Sikorsky S-58 / UH-34 MLD ** Finished **

[Rob K.]

Hi,

 

On my shelf for a while now is trumpeters UH-34.

 

 

I am not a helicopter expert, but I believe this is the same as an S-58.

 

I gather you should be able to build this as an S-58 as used by the Netherlands Navy.

 

 

 

At the time I tried to get the “DutchDecals” sheet, but it had sold out. Did find a set from a company previously unknown to me by the name of Heli Scale.

 

 

I also ordered a rotor folding set from Scale warships Ltd. designed for use on the Italeri kit. It is actually for the Wessex and I am not sure if they share the same rotor head as on the S-58. However, hopefully I can make it work.

 

 

The trumpeter kit does allow to fold the tail rotor at first glance, so I hope to display it as shown in the National Military Museum in Soesterberg, The Netherlands.

 

 

 

Also plenty of reference material on the IPMS NL website:

 

https://ipms.nl/artikelen/nedmil-luchtvaart/vliegtuigen-s/vliegtuigen-s-sikorsky-s58

 

 

 

That’s all, thanks for watching.

 

Rgds,

 

 Rob 

 

 

 

[Rob K.]

Hi,

 

Managed to pick up the Seabat again and make some progress.

 

Started with some of the engine components:

 

And did some work on the interior using Trumpeters own photo etch set:

 

 

 

Looking at the S-58 photo walk around on the Dutch IPMS website, it appears that at least some seats in the cargo compartment were facing forward, but these seat types were not included in the kit and I quite liked the web typed seats (difficult to see from this photo angle). Also planning to try to mimic the seat type as per below image (although this is actually the interior of a S-55)

Not sure if different seat or perhaps stretcher arrangements or a combination of those were used by the Dutch Navy, but I don’t fancy converting the current seats. I am going to keep the interior pretty much O.O.B.

 

 

Hopefully the Orange netting will show a little through the windows to add some interest.

 

In addition I inserted the photo-etch metal mesh engine vent covers onto the main fuselage as per below:

 

 

Below the link for the Walkaround:

 

https://ipms.nl/walkarounds/walkaround-helicopters/walkaround-s58

 

That’s all, thanks for watching,

 

Rgds,

 

Rob

 

 

 

 

[heloman1]

Neat choice and good start Bob. The S-58 and the kit are indeed all the same family just different designations across the different services.

I have the Gallery release, pre Trumpeter but same parts , different boxing. However, I prefer the Italeri kit, is has a little more finesse about the shape.

As you may have found there is plenty of reference around the net.

Looking forward to your progress...

 

Colin

[Flyingdutchman]

Very interesting build Rob!

[Rob K.]

Hi,

There is quite the amount of photo etch to contend with in order to assemble this kit. Some will have to be bent significantly in order to follow the contours of the fuselage and tail:

 

Also broke the tail rotor axle, so replaced it with Albion metal tubing.
 

 

 

It would probably have been more accurate to remove the plastic behind the mesh/grill on the nose, but in order to get the curvature right I used it as a backing for the photo etch and I will simply use a black background behind the mesh, using black panel liner.

In order to try and achieve an even curvature of the mesh I used below photo etch tool:

 

 

Photo etch was mainly attached with Zap thin CA and Mig Ultra acrylic glue.

 

That’s all, thanks for watching,

 

Rgds,

 

Rob

 

 

 

[hendie]

It's almost a Wessex so I'll follow along.

Very neat job with the PE - I always get cyano everywhere

 

 

[AlxBNE]

I second the compliments on the PE work.

I think not drilling out the nose so you could use it to shape the PE then using a black background was very sensible and will look better than misshapen mesh.

Nice neat job 

[Rob K.]

8 hours ago, hendie said:

It's almost a Wessex so I'll follow along.

Very neat job with the PE - I always get cyano everywhere

 

 

Hi Hendie,

 

Thanks for your comments.

 

I did clean up some of the CA mishaps with VMS debonder, which works ok.

 

Thanks also to @AlxBNE, @Flyingdutchman and @heloman1 for their comments!

 

Regards,

 

Rob

[Rob K.]

Hi,

 

I am having second thoughts concerning the cabin layout. I have seen the excellent work of @Martian on the Seabat and the interior of that particular model is quite extensive. My skills are not nearly as good, so I am planning to keep the cabin fairly simple after the modification from anti submarine to Utility helicopter took place.

 

I have found some references on quite a comprehensive Dutch navy air arm website with photo references of several types of aircraft which used to operate on their aircraft carrier which they operated in the 50’s and 60’s:

 

http://www.vlaggeschipsmaldeel5.nl/html/vliegdienst_index.html

 

I have found some images of a cabin setup (in museum setting):

 

 

 

 

I am just wondering if this was a typical setup as it would be more practical to leave the space next to the stretcher free for a SAR cradle in order to transfer the rescuee.

 

Just wondering if the seats are leftover from the Doppler operating station and placed  in a different position. 
In order to avoid the significant modification to interior and underside, I am planning to portray the aircraft after modification, which I presume is shown on below picture where the underside appears free from this equipment?

 

 

Quite difficult to find original images of the cabin interior post modification, other than the museum images. Will keep on researching for a while longer. 
 

Rgds,

 

Rob

 

 

 

 

 

 

[heloman1]

Hi rob, the seats in the cabin look like cockpit seats but could just as easily been from the ASW role. It may not be too far from the original. Then if you can't find ref that sys differently, go with it.

 

Colin

[Hook]

Nice work. This may be helpful as well, hopefully:

 

https://ipms.nl/artikelen/nedmil-luchtvaart/vliegtuigen-s/vliegtuigen-s-sikorsky-s58

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[Rob K.]

Hi,

 

Did some work on the engine. Airbrushed with AK xtreme metal paints and mr. Color and initially weathered with Mr weathering. However removed this product as it remained sticky. Did not now they were oil based which makes them longer to dry. So removed the substance and used Tamiya weathering powders instead and on the engine bulkhead I used a flory-wash.

 

Will decide whether to apply some more wiring etc. as the engine bay in real life is quite busy.

 

 

 

 

 

Some tidying up to do as well, before it is installed to the main deck.

 

That’s all, thanks for watching,

 

Rgds,

 

Rob

[Pajarito]

On 3/14/2023 at 4:06 PM, Rob K. said:

 

Nice work, Rob!

What brand name is this tool?

Cheers,

 

Igna 

[Rob K.]

24 minutes ago, Pajarito said:

 

Nice work, Rob!

What brand name is this tool?

Cheers,

 

Igna 

Hi Igna,

It is from “The Small Shop”. I got mine from Historex in the UK. 
 

 

 

See also the YouTube video:

 

 

 

Rgds,

 

Rob

 

 

 

[perdu]

Very useful links to that tool kit Rob, thanks.

 

Have you decided which undercarriage option you are going to build (loving the build so far) for the Seabat?

 

We've seen both options in Dutch markings from you, this one.

 with the hinged two beam axle and this one with the swivelling arm type.

 

I haven't looked inside the box of the ones you have there, does it have both styles?

[Rob K.]

1 hour ago, perdu said:

Very useful links to that tool kit Rob, thanks.

 

Have you decided which undercarriage option you are going to build (loving the build so far) for the Seabat?

 

We've seen both options in Dutch markings from you, this one.

 with the hinged two beam axle and this one with the swivelling arm type.

 

 

I haven't looked inside the box of the ones you have there, does it have both styles?

Hi,

 

Yes it has both styles of under carriage. Leaning towards the triangular version on the top photograph, but I have to do some more research concerning the later modified Utility airframes, which serial numbers were those and what undercarriage did they have and then pick one. Not necessarily going with the aircraft numbers as shown on the earlier heli-scale decal sheet.

 

Thanks,

 

Rgds,

 

Rob

[Rob K.]

Hi,

 

Not being able to find sufficient images of the interior (apart from the museum pictures), I have been playing around with some of the seats supplied in the kit and some spare seats. Thought it would be likely that some of the ASW seats would be retained and as such I have placed one close to the entrance. 
 

The seats are not fixed yet, but I might go with below configuration.

 

 

That’s it for todays progress.

 

Thanks for watching,

 

Rgds,

 

Rob

[heloman1]

Looking good...

[Flyingdutchman]

Great progress, the interior looks very realistic.

[Rob K.]

Hi,

 

Managed to finish the cockpit. Kept it simple and used the instrument decal which was provided in the kit. Used some Tamiya Panel liner on the seats and belts along with some staining with mr weathering.

 

Have not been able locate the collective pitch levers. Maybe to be added later from scratch if I can find some images for reference.

 

Instructions tell you to fix the engine on the main deck at this stage, but I would rather fix it snug to the front fuselage wall (which should still be possible after some dry-fitting).

 

Below the result so far:

 

 

 

 

 

That’s all, thanks for watching,

 

 Rgds,

 

Rob

 

[GeejeeZ]

Magnificent work Rob, and going fast. Following this one with interest!!

[Rob K.]

Thank you to @GeejeeZ and @Flyingdutchman for your feedback!
 

Rgds,

 

Rob

 

[Rob K.]

Morning,

 

Nice early morning and managed to get some work in.

 

The bottom of the engine compartment is open. This is not reflected in the kit, so opened it up and cut out some Eduard mesh and attached it not so neatly to the cut out frame:

 

 

Luckily this will not show and on the underside it looks a lot better:

 

 

Dry fitted at the moment, but this is what we should end up with. I had to reduce the thickness of the frame by sanding it down in order to compensate for the thickness of the mesh:

 

 

Also glued the two fuselage halves together. Will require some filling and sanding.

This is mainly due to engine supports at the bottom. They have to accurately align with the fuselage halves. They are probably best fitted after the 2 halves have been fitted together. In fact, it is probably better to only attach the bulkhead to the construction and fit the engine later.

 

 

 

All the filler material is CA glue mixed with gun metallic powder. This makes the waiting time for drying very short, so should be able to get that done today, before it dries rock hard.

 

That’s it for now, thanks for watching,

 

Rgds,

 

Rob

 

[Rob K.]

Hi,

 

Filled all the gaps and seems where necessary and sanded it down.

 

Next step is to prime the bare surfaces and check where I need to restore panel lines and riveting.

 

The progress so far:

 

 

Thanks for watching,

 

Rgds,

 

Rob

[Rob K.]

Hi,

 

All covered in primer and looks ok overall and ready for restoring the lost panel lines and rivet detail:

 

 

Couple of items to address though. The front windshield overlaps too much. It will have to be removed.
 

 

It therefore requires sanding back. Luckily the angels are all straight:

 

This only leaves me with two smaller gaps at the front of the side windows, but hopefully a little Vallejo putty will take care of that.

 

Hard to see, but the Canopy is now much more in line with the curved exterior area in front of the dashboard:

 

Another issue is the front grill. The dried up thin black CA, even after priming still shows after multiple passes with the airbrush.
The back ground does need to be black, but it is already clear that airbrushing the area black will not work. I may have to achieve this with thinned black paint or panel liner and very carefully build it up until it is saturated. Wish I had opened it up earlier, by cutting away the plastic and made it see through like it is supposed to. I believe the Italeri version is indeed open with only a photo etch grill.

 

Anyway, so finally hitting a few obstacles. Hopefully they can be resolved.

 

That’s all, thanks for watching,

 

Rgds,

 

 

 Rob