A Squadron of Hercules!

[RMCS]

Fantastic 

[Bell209]

Lovely work! I may well use your box-as-hangar solution for mine. Despite outlaying a considerable sum for AM gear for my Italeri C130H and J-30 kits, after seeing the Zvezda kit built up I had to buy one of each instead!

[Angell328]

1 hour ago, Bell209 said:

Lovely work! I may well use your box-as-hangar solution for mine. Despite outlaying a considerable sum for AM gear for my Italeri C130H and J-30 kits, after seeing the Zvezda kit built up I had to buy one of each instead!

Thanks Chap!

Yes the Zvezda Hercules kits are wonderful, few little areas to concentrate on that I have found are common across them all.

The fuselage halves seem to curl in along the mating edges, more noticable along the lower edge. My guess is the plastic constricts on removal from the mould. Gluing a few inches at a time with clamps seems to help, but I expect there will still be filler required on the underside.

Talking filler, where the forward undercarriage blisters attach on the underside there is a sizeable step that will require filling and contour sanding.

The forward individual cockpit windows are best fitted before the fuselage halves are joined together as you may need to remove the lip that is supposed to support the window glass, but actually stops them from sitting flush with the fuselage skin. I have found the best way is to remove the lip, sand the edges of the glass for a snug fit (if required) and then support from both sides as you glue.

If you are having the ramp open then a strip of thick plasticard glued under the ramp floor to cargo bay floor is a wise choice to stop it parting company from the airframe from the slightest knock, the butt joint area is very small!!

 

Enjoy the build, even with these little niggles it is still the best 72nd Herc out the box.

 

Matt

Edited August 1, 2022 by Angell328
additional info

[TheyJammedKenny!]

On 7/31/2022 at 4:30 AM, Celestialsphere said:

Truly a herculean effort!

Agreed!  You must have an assembly line in your house to rival the plant in Marrieta.  This is beautiful work, all around.  Where did you get the nose blisters for the C.1?  Do they come with the kit of the H?  Also, I had no idea that RAF C.4's were fitted with SKE.  What a surprise!

[Lord Riot]

Outstanding work! Every one of them is brilliant, and those interiors are awesome.

 

@Angell328 How do those of you serving on these feel about losing such a versatile workhorse, particularly given the returning Cold War enmity? Surely we can’t afford that capability gap? We don’t have enough A400s, do we?
 

I’d love to see you build an old school Herc in the green/grey 80’s camo that I remember, and a crud n’ custard one.

[Evalman]

Wonderful! Thanks for sharing them with us. 

[Pinback]

15 hours ago, Angell328 said:

 

I have an old airfix kit that I was thinking about doing as a chocolate bomber.

I think the older kit will suit the classic scheme, especially with Land Rover and Bloodhound missile parked up next to her.

Yay!  No pressure now Matt

[Angell328]

7 hours ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Agreed!  You must have an assembly line in your house to rival the plant in Marrieta.  This is beautiful work, all around.  Where did you get the nose blisters for the C.1?  Do they come with the kit of the H?  Also, I had no idea that RAF C.4's were fitted with SKE.  What a surprise!

Thank you, they really are a labour of love, much like the real ones!

Unfortunatly the chaff and flare dispensers in the Zvezda kit are of the J type, so I had to scratch build the K dispensers from plasticard with a milliput skin sanded to shape.

Yes we still have SKE which is used fairly often, just not in the big 12 ship formations of days past.

 

Matt

[Angell328]

7 hours ago, Lord Riot said:

Outstanding work! Every one of them is brilliant, and those interiors are awesome.

 

@Angell328 How do those of you serving on these feel about losing such a versatile workhorse, particularly given the returning Cold War enmity? Surely we can’t afford that capability gap? We don’t have enough A400s, do we?
 

I’d love to see you build an old school Herc in the green/grey 80’s camo that I remember, and a crud n’ custard one.

Thank you kindly.

 

Without getting too political I think the Herc will be missed in the short term due to how we operate.

The A400 isn't a Herc replacement as such, it will be able to do a lot of what we can do, but not everything. So the way we operate tactical transport will have to change to reflect that. We have many A400's, I think 20 at last count, but they are having teething troubles which makes operating the entire fleet right now unfeasible.

 

Personally I don't want the old girl to go, I still think there is a solid place for Hercules operation in the wider plan, plus on a selfish note I am a one trick pony and the RAF is taking my trick away!! 😆

 

Matt

[perdu]

No politics here, but I think you are right about the gap.

 

No government gets this stuff right do they.

 

But you do get this stuff right, these are tremendous.

 

I hope Debs can see them from inside her self inflicted solitude. 

 

I love the Herc, first time I flew in one it was 202, now preserved at Cosford with props doing Debs's head in.

 

👍

[MrB17]

I love your collection so far, @Angell328, it’s a great idea and once they are all completed, the flight line will look spectacular! I think you’ve earned the title of “Mr. Herk”, at least in the scale modelling community. Nice to see XV179, a fitting tribute to those lost in her. I’m only doing 2, from the International Air Tattoo 1979, CC-130E 130316 and C-130K XV200. I was a Herk rigger in the late 70’s.
I am very impressed with your work, and I didn’t realize you can see all the way to the forward bulkhead! I’ll have to kick it up a notch! I look forward to seeing more.

C-130 on the taxi way,

Airborne man gonna jump today,

And if that chute don’t open wide,

I’ve got another one by my side.

Sound off one…two,

one…two…three…four,

one two three four!

 

Cheers

Jeff

 

[SAT69]

Your work and devotion are both exceptional!

[F-32]

[Bell209]

On 8/1/2022 at 11:05 AM, Angell328 said:

Enjoy the build, even with these little niggles it is still the best 72nd Herc out the box.

I'm looking forward to it! Thanks for the tips on construction - I'm doing the C-130H with the Ramp and Door open (and a UH-1H disassembled inside as the load), so your suggestions will be of great value.

[Angell328]

23 minutes ago, Bell209 said:

I'm looking forward to it! Thanks for the tips on construction - I'm doing the C-130H with the Ramp and Door open (and a UH-1H disassembled inside as the load), so your suggestions will be of great value.

Sounds like you will have a fun build on your hands for the load not just the Herc!

A load like that will help disguise the fact the interior walls are a little bit sparse in detail out of the box, looking forward to seeing your project progressing.

 

Matt

[Bell209]

2 hours ago, Angell328 said:

A load like that will help disguise the fact the interior walls are a little bit sparse in detail out of the box,

That's the idea. I've actually done this load for real a number of times, so I know how everything should be arranged. A couple of other projects to finish first...

[Angell328]

7 hours ago, Bell209 said:

That's the idea. I've actually done this load for real a number of times, so I know how everything should be arranged. A couple of other projects to finish first...

Not moved a Helicopter yet, lots of armour, vehicles, random palleted loads, air dispatched boats and self loading freight 😁 They normally chuck the Heli's in the C17's, no complaints here!

My build No.8 is going to be a full CDS fit, that is going to be a fun few days of scratch building 🥴

Thinking of having a landrover in my build, bring my two interests together.

 

Matt

[tMikha]

Impressive collection and very neat-looking results!

Thank's for sharing! 👍

[Bell209]

On 8/4/2022 at 11:15 PM, Angell328 said:

My build No.8 is going to be a full CDS fit, that is going to be a fun few days of scratch building 🥴

Yeah, not my idea of fun - they were a pain to configure in the C-130 in real life!

[Tiger331]

Matt,

 

Phew.....I thought my 6 x Zvedza C-130 projects was ambitious !. My time on the C-130 largely predates the 'J' so I will be focusing on the C Mk.1 and C.Mk 3 on which I spent so much time in the early to mid-1980s. One will be the C.Mk.1P in which I completed a memorable Red Flag sortie in 1985 with the 'Chilean Captain'. I do have one of the RAF C-130J 'Specials' to do although, as you say, it will be difficult to decide which one !. 

 

You have done a masterful job on these and I was pleased to see that the Eduard aftermarket works well since I have invested quite a bit into these sets. 

 

Like others have said, I'm having some difficulty accepting an Air Force without the C-130 in the inventory since it seems to have been around forever (well at least for my 41+ years of previous service) and the A400M just seems to big for some of what we used to do in TAC Airlift. 

 

Anyway, Well Done, Sir ! 

[elanman]

Fab collection of really well built and painted Herks. A lump in the throat seeing 179, was on duty at Lyneham that day, will never forget the phone call.

[Angell328]

On 8/7/2022 at 4:21 PM, Tiger331 said:

Matt,

 

Phew.....I thought my 6 x Zvedza C-130 projects was ambitious !. My time on the C-130 largely predates the 'J' so I will be focusing on the C Mk.1 and C.Mk 3 on which I spent so much time in the early to mid-1980s. One will be the C.Mk.1P in which I completed a memorable Red Flag sortie in 1985 with the 'Chilean Captain'. I do have one of the RAF C-130J 'Specials' to do although, as you say, it will be difficult to decide which one !. 

 

You have done a masterful job on these and I was pleased to see that the Eduard aftermarket works well since I have invested quite a bit into these sets. 

 

Like others have said, I'm having some difficulty accepting an Air Force without the C-130 in the inventory since it seems to have been around forever (well at least for my 41+ years of previous service) and the A400M just seems to big for some of what we used to do in TAC Airlift. 

 

Anyway, Well Done, Sir ! 

Thank you very much, yes the eduard parts are a game changer for the back end.

 

Nice to see another herc vet building the old girls up, I look forward to seeing your fleet take shape.  If the lads at work didn't know how much I enjoyed sticking plastic together I don't think I would have been inudated with build requests 🤣 a case of making a rod for my own back I feel!

 

Yes I wonder what will happen in the future with TAC airlift, time will tell I am sure.

 

Matt

[Angell328]

On 8/7/2022 at 4:44 PM, elanman said:

Fab collection of really well built and painted Herks. A lump in the throat seeing 179, was on duty at Lyneham that day, will never forget the phone call.

Very kind of you to say.

 

I was on guard duty when we got the notification through about 179, soon had the gate ready for what seemed like every reporter in the world turning up! Miss the boys still.

 

Matt

[MrB17]

I thought I would share this with you, I had ordered this a while back, from the UK to display with my 2 Air Tattoo 1979 Herk’s. It features XV179 on the cover painting, in better days.

Cheers

Jeff

[philp]

Great builds.  I have only picked up one of the Zvezda kits.  I also have the old Italeri AC-130A.  Would like to do a few more gunships but fixing the engines on the older kits would get expensive.