giles Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 I had wanted to build France's newest dedicated Resco/Special Ops helicopter for sometime. All I could find here in Singapore is the rather uninspiring Heller Cougar kit. I would have preferred the Italeri version. I know the conversion has been attempted in 1/32 scale using the Matchbox/Revell Puma kit. http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index....&hl=caracal So, instead of waiting for the better Italeri Cougar kit to fall into my lap, I decided to take a walk on the wild side... Afterall, New Year = new start! Without much ado, I shall introduce my little project. The Revell Puma kit is actually rather nice. I did my scaling based on the published fuselage length of the Caracal and Cougar U2 (both exactly 16.79m in real life = 11.66mm @1/144). Turned out the Revell bits matched the scaled Heller paint guide! The tail rotar is identical for the Puma and Cougar, the Caracal's tail rotar is marginally larger and only has 4 blades. Superimposing the Revell Puma fuselage to the "scaled plan" shows that the idea is at least feasibile! Giles Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arkhunter2002 Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 This is interesting. I think I'll pull up my popcorn and enjoy this thread. Good luck, Austin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hajo L. Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Be careful with the front windshield! I made the same model some years ago (a "Resco Cougar") and had to discover (too late, of course) that the central frame of the front window should have been removed... The kit comes with the old "Puma-style" window frame. HAJO Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChernayaAkula Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 In 1/144? That's quite a project! Tons of pics HERE and HERE. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
norbert Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Wow Giles, you want to convert the 1/144 Revell Puma to a Caracal ? To give you some help, here is a drawing showing the main differences You have to make following : New pointy nose Add the first side window as shown convert the main rotor to 5 blades elongate the rear fuselage and add the last side window make new sponsons make new landing gears correct the tail boom convert the tail rotor to 4 blades. and a lot of small other details Other than that, there is no kit depicting the EC-225 / EC-725 Caracal or other Super-Puma Mk.2 like L2, U2, etc none has the rear fuselage extention. But Heller kit and Italeri kit are good starts. I have tons of pics of Caracal and can help you Norbert Quote Link to post Share on other sites
giles Posted January 7, 2011 Author Share Posted January 7, 2011 Thanks guys for the encouragement! I know it might turn out to be a flight of fancy... quite likely given my started build to completed build ratio :) On the plus side, a 1/144 Caracal has some serious advantages: 1) one does not need to sweat the small details; 2) no many are insane enough to try, so there aren't many yardsticks for comparison; 3) the Revell Puma is actually a very good kit; 4) I better do this before I need reading glasses! Norbert, Thanks for your comparison of the long and short. Your helicopter builds have been my inspiration. I read your original post @ master194 as well. Most impressive analysis :blink: I had already started cutting my two Pumas before I read your post! I largely followed the 1/32 builds of the Caracal and Cougar from the old Matchbox Puma kit although I do not completely agree with their approach. The fuselage and tail length on my cut and paste Mini Puma matched my scaled Heller paint guide reference. But, the profile at the fuselage and tail boom juncture is off. I looked at many photos of the real bird (cat) and knew that I had to "adjust" the profile, but did not figure out anything remotely close to your comparison. I will try to take some photos over the weekend. Giles Quote Link to post Share on other sites
giles Posted January 10, 2011 Author Share Posted January 10, 2011 I took some photos over the weekend. Unfortunately, I have not figured out how to take proper pictures of models! Apologies in advance for the poor photo quality. This was done before Norbert posted his comparison. Although the fuselage and tail length on my cut and paste Mini Puma matched Norbert's plans, the curved profile at the fuselage and tailboom juncture is slightly off (you can also see the notch at the fuselage tailboom joint). I corrected the compound curve at the fuselage and tailboom joint with another piece of cut and paste (the great advantage of having two kits of the same a/c to play with). I adjusted the "dog house" by splicing in an additional section. My rough cut ended two mm too long :) (I didn't bother to measure carefully). Would probably make another adjustment later when I deal with the cockpit and forward fuselage extension. Giles Quote Link to post Share on other sites
norbert Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Hi Giles 2mm in 1/144 is quite a bit. I did not check the accuracy of the Revell 1/144 kit, it looks like the tail is a bit too small. Did you check it against the Puma drawing ? You may be the first guy I see who achieves a real Caracal...hope you overcome all building issues. Norbert Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thorsten Wieking Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I took some photos over the weekend.Unfortunately, I have not figured out how to take proper pictures of models! Apologies in advance for the poor photo quality. [....] Use the macro function of your camera. It is usually the pictogram showing a flower. Good lighting and steady your arms by bracing them on the table. Cheers Thorsten Quote Link to post Share on other sites
the_baphomet_00 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 dude, following this thread closely, I´m interested to modify the revell 144th puma to a cougar too...!! regards.- Alberto Quote Link to post Share on other sites
giles Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 Danke Thorsten, I will try the flower! Oui Norbert, 2mm in 1/144 is almost a foot! So I reckon we will need round two plastic surgery. I did check the accuracy of the Revell 1/144 kit against the Puma (SA330) scaled plan. From what I remembered (don't have the parts with me), the tail is not actually right sized, but the angle of the tail is slightly off, so when superimposed on the scaled plan, the Revell tail looked small (you can see the plan falling outside the Revell tail) . Of course the Super Puma/Cougar/Caracal have a new broader tail. In fact, I think the whole Revell tail boom is (very slightly) off. This thing and the angle of the tail are probably not worth the trouble to do multiple cut and paste but still... Giles Quote Link to post Share on other sites
giles Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Thorsten, thanks for the flower! I did the correction to the doghouse. The correction is small but significant. The corrected fuselage length matches. When superimposed on Norbert's plan, the tail boom looked positively off! The tail boom looked straight on Norbert's plan. But my Caracal's tail boom looked like it is drooping. I am a little puzzle because I measured the (original) cut to the tail correctly, so the skewing is not from the cut and paste. Furthermore, the tail boom in Heller's painting diagram seemed to have a slight downward slope (droop) compared to that in Norbert's plans. Looking at side profile photos of the actual bird, the upper line of the tail boom is not exactly straight. It slopes down very slightly (definitely not as much as my Caracal's tail boom). It looks like it will be back to the cutting board... I will try to acheive a lesser droop. Giles Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arkhunter2002 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Yikes. I'd give up before I started this project, seeing all you've done so far (at first I thought this was 1/72, not 1/144th)... this is a massive undertaking for a small scale. Good luck fixing up the tail! Take care, Austin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
giles Posted January 13, 2011 Author Share Posted January 13, 2011 Hey thanks Austin! I enjoyed your diaromas This disease... er... hobby comes in many guise. I ought to have my head examined at some point. But, first I must show you this... Using Norbet's Plan as an improvised jig, I broke the tail again. I made the cut at the Caracal's new fuselage section - I reckon I might as well do it in a place where I need to putty and sand (and where there is minimal engraved details to lose in that process). This is how the Caracal lined up, actually matching the profile of Norbert's Plan rather well. Giles Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arkhunter2002 Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Might wanna try strip styrene before you hit that with putty. I'm not sure how the putty would hold up the two halves, if you know what I mean... Lookin forward to your half scale ( :) ) update Take care, Austin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
norbert Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Hi Giles When I did the drawing, from many pictures, I thought the tail droop down a little, but that was because of picture angle. so I bend it a little more, a little less...but the transmission is straight. I was fortunate to get a drawing of the tail-boom with dimensions and X Y Z references, so I could place it correctly because I already had X Y Z ref of fuselage. In fact, it's not the tail boom, but the whole helicopter who seats drooping back and not horizontal. You do a great work Giles Norbert Quote Link to post Share on other sites
joachim Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 (edited) hi Giles, you are doing a nice job, i'll follow this close. are you going to use the Heller decals? cheers Edited January 14, 2011 by joachim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
giles Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 are you going to use the Heller decals? Was traveling for the last two week of January and then we went away for a short R&R in Bali while everything shut down for Chinese New Year in this part of the world, so there isn't much to update. @ joachim, it is actually a dinky Revell. I corrected the drooping tail boom and also cut the correct openings for the Caracal's transparencies. Here is my first attempt at puttying (Tamiya) and surfacing (Mr Surfacer 1000). I was reasonably happy with how things looked… until I noticed (while sanding) that one fuselage half still had a pronounced drooping tail boom! I am very sure I corrected the drooping tail boom. My approach was correct one fuselage half, check, double check. Then, if that is acceptable, I use the corrected half as a template for the other half. I recall breaking the tail on one fuselage and cementing that back. I didn't think too much of it at that time. The Tamiya cement must have "eaten" some of the plastic (I thinned the tail boom halves to avoid a tail seater because there is not much space in the transparent to put a proper nose weight) and skewed the alignment of the tail boom! Have left it aside for almost a month until yesterday... The drooping tail boom has been corrected - the two fuselage halves match. What do you think? Giles Quote Link to post Share on other sites
norbert Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Hi Giles i'm impressed. If it is the first time you use putty and surfacer, your modeling skills are growing very fast. Looking forward for next progresses Norbert Quote Link to post Share on other sites
giles Posted February 15, 2011 Author Share Posted February 15, 2011 i'm impressed. If it is the first time you use putty and surfacer, your modeling skills are growing very fast. Sorry to disappoint you, Norbert. I think this is lost in translation . What I meant was this was my first coat of putty and surface for this build. I had experience with the green Squadron stuff when I was a kid, and was never really good with it :lol: . The Tamiya putty is much better IMHO. I really just got back into this hobby. Recently tried super glue as a filler. Was doubtful before I tried, but I think it worked really well! Giles Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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