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Kaman HOK/HUK-1


zebra

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From one manufacturer with a distinctive, characteristic design feature (Kamov's contra-rotating main rotors) to another one, similarly named at that, with Kaman's intermeshing rotors - the Kaman HOK/HUK-1, using the AMP 1/48 kit. Not yet decided whether this will be a USMC HOK-1 or a US Navy HUK-1 - I think the only difference is the colour scheme. 

 

Here's the kit. Quite a lot of nicely detailed plastic parts, quite a lot of PE, some resin for the engine, and masks. I have a feeling this is going to be one of those kits that rewards careful builders and punishes carelessness!

 

AMP Kaman HOK-1

 

more soon

Julian

 

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Ooooh... I looked at this kit on line and looked again at the price. With our SA Rand being 20:1 to the UK Pound as much as I would love one, it ain't gonna' happen!

I'll follow your build with great interest. I wasn't aware the Marines used this type , I thought it was only the USAF.

 

Colin

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Cracking on with it. The build-up of the airframe is a bit unusual, but that's down to the unusual configuration of the helicopter. I've started by cleaning up and beginning the assembly of the main fuselage components. On each side there's a tail boom, rotor mast and fuselage side - these will be built up and joined with the rear fuselage roof. Then we have the cockpit roof - the clear part with a couple of PE bits attached, fuselage bottom, and cockpit floor and rear bulkhead. The bit on the left of the photo with numerous bits of PE attached goes at the front of the cockpit floor - pedals will attach to this part. These parts have all gone off to the garage to be sprayed with some interior green.

 

AMP Kaman HOK-1

 

more soon

Julian

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You're a brave man, Julian @zebra !

 

Hope you can control all the pe pedal supports and keep them from the carpet monster. Also I hope you have more success orientating the engine than I did.

 

The model continues to sneer at me from the shelf of doom.

 

Good luck with your build, I have every confidence that you will tame it !

Rog

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1 hour ago, roginoz said:

You're a brave man, Julian @zebra !

 

Hope you can control all the pe pedal supports and keep them from the carpet monster. Also I hope you have more success orientating the engine than I did.

 

The model continues to sneer at me from the shelf of doom.

 

Good luck with your build, I have every confidence that you will tame it !

Rog

Thanks! The carpet monster has tried to take a couple of the PE parts already but I fought it off. I think this kit's going to put up a fight, but I'll do my best to stand my ground and stare it down!

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I seem to have been forgetting to post updates! I've reached a big milestone today - the basic airframe is assembled. Getting it there was a bit challenging!

 

Here are the main components that have to go together (plus the tail group, which is going to be attached at the end):

 

AMP Kaman HOK-1

 

The cockpit is attached to the fuselage bottom already. The flat piece next to it goes at the top, between the two rotor masts, with the intake sitting just below it. The cockpit roof should slot in just before that.

 

In theory this should all work pretty well, but it's a bit of a juggling act to get it all together. It's not helped by all the locating tabs being slightly too big for the slots they're supposed to go in to, so they all have to be trimmed, and all the interior parts get in the way when you're trying to do it (one of the rudder pedals was taken by the carpet monster in the process). If I was to build another of these (and I probably won't, but I do have the HH-43 kit in the stash) I'd leave out all the interior parts and assemble the fuselage first - they could easily be added after it's gone together.

 

The other issue is that the slope of the roof is hard to get right and test fitting showed that the windscreen wasn't going to fit very well. So I cut the roof in two, around the line of the intake above it, so should be able to align it better this way.

 

Here's the assembled fuselage:

 

AMP Kaman HOK-1 (2)

 

more soon

Julian

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The thing with the roof has worked quite nicely. I've deviated a bit from the build sequence again - the instructions would have you fit the doors, then a frame at the front that the windscreen sits on. Instead I attached the frame to the roof part and used it to get the alignment of the roof right. Here it is before the doors and windscreen went on:

 

AMP Kaman HOK-1

 

Then I got the windscreen, doors and undercarriage on. It's currently resting upside down to keep the weight off the undercarriage while it sets:

 

AMP Kaman HOK-1 (2)

 

Next job will be to start painting. Clearly painting before the engine goes in is the sensible thing to do. So I'm also leaving the tail group off as it might get in the way when I'm trying to fit the engine. I've decided it's going to be a USMC HOK-1.

 

cheers

Julian

 

 

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On 2/26/2023 at 12:47 AM, Bobby No Mac said:

bonkers contraption

Sums it up pretty well!

 

17 hours ago, Col. said:

The almost complete coverage of those decals ensures they add a lot of extra visual interest to an already complex machine.

I love that the one that seems most prominent is something that would be an unobtrusive warning placard on just about any other aircraft!

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On 2/27/2023 at 4:11 AM, Grandboof said:

Looking great . From the warning signs I assume it was good at mincing ground crew 

Martin H 

I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but this machine was first built for the Air Force for crash rescue, I don't think there was any other purpose built for that job. The idea behind the rotors was to hover the helicopter over a crashed plane and blow the fire away from the crew. I've known a few nitwit maintainers from time to time, but they don't last long at the job. I suspect the ground crews on those things knew to keep their head's out.

 

Also, Wright-Patt engineers made an oversized fire extinguisher for it to lift over a crash and smother the flames. An aircraft fire under any circumstance can really spoil your day.

 

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And this, just for fun:

 

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