SteveV22FE Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 (edited) I found out the other day that the C-130H aircraft that I used to maintain at Dyess AFB, Texas have either been retired, turned into ground trainers or transferred to other bases. The last C-130H left Dyess on 26 September 2012. For 37 years Dyess' C-130 Hercules and its Airmen have built a legacy in the Air Force. That legacy came to end Sept. 26 as the last two C-130H models, tail numbers 1667 and 2063, departed for Little Rock AFB, Ark. On March 31, 1975, the H model era began when Dyess received the very first C-130H to roll off the Lockheed Martin assembly line. Over the next two years Dyess would eventually attain 52 more H models. Dyess AFB is now home to the largest C-130J-30 Super Hercules inventories in the USAF. I arrived at Dyess AFB as an A1C in February 1991. When I was assigned the C-130H were assigned to the 463d Tactical Airlift Wing (TAW), 463d Aircraft Generation Squadron (AGS) as a flightline Guidance and Control Troop. Around the end of 1991, the AGS concept went away and we were all assigned to Operations. We were all absorbed into the 773d Airlift Squadron. When the Air Force decided to do away with SAC, MAC and TAC and to the now familiar, ACC and AMC. All tactical airlift assets, i.e., C-130s were assign to ACC. The 463d Airlift Wing and the 96th Bomb Wing stood down and we all fell under the new "One Base, One Wing" concept. Carswell AFB was closed and the 7 Wing stood up at Dyess AFB. The 772nd and 773d Airlift Squadrons stood down and the 39th and 40th Airlift Squadrons stood up, after standing down at Pope AFB. The C-130H aircraft during the ACC years carried the familiar Tail Codes found on all ACC aircraft. In this case, "DY". The 40th AS carried a blue strip at the top of the vertical. This will be the basis for my model as they were the last C-130Hs I worked prior to be reassigned to Robins AFB, Georgia. C-130H 74-1673 C-130H 74-2072 (Photo posted under "Fair Use") With that said, a goal of mine has always been to model all the aircraft I was associated with during my aviation career. Why not start with the first one? I want to do all of the aircraft in flight. Here is the beginning of my project: Edited August 5, 2013 by SteveV22FE Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SteveV22FE Posted July 21, 2013 Author Share Posted July 21, 2013 Well, the easiest part of the model is complete... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ST0RM Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Looks to be a true labor of love for you Steve. I like the proposed angle of the Herk on the mounting stand. Adds a touch of life to the model instead of a plain-jane display. -Jeff Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SteveV22FE Posted July 21, 2013 Author Share Posted July 21, 2013 (edited) To support the model, I am using Pete "Pig" Fleischmann's in-flight 1/32 in flight method: Square Evergreen styrene and a square brass tubing. You'll want to gauge the size of the tubing on the size of the model. It works really well and you can get the angle you want and it is locked in without trying to swivel around like a round piece of brass or acrylic would. As you've probably guessed, the back end is going to be closed up on this Herk. I used this same method on the 1/32 scale X-1 I built last year. I really like the end result! Edited March 5, 2014 by SteveV22FE Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 (edited) I'll be watching, I like the way you are mounting it on the stand. Edited July 22, 2013 by Trojan Thunder Quote Link to post Share on other sites
k5ikl Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Looking good so far Steve. I'll keep a watch as you progress along. Hope you and the family are doing well. Cheers, Jerry Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SteveV22FE Posted July 24, 2013 Author Share Posted July 24, 2013 (edited) Flight deck update... Updated from the early C-130A configuration to a later H configuration. Built the Nav side bulkhead, lowered on of the crew rest bunks and built the box to go under it (it's a storage compartment on the real aircraft), made the step at the end of the bunk (used for making sextant shots on the 130s I worked) and shortened the Nav table. Filled in the slot for the second navigation seat (our Hs only had one nav). I'm not going to go too overboard with this since no one is going to see most of it anyway. This is really for my benefit. Edited July 24, 2013 by SteveV22FE Quote Link to post Share on other sites
POMPEO Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Bigger boy on the way Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SteveV22FE Posted July 25, 2013 Author Share Posted July 25, 2013 Nacelle and tank test fit...had nothing better to do while glue dried. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SteveV22FE Posted July 26, 2013 Author Share Posted July 26, 2013 (edited) I'm calling this done. No one is going to be able to see this unless the get right up on it. As we used to say, "good enough for government work". Now it's time to put some paint on it. Edited July 26, 2013 by SteveV22FE Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mhoupt Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 One question re the stand. How do you get the square tube to stay in the wood? Thanks! Mark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SteveV22FE Posted July 26, 2013 Author Share Posted July 26, 2013 One question re the stand. How do you get the square tube to stay in the wood? Thanks! Mark Forcibly! I drilled a round hole approximately the same size has the square rod. I then tap (gently beat) the square rod into the round hole. By doing so, it basically cuts it's way in. Just use a little finesse when tapping it in. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
A-10 LOADER Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 I like what I see so far, I think this will look really cool when it's finished. Btw, you wouldn't by chance have an extra one of those patches lying around ?? I need one of them for my collection. Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SteveV22FE Posted July 28, 2013 Author Share Posted July 28, 2013 (edited) Wings glued, horizontals glued, shimmed the outboard engine mounts, 2 engines nacelles attached... props dry fitted Edited December 22, 2014 by SteveV22FE Quote Link to post Share on other sites
A-10 LOADER Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 Looking good, you work fast. Just my 2 cents but, maybe you could consider making 4 very thin, clear disks and paint them in such a way to give the impression that the props are spinning, since this is going to be an "in flight" display. Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 That mounting idea is brilliant! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SteveV22FE Posted July 31, 2013 Author Share Posted July 31, 2013 Around 1994-ish, our Herks went through EW mod. Here is the beginning of the EW mod process. Fill in the forward, lower cheater windows Test fit of windscreen, flight deck is complete and painted and two of the props got some paint on them! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nimrod77 Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Really cool. I love the work you've done so far. Keep it coming! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Der Grüne Punkt Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 Nice work! that´s a big model to be on a stand :D, keep in mind OOB it's a C-130B being the most obvious problem the squared tail, I fix that on mine a year ago, hope it helps: A teaser, a picture of the finished thing: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SteveV22FE Posted August 2, 2013 Author Share Posted August 2, 2013 Nice work! that´s a big model to be on a stand :D/>, keep in mind OOB it's a C-130B being the most obvious problem the squared tail... I plan on correcting the "beavertail" when I complete the EW modification to the model. Great looking HERK!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Modeler7 Posted August 3, 2013 Share Posted August 3, 2013 Steve, I have many hours flying 1673 and 2072 (Lone Wolf) as a FE at Dyess from 1994 to 2000 and again 2000 to 2012 when I retired with 5000 Herk hours, 1500 sorties, 400 combat missions. The Herk was an amazing plane that got me home every time. Gulf War, Bosnia, Kosovo, OEF, OIF. I miss that plane. Now with all the J models flying around and those pilots drinking appletini's and eating weight watchers microwaved food during flight just makes me sad!!!! LOL! The E and H model was the workhorse of the AF for a long time! Keep up the good work on the kit. I will keep watching. After all these years, I have never built a C-130. Go figure? MSgt(Ret) Kelly Jamison 30/40AS, 317th AG Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Floyd Posted August 3, 2013 Share Posted August 3, 2013 (edited) This is going to look immense when it is done, love in flight models. Edited August 3, 2013 by Floyd Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nimrod77 Posted August 3, 2013 Share Posted August 3, 2013 How are you planning on fixing the sponsons Steve? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SteveV22FE Posted August 3, 2013 Author Share Posted August 3, 2013 Placing the doubler strips on top of the fuselage Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SteveV22FE Posted August 3, 2013 Author Share Posted August 3, 2013 (edited) How are you planning on fixing the sponsons Steve? I'm not. The Flightpath -15s are too narrow for the engine mount, so I just left the kit engines. Besides, if I use the FLightpath set that throws off the kit sponsons unless your doing a "Super E". I know Ron Resin's did a sponson update, but it's kinda hard to find I think. I'm cheating and am going the "illusion" route. I'm going to use the OOB stuff to make it look like it's correct even though it's really not. Edited August 3, 2013 by SteveV22FE Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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