air5 Posted June 12, 2011 Posted June 12, 2011 This project started may years ago with the Matchbox Wessex, I added details to the nose grill, interior and the out sides. Model Decals were used and it was painted using Xtra Color RAF yellow. Next came the SeaKing Also using the RAF Yellow and Model Decals sheet. The interior and exterior were modified and detailed. Then after many years along came Rotor Craft's Mk-9 conversion, but I already had my Mk-9 done. Some the "9" jumped ship and became a 10 with a little surgary to the nose (engine intake and screen), a few changes to the windscreen and the undersides. Again Xtra Color RAF Yellow, and it has held up for 22 years in the tinlet! The decals are from Maintrack dry transfer decals, these too held up waiting for the right combination of conversion and model kit. As a note the RAF as well as the RAN paints one main rotor blade yellow. for recognition from above, much as my local fire agencies do. For us however it is suppost to keep the guy from landing into someone else rotor disk! Not really, it is for better visualization from above. For the models I did not know this until well after the models were done. Hope you enjoyed! Comments alwas welcomed.
Vulcanicity Posted June 12, 2011 Posted June 12, 2011 What a lovely tribute the RAF rescue: definitely worth all those years' wait!
manuel Posted June 12, 2011 Posted June 12, 2011 (edited) Excellent work. Are they the Airfix Sea king and the Airfix Whirlwind ? Edited June 12, 2011 by manuel
Shaun Posted June 12, 2011 Posted June 12, 2011 Nice collection of Whirlybirds, nice and bright on the shelf. Shaun.
canberraman Posted June 12, 2011 Posted June 12, 2011 A very impressive and colourful set of my three favorite helos. Mark
Bertie McBoatface Posted June 12, 2011 Posted June 12, 2011 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! Brilliant! I especially like the Wessex, having spent years on the real things. The bits and pieces in the cabin are a great touch and make her 'real' in some way. I love the winch hydraulic pipes - you must have very steady hands indeed. Excellent work and very well done. You have made an old man very nostalgic this morning! lol. And 72 scale? Fantastic!! With regard to the single yellow rotor blade, this was a feature used only on The Royal Flight cabs when I was around in the early 80's. It certainly made them stand out when viewed from above! The tactical helos of 72 sqn had all black blades as did the SAR/UN ones on 84 sqn in Cyprus (that's the yellow HC2 AND the camouflaged HC5). I never worked on SAR in UK though so I can't say for certain when/if the odd blade thing came in. I would bet my car that it was never used on the Whirlwind though. I'm a newbie here and not sure of the etiquette here so please feel free to tell me off if I'm not supposed to point out possible 'areas for improvement'. I notice that you have the rotor blades set perpendicular to each other. That's how the manufacturers mould the rotor head of course, but it's clear that you have the necessary skills to make this suggested correction. It's difficult to describe in words so bear with me on this. The axis of rotation of the main rotor drive shaft is tilted forward in most helicopters (all three of yours). Articulated rotor heads like these have a drag hinge which allows the blades to move a few degrees forward and backward in the plane of rotation, (to soak up the varying forces imposed when the blades are either advancing or retreating relative to the airflow in forward flight). The hinge has a hydraulic damper to keep it smooth. When parked the blades slowly sweep forward to the end of their travel so that the front two will be at perhaps 80 degrees apart, the back two at 100 degrees and the angle between the blades on each side remain 90 degrees. (This for a four bladed rotor) It's really rare to see this incorporated in a helicopter model but without it the birds look oddly 'surprised' to my eye. I'll try to find some pictures to show what I mean but I've not posted pics here before so I may be some time. I hope this is useful.
Martian Posted June 12, 2011 Posted June 12, 2011 Slendid little line up! IMHO the Matchbox Wessex is still the best out there in terms of accuracy. Martin
SimonR Posted June 12, 2011 Posted June 12, 2011 (edited) Fantastic stuff, really nice, very inspirational. I have the Matchbox Wessex in the stash, may move it forward in the queue a bit now! Just one criticism, shame they wernt 22 Squadron from my home of Chivenor!! Edited June 12, 2011 by SimonR
Bertie McBoatface Posted June 12, 2011 Posted June 12, 2011 Finding pictures of real parked aircraft taken from the same angle we view our models, from above, is very difficult! From the side the effect I refer to isn't readily apparent. And in-flight photographs show the rotors displaced due to the effect of the moving camera shutter, when in fact they are more or less perpendicular, especially in the hover. I've found a site which describes the operation of the articulated rotor if that's any help: http://www.aviastar.org/theory/rotor.html and this photo which might be useful. http://www.cavok-aviation-photos.net/ANU/Wessex_085.jpg Best thing is to have a good look at the real thing, parked with blades fitted, looking upward through the 'disc'.
ChancerUK Posted June 12, 2011 Posted June 12, 2011 That is a wondeful trio of Classic RAF helicopters. Lovey work. I'd like to pick a favourite, but they are all excellent.
air5 Posted June 13, 2011 Author Posted June 13, 2011 (edited) No, I'm afraid not.. the Sea King is Fugimi, and the Whirlwind is Italeri ( Well mostly ) And for Simon R, the Main track sheet say's this is 22 Sqd era 1970. I have no accutal reference to disput this I had concidered taking my other Modeldecal badges and appling them. but stayed with the Maintrack sheet. To me, the decals from Maintrack look like a Coat of Arms. Maybe someone can comment on this. Thanks to all who looked and looked and posted comments Regards to all Glen Excellent work.Are they the Airfix Sea king and the Airfix Whirlwind ? Edited June 13, 2011 by air5
SimonR Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 (edited) No, I'm afraid not.. the Sea King is Fugimi, and the Whirlwind is Italeri ( Well mostly )And for Simon R, the Main track sheet say's this is 22 Sqd era 1970. I have no accutal reference to disput this I had concidered taking my other Modeldecal badges and appling them. but stayed with the Maintrack sheet. To me, the decals from Maintrack look like a Coat of Arms. Maybe someone can comment on this. Thanks to all who looked and looked and posted comments Regards to all Glen Hi Glen, The 22 Squadron crest has the white Maltese Cross on a red circle, the photo I took was around 1979/80 and without checking I am not sure if the Whirlwind's carried the Squadron marking in 1970 (I was only 4!!). Just found this photo I took of the 22 Whirlwind at Norwich Aviation Museum! Superb models once again - thanks for sharing. Cheers Simon Edited June 13, 2011 by SimonR
Metallicus Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 That is one awesome little collection you got there!! Cheers Brenden
Pat C Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 Absolutely gorgeous collection - you have made massive improvements to all those kits. Much better than my efforts!! Per Ardua...constructive polite criticism is always welcome (by me anyway!) and that was very interesting what you said about the orientation of the blades. Pics of the tops of rotor blades are almost impossible to come by which is always a nuisance when trying to work where balancing stripes go, whether they have black leading edges etc. However, I bet if a modeller orientates the blades as you say, 90% of viewers would say that they weren't on straight!!! Pat
SimonR Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 I dont want to hijack this thread with any more photos (sorry Glen!), but there are a few more pics of the SAR at Chivenor on this thread if anybody is interested. Chivenor I have got loads more photos of dubious quality, when I get time i'll scan some more. Cheers Simon
Bertie McBoatface Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 Absolutely gorgeous collection - you have made massive improvements to all those kits. Much better than my efforts!!Per Ardua...constructive polite criticism is always welcome (by me anyway!) and that was very interesting what you said about the orientation of the blades. Pics of the tops of rotor blades are almost impossible to come by which is always a nuisance when trying to work where balancing stripes go, whether they have black leading edges etc. However, I bet if a modeller orientates the blades as you say, 90% of viewers would say that they weren't on straight!!! Pat Thanks for the reassurance Pat. I'm quite sure that you are right about the 90%! Even the helicopter SIG that exhibits at shows I've been to seem to have decided to go with 'equilateral' blade spacing. Maybe it's easier than explaining every time and it's likely that only those with hands-on experience would appreciate the extra work involved in altering the angles. I guess this is one area where I'm in danger of being something of a rivet counter. lol! Apart from that one detail, aren't these cabs brilliant? I have a 1:48 Wessex to do and I'll be delighted if it looks as good as this one when I've finished with it.
perdu Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 These models are great As I have "rotary blood" I love RAF choppers making the RAF Rescue aircraft was a fine idea too At present I am attempting to make Matchbox's Wessex look "right" around its nose, for a company that made such fine and varied and usually accurate models their chief draughtsman must have been on holiday when they cut the moulds for the nose section It looks more like a fifties lorry (Ford Thames Trader, google it) than the rounded nose section of the real Wessex, clearly seen in the Spanish Wessex picture shown above Anyway, I don't mean to detract from your lovely work, attention to detail is marvellous and your interior work is great too. Hope mine ends up as good as yours I may do another Whirlwind soon after enjoying your work so thanks for sharing it Simon thanks for the pictures, useful, so I saved 'em. OK?
SimonR Posted June 14, 2011 Posted June 14, 2011 Simon thanks for the pictures, useful, so I saved 'em. OK? No problem at all Perdu, I have some higher resolution versions if you need them PM me! Cheers Si
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