Jump to content

Minicraft 1:144 C-130H / HC-130J Hercules Dual Build


Recommended Posts

I am building two Minicraft 1:144 Hercules kits for two different friends: a C-130H in 39th AS, 317th AG Dyess AFB markings for the wife of a recently retired workmate and a HC-130J from CGAS Elizabeth City for a recently winged USCG pilot who was the former roommate of my son in flight school.  I am documenting the builds on ScaleMates (SCM).  The links take you to the project page, which shows the individual items (kits, AM parts, decals) involved in the project.  Scroll down each project to the see the actual build albums.  I usually put a couple of photos of actual aircraft in the album as my inspiriration and for reference.  Then I add photos of the construction progress.  As decals for the 39th AS in Dyess markings do not currently exist, I asked Greg Drawbaugh of Draw Decals to do a custom run, and he graciously agreed to have them to me by 1 Sep so I could complete the kit on schedule.  He has already shipped them and I should receive them tomorrow.  I can't wait!  I have to complete the C-130H in the next ten days as they family is moving back to Texas. Enjoy!  K/r, Dutch 

Edited by Dutch
Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks Brothers Ray & Chris. I truly appreciate the support. 

These Minicraft 1/144 C-130s are pretty nice. Shape and detail are reasonably good for the scale, however some key details are lacking that could easily have been included,  especially since these kits were designed to be released with multiple variants from the start. While the J kits include the longer wheel sponsons, many Hs also featured these. No dorsal DME antenna is included, when it could easily been added to one of the fuselage half sprues. Further, many late model Hs had a rectangular heat exchanger on the stbd side behind the cockpit and horseshoe shaped fairings on either side of the forward wheel well. None of these are included. I will add these details to these two kits, but would like to see a resin or 3-D printed set that includes these extras like the 1/72 Ron's Resins set for the Italeri C-130H Herk. Eventually,  I would like to see the AN/ARD-17 radome and Fulton Recovery noses with tines and the various MC spec ops birds noses and aerials. I believe that the IFR pods are already available in 1:144 scale as a 3-D printed item from Shapeways.  The specialized EC-130E/H/J Compass Call and Commando Solo antennas would be another nice to have. 

Just my thoughts on a rainy Sunday afternoon. 

K/r. Dutch 

Edited by Dutch
Link to post
Share on other sites
14 hours ago, Rocketdrvr said:

Hi Dutch,

 

where are you posting pics of the build?

 

Thanks,

Click the two links in the first post.  They take you to my ScaleMates project pages.  Once on SCM, scroll down for the project album.  😎 K/r, Dutch

Link to post
Share on other sites

Chris, My Academy 1/144 B-1B Lancer in 9th BS markings has been done for a few months now. I gave it to my friend in late July. He was so thrilled that he asked if I would build a 39th AS C-130H for his wife. So I am also making a wooden base large enough to display both kits, hence I odered both a 9th BS & 39th AS decal. I will post more photos tomorrow as I place more decals. 

K/r, Dutch 

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

I was very busy this week and rushed the paint on the HC-130J. I painted a base coat of white and discovered a few flaws: one major, one minor. 

 

The minor flaw was a slight gap in the leading edge where the starboard wing meets the fuselage; easily fixed as I did with the wingtip gap, by gluing a short piece of .010 plastic rod into the gap, then sanding it down to match the leading edge profile.  Photos uploaded. 

 

The major flaw is the cockpit canopy.  It bulges out past the port lower edge rather noticeably, even after I sanded it down most severely, to the point of loosing the lower window detail.  However, it still sits too proud of the fuselage profile. Plus there is a gap along the forward edge where the canopy meets the forward radome. I will use the .010 plastic rod trick on the gap.  I guess I will have to re-sand the port lower edge of the cockpit canopy until it is flush with the fuselage side contour.  Photos uploaded. I am also making progress on the L-100-30 Ethiopian Cargo project.

 

K/r,

Dutch

Edited by Dutch
Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...

So I am running into a little bit of a problem with the USCG HC-130J markings.  As described in the SCM project album, I am planning on using Microscale 72-109 USCG sheet for the nose serial number (either 2001, 03, 05, 07, 08, 12).  However, I also need to change the font of the upper & lower wing "USCG" titles.  As you can see from the photos below, the older HC-130H (top photo) has square letters with angled corners, but the newer HC-130J (bottom photo) has rounded letters.  The Minicraft kit #14524 includes the older squared off USCG wing font.  After comparing fonts with the lower photo, I have ruled out Arial.  Does anyone know the font and a possible source for black letters ~3/8 inches or 10mm high? I thought to use the Luftwaffe letter codes from MS 72-89, however font is not completely accurate and has a white border around the black.  This won't matter on the bottom wing, but will show on the upper wing where the background is gray for the wingwalk area. Any suggestions are appreciated. 

Kind regards,

Dutch

 

0H.JPG.2c22dc0f2012614b01b58c4360952eb2.JPG

USCG HC-130H lower wing title in squared font.

 

0J.JPG.9bc01fd066640fbb63e13ec489b63e71.JPG

USCG HC-130J lower wing title in rounded font.

Edited by Dutch
Add captions.
Link to post
Share on other sites
  • Dutch changed the title to Minicraft 1:144 C-130H / HC-130J Hercules Dual Build

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...