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CD48184 - 1/48 CH-53


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AD-4N, 

The 53E went through a couple of paint schemes, in what felt like an afternoon!!  In the 1980's when the aircraft were delivered to the Fleet Marine Force (FMF) they were delivered in Medium Field Green, FS34095, with all black stenciling.  Then as the aircraft went through and depot modifications through 1990, they were painted in the tri-color paint job. FS 35237 Blue Gray   FS 34095 Medium Field Green    FS 37038 Black with black stenciling or opposite color stencil where appropriate.  Then in 1991 - 1997 the Marine Corps began taking delivery of another block of CH-53E's.  These were called by us in the fleet just simply "Block upgrade" and they were again delivered in overall flat green. This color however from Sikorsky Aircraft was a lighter shade of FS34095.  It was a color between FS34095 and FS34097.  It faded quickly as well in a desert environment.  I received my A/C direct from the factory in 1992, 164365, took it to Somalia, Kuwait, and Iraq.  It was very faded by the time I gave her up in 1998 to PCS to Yuma AZ. First picture is first CH-53E deliveries to New River NC in the early 80's.  Next picture is a brand new CH-53E, block upgrade, during the 1991 El Toro Air show.  UT-30.  Next picture is an operation in SoCal, called "Desert Punch"  it was a 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing lift.  All up helicopters of 3rd MAW flew in this event.  HUGE!!  In 1996-97 time frame, you can see we are starting to get gray/gray low vis aircraft back from the depot at Cherry Point.

 

Probably more info then anyone wanted. Sorry to ramble.

r/Gy Dan

 

 

341186_333494993327261_949131722_o.jpg

1314.jpg

970417-N-3149V-018.jpg

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6 hours ago, Tank said:

I say, ramble away Gunny, that’s how we get good information like what you posted.


Absolutely right.  It’s first hand information like yours makes our models more authentic.  Not like someone “armchair” expert who confidently claims this or that.  I take the word from someone who was there.

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Tank,

You are correct Sir. I forgot it was 1997 for Desert Punch. Thought it was earlier. But it was a hell of a lift. One time event I don't think we ever did a Wing lift again. LtGen Fred McCorkle was CG 3rd MAW when we did the lift. Basically during Desert Storm, we had a similar lift that did jot go as well as it should have. So he wanted to plan, rehearse and fly another one like the one they flew in 1991. 

 

I've never seen so many helicopters in the air in my life and probably never again. I am sure the people that lived in and around Dateland AZ thought there was an alien invasion that day!

 

R/Gunny

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36 minutes ago, YF65_CH53E said:

Tank,

You are correct Sir. I forgot it was 1997 for Desert Punch. Thought it was earlier. But it was a hell of a lift. One time event I don't think we ever did a Wing lift again. LtGen Fred McCorkle was CG 3rd MAW when we did the lift. Basically during Desert Storm, we had a similar lift that did jot go as well as it should have. So he wanted to plan, rehearse and fly another one like the one they flew in 1991. 

 

I've never seen so many helicopters in the air in my life and probably never again. I am sure the people that lived in and around Dateland AZ thought there was an alien invasion that day!

 

R/Gunny


Easy now Gunny, I work for a living and ain’t no zero. 🤣 

 

I was surprised how short ‘Assassin’ was when he stopped by our unit. 

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Ahhh sorry got it!!

 

yes you know the 'ol "Assasin", great call sign for a Phrog  driver huh?  Always telling you a story about his crew chief in Viet Nam, Danny Raddish, who is a great American, but funny stories by him for sure.

 

Short?  Hell yes, like 5'5'' if he's an inch!!  When he would come fly with us in Yuma for WTI, you'd see him walking out to the flight line with then CO COL Bill Catto, who was 6'6'' 6'7'' ish....hilarious!!

 

I will have to dig up the picture of him at the MAWTS-1 COC, where he rode in my WWII jeep over to the club for the reception, and then incoming CO COL Post telling him, "Sorry General, budget cuts, this is your ride over to the club, no roof, and no A/C..."  I had an old steel pot with (3) stars on it sitting in the back seat, he picked it up, put it on and said, " Well damn it Gunny get me to the cold beer"

 

LOL

 

r/Gy Dan

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I know of him and saw him once in the MT shop, jumped up on the table and did a who’s poorest growing up stick. One kid was poorer. As I recall my ex uncle went to OCS with him or another multiple star General. He would ask me how he was doing, I said if I was talking to him, my life wasn’t going good. A lonely E-3/4 doesn’t usually talk to the CG unless he is in serious trouble. 
 

As I recall, CMC Kurlak and/or CMC Mundy was short also. I recall seeing one at CamPen on the parade deck and wondered if all CG’s where short fellows.

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On 12/19/2020 at 7:18 PM, Tank said:

I know of him and saw him once in the MT shop, jumped up on the table and did a who’s poorest growing up stick. One kid was poorer. As I recall my ex uncle went to OCS with him or another multiple star General. He would ask me how he was doing, I said if I was talking to him, my life wasn’t going good. A lonely E-3/4 doesn’t usually talk to the CG unless he is in serious trouble. 
 

As I recall, CMC Kurlak and/or CMC Mundy was short also. I recall seeing one at CamPen on the parade deck and wondered if all CG’s where short fellows.

Tank, here are the pictures I was talking about with the "Assasin", Gen McCorkle.  I remember Gen Gray being pretty short as well.  Saw him in Desert Storm couple of times.

50745481621_d8c25c8b10_z.jpg

50745590947_d0ca404513_z.jpg

r/Gunny

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  • 8 months later...
On 9/8/2020 at 6:37 AM, KursadA said:

I am almost done with the design - the pipeline for the last three months are pretty full (Nov/Dec/Jan releases are already being printed) , so it increasingly looks like it will be an early 2021 release. I will release the 1/72 version at most a couple of months after the 1/48 one.

 

Ahem, any news about that...? 😉

 

 

HAJO

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  • 2 months later...

 

If any of you have the Koku-Fan issue with the HMH-769 OPFOR CH-53A (D?) , can you please check if the BuNo is visible? This one is irresistible and I would like to include it in the sheet, but I can't read the BuNo. 

 

Was this painted for training exercises at Twentynine Palms?

 

It looks like there were two that were painted with the red stars : modex 488 and 489?  Is it safe to assume that the color scheme is an overall FS36081, judging by the low-vis gray markings?

 

49801359901_4df82216f2_b.jpg

Edited by KursadA
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On 11/26/2021 at 4:04 PM, KursadA said:

 

If any of you have the Koku-Fan issue with the HMH-769 OPFOR CH-53A (D?) , can you please check if the BuNo is visible? This one is irresistible and I would like to include it in the sheet, but I can't read the BuNo. 

 

Was this painted for training exercises at Twentynine Palms?

 

It looks like there were two that were painted with the red stars : modex 488 and 489?  Is it safe to assume that the color scheme is an overall FS36081, judging by the low-vis gray markings?

 

 

Kursad,

Well, courtesy of www.helis.com/database which I helped create (specifically the H-53), I can eliminate these three:

 

CH-53A 153285 HMH-769 MS-485

CH-53A 153295 HMH-769 MS-483

CH-53A 153302 HMH-769 MS-484

 

I will keep looking in my other sources.

Most likely one of the RH-53Ds from the early 1995 timeframe when they participated in WTI, Yuma, AZ.  They flew the RH-53Ds until receiving CH-53Es, so some of the Ds would most likely still be in Engine Gray FS16081.  Minus the Iranian ones, here are your choices: www.helis.com.

 

K/r,

Dutch

 

Edited by Dutch
add BuNo
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Kursad,

 

I know the CO of that unit when they participated in WTI 2-95, I was stationed at Yuma at the time with MAWTS-1.  I have the BuNo in my log book.  I will post in an hour or so when I get home.

 

r/Gunny Dan

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Andy,

 

Great picture.  So what I have so far is the (2) aircraft that were painted up for WTI 2-93 through 2-95, were MS-488 and MS-489.  These aircraft were assigned to HMH-769 out of NAS Alameda, but then a re-org of 4th MAW, the reserve wing, assigned them to HMH-772 Det A.  When they were put apart of HMH-772, the tail designator changed from MS to MT.  The photos clearly show MS on the tail, and below the chaff/flare bucket mounts you can see HMH-769.

 

I am verifying with then squadron OPS Officer Col Rick Mullen USMC (ret) that the "starred" aircraft were still marked as HMH-769 airplanes during the WTI exercises. So for the decal sheet we can confirm:

 

Aircraft 1.

RH-53D, USMC

Tail Flash MS

HMH-769

Side No 489

BuNo 158748

 

Aircraft 2.

RH-53D, USMC

Tail Flash MS

HMH-769

Side No. 488

BuNo 158754 (NEED TO CONFIRM THIS BUREAU!!)

 

Here is a partial list of HMH-769 & HMH-772 aircraft so far:

 

HMH-769/HMH-772 Det(a) RH-53D’s

 

CH-53A MS-400 154867

RH-53D MT-401 158690

RH-53D MT-408 158759

RH-53D MS-481 158683

RH-53D MS-482 158689

RH-53D MS-484 158749

RH-53D MS-485 158751

RH-53D MS-486 158752

 

The picture is also a really great idea for a model, and that is the beautiful Marine Tri-Color Camo applied to some of the RH's right before we retired them to Davis Mothan Storage.

 

 

158689.jpg

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21 hours ago, Dutch said:

Most likely one of the RH-53Ds from the early 1995 timeframe when they participated in WTI, Yuma, AZ.  They flew the RH-53Ds until receiving CH-53Es, so some of the Ds would most likely still be in Engine Gray FS16081.

Evidenced by the fact that the former minesweepers were the only D-model USMC birds fitted with AAR probes...

....which I believe was established somewhere within Gunny Dan's H-53 thread over in 'Research'...

 

29 minutes ago, YF65_CH53E said:

Andy,

 

Great picture.  So what I have so far is the (2) aircraft that were painted up for WTI 2-93 through 2-95, were MS-488 and MS-489.  These aircraft were assigned to HMH-769 out of NAS Alameda, but then a re-org of 4th MAW, the reserve wing, assigned them to HMH-772 Det A.  When they were put apart of HMH-772, the tail designator changed from MS to MT.  The photos clearly show MS on the tail, and below the chaff/flare bucket mounts you can see HMH-769.

 

I am verifying with then squadron OPS Officer Col Rick Mullen USMC (ret) that the "starred" aircraft were still marked as HMH-769 airplanes during the WTI exercises. So for the decal sheet we can confirm:

 

Aircraft 1.

RH-53D, USMC

Tail Flash MS

HMH-769

Side No 489

BuNo 158748

 

Aircraft 2.

RH-53D, USMC

Tail Flash MS

HMH-769

Side No. 488

BuNo 158754 (NEED TO CONFIRM THIS BUREAU!!)

Cheers, Gunny - of note is that the '93 photo shows a 'plain' red star, whereas those in the earlier pics here are outlined...

....also of note is that those Koku Fan pics appear to be from the issue dated June '94 - meaning they can't be the '95 birds...

 

26 minutes ago, habu2 said:

Kursad do you know which KokuFan issue the pics are in?  I can look to see if I have it. 

It's No.76 of the 'Illustrated' series as seem below, rather than the monthly (later bi-monthly) magazines - I saw '94-6', thought "I've got a pdf of that", only to be disappointed! I need to find a copy somewhere...

1084-e1497793192777.jpg

 

Edited by andyf117
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Andy,

 

Great to hear from you my friend!!  You are as always very correct Sir!

 

Cheers, Gunny - of note is that the '93 photo shows a 'plain' red star, whereas those in the earlier pics here are outlined...

....also of note is that those Koku Fan pics appear to be from the issue dated June '94 - meaning they can't be the '95 birds...

 

The aircraft participated in 4 different WTI exercises in Yuma, and the "stars" were applied two different ways.  Plain red, and with the gold or white surround.  Personally I like the gold surround.  but it will be up to Kursad.  Good catch my friend!!

 

Another pic of RH-53D at WTI.

RH-53D_USMC_1.jpg

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11 minutes ago, YF65_CH53E said:

Andy,

 

Great to hear from you my friend!!  You are as always very correct Sir!

 

Cheers, Gunny - of note is that the '93 photo shows a 'plain' red star, whereas those in the earlier pics here are outlined...

....also of note is that those Koku Fan pics appear to be from the issue dated June '94 - meaning they can't be the '95 birds...

 

The aircraft participated in 4 different WTI exercises in Yuma, and the "stars" were applied two different ways.  Plain red, and with the gold or white surround.  Personally I like the gold surround.  but it will be up to Kursad.  Good catch my friend!!

 

Another pic of RH-53D at WTI.

Oi! Don't call me 'Sir' - I work(ed) for a living! 🤣

 

It would, of course, depend on Space A - but if 158748/MS-489 (currently the only confirmed BuNo) were to be the subject, there might be room for the larger white-surround stars and the smaller plain ones, to enable the option of gaudy, and not-so-gaudy! 😀

Or, alternatively, if there's not room for both on the sheet itself, maybe a scale template on the instructions, so the modeller could cut the smaller version from the centre of the larger one, if he desired?

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This is very cool - I really appreciate the help, folks. The red star option will be really interesting; in addition to HM-12. HM-14 and HM-16 examples I have already drawn.

 

It looks like there are enough Navy and Marines subjects that I would like to do to fill up a complete sheet : still not sure how to squeeze the USAF and perhaps the Iranian examples I want to include.  Now that kit is re-released and widely available, perhaps two separate sheets are viable??

 

Gunny, I am about to prepare a series of annotated images where I will need some help with stencils - I will post some of these tonight. Thanks for your help again!

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Kursad,

 

Here to help any way I can.  Love the products, and a couple of sheets would do well.  The Navy RH-53D's were always very colorful, with the Blue, Glossy Dark Grays's and of course the Squadron markings of those HM units you called out.  Never been able to do those colorful 53's unless it was in 1/72nd.

 

Thanks for helping out us rotorheads!!

 

r/Gunny

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OK, then - here we go:

 

1:  I need to find out what the stencilling right underneath the air intake says - I can read the "AIR INTAKE" part but not the rest.

2: Is there a text right behind the blade antenna in the center of the circle? What does the circle signify?

 

ch53q1.jpg

 

3: Some helicopters seem to have the "radiactive probe" sticker/stencil. Is this what the circle is about? Is this specific to the RH-53D, or should it be on every CH-53 variant?

 

ch53q3.jpg

 

4. This stencils says "xxxxx  WORK PLATFORM - LIMIT 1 MAN", but I can't figure out the first part. I believe it may be a bunch of numbers, perhaps a reference to panel numbers or something like that? Kind of like  the numbers before the electrical compartment door marking in the second image?

 

ch53q4.jpg

 

ch53q2.jpg

 

5. Out of curiosity, what does this marking mean?

 

ch53q5.jpg

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On 12/1/2021 at 5:53 AM, KursadA said:

OK, then - here we go:

 

1:  I need to find out what the stencilling right underneath the air intake says - I can read the "AIR INTAKE" part but not the rest.

2: Is there a text right behind the blade antenna in the center of the circle? What does the circle signify?

 

ch53q1.jpg

 

3: Some helicopters seem to have the "radiactive probe" sticker/stencil. Is this what the circle is about? Is this specific to the RH-53D, or should it be on every CH-53 variant?

 

ch53q3.jpg

I'll jump in with a couple of observations:

Regarding '1', your 'missing word' from the stencil below the intake is 'HEATER'...

....and for '3', the positioning of that particular item could vary, as seen here:

DN-ST-85-03952.jpeg

As for '2', I would assume the circle around the blade antenna signifies the RadHaz area - it first appears in photos from 1982 onwards, and looks unique to the minesweepers; however, though it wasn't carried over to the MH-53Es when they replaced the RH-53Ds, it came back into use from around 2011:

HM-15-Blackhawks-049.jpg

Meanwhile, on this 1984 HM-12 bird (158757/DH-431), the 'circle' was actually an entire 'disc':

HM-12-Sea-Dragons-20.jpg

Don't forget the stencilling at the other end!

DN-ST-85-04011.jpeg

Edited by andyf117
Fixed 'broken' link
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2 hours ago, Dutch said:

Kursad, I am pretty sure #4 says ENGINE WORK PLATFORM. K/r, Dutch

 

 

That's what I thought at first but I think it is something else - it is in 2" letters so it will be pretty visible and I would like to get it right.

 

ch53q6.jpg

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