CH-147F Chinook - 450 Tactical Helicopter Squadron, CAF, 2017 - Revell 1/72

[andyf117]

Over the years, I've amassed a number of Chinook kits - an elderly Matchbox one picked up cheap at a model show long ago, as it had a couple of damaged and missing transparencies; an original-issue Italeri CH-47 (HC.1) received as a magazine review kit, but not built as we could never include every kit supplied to us; three Airfix reboxings of the Italeri kit, one a cheap eBay purchase, the other two coming as parts of 'job lots'; an ACH-47A also acquired in a 'job lot'; and, obtained separately in similar fashion, two Revell boxings of the MH-47E.

 

Whilst one of the Revell kits was always destined to be an RAF machine (to complete an intended trio depicting the three schemes the type has worn in UK service), acquisition of the second example had me pondering what variant to build it as - for a time I seriously considered doing a British Airways Model 234LR conversion, but when searching for subjects to include on another home-printed decal sheet, I was inspired by numerous photos of the aircraft which attended RIAT 2017, and so settled on a Canadian CH-147F in its eye-catching two-tone camouflage scheme.

 

The more that I studied photos when determining types, sizes, and positions of markings and stencils for the decals, the more that I noticed the considerable number of modifications and additions which would be required during the build process, along with a few other improvements.
So, very nearly two-and-a-half years on from this early enquiry - http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/315934-ch-147f-whats-in-the-hole/ - I've finally completed the model! As with my previous 'Display Case' posts, the following photographs are accompanied, as appropriate, by descriptions of the work carried out:

Seen to good advantage in these head-on and forward port side views are the enlarged and reshaped FLIR turret under the nose along with the cylindrical antenna added outboard of it, and larger replacements for the kit RWR antennae on the upper nose. The FLIR unit utlised the original kit part, with a new turret and sensor made from a bomb body and a map pin head respectively, which was mounted over the very-simplified kit item. Both upper and lower antennae were short lengths of the kit's sprue cut and sanded to shape.
Also of note here is the large rectangular forward fuselage window which replaced the hatch with circular one, whilst below it a bracket for the spent cartridge chute and a teardrop fairing were added. The upper fuselage mount for part of the defensive aids suite had 'blanking plate' detail added, in common with the others elsewhere on the airframe, as seen in later photos.

This side shot reveals nicely the seat webbing fitted inside the main cabin, its red colour making it a prominent feature seen in most Chinooks. Using a Eduard etched detail set as a template, and with that carefully-centred for double-sided printing, I produced a complete set in colour on thin card stock, which then just required cutting and trimming before being 'hung' on rails positioned along the cabin walls fractionally above the top window line, as per the real aircraft.
Also of note in this view are the fuel filler point added to the top of the sponson tank; the chaff dispenser rack on the fuselage side, made to replace the bulky and undersized kit item; and the rubber tyres on resin hubs of an Equipage H-47 wheel set, which has only been waiting to be used for 25 years!

These two views of the forward and aft upper areas show the recessed areas on the tops of the two rotor pylons, the forward one with detail added inside, the aft one 'empty', as per a reply to my enquiry referenced above. Both are covered utilising mesh from bags of some of the 'fancy' teas which my wife drinks! The same material was also employed, in unpainted form, to replace the solidly-moulded screen sections of the kit's engine intake filters, as seen in the second photo. Seen too in that shot are the L-shaped EAPS filter rails added forward of the engines.

Modification and improvement work around the aft section included the filling of various grilles on the rear fuselage and the rotor pylon; constructing flare dispenser mounts, again to replace the kit items; replacing the undersized RWR points on the pylon's rear edge; adding the 'lump' under each engine; and detailing the exhaust cones inside and out - inside with a hollow tube and its support braces, and outside with circumferential bands and small squares at the positions of the ends of the inner braces. Spacers were used inside of the engine nacelles to extend the length of the exhausts slightly, as they were too short if installed as provided.

Another area where an improvement was required was the cockpit transparency's sides, particularly where the upper windows have a 'kink' in them - the earlier ACH-/CH-47 kits do not have any issues, but the re-tooled MH- nose part has very thick framing, leaving window sections which are both too narrow and uneven. The remedy was to remove the framing completely, restore clarity to the areas, and then depict thinner and more even framing during the painting process.

Though this underside view isn't the best (largely due to reflections of my hands and the camera in the glass!), the added aerials, antennae and anti-collision beacon can just be made out, along with where another improvement was made, namely the indentations added between the main tank sections of the sponsons and the fuselage. The kit depicts this area as totally flush, whereas in reality there is a distinct curve to the inner edge of the tank section - some judicious sanding along the edges of both the sponsons and the main underside panel before fitting the latter resulted in a reasonable representation.

A further modification was to the attachment of the central cargo hook hatch, which is supplied with a triangle of lugs on its reverse - these were removed, and a spares box item was used to make extending arms that were fitted to the sides instead.

As previously mentioned, one of the reasons for building the Canadian machine was its attractive two-tone green camouflage scheme, comprised of FS34084 and FS34095. For the former, I found that an old tin of Gloy Authentics 'Olive Drab 41' was a perfect match to my FS595A fan deck chip; in similar fashion, an equally-old tin of Compucolor FS34097 was discovered to be much closer to 34095 than the colour which it purported to be. During the painting process, I realised that the FLIR unit was a different shade of green altogether, and by sheer coincidence was actually very similar to the Humbrol Authentic HT1 'Topside Green' which I'd used as an undercoat - therefore that colour was retained for it.
The decals which I produced for this build took up about one-third of the A5-sized sheet that I eventually printed (after gradually filling it up with markings for half-a-dozen other subjects) - in total, there are 230 individual decals on the model, of which no fewer than 187 were mine, ranging from tiny 'Fuel Vent' and 'Handhold' stencils to all the walkways, and from multi-part window and door 'Emergency Exit' surrounds to the national insignia and other identity markings.
The only kit decals used were the stencils for the rotor blade root undersides, nose radome stripes, and the starboard forward fuel filler cap; a Revell German Sea King sheet provided the four upper sponson fuel filler caps, the two undernose landing lights, and reflectors for the upper and lower anti-collision beacons; the landing and nose spotlight decals from a couple of Airfix Sea King sheets were of suitable size and shape to represent the four underside tank vent points; a heavily-trimmed off-white squared letter 'O' became the crew door exit surround, whilst slivers of the rest of it were used for the upper fuselage and aft rotor pylon low-intensity formation lights; similarly, 12 slices of a yellow code letter were used for the rotor blade sling bands.

Next step - to get my next-door neighbour to cut me a new base for the old small fish tank that I've kept safely in the summerhouse, which will be the perfect size to display this Chinook in, with room to add a shelf and double-stack a second, maybe in another two-and-a-half year's time!

Edited July 7, 2023 by andyf117

[Trojan Thunder]

Lovely job Andy and a very comprehensive post on the mods you did

 

Thanks! 

[bdt13]

WOW - this is a VERY impressive result for an old Matchbox mold. I appreciate all the extra work you put in to make it authentic.

[andyf117]

1 hour ago, bdt13 said:

WOW - this is a VERY impressive result for an old Matchbox mold. I appreciate all the extra work you put in to make it authentic.

Thanks, Ben - but it's the Revell/Italeri kit, not the Matchbox one...

 

16 hours ago, Trojan Thunder said:

Lovely job Andy and a very comprehensive post on the mods you did

 

Thanks! 

Thanks, Ray...

Edited June 4, 2023 by andyf117

[Dutch]

Andy,  Very nice work improving and detailing this kit.  And nicely painted and decaled.  A pleasure to behold.  Kind regards, Dutch

[lgl007]

Very nice indeed.  And I love the subject matter... although I am a bit biased being Canadian and all that 😜

 

-Greg

[andyf117]

On 6/5/2023 at 3:38 PM, Dutch said:

Andy,  Very nice work improving and detailing this kit.  And nicely painted and decaled.  A pleasure to behold.  Kind regards, Dutch

 

On 6/13/2023 at 2:22 PM, lgl007 said:

Very nice indeed.  And I love the subject matter... although I am a bit biased being Canadian and all that 😜

 

-Greg

Thanks, gents - meanwhile, after my neighbour had very kindly fashioned me a base onto which the aforementioned fish-tank turned display case fits perfectly, I downloaded, printed and glued a parking apron on which to place the model, and it now sits on top of my 'stash' shelving unit:

Edited June 14, 2023 by andyf117

[Dutch]

Very nicely done!

[phantom]

Thats GREAT!