Jump to content

Help with that "special" Littlebird / Building the Seapray MD500


Recommended Posts

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. 

Link to post
Share on other sites
On 9/4/2017 at 5:31 PM, Loach Driver said:

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. 

 

A few comments:

 

There's a range of helo pix right now up on eBay which show several California-based law-enforcement 5XX-based machines that show both T panels and I panels for both pointy-nosed and round-nosed aircraft.  See the following as an example and check out the seller's other helo pix:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Law-Enforcement-HELICOPTER-MD-500-Series-Vintage-Found-Photo-FREE-SHIPPING-7218/192298272720?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D41376%26meid%3D8f8a9f06a86c4a77b44959bc1485e8a8%26pid%3D100623%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D192298272730&_trksid=p2047675.c100623.m-1

 

As far as who did the conversions for the 160th LBs, I've heard various stories, none of which reconcile.  As I've said before, the funding for these has mostly been hidden in the black budget, and my guess is that the funding is at least in part from spook agencies.  My other hunch is that all the LB-related work has been done through a centrally-organized operation.

 

FAA waivers: US military aircraft are for the most part not type-certified and do not meet airworthiness standards set by the FAA, and there's no requirement that any modifications meet any FAA regulation.

 

John Hairell

tpn18@yahoo.com

 

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 months later...
  • 7 months later...
On 9/7/2017 at 9:33 PM, FM-Whip said:

 

 There's a range of helo pix right now up on eBay which show several California-based law-enforcement 5XX-based machines that show both T panels and I panels for both pointy-nosed and round-nosed aircraft.  See the following as an example and check out the seller's other helo pix:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Law-Enforcement-HELICOPTER-MD-500-Series-Vintage-Found-Photo-FREE-SHIPPING-7218/192298272720?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D41376%26meid%3D8f8a9f06a86c4a77b44959bc1485e8a8%26pid%3D100623%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D192298272730&_trksid=p2047675.c100623.m-1

 

 

 

 

For some reason, I overlooked this link before, just happened to be revisiting this old thread and noticed it.  I think that finally answers my question about the panel layout.   I've lined up the kit parts in the fuselage and viewed at the same angle as the pic of N1111U.  I'm 95% certain that this helo had the original T panel.   The links above have some great shots of these panels with a single vintage FLIR display mounted on the outside.  I think that works for me and best of all, I can pretty much use the kit part w/ Eduard PE stock.  Only change I'm going to make is to mount the display on the left side of the panel.  I'm assuming this helo would be flown from the right seat and the "observer" who would be operating the FLIR would be in the left seat.    

 

Thanks very much for that info John.  

Link to post
Share on other sites

So, after a couple of years of incessant questions, I've actually made a bit of progress.  Just be forewarned that I build slow and am easily distracted so this project is going to take a very long time. 

 

Despite the new KH Littlebird kit being out, I've opted to go with the Dragon MD500 TOW Defender kit.  Couple of reasons, A - I already have one in the stash and B - with it's raised rivets, it's simply more accurate than the KH kit (although I'll readily acknowledge that the KH kit has better details on the small parts).  I could have gone with Archer decals as did another modeler but it's too much work for this particular project.  Maybe on the next build.  

 

I'm using the old Cobra Company Littlebird resin set for many pieces.   It's pretty ancient but it's still a quality set.   Using a bunch of cockpit bits (FLIR monitors, rotor brake, larger center console, additional avionics behind the pilot's head and some gear in back.  Externally, Cobra provides a FLIR that appears identical to N1111's, plank brackets, radar warning receivers and some other small stuff.  As noted above, I'll be using the kit IP (the older T-shaped panel), with a single CRT type monitor for the left side co-pilot / observer.    The cockpit interior will somewhat be similar to what I did for my AH-6C build, with a few detail differences.   The back cabin will be completely different.  As a reference, here's how the AH-6C interior came out:

 

 

Picture014.jpg

 

Picture015.jpg

 

 

I'll post some shots of my current progress shortly....  stay tuned. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

So, as mentioned, I've started work on the cockpit interior. I should have taken some earlier pics but I'm a bit lazy on this build.  Best I can tell from the pics, it's pretty much the same color scheme as the AH-6C above, ie overall black for NVG compatibility and light grey stretched nylon seats.   

 

Starting with the kit cockpit, I've made the following changes / upgrades:

  • Hollowed out the external power receptical under the pilot's seat and added two electrical prongs.  EDIT - in looking at the prongs in the pic below, not happy with them.  I'll replace them with something smaller.  
  • Carved away the sides of the crappy kit seats to better replicate the steel tube / stretched nylon pilot's seats.  Added mouting tubes out of streched sprue.  Only have the co-pilot's seat mounted so far.  Will be adding another coating of grey paint to it.  
  • Added PE rudder pedal adjustment brackets from Eduard's OH-6A PE set.   This is a really nice set, getting a bit tough to find these days.  
  • Added Cobra's rotor brake behind the co-pilot's position
  • Added Cobra's avionics rack behind the pilot's head.   In the cargo compartment, I added some supports for the rack and some additional wiring.   The supports were noted in some pics I had of an early model Littlebird.   Given that many of the interior details of N1111U are unknown, I added this avionics rack since it was present on Littlebirds flying in the same time frame as N1111U and it stands to reason that to some extent, this helo would have had similar layout to AH/MH-6's flying at the same time.  To this rack, I added a couple of red "zeroize" switches.   These were also present on the AH-6C, but in a different spot.  Their purpose was to wipe out all radio frequencies and secure communication codes in the event that the helo was forced down and about to be captured.  EDIT - in looking at the pics I just posted, noted that both of these switches have apparently fallen off.   I'll get them back on at some point.....
  • I added slots in the housings of the collectives.   The kit part is just a solid box with the collective sticking out of it.   I've only added the co-pilot's collective (still not fully painted), the pilot's collective housing is much different.  Dragon provides two identical units, so I'm working on scratchbuilding the pilot's housing. 
  • Added the cables for the pilot's inertial reel shoulder harness locks.  These run down to levers on each side of the center bulkead, close to the inner side of each seat.  They connect to tiny PE harness locking levers that come with the Eduard set. 
  • Added the Cobra center console.  Again, I assume that 1111Uniform would have similar bits and pieces to what the Littlebirds had.  Added the wider floor mounted instrument panel that came with the Dragon kit.  I figured with the SATCOM and all those extra antennas, this helo would need larger instrument panels to house all the special gear.   This panel also comes with a small display screen, maybe used for it's long range navigation system or to operate the SATCOM?  Who knows....
  • I added the Cobra AH-6 ammo box to the rear compartment.   I know it's not appropriate for the unarmed 1111U but I'm trying to "busy up" the rear compartment which undoubtedly had a good amount of gear in the back, either avionics or maybe a fuel cell.   It really doesn't matter that much, the real thing had heavily smoked glass on the aft doors, which I intend to replicate.   Just want to be able to see some rough shapes through the glass. 
  • I shot everything with Testors acrylic Aircraft Interior Black.   I really like this stuff, don't know how it's possible but it's a different shade of black than normal flat or gloss black.  After that, I picked out all the instruments and switches/knobs with gloss black with a few items in red or silver to add some variety.    Also added some very fine squiggles in white to replicate some labeling.    Not sure I'm thrilled with the bare metal weathering on the cockpit floor.   I'll probably touch this up a bit. 
  • I painted the pilot's inertial reel housings silver to brighten things up a bit. Don't mind the gouges in them, those slots will be filled with the PE harnesses and will look fine when I'm done - trust me!

Anyway, that's it for now.  Here are a few pics, note that everything looks pretty rough.  I'm still in the early stages, I think it will look better down the road.     Thanks for looking.

 

IMG_0207

 

IMG_0206

 

IMG_0205

 

IMG_0204

 

IMG_0203

 

IMG_0202

 

Edited by 11bee
Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 4 weeks later...

So after a month, I've got some progress to report.   Completed the installation of the seats and controls.  Added harnesses from the Eduard OH-6A set.  These would be appropriate for a late 80's vintage an MD500 helo (and as far as I know, are still current for today's AH-6M's).    To me, harnesses are pretty key on a model.  They attract a great deal of attention and can either help the build or hurt it.  Nothing looks worse than belts uniformly hanging off seats, with no variation.  PE is the worst because it's so hard to position them in a way that looks realistic.  I'm a big fan of resin seats with molded on belts but since there is nothing out there, I had to get by with PE.   I tried to position them to look natural, like the pilots just tossed them aside as they exited the helo.  Hopefully I've succeeded.   Next step will be to add a dark wash to the seat belts to break up the uniform paint work. 

 

Aside from that, I added the cyclics, fire extinguisher (with PE strap) and touched up some paintwork.   Still got some additional touchup work to do.   Tough dealing with an overall black cockpit, it all tends to blur together.  

 

Disregard the rear compartment, with with the tinted windows, not much will be visible.  Just wanted to add some lumps and bumps to make it look "busy" back there.

 

Anyway, some pics:  

 

IMG_0213

 

IMG_0212

 

IMG_0211

 

IMG_0210

 

IMG_0209

 

IMG_0208

 

That's it for now, thanks for looking. 

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...

Plugging away slowly but surely.  The IP is somewhat complete.  Sanded the right side of the kit's panel and used the Eduard PE set with their instrument decals.  Hard to see in these pics but they make the instruments look much more realistic vrs what I could do by hand-painting the kit's panel.  I mounted a single old-school CRT type FLIR display (from the old Cobra MELB resin set).  Never was able to get a pic that conclusively proves what the display looked like on N1111U or where it was mounted.   I did see a collection of pictures of various early FLIR displays mounted on police helos, from the same time frame, they looked pretty close to what I've built here.   Many only had a single display and in one of these threads, I thought I read that some of the early special ops helos had the same layout.  

 

Still need to complete the backside of the panel, going to extend the glareshield a bit and add the wiring that would be visible.   Also will be mounting a display for the radar warning receiver on top of the glareshield, similar to the configuration used by the 160th SOAR Littlebirds from the same time frame.  Note - still have some paintwork to do on the IP, especially with the FLIR screen.   The pics do a good job of pointing out other flaws.  I'll be re-doing the prongs on the external power receptacle under the pilot's seat shortly, as well as yet more touchup paintwork.  Stay tuned....

 

IMG_0214

 

IMG_0215

 

IMG_0216

 

IMG_0217

 

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...