Hajo L. Posted May 22, 2022 Share Posted May 22, 2022 I want to contribute something again here - sorry, at the moment I usually post stuff on my german forum and continue modelling before going the extra mile to translate my reports... Well, I got hold of the old, but in my eyes still excellent kit of the Bo-105 by Airfix. I think this particular kit was released in 1978 and I think it´s still better than the new release by Amodel. As you can see, I cut out the passenger doors - this is necessary to create a "Swooper"-version, which is a special variant that was used a short time to support the KSK, the Kommando Spezialkräfte, our German Army-commando unit, comparable to maybe the US Army Delta Force. So the role of this Bo-105 would be basically the same as the MH-6 Little Bird. The construction to this point went straight forward, with the only addition to the kit beeing a second pilot figure. Now some modifications come into play. Most visible the planks to the sides, like on the Little Bird. They were used (were they really? I never saw pictures of the Bo in the air with actually carrying operators on that plank!) to have soldiers ride into battle and quickly dismount. Also I added the main base for the HOT-sight above the port-side of the cockpit. This was the sight previously used by the Anti-Tank-system of the Bo-105 PAH (Panzerabwehrhubschrauber - Anti-Tank-Helicopter), and the actual targetting unit was removed for the Swooper. I used a kit part from the 1:87 Bo-105 by Roco, and the thing looks quite good even though it´s intended to be much smaller scale-wise. I had no pictures of the underside and therefor used some artistic licence here. Pylons are again something from my ever-lasting Roco spare-box, this time coming from the ancient Bell UH-1D-kit. The Heeresflieger (Army Aviation) camoflage of the Bo-105 is one of my favorite: Simple, but clean and effective! Just love it! Another dominant feature of the Swooper-versions, whcih were the last Bo-105s operational in german service, was an added air-particel filter in front of the engine intake. A friend of mine once did a template for it´s shape and send it to me. I printed it on paper and soaked it with super glue to give the paper more stability. It looked good until I tried to add a mesh, using the material of a tea-bag. The paper-form began to warp heavily (apparently I`d better soaked the backside with super glue as well), and I decided to transfer to plastic card instead. Looked good as well, I´d say! Also visible: The decals that I already applied. I used some aftermarket decals for the Iron Crosses, but had to rely on the original kit-decals for the registry. Well, over 40 years old and still working like a charm - that´s quality! And here we have the mesh installed and painted with gun-metal. I´m quite happy with the result! HAJO Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Loach Driver Posted July 30, 2022 Share Posted July 30, 2022 Nice work so far. Always liked that Airfix kit. LD. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hajo L. Posted July 31, 2022 Author Share Posted July 31, 2022 Thank you very much, LD! I will finish it soon, since some parts I needed finally arrived. Just need to finish my current project. HAJO Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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