: A certain delta-winged giant arrived last week, as well as some new paint for it, so I'm desperately resisting the urge to start it!

Just awesome mate! 
 

Ref the blades.. the leading edge is stainless steel however there are light grey PU foil tapes that run along part of it so that might be the reason you’re seeing different colours. I’m actually heading up to G-SCAA tonight so I’ll grab some photos and email them to you.

 

When the interior panels are being removed, the roof panel you showed in your pic is the first piece of trim to come out so I would say below.

 

Any Q’s give me a shout 👍

 

VooDoo

[perdu]

2 hours ago, cathasatail said:

P.S: A certain delta-winged giant arrived last week, as well as some new paint for it, so I'm desperately resisting the urge to start it!

Any bets guys?

 

........................................... . . . . . .  .  .  .  . 

 

The work already in progress is awe-inspiring to me, who takes weeks deciding if the colours are right.

[desert falcon]

Wow this is looking fantastic so far, greatly admire your level of details !! Looking forward to follow as you go along.