Loach Driver

It is strange that the 1/48 and 1/72 kits of the ch-53e are becoming so rare and it is really odd that italeri never capitalised on the ch-53e kit that they had. Now with the ch-53k coming, demand for the echo will fall a little. I have an old mh-53pave low model that will be getting scrapped soon. I will take the sponsons and add them to my mh-53e kit for a ch-53e, I think. LD.

Have you a link to where Academy have announced the kit will be discontinued? Seems starnge, for sure. LD.

It is possible to convert a 19-shot pod into an LWL 12 pod. Here is one in 1/72 I made. http://s306.photobucket.com/user/Bolkow1/media/P1010984_zpssd0dlmae.jpg.html LD.

Nice work on all three, especially the OH-6. It is hard to get the canopy correct on that model. LD.

This is an interesting looking H-3. Is it fitted with Carson Blades or are they a newer development? http://navalaviationnews.navylive.dodlive.mil/2017/08/31/familiar-face-returns-to-flight-line/ LD.

Good news indeed. If it is up to the same quality as their Huey, it'll be a winner. LD.

Looking good so far. LD.

Have a look at Kne-Mida, issue from December 2010. This is the IPMS Israel magazine and has a good article on Israeli Sikorskys. It should have what you want. LD.

Ordered my batch on ebay. The "Agency" might just have used the Huey in Honduras and elsewhere back in the day so maybe a speculative Agency Huey would be fun! LD.

There is one on ebay right now. On sale from a vendor in the USA. LD.

This video has some footage of a FLIR-equipped LACS Hughes 500C from 1985. If you are going with the vertical panel, this might help. LD.

Most 500Ds left the factory with the vertical panel. The CHP got a special order of 500Ds with the T-Panel and were also right-hand starters but were still civilian production ships. There might have been a few other special orders for non-black, commercial operators (I guess mainly police units) but I'd guess that this ship was a vertical panel ship when it left the factory. The next question is; Did the guys who converted the 160th 500Ds into AH-6F/AH-6Gs also do the conversion work on N1111U? It is hard to tell or maybe even impossible to tell! Maybe Hughes/MDHC did some work on these ships too. Who did the 500D to 530F conversion? Was it FAA-certificated or did the Army/Spooks get some kind of FAA waiver? The 530F is based on the 500E and as far as I know certain parts of the D-airframe are a bit different from the 500E airframe. In particular the tailboom and its attachment to the rear fuselage. It doesn't really answer your question, I think, and probably raises further questions! LD.

Interesting article. It looks like something out of a James Bond movie! The blue H-3 is beautiful. It makes you wonder, how many unknown paint-schemes existed back in the high-viz days that we know nothing of? LD.

Amazing precision on that scratch-built contraption. LD.

I think the two circular vents are for the A/C system. Not all Lakotas have A/C so that might explain why some have the circles and some don't. LD.