Another USCG HH-3F Pelican (Revell 1/72 HH-3E Jolly Green Giant conversion)

[RC Boater Bill]

Inspired by Dermo245 (and to stop cluttering up his Pelican thread) I have decided to jump into the GB with my own build  of the Revell kit:

 

 

Converting an HH-3E to an HH-3F isn’t too hard- the major differences are the removal of the refueling probe, reshaping the sponsons, and the addition of the radar dome on the nose.

 

Looking forward to participating in this one!

 

-Bill

Edited June 30, 2022 by RC Boater Bill
Fixed old typos, added new ones

[RC Boater Bill]

A major interest of mine is models of USCG subjects.  If you want to do a Pelican in 1/72, you have four choices, two of which are eligible for this GB:

1. Revell - covered in 1960s golfball rivets.

2.  Aurora - smooth as can be- almost no surface detail at all.  (Re-popped by Atlantis.)

 

Not eligible:

1.  Lindberg HH-3E (run away!)

2.  Air Graphics HH-3F resin kit. I haven’t seen this one in person, but I’d expect it is the most accurate, given the quality of their other items.

 

 

[RC Boater Bill]

My kit is slightly started-  I had started some parts cleanup a year or two ago.  I also cut the winglets off of the sponsons, and made a simple styrene cap. 

Then I got stalled on how to make the flotation  bag that goes on the end of the sponson, and set the project aside… (until now!)

 

 

 

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Going to follow this build as Im thinking of doing a helo soon. Might just be one of these. 

[Dermo245]

On 6/30/2022 at 9:05 PM, RC Boater Bill said:

Inspired by Dermo245 (and to stop cluttering up his Pelican thread) I have decided to jump into the GB with my own build  of the Revell kit:

 

 

Converting an HH-3E to an HH-3F isn’t too hard- the major differences are the removal of the refueling probe, reshaping the sponsons, and the addition of the radar dome on the nose.

 

Looking forward to participating in this one!

 

-Bill

 

Nice one Bill, look forward to following!

I did check out that conversion set - thanks for the heads up. 👍
Unfortunately UK to EU postage is very prohibitive so going to scratch the details as best I can.

 

Cheers,

Dermot

[RC Boater Bill]

Some progress made:

 

The finished model will go in my display cabinet, so I won’t be bothering with any interior enhancements-OOB is good enough!

I painted the fuselage interior with Stynelrez gray primer, then installed the windows.  There’s no cabin interior detail at all, but you really can’t see inside anyways.  I assembled and painted the cockpit bits, and then glued the fuselage together….

 

Ahh, those rivets!   A coat of primer should tone them down……

[RC Boater Bill]

The best part of building helicopters is that once the fuselage is assembled, you’re nearly finished!

 

Here’s the current state:

 

Installed the canopy, masked it, and attached the sponsons, then primed it with gray stynlrez.  I then painted the entire airframe with multiple light coats of Tamiya XF-2 flat white.  

 

After that was dry, I started on the USCG colors.  Coast Guard aircraft are painted “Coast Guard Red” which is FS12199.   This is a red-orange color that is not far from International Orange (FS12197).   My current favorite (acrylic) paint for this is the old PollyScale model RR color “ Santa Fe Red”.    I masked and painted the fin as a test, and I’m happy with the result….

 

 

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

4 minutes ago, RC Boater Bill said:

The best part of building helicopters is that once the fuselage is assembled, you’re nearly finished!

 

Here’s the current state:

 

Installed the canopy, masked it, and attached the sponsons, then primed it with gray stynlrez.  I then painted the entire airframe with multiple light coats of Tamiya XF-2 flat white.  

 

After that was dry, I started on the USCG colors.  Coast Guard aircraft are painted “Coast Guard Red” which is FS12199.   This is a red-orange color that is not far from International Orange (FS12197).   My current favorite (acrylic) paint for this is the old PollyScale model RR color “ Santa Fe Red”.    I masked and painted the fin as a test, and I’m happy with the result….

 

 

 

Well thats looking good, Ive got some day-glo in my near future also & its always good to see it successfully applied. 

[RC Boater Bill]

Messed up my first attempt at painting the fuselage stripe….

 

After masking and painting it, I realized (after it dried) that I had made it too thin- it was only about 2/3 of the width it should have been.   “No problem” I thought- I just removed the rear masking tape, moved it back a bit and sprayed some more red.

 

That didn’t work-  the red is thin, and there was an obvious change in the color (even after another coat) where the old stripe was.  I did’t want to keep applying layer after layer, so I decided to just re-prime  the entire stripe and do it over.   

 

I left the leading edge tape in place, the line of gray ( if it ghosts through) will provide a guide for the location of new tape.  Next step is to remove the tape, then re-spray the white….  

 

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

3 hours ago, RC Boater Bill said:

Messed up my first attempt at painting the fuselage stripe….

 

After masking and painting it, I realized (after it dried) that I had made it too thin- it was only about 2/3 of the width it should have been.   “No problem” I thought- I just removed the rear masking tape, moved it back a bit and sprayed some more red.

 

That didn’t work-  the red is thin, and there was an obvious change in the color (even after another coat) where the old stripe was.  I did’t want to keep applying layer after layer, so I decided to just re-prime  the entire stripe and do it over.   

 

I left the leading edge tape in place, the line of gray ( if it ghosts through) will provide a guide for the location of new tape.  Next step is to remove the tape, then re-spray the white….  

 

 

Can be a bear when that happens, depends on how much I like the build overall if I go one way or another with my builds. 

[RC Boater Bill]

Stripe is fixed!
 

[RC Boater Bill]

Masking the stripe was a challenge- with all the crevices and rivets.  But I still think that getting decals to fit and lay flat would be just as difficult, and not look as good once finished.

 

Edited July 19, 2022 by RC Boater Bill

[Dermo245]

Great progress Bill, flying along.

[John Ballman]

Really like where this one is heading. Keep up the good work.

JB

[RC Boater Bill]

I realize now that I should have taken care of the nose radar earlier.  Fitting it to the sloping, compound curve of the nose, while keeping it aligned horizontally and vertically is not easy!   In hindsight, I should have drilled a hole in the nose and glued the resin Air Graphics part in it, rather than try to get the base of the part to fit the nose.  Now I can’t can’t even drill a small hole to insert a brass alignment pin-  I’m afraid the debris will end up on the inside of the securely-glued windshield.

 

Tonight I’m going to try attaching it with Milliput. I’ve never used it before, but this seems like a good spot to learn….

 

 

[RC Boater Bill]

Well, that went a lot better than I thought it would.  It turned out to be quite easy!   After mixing the Milliput quite thoroughly, I just took a bit a pea-sized bit, stuck it on the end of the radar pod, and smooshed it into place. I then did some shaping and smoothing with putty tools.

 

A little fine sanding and primer and paint, and I think it will really look the part!

 

 

[stevej60]

Looks a million dollar's Bill,can't wait to see the finished article.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Agreed this is looking very impressive. I really do want to get into a helicopter build someday soon. This even as an older mold does look decent for a starting point.

[RC Boater Bill]

On 7/23/2022 at 2:47 PM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Agreed this is looking very impressive. I really do want to get into a helicopter build someday soon. This even as an older mold does look decent for a starting point.

 

There are some nice kits out there!   They can be quicker to build - once the fuselage is done, you’re almost finished!  But be aware that helicopters need a fair amount of display room-  my 1/72 HH-3F Pelican will take up more space on my display shelf than a 1/48 Wildcat does.  My friend and clubmate Pip Moss builds in mostly 1/48, except for helicopters, where he only does 1/72.  ( I think that’s a good rule of thumb!)

 

I’ve done the Hobby Boss HH-34 Choctaw and the Italeri H-19 Chickasaw, enjoyed both those builds.  I can’t recommend the Revell HH-65, as it is the old Matchbox SA-365 Dauphin mold, very basic, not really accurate for the USCG version, no cabin interior beyond a floor.

 

HH-19:

 

HH-34:

HH-65:

 

 

Edited July 24, 2022 by RC Boater Bill

[RC Boater Bill]

I haven’t done much in the last 3-4 weeks, except I did start to paint the nose.  It is rather complicated to mask— it starts with overall red-orange, but the windshield frames are a mix of black and white- some panels get black frames, while others get white ones. Plus the radar needs to be black as well….

 

Other major tasks remaining:

- paint and install the shield that goes in front of the engine intakes

- mask and paint the rotors

- fabricate some sort of representation of the inflatable floats on the ends of the sponsons

- fabricate and install a rescue hoist

 

I WLL finish this during the GB window!!

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Your paint work looks great, you should be quite happy with this. I did find one of these on Monday, though not sure it was worth the $24 they were asking for it ? Need to think on it for a bit. 

[RC Boater Bill]

50 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

 I did find one of these on Monday, though not sure it was worth the $24 they were asking for it ? Need to think on it for a bit. 

I’d hesitate at that price, too!  If you are not in a rush, you may find it at a show for a lower price.    Depends a lot on what you’re after, too.   If you gotta have an -3E or  -3F model, you are stuck with the old kits (Revell, Lindberg, Aurora/Atlantis), so choice is limited.

 

I still would have probably bought it at that cost,  given that my only other option would have been the resin kit from the UK.  
 

I do have an extra Atlantis kit that I’d sell at a good discount, if you want one….

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

13 minutes ago, RC Boater Bill said:

I’d hesitate at that price, too!  If you are not in a rush, you may find it at a show for a lower price.    Depends a lot on what you’re after, too.   If you gotta have an -3E or  -3F model, you are stuck with the old kits (Revell, Lindberg, Aurora/Atlantis), so choice is limited.

 

I still would have probably bought it at that cost,  given that my only other option would have been the resin kit from the UK.  
 

I do have an extra Atlantis kit that I’d sell at a good discount, if you want one….

 

Thank you very much I appreciate the offer and under normal circumstances would say yes. Sadly Im coming into a period of tight finances currently. So for the next couple of months am unable to say yes. The one local show is coming up in November so will keep a lookout for one there. 

Edited August 24, 2022 by Corsairfoxfouruncle

[Jinxman]

On 8/24/2022 at 6:46 PM, RC Boater Bill said:

I WLL finish this during the GB window!!

That's the spirit! It's looking very sharp indeed.

[Alan P]

Looks great so far, glad you had success with the radome attachment 👍