plasticWerks_JL Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Hi all, As it says in the title, I'm looking to correct the rotor on Italeri's UH-1C for my Vietnam GB project. The info and photos I've found shows the UH-1C had upgraded engines and blades, and the Italeri item is the earlier style. Any ideas on where to find the correct blades in this scale? Better yet, if anyone has extras from another kit to spare and would like to sell or trade, I'd be happy to try and work something out. I found Cobra Company's replacement: 540 Rotor System If it's even still available, it's still almost $20 shipped. Not looking to spend that much for a replacement, but I'll consider this my absolute last resort. If there's anywhere I may have overlooked, just let me know. Thanks in advance! -JL Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rotorwash Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 (edited) Hi all, As it says in the title, I'm looking to correct the rotor on Italeri's UH-1C for my Vietnam GB project. The info and photos I've found shows the UH-1C had upgraded engines and blades, and the Italeri item is the earlier style. Any ideas on where to find the correct blades in this scale? Better yet, if anyone has extras from another kit to spare and would like to sell or trade, I'd be happy to try and work something out. I found Cobra Company's replacement: 540 Rotor System If it's even still available, it's still almost $20 shipped. Not looking to spend that much for a replacement, but I'll consider this my absolute last resort. If there's anywhere I may have overlooked, just let me know. Thanks in advance! -JL JL, The UH-1C used the 540 rotor system which consisted of the 44ft main rotor with a 27 inch chord. The Italeri blades as you say are the old style 204 blades with a different rotorhead and 21 inch chord. They are also undersized at 40 scale feet. Easiest cheap replacement is to get a cobra kit like the old Monogram AH-1G kit and rob the blade. Of course the CC blades will be much nicer, but I can appreciate the need to save money. You will still need the stab bar from the italeri kit though as the 540 system on the AH-1 had SCAS (Stabilization Control Augmentation System) which eliminated the need for the stab bar on that aircraft. Ray Edited September 11, 2015 by rotorwash Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zkalos Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 (edited) JL, The UH-1C used the 540 rotor system which consisted of the 44ft main rotor with a 27 inch chord. The Italeri blades as you say are the old style 204 blades with a different rotorhead and 21 inch chord. They are also undersized at 40 scale feet. Easiest cheap replacement is to get a cobra kit like the old Monogram AH-1G kit and rob the blade. Of course the CC blades will be much nicer, but I can appreciate the need to save money. You will still need the stab bar from the italeri kit though as the 540 system on the AH-1 had SCAS (Stabilization Control Augmentation System) which eliminated the need for the stab bar on that aircraft. Ray Hi 40 scale feet/blade ? How much mm/blade the difference in the Italeri UH-1B blades? Please write to me. I live in a metric country :)/>/> Thank You "ROTORWASH" Good alternate the AZ AH-1G kit. because it is cheep and has good details, but probably You will still need the stab bar too for it. Edited September 11, 2015 by zkalos Quote Link to post Share on other sites
plasticWerks_JL Posted September 11, 2015 Author Share Posted September 11, 2015 Thank you, Ray, I'll keep an eye out for a donor AH-1 kit, but the CC resin might tempt me if their items are high quality. 40 scale feet/blade ? How much mm/blade the difference in the Italeri UH-1B blades? Please write to me. I live in a metric country Quick conversion to 1/72 scale: UH-1B rotor is 6.67in, 169.34mm in scale UH-1C rotor is 7.73in, 186.28mm in scale Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tank Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 (edited) Thank you, Ray, I'll keep an eye out for a donor AH-1 kit, but the CC resin might tempt me if their items are high quality. I don't have that set but all my CC sets (many) are all top quality. I won't worry about that with CC. Edited September 11, 2015 by Tank Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zkalos Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 (edited) I measured today my Italeri UH-1B rotor length, and it's 169.3 mm long as "plasticWerks_JL" written by. What's the problem with it ? Really too short ? Edited September 14, 2015 by zkalos Quote Link to post Share on other sites
plasticWerks_JL Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 I measured today my Italeri UH-1B rotor length, and it's 169.3 mm long as "plasticWerks_JL" written by. What's the problem with it ? Really too short ? zkalos, the way I understand it, those blades are correct for the UH-1B. the UH-1C had an upgraded engine with the larger rotor blades. Italeri just used the same blades for the C-model boxing, so they aren't correct. If your building the UH-1B, the kit part is correct. -JL Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rotorwash Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 (edited) I measured today my Italeri UH-1B rotor length, and it's 169.3 mm long as "plasticWerks_JL" written by. What's the problem with it ? Really too short ? That works out to about 39 scale feet. 38.9 to be exact if my math is correct. The actual blades are 44 ft. That would be 186.3 mm in scale so it's up to you to decide if that makes the Italeri blades too short for your purposes. The UH-1C, as JL says, has a completely different rotor system, but the length of the blade is the same as the B model, 44ft. Ray Edited September 14, 2015 by rotorwash Quote Link to post Share on other sites
salvador001 Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 You could use the AZ Models or Special Hobby AH-1G rotor, its the same 540 that the Charlie uses, you only have to include the stab bar. Rod. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rotorwash Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 You could use the AZ Models or Special Hobby AH-1G rotor, its the same 540 that the Charlie uses, you only have to include the stab bar. Rod. That's pretty much what I originally proposed but i suggested the much cheaper Monogram kit. Kinda hate to kill a $25+ kit just for the main rotor! Ray Quote Link to post Share on other sites
salvador001 Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Yeah me too. Rod. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pixeluser Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 (edited) What about the cheap Hobby Craft rip offs from the Matchbox kit? Will they also do the trick? Edited September 15, 2015 by pixeluser Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rotorwash Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 What about the cheap Hobby Craft rip offs from the Matchbox kit? Will they also do the trick? I like the Monogram blades much better than the Matchbox ones, but at least both are close to the correct length and width. Ray Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jvenables Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 That's pretty much what I originally proposed but i suggested the much cheaper Monogram kit. Kinda hate to kill a $25+ kit just for the main rotor! Ray A cheap alternative is the AZ Models AH-1G "Joy Pack" (three kits in one). The cost is around USD20.00 for the set. If you don't want to build the other two kits, you can probably sell them on eBay as "bagged/builder's kits" and recover a reasonable portion of the original cost. Failing that, buy any AH-1G kit, make a resin copy of the main rotor then sell the kit if you don't want to keep it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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