Hajo L. Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 (edited) My current project is one of the three CSAR-X contenders for the USAF - although I read in the news some days ago that among the many cancelled military programs in the US are the plans for "a rescue helicopter for the Air Force". So it looks like the USAF has to keep it´s aging HH-60Gs for a while. Anyway, after my first CSAR-X, the HH-47 (Finished: http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index....105799&hl=; In-Progress: http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index....c=99361&hl= ), I decided to build the HH-71, using Revells EH-101 Merlin HC.3. Since this was some kind of "one-week-project" I did not do too much scratchbuilding in the interior. I wanted to do as much progress as possible during the week and was also planning of not opening up the slide-door on the right side. So some things like personal equipment, ammunition-containers and similar stuff are missing here. I changed some of the interior layout, especially the seats, and added some stuff like a first-aid station. No wonder that a pair of gunners quickly settled in this new habitat. :) The gunners are figures out of Italeri´s Ground Crew Set and of a 1/72 German Air Force ground crew & pilots set by Preiser. I also found some medical stuff and apparatus in my spare box, these things were left over from a Heller EC-145. Some more plastic sheet to hide away seem lines: General overview prior to painting: Edited November 16, 2012 by Hajo L. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hajo L. Posted April 16, 2009 Author Share Posted April 16, 2009 And some details: As you can see, I did some of the changes the HH-71 has in contrast to the EH-101, but also left away some of them. Here you can see a perfect compromise: While the HH-71 does indeed has a left-side gunner, the gunner-position itself is not "a full door", but only a slide-window. You can see I kept the full door, but attached some security belts to prevend the gunner from falling out. This picture shows the additional flare/chaff-launcher (scratchbuilt) and the changed slide-door layout. While "normal" Merlins have a door that opens up to the front of the aircraft, the HH-71 will have a door that opens up by sliding to the back. I realized this layout by sanding off the door-rails and adding new ones using thin plastic rods. I also had to sand an opening into the main gear sponson where the door would fit in when open. Also visible the new exhaust, which will minimize the IR-signature. I used the body of a PARS anti-tank-rocket-launcher of a Eurocopter "Tiger". The front on the right side, showing the gunner and the new refueling probe. I don´t like the original one, I think it´s too short and too thin to stand the demanding conditions oand operations during CSAR, so I scratched a more solid one. Also I added a weather radar, similar to the ones the HH-60G is using. The current status of my build, I realized just yesterday that I forgot to add a winch! Well, next time I´ll come home to work on that helo it will be the first thing to do. The IR-coolers of the other engines are also installed, and the basic paint-job is more or less finished. I used Revells grey 43 for this. HAJO Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChernayaAkula Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 This is gonna be cool! Gotta love the Merlin! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hajo L. Posted May 17, 2009 Author Share Posted May 17, 2009 Some progress after a long time (haven´t been at home). The model is now more or less fully painted and perfectly blends into the carpet. :D I also scratched the aft minigun and the gunner. Looking good, I apologize for the dark picture. I hope you still get the idea. Next update in a couple of weeks... HAJO Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hajo L. Posted November 16, 2012 Author Share Posted November 16, 2012 Hmmmm... "Next update in a couple of weeks..." Yeah, right! ;-) Since May 2009... - ... I got my PhD - ... I became father - ... I moved twice - ... I changed my job two times - ... I completed about 30 other models... For 3 and a half years this poor Merlin sat at my parents place and waited for final completion. Now I spent a week of vacation at my parents house (what a great week!) and I brought my modelling stuff with me. Here is the result: The decals are selfmade, I depicted a ficticious aircraft of the 106th RQW at Gabreski Airport (KFOK). The helo looks a little bit "used", mostly because after the final ocating with matt finish made those parts visible where I used acrylic paint to touch up some of the basic paint job I did with enamls three years ago. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hajo L. Posted November 16, 2012 Author Share Posted November 16, 2012 The camoflage is perfect for my parents carpet! ;) Ready for a night mission!! HAJO Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dæn Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Really nice Hajo, cool! I think you can do two things to make this helo even better: - The suits the crew is wearing, I think it should be ACU or MARPAT (or something like that) - The guns: did you use them from Herpa? They're nice, but I think you can find more detailed ones (like from Armycast or Dragon) Keep up the great work! Daan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hajo L. Posted November 22, 2012 Author Share Posted November 22, 2012 ACU or MARPAT are a PITA to paint... I´m not arkhunter... ;) The guns are from Roco, they do the trick, and since I only have a very limited number of M2s from Dragon (but quite a lot from Roco) I´ll have to stick with these. HAJO Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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