Zvezda 1/72 C-130H

[Mark V]

I texted a couple of photos of my recently completed Ki-43 Hayabusa to one of my college ROTC buddies.  He told me once that the Oscar was one of his favorite aircraft.  After he saw the pictures, he asked me if I would build a model for him.  He surprised me by asking for a C-130.  He flew C-130s back in the 1980s, H models from Dyess AFB, Tx, and EC-130 Compass Call out of Sembach AB, Germany. He wants a basic trash hauler in Euro 1 lizard camo. 

I checked out what kits were available and the Zvezda 1/72nd C-130H seemed to be the fan favorite.  I checked online shops and eBay and found that BNA Model World in Australia had the best price with shipping.  I put in the order, along with Eduard canopy masks and a cockpit detail set.  In a very short time the box arrived and it was Christmas in October.

But, when I opened the box I thought maybe I should have gone for a 1/144 scale kit.  The Zvezda kit is big.  I usually build 1/48th fighters, so this one dwarfs my workspace.  But I haven't started that 1/48th F-105 yet either.

 

 

I had already started the kit when I took these first photos.  Management of the workspace is important in the build.  You can see the green dusting the spray booth filter.  I glued some of the cargo bay side panels into the fuselage halves, sprayed the interior parts with Testors Model Master Sky Type S.  I had an old bottle that was unopened.  I thought it was too dark for use on a 1/48th Spitfire.  Works well for that sickly "hospital green" that C-130 interiors were painted.  I also painted the landing gear wells, struts, and wheels gloss white. 

 

 

 

After the main gear wells were painted I glued the multi-part sponsons (I think that's the term) to the fuselage sides.  Fit is good, but I usually end up with seams to fill.  There are insert panels forward of the main gear for different versions.  This one does not have forward side doors.  The white squiggle is some correction fluid.  I find it fills fine seams well and wet sands very easily.  I plan on cleaning up the majority of the fuselage seams before getting too far with the interior.  But, when I join the fuselage halves, sanding the long seams will be a problem with keeping the interior clean.  I'll probably tape the openings to try to keep the muck out.  As you can see, the fuselage will be about 17 inches long once the nose cone and tail stinger are attached.

 

The wings consist of 2-piece outer panels with a single upper mid-section that attaches atop the fuselage.  The lower outer panels extend to meet up with the fuselage side, so it should be a strong joint with no wing droop in the future.  Again, the size is impressive.  I don't think it will fit in my spray booth.  

Also in the photo are the 2 external wing fuel tanks.  There are only 3 seated crew members provided.  I guess the Nav and Load Master are late for the flight.  One of the crewmen looks a little like Freddy Mercury with the crew cut and mustache.  

 

 

[Rob G]

The Zvezda kit is big. Yep, so are the Airfix and Italeri versions, coz that's the size that Herkybirds are.  The Academy/Minicraft C-130s are half the size, but nowhere near as nice as the Zvezda.

 

I haven't seen too many gripes about this kit on the interwebs, so it should be a fun build (although I'm sure that there's something that someone had a whinge about). Enjoy.

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Nice job on this!  When you say "ROTC" buddy, do you mean a fellow graduate of the AFROTC program?  I was assigned to support the Compass Calls in the 90s at DM, and everyone spoke highly of Sembach in the 80's, when the program was still "black."  As for Dyess, I never knew they operated C-130Hs, but I assume it was after the Bones (B-1Bs) left.  I love the C-130, and I'll be following your build closely.  As they say, the only replacement for a Hercules is another Hercules...unless you are with the UK MOD.

[Mark V]

6 hours ago, Rob G said:

The Zvezda kit is big. Yep, so are the Airfix and Italeri versions, coz that's the size that Herkybirds are.  The Academy/Minicraft C-130s are half the size, but nowhere near as nice as the Zvezda.

 

I haven't seen too many gripes about this kit on the interwebs, so it should be a fun build (although I'm sure that there's something that someone had a whinge about). Enjoy.

Thank you.  I remember seeing a 1/48th AC-130 kit years ago.  Wow!  The kit seems like a great value for the cost. Very detailed, but room for improvement.  No complaints so far.  I am relying on the internet for photo information and painting guides. 

[Mark V]

1 hour ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Nice job on this!  When you say "ROTC" buddy, do you mean a fellow graduate of the AFROTC program?  I was assigned to support the Compass Calls in the 90s at DM, and everyone spoke highly of Sembach in the 80's, when the program was still "black."  As for Dyess, I never knew they operated C-130Hs, but I assume it was after the Bones (B-1Bs) left.  I love the C-130, and I'll be following your build closely.  As they say, the only replacement for a Hercules is another Hercules...unless you are with the UK MOD.

Yes, we both graduated from Air Force ROTC. Parks College of St Louis University, in 1981. My friend flew with the 463rd Tactical Airlift Wing at Dyess in the mid-1980s, then Sembach ‘87-89. My brother-in-law was part of the initial cadre of B-1 guys at Dyess. I stopped by there for a few days in early 1987 and got the tour of the facilities and aircraft (B-1) when they were new. My friend had just left for Germany a couple of months before my visit. Both types were at Dyess then. 

I hope that you enjoy the build as I progress. 

[Mark V]

One thing that I had to figure out was how to show the non-skid patches on the cargo bay floor.  I want to have the rear ramp open, for looks and to help keep the nose wheel on the ground.  The cargo bay floor has molded in tie down eyelets.  Many eyelets.  But how to reproduce the non-skid on the floor?

I spent a few hours drawing a grid on the computer and adding the non-skid patches.  It took several iterations to get the size of the printed drawing to match the parts, then drawing a grid on the "floor" rectangles to match the eyelet pattern.  Once that was done I drew some rounded-corner rectangles, tweeked the sizes, and copy and pasted them onto the grid.  I did this in Powerpoint since I have some experience with that program.  I'm sure there are other options, but that's what I can do more easily.

I will print the patches on clear decal film.  I will then cut the decal into smaller sections to place on the cargo bay floor.  Fingers crossed. 

In the photo, there is tape on the far right edge of the forward floor piece.  Thats where the forward bulkhead attaches.

 

I will wait to print the decal until I add some external markings to the print page.  I need to draw up some appropriate MAC shields.  On Euro 1 aircraft they look to be light grey and I can't find a source for those.  I also need to make some unit markings and tail numbers.  Easy, but takes a little time.

[72modeler]

14 hours ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Nice job on this!  When you say "ROTC" buddy, do you mean a fellow graduate of the AFROTC program?  I was assigned to support the Compass Calls in the 90s at DM, and everyone spoke highly of Sembach in the 80's, when the program was still "black."  As for Dyess, I never knew they operated C-130Hs, but I assume it was after the Bones (B-1Bs) left.  I love the C-130, and I'll be following your build closely.  As they say, the only replacement for a Hercules is another Hercules...unless you are with the UK MOD.

The 64th TCW at Dyess started with C-130A's but became the 516th TCW in 1963 with new C-130E's, which they were still flying when we left there for Wiesbaden, Germany in 1965, so if they got H models, it had to be after that time. The Bones replaced the B-52's that were the main tenants. My dad was the head of personnel for the 516th, and we were at Dyess from 1960-65.

Mike

[TheyJammedKenny!]

2 hours ago, 72modeler said:

we were at Dyess from 1960-65

Ah, Abilene!  What was it like in the 60's?  In the 90's it was no great shakes.  Thanks for the info on the long C-130 connection. 

"Let's go to Abilene!"

"What's there?"

"I don't know, but let's go to Abilene!"

[jelliott523]

20 hours ago, Mark V said:

One thing that I had to figure out was how to show the non-skid patches on the cargo bay floor.  I want to have the rear ramp open, for looks and to help keep the nose wheel on the ground.  The cargo bay floor has molded in tie down eyelets.  Many eyelets.  But how to reproduce the non-skid on the floor?

I spent a few hours drawing a grid on the computer and adding the non-skid patches.  It took several iterations to get the size of the printed drawing to match the parts, then drawing a grid on the "floor" rectangles to match the eyelet pattern.  Once that was done I drew some rounded-corner rectangles, tweeked the sizes, and copy and pasted them onto the grid.  I did this in Powerpoint since I have some experience with that program.  I'm sure there are other options, but that's what I can do more easily.

I will print the patches on clear decal film.  I will then cut the decal into smaller sections to place on the cargo bay floor.  Fingers crossed. 

In the photo, there is tape on the far right edge of the forward floor piece.  Thats where the forward bulkhead attaches.

 

I will wait to print the decal until I add some external markings to the print page.  I need to draw up some appropriate MAC shields.  On Euro 1 aircraft they look to be light grey and I can't find a source for those.  I also need to make some unit markings and tail numbers.  Easy, but takes a little time.

This looks cool! Great idea! Looking forward to seeing how this turns out. I'm also working on the Zvezda H model. I've decided to try to replicate the padded interior on mine. I dont use a photo hosting site for my photos so I am currently unable to post any photos here. I'll get some added to my Instagram page @jescalemodels soon.

[72modeler]

9 hours ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Ah, Abilene!  What was it like in the 60's?  In the 90's it was no great shakes.  Thanks for the info on the long C-130 connection. 

"Let's go to Abilene!"

"What's there?"

"I don't know, but let's go to Abilene!"

In the 60's it was a great assignment- the best one and the longest one we had during my Dad's AF career, with Wiesbaden Germany being the next best. The city of Abiilene lobbied long and hard to get a base built there, (During WW2 there was Tye AAF, which was an advanced fighter training base, as I recall.) and donated the land as well as constructing the base housing, the clubs, the pool, and the library. People in west Texas are known for their friendliness, and were really glad to have the military there- unlike  when were stationed  at Shaw and Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. The base does have an excellent collection of preserved aircraft on display at the Linear Air  Park, including one of our C-130A's, but since it is on base and since the B-1's  came, you can't get on base unless you have a DoD ID card or know somebody on base who can vouch for you. I was into control line stunt flying back then, so as soon as i got home from school, me and my fellow aviators were at the elementary school playground flying,on the days that the wind wasn't blowing too hard,, which in west Texas  was all the time! Off -topic, to be sure, but this discussion brought back a lot of happy memories of building flying and plastic models and watching C-130's and B-52's all day long!

Mike

Here's the ex-463rd TCW C-130A on display at the Linear Air Park; photo via the TX Historical Commission  website: (She is maintained by a former loadmaster,  and was damaged by enemy fire in Viet Nam. )

Edited November 15, 2023 by 72modeler
added missing text

[Mark V]

Got the cockpit pretty much done.  I asked my buddy if he remembered what color the seats and oxygen bottles were?  I've seen seat photos with cushions in red, black, blue, and gray.  O2 bottles in yellow, black or dark gray, possibly a dark green?  If said he didn't remember so it was my choice.  

I purchased the Eduard cockpit set to jazz it up a bit, but the PE only included the forward panels and seat belts.  Nothing for the circuit breakers panels or the Nav console.  I made those on the computer and printed them out.  The interior green didn't print dark enough but was ok for this one.  The kit did provide decals for the CB panels, sort of, but they look more like mission tallies for the exterior.  Pretty much worthless.  Not much will show up once the fuselage is closed up anyway.  That's why I didn't bother with the upper bunk on the back bulkhead.  The kit provided the bench seat/lower bunk.  If you're smart on installing micro LED lights, this kit is begging for that upgrade.  I can barely change a lightbulb myself.

 

 

For the seats, I put the armrests lowered for the front 3 and up on the Nav seat.  Eduard wants you to cut the headrests off and reposition them higher, with a gap to thread the shoulder straps through.  I just cut the straps and did them individually.  I added a radar scope to the Nav station, and to the front instrument panel.  I also added a couple of hand holds to the rear "doorway".

From photos, the floor looked like a black non-skid material with aluminum strips holding down the edges.  I used silver-painted Tamiya tape strips.  

 

 

 

As usual, the Eduard panels were too light colored.  You can see what it looked like around the center engine instruments on the IP.  I used some dark gray to go over the panels for the pilot/copilot to tone them down.  Lastly, I added the little nose wheel steering control to the left of the IP.  I think that's what it is anyway.  There is a cockpit window next to it so I figured it would be visible.

The kit provides 3 seated crewmen, and I thought I had some extra standing crew in an old Hasegawa pilot and ground crew set.  But none of the standing figures looked quite right for what I wanted to use them for.  I wanted a loadmaster and flight engineer.  I opted to leave the crew out on this one.  

 

Now to the cargo bay...

[CT7567]

On 11/14/2023 at 1:30 PM, Mark V said:

I need to draw up some appropriate MAC shields.  On Euro 1 aircraft they look to be light grey and I can't find a source for those.  I also need to make some unit markings and tail numbers.  Easy, but takes a little time.

 

Caracal Decals did a USAF C-130 Sheet that includes the gray MAC shields, unfortunately now OOP but you may be able to find a distributor that still has them in stock.

 

If the color versions will work, check the same manufacturer's C-135 Generic Markings set which includes both "high viz" and "low viz" variants (with/without the white background to the shields).

[Andrés S.]

Good job in that "office".

 

Andrés.

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Great job on the office!  Yes, O2 bottles were yellow, and yes, that is a nosewheel "tiller" on the AC's side.  No one will ever see it, but the bunk "mattresses," which we used for sitting, not lying down, same color as the seats, and the only time we folded down the upper one (or so I'm told) is if we fitted the clear bubble into the escape hatch to allow someone to call out threats during Red Flag, but I never saw this done.  Reddish orange fabric on seats and mattresses was the rule early on; dark blue was the standard during the 90's, and lamb's wool was sometimes used on the backs of the pilots' seats.  Only time I saw people standing in the cockpit during flight was for the Nav to do this during low-levels to identify a DZ on the E model.  He'd stand by the Copilot and give heading calls at major waypoints.  One thing we also had (not captured here) were footrests for the pilots at the base of the instrument panel so they could put their feet up and relax.

[Bell209]

Very nice so far. The problem with the C-130 in 1/72 is you can't see any of the detail on the Flight Deck, even with the Crew Entrance Door and forward overhead escape hatch open! I super-detailed my C-130E Flight Deck and all you can see is the top bunk, the hang-up cabinet and the emergency oxy bottles. I know it's there, though...

[Mark V]

It's been a couple of weeks of slog with the cargo bay.  I was inspired by Bruno P's C-130K work-in-progress:

My build is not nearly as detailed, but hopefully will look like a 130 in the end.  One thing that Bruno mentioned that he used was Eduard PE sets for the interior.  I found a few available online and bought the interior set and the cargo seat set.  The seat set is excellent and includes the red netting for the backrest, seatbelts, and the deployed seat rows.  I ended up using the kit folded seat rows for the left forward side.  Mainly because there is a lip on the edge of the cargo floor (rollers) that would be difficult to get the bench seat upright supports over, or back in place, straight, after joining the fuselage halves.  

Here is the left side.

 

I glued the cockpit, floor, and ceiling into the right fuselage half.  I have done lots of test fitting of the fuselage halves to make sure everything lines up.  So far so good.

For the seats, I saw on the US Air Force Museum's web site, in the C-130E 360-degree photos, that they had the seat belts X crossed and hanging through the netting.  I thought that looked pretty cool, so copied that.  The belt ends were slightly too large to fit through the webbing, so I trimmed them down a hair.  I also painted the backside of the PE parts since, when folding the belts over, the backside shows through the webbing.  I also painted the backside of the red webbing since there are windows behind some of them.  Not that much will be seen through the tiny (~4mm dia) windows.  One additional mod was to glue support rods along the cargo bay wall to give a better gluing surface for the bench seats and nets.  Otherwise it's just the very thin edge of the PE touching the walls.  

 

 

The homemade cargo floor non-skid decals turned out ok.  I always print at least two sets, just in case.  In this case it was good, because I tried to put a long strip on the longer piece and the decal stretched out so that it was about 1/2" too long when I tried to put it on.  I ended up cutting the decals into smaller pieces and applying them over a couple of days.  Worked out ok, but if you look too closely, you can see where the alignment is off, mainly due to stretching.  In the long dark cargo bay of the model, it looks pretty good and the errors are not really noticeable.  

 

 

 

The shiny parts in the netting are the seat belt buckles.  The PE is unpainted silver (steel?) on the backside.

There are a few more bits to add in the rear side areas before I glue the fuselage halves together.  Hopefully I can get the fuselage together in the next day or so.   Bruno added the toilet facilities to his build, located aft of the rear paratrooper jump doors.  I thought about following his lead, but I decided I was ready to move forward with the build.   The Eduard interior detail set is pretty good, but the unpainted parts are very thin.  The pre-painted parts are for the side doors, forward crew door and stairs, and some other bits.  I'll work on those after the big stuff is together and painted.

[Bruno P]

I'm following your outstanding job with great interest!!!!

[Bruno P]

I'm following your outstanding job with great interest!!!!

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Nicely done, all of this!  The bare-metal cargo floor with the decal anti skid patches looks the part, too.  If you were really hardcore, you'd scratch the cargo tie-downs that are stowed in plain view against the bulkhead up front.  Naaah.

[Mark V]

Ok, back from a week in, alternately, rainy, cloudy, sunny, cool, windy Florida.  Visited my daughter and grandson that live near Eglin AFB.  Of course, I visited the USAF Armament Museum outside of Eglin.  Last time I was there the AC-130 was open and I walked through with my grandson.  An impressive aircraft.  This time it was cool and a light drizzle was coming down.  We walked around inside and checked out the displays.  After that visit I drove to the Kennedy Space Center area to visit some college buddies who are NASA retirees.  They were excited about a planned SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch, but it was cancelled so we didn't see it.  After that, another drive further south to my mom's place near Stuart on the Atlantic coast.  Beach closed due to high winds.  Back to the cold rain in Portland, Oregon now.

 

With my own Zvezda C-130H, I got back to assembly.  I did some seam clean up and rescribed some lost panel lines.  I added the wing and cleaned up those seams a bit too.  There were a couple of sink marks just inboard of the horizontal tails, both sides.  Those are the white dots back there.  Just a touch of filler at the wing/fuselage joint and right on the nose below the windscreen to fix a slight side to side mismatch that was probably my fault.

 

 

Just to clarify a couple of points on my previous posts - You can't see much of anything inside the fuselage.  A flashlight shows the seats in the cargo bay, the floor looks good, and the cockpit is mostly hidden.  Oh well...  Bottom line is save your money on the Eduard sets.  You won't see much of them.

Before I started painting, I wanted to install the cockpit glass parts.  I have Eduard masks and was looking forward to moving on with painting the rarely seen on models Euro 1 lizard scheme. 

 

BUT...

 

The main windscreen piece does not fit!  I hadn't taken it out of the plastic sleeve to avoid damage or loss of parts until now.  

 

 

 

 

It looks kinked, the wrong way, in the center panel.  

Questions - 

Does Zvezda provide replacement parts?  If so, has anyone had any luck with getting them?  Who do I contact, specifically, to get a replacement?

My only other option, I guess, is to carefully cut the center section from the side pieces.  Install the side pieces as best I can and make a new center piece from clear plastic sheet.  In the photo it looks like the forward left and right sections are slightly bowed outward too, so maybe all three pieces need to be replaced.

 

I am basically stopped on this project until I figure this out.  I can paint up the landing gear and maybe spray the Gunship Gray on the undersides and cargo ramps.  At least get those done.

[MrB17]

Yes, they do provide replacement parts, I had a couple of shrivelled engine nacelles and they provided new ones. I was directed to a German distributor when I contacted them and everything was looked after by them. It took about 6 weeks, but they came well packaged and were perfect. I haven’t checked my clear parts, but I will check them now!

 

The build is looking very nice, the cargo floor is very much the part. I worked on Herk’s in the late 70’s and I really like what you’ve done so far. Happy to follow along.

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

[Mark V]

Well, crap.  The canopy seemed pretty flexible, and a couple of guys suggested to glue it in segments to wrap it in place.  Seemed like a good idea so I gave it a shot.  

 

 

I did not see the crack until I touched the edge with some Tamiya Extra Thin cement.  Maybe in my bending it to see if it would fit it introduced a bit too much stress?

Oh well, guess I will wait to see if Zvezda comes through with a replacement.  Otherwise, I will try to carefully cut out the damaged panel and fill it in with some clear acetate.  (Old plastic packaging that hasn't yellowed over a few years so far.)

This will be on hold for a while until I know about a replacement.

I have a Tamiya 1/48th P-47D Razorback that I've been wanting to build.  Should be fun and easy. (I hope)

[amos brierley]

Oops sorry to see this. I should have suggested possibly cutting the windscreen into three pieces. I too have a need for Zveda C-130 replacement parts. Wishing you well with this project.  😉

[Mark V]

I received a reply from Zvezda.  From the "[email protected]" email address.  

 

Dear Mr.

 

we apologize for the missing parts.

 

We will send it to you at no costs.

Please be aware that the replacements generally take 6-8 weeks because they are sent from Russia.

Unfortunately, due to the current situation, long delays are very possible.

 

Kind regards

 

Your Hobby-Pro / Zvezda Team

ZVEZDA sales & marketing
c/o Hobby Pro Marketing GmbH
Am Leonhardbach 7
8010 Graz / Austria

 

So I will wait, somewhat patiently, and see what happens before I cut up the damaged windscreen.  

I will let you know when it arrives.  

 

In the meantime, I have started on the Tamiya 1/48th P-47D Razorback.  No WiP since it's a fairly common build.

[Scooby]

On 11/20/2023 at 2:05 AM, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Great job on the office!  Yes, O2 bottles were yellow, and yes, that is a nosewheel "tiller" on the AC's side.  No one will ever see it, but the bunk "mattresses," which we used for sitting, not lying down, same color as the seats, and the only time we folded down the upper one (or so I'm told) is if we fitted the clear bubble into the escape hatch to allow someone to call out threats during Red Flag, but I never saw this done.  Reddish orange fabric on seats and mattresses was the rule early on; dark blue was the standard during the 90's, and lamb's wool was sometimes used on the backs of the pilots' seats.  Only time I saw people standing in the cockpit during flight was for the Nav to do this during low-levels to identify a DZ on the E model.  He'd stand by the Copilot and give heading calls at major waypoints.  One thing we also had (not captured here) were footrests for the pilots at the base of the instrument panel so they could put their feet up and relax.

I slept on those bunks all the time, upper and lower.

 

We also had a curtain we could wrap around the bunks.

 

Check pilot/standards pilot would often stand in the cockpit. We had a Herc crash during a LAPES drop, the check pilot was standing at the time. Amazingly he survived. Not only was he a squadron mate, he was a childhood friends father.