ismaelg Posted April 26, 2020 Author Share Posted April 26, 2020 It is officially FINISHED! A little background history: (This is what the scale 4 ft sign says) July 21 1961 Mercury Redstone 4 Gus Grissom became the second American and third human in space. The capsule, Liberty Bell 7 could not be recovered due to premature hatch explosion, flooding the capsule. Pilot Jim Lewis fought to save it but the flooded capsule weighted too much for his overloaded UH-34D helicopter. The capsule sank to the bottom of the ocean while astronaut Grissom was rescued by another helicopter. The capsule was recovered in 1999 and Lewis was part of that expedition. My story: I bought airframe #148765 and restored it to how it looked on that day. I fly it frequently so that's why it is in different positions in the pictures as these were taken over the course of many days. This hangar is behind the wall where I keep the cars. The 4ft (scale) tall plaque is a print of one of the famous pictures of this incident with a brief description. The model: 1/48 Revell kit. I was pleasantly surprised for a mold that is over 50 years old. Instructions are misleading and incorrect in some areas, some of the gaps are big and the glass is very thick, but overall it was a pleasant kit. Of course I did plenty of modifications, the winch been my favorite. I have to say this is my best helicopter effort to date. There are 3 big issues with this model that drive me nuts and stick out like sore thumbs. I did my best to hide those flaws in the pictures. Other than that, there are some minor "accuracy" issues but in the grand scheme of things I am very happy. After all this model will never leave my house anyways. When you are willing to show pictures of your models at bigger than 1:1 magnification, you are happy with it 🙂 Thanks for accompanying me on this journey. I hope you like it. What do you think? Thanks, Ismael Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 Bravo! Most excellent work! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Underdog Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 Ismael, Helicopter models are so cool... always have fascinated me. But even more so, when the model represents an actual aircraft used as part of a historical event, as with this one you choose to do. And, with all the improvements added and made - because we fully understand how much, "you don't like the kit's parts" - the finished project is truly a magnificent example and job very well done. Thanks for sharing the project, with all those great looking photos along with the narratives and story, nice presentation! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rotorman Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 (edited) it came out truly amazing. great looking model Edited April 27, 2020 by Rotorman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
midnightprowler Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 Absolutely stunning sir. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cubs2jets Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 18 hours ago, ismaelg said: It is officially FINISHED! My story: I bought airframe #148765 and restored it to how it looked on that day. I fly it frequently so that's why it is in different positions in the pictures as these were taken over the course of many days. This hangar is behind the wall where I keep the cars. The 4ft (scale) tall plaque is a print of one of the famous pictures of this incident with a brief description. Thanks, Ismael Ismael, Tell us more. This is such an interesting tidbit. Where is the airframe now? C2j Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chukw Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 Superb- cheers! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bounce Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 well done. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ismaelg Posted April 28, 2020 Author Share Posted April 28, 2020 Thank you all for the nice comments. On 4/27/2020 at 8:13 AM, Cubs2jets said: Ismael, Tell us more. This is such an interesting tidbit. Where is the airframe now? C2j C2J: That is just my made up story as to why I have it. I previously did some brief online research and it seems the correct airframe number for this seems should have been 148755 instead of 148765. Also, by this time they were called HUS-1. They were changed to designation UH-34D in 1962. The correct original airframe ending in 55 was last registered in 1981 as N4216H. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tank Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 Nice story and build. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
skyhawk174 Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 Great build on a difficult kit, well at least I think so. I never finished mine and it is still part built. Love the paint work too, well done. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ismaelg Posted May 1, 2020 Author Share Posted May 1, 2020 Thank you all for the nice comments! I appreciate it! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.