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MD500E/D 530F High skids and Canopy conversion from Dragon 530G


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Good day everyone,

 

I've found myself with a lot of time on my hands and recently made a return to scale model building after a 20ish year hiatus, and I'm looking to build some models of MD500D and E's that I've flown in the past and maybe a 530F that frequented the area's I used fly in. I'm planning on using the 1:35 Dragon MD 530G kit as a base model I've seen the work that Rodrigo AD (salvador001) did with his two El Salvador 500E's on this website back in 2014 and would like to do something similar. I dug around and found the over all measurements of the high skids he created, and read that he used Evergreen plastics which is something that is new to me. what's the best way to cut and splice in the additional plastic to extend the skids? I've found some info online about adhesives to use with Evergreen, what types of adhesives are best for bonding the evergreen plastic to the model kit parts?

 

I've also seen the work that Carlos Escobar did with his 2013 project also using the Dragon kit, although I believe he used the Los Angeles County Sherriff version to replicate Las Vegas Metro PD's MD530. the Question I have for him, or anyone who knows how, is how he removed the extra canopy bracing to replicate the later production model 500E and 530F. I would also like to do this for my project.

 

If Carlos or Rodrigo are still active in this forum I would love to hear from you and learned how you accomplished those great modifications to the Dragon kits. and if anyone else has any tips or tricks to help me get back into this hobby, I'm all ears

rodrigo AD.jpg

07.jpg

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Welcome back to the hobby and here.


You can use an hobby knife or razor blade to cut the plastic. You can also get printed parts from http://www.heli-scale-quality.com They have posted on here before, while mostly RC models they do have 1/35 scale parts and few different versions of 500 skids.

 

Most glues work, I really only use Tamiya Extra Thin for all my gluing besides resin then I use super glue. Which might not be a bad idea given the location.

 

You can gently scrape the canopy with a hobby knife then use micro sanding pads to  buff out the scratches and with a little future good as new. Example of product
https://www.micromark.com/Soft-Touch-Sanding-and-Polishing-Pad-Set-Set-of-6

 

HTH and make sure to post pictures of your  build.

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Thanks for your reply and the links!

5 hours ago, Tank said:

buff out the scratches and with a little future good as new.

By future, are you talking about the old floor polish? do they still sell that? I can't remember the last time i've seen it on shelves.

 

 

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1 hour ago, GunPilot said:

Thanks for your reply and the links!

By future, are you talking about the old floor polish? do they still sell that? I can't remember the last time i've seen it on shelves.

 

 


Yes, I think it is called pledge with future shine or pledge floor gloss. Same stuff different name.

 

Don’t use MEK so I cannot say.

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52 minutes ago, Tank said:


Yes, I think it is called pledge with future shine or pledge floor gloss. Same stuff different name.

 

Don’t use MEK so I cannot say.

Thank you!

 

51 minutes ago, Lupusprimus said:

I saw these, and liked them, especially the version without the lower skid covers. but they don't seem to be a direct replacement for the Dragon kit. is there a build thread of a build using the Dragon kit and these high skids that i could use for reference? It looks like they would need some modification to fit properly.

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11 hours ago, GunPilot said:

Thanks for your reply and the links!

By future, are you talking about the old floor polish? do they still sell that? I can't remember the last time i've seen it on shelves.

 

 

Everything you need to know about Future Floor Polish & Modeling is here:

 

http://www.swannysmodels.com/TheCompleteFuture.html

 

Hope this helps,

Steve Sliger

Greenwell Springs, LA

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After ordering some of the high skid kits, I decided what the hell, and started working on converting the low skids that come with the model on my own.    I'm posting some pictures to show my progress and as a sort of sanity check to make sure my methodology makes sense. 

 

This is my first time modifying parts this way, so I went with a start big, end small method. I split the skid fairings perpendicularly from the leading edge just below the upper boot with a hobby pull saw. I elected not to use a razor or hobby knife because during several test cuts on parts i wasn't going to use, I found it hard to get a clean even cut, the pull saw and miter box combo gave me the consistency I needed. I cut two 11mm blocks of Evergreen and glued them between the skid fairing pieces. when positioning the kit pieces I made sure to line up the trailing edge of the skid fairing so they formed a general strait line when seen from behind. Tank's suggestion of using the Tamiya extra thin was a great tip. It formed a very strong bond that so far has held up very well.

 

blocks.jpg

 

I shaped the forward skid cover first. cutting away large areas of the Evergreen plastic with an exacto knife to get a rough shape of what i wanted then sanded with a sanding stick.  This method was faster, but I cut a little too deep in some areas. this wasn't apparent until the sanding was almost complete. rough_cut.jpg

After sanding it smooth, I was very happy with the results considering the tools I was using. the sanding sticks I have are just large emery boards, so I'm going to invest in some smaller finer sanding sticks when my local hobby shop opens tomorrow morning.

 

sanded_1.jpg 

 

For the aft portion, I left the knife on the table and just used the sanding sticks. It took longer, but I had more control over the shape and didn't create any gouges like I had done before. After shaping the aft fairing, I removed the little bumps on the forward and aft sections.  None of the civilian 500's i've flown or seen have ever had these so I cut them and sanded the areas smooth. I also moved the skid step up higher to where it should be, and will fashion another skid step for the aft fairing. I may replace the forward skid step if I like how the new aft one comes out.  I'm really encouraged by how this went. the Evergreen plastic was a lot easier to work with that I thought it would be and I'm happy with the result. I'm considering adding more material to to the top to better replicate the fairing boot similar to what Rodrigo AD did, I just haven't quite figured out how I want to accomplish that yet. The original kit only had a line showing where the fairing boot was, and as you can see, I pretty much sanded that right off. compare_2.jpg

 

I'm open to any suggestions on how to make this better. This is the first in a planned series of 3 500's I want to build, and I'm new at making modifications like this, so to all the Master Model Builders out there, please feel free to chime in.

 

-Joe

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