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Civil Jet Ranger from Italeri OH-58A?


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Just a little idle thinking here. I have an Italeri 1/48 OH-58A in my stash. Can it be easily converted to a civil type? Based on what I'm seeing in the box, it looks like all I'd have to do is add a cover for the tail rotor shaft. Is there anything else that I'd have to do to de-mil the kit? I'm not up on my Bell 206s.

 

Thanks!

 

Ben

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38 minutes ago, GunPilot said:

check the shape of the back windows. 58's windows taper towards the aft end, while Jetranger back windows are rectangular.  

 

Also, there are several different styles of

"sliding windows" windows for both the front and aft windows.  Also you can just leave the windows the way they are and model an ex-military airframe being used by a "Public Use" agency (State & Local Law Enforcement, State Wildlife Management, Federal  State Forrest Management agencies, etc.) .  I saw a privately owned ex-military OH-58A aircraft at the airport I am based at a couple years ago.  It still wore its well worn OD paint scheme minus all the US Army markings and Had a Civil N number instead of the US Army aircraft tail number.  The owner told me he was keeping it in a War Bird scheme.

 

Steve Sliger

Greenwell Springs, LA

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When they did the LAPD jetranger in 1/72, along with the tail shaft cover, the sprues included 'high skids' to replace the OH-58A ones, as seen here:

 

 

206.jpg

Edited by andyf117
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5 hours ago, andyf117 said:

When they did the LAPD jetranger in 1/72, along with the tail shaft cover, the sprues included 'high skids' to replace the OH-58A ones, as seen here:

 

 

206.jpg

Civilian Bell 206 B model Jet Rangers had the option of short or high skids.  The reason you see more high skids is because those skids are used for the Off Shore Float option for those being flown over water ant the added benefit of giving additional ground clearance for the tail rotor. I flew OH-58C in the Army and when in the field, we were always safety conscious about landing at field sites due to the shorter ground clearance of the tail rotor due to the short skids on the aircraft.  My first civilian job after my Army days was flying Bell 206 (B III, L, L-1, L-3, & L-4) aircraft in the Gulf of Mexico in support of the off shore oil fields.  All of those aircraft had the high skids due to the "Pop Out" Off Shore floats they were equipped with. So the model can be built with either set of skids to replicate a Bell 206 B series Jet Ranger. 

 

Hope this helps,

Steve Sliger

Greenwell Springs, LA

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The length of the OH-58A tailboom and main rotor blades are longer than those fitted to the Bell 206 but in 1/72 scale, it will hardly be noticeable. The best low skids for this model are the ones in the OH-58D kit which appear different and more accurate than the regular low skids supplied on the OH-58A kit. The tall skids in the LAPD version of this kit could be modified to represent the tall skids with pop-out floats, popular in the 1970's and 80's. To make the tall skids used on the OH-58A or 206B, wire will have to be bent to shape.

 

LD.

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