UH-34D 1/32 Scale Project

[USMCVet]

Following the excellent examples of Rotorman and HeavyArty, I am beginning my own thread to show (or fail to show) my progress on converting the Fly Models 1/32 Wessex kit to a Marine Corps UH-34D (it was always called the "Dog" from the old phonetic alphabet for the letter "D" and never the "Choctaw") of the 1966-7 period in the Republic of Vietnam. 

Now some mandatory background: I am a somewhat middling modeler, despite allegedly 70 plus years of modeling and I served in the Marines in Vietnam as an artilleryman and an artillery forward observer with the infantry.  UH-34Ds were the main helicopter we used back then and it served us as a transport to and from battle, brought our mail, ammo, and C-Rations to the field, and most important of all, came in to get us when we were hurt. I was medically evacuated in a Dog on May 13, 1967 and that plane saved my life. (HMM-361, 1st Lt Leland McDonough pilot)

Other than that, no special connections.

 

To begin, I read the thread by the Rotorman after I bought that Fly Models kit and resolved to try my hand at that conversion. Rotorman very generously sent me some 3-D printed parts to get me started and his and HeavyArty's threads helped a lot. I also have zero excuses for getting it wrong: I have a fully restored UH-34D in Early War livery 8 miles from my house in the National Museum of the Marine Corps at Quantico!

 

The Fly Models kit is well-cast and I had tried to ask Fly Models (Poland) if they were coming out with an UH-34 kit or conversion set and they curtly told me no. It is made of a very hard and solid grey plastic with no locater pins and when cutting that plastic, it's more like carving than cutting. Very similar to resin. Honestly, their canopy is also thick - about 2-3 scale inches thick - so my first step is to make a vacuformed canopy to replace it.

 

I do not intend as yet to build the very complex engine with its shrouding, cabling, piping, and impossibly intricate throttle cables and will pose it closed.

 

Anyway, wish me luck!

UH-34 (1).HEIC UH-34 (3).HEIC

[USMCVet]

22 hours ago, USMCVet said:

Following the excellent examples of Rotorman and HeavyArty, I am beginning my own thread to show (or fail to show) my progress on converting the Fly Models 1/32 Wessex kit to a Marine Corps UH-34D (it was always called the "Dog" from the old phonetic alphabet for the letter "D" and never the "Choctaw") of the 1966-7 period in the Republic of Vietnam. 

Now some mandatory background: I am a somewhat middling modeler, despite allegedly 70 plus years of modeling and I served in the Marines in Vietnam as an artilleryman and an artillery forward observer with the infantry.  UH-34Ds were the main helicopter we used back then and it served us as a transport to and from battle, brought our mail, ammo, and C-Rations to the field, and most important of all, came in to get us when we were hurt. I was medically evacuated in a Dog on May 13, 1967 and that plane saved my life. (HMM-361, 1st Lt Leland McDonough pilot)

Other than that, no special connections.

 

To begin, I read the thread by the Rotorman after I bought that Fly Models kit and resolved to try my hand at that conversion. Rotorman very generously sent me some 3-D printed parts to get me started and his and HeavyArty's threads helped a lot. I also have zero excuses for getting it wrong: I have a fully restored UH-34D in Early War livery 8 miles from my house in the National Museum of the Marine Corps at Quantico!

 

The Fly Models kit is well-cast and I had tried to ask Fly Models (Poland) if they were coming out with an UH-34 kit or conversion set and they curtly told me no. It is made of a very hard and solid grey plastic with no locater pins and when cutting that plastic, it's more like carving than cutting. Very similar to resin. Honestly, their canopy is also thick - about 2-3 scale inches thick - so my first step is to make a vacuformed canopy to replace it.

 

I do not intend as yet to build the very complex engine with its shrouding, cabling, piping, and impossibly intricate throttle cables and will pose it closed.

 

Anyway, wish me luck!

UH-34 (1).HEIC 1.71 MB · 4 downloads UH-34 (3).HEIC 1.96 MB · 4 downloads

 

[USMCVet]

Please note that I am also working to correct the shape of the otherwise excellent nose donated by Rotorman for this project. That nose is a shade too spherical for my eye and I am working to retain the good detail while making a slight correction. Note too, the excellent UH-34D in the Marine Corps Museum close by!

[USMCVet]

Also note my really messy workspace - it's my dining room table, which I share with my seed-scattering Conure Parrot "Pickles". 

[midnightprowler]

Looking forward to it.

[Rotorman]

Will follow this build for sure. Good start my friend.

[USMCVet]

As always, model building is more complex and troublesome than you plan. Usually, it's augmented when you decide that the kit itself isn't adequately realistic or insufficiently detailed, etc.,etc. I have several models "in progress" downstairs waiting for me to finally finish them because I ran into a problem making some part and I guess that I will finally solve the issue and finish the darn things.

 

AS we say in the Marines, "no operational plan survives the first contact with the enemy" - so it with an elaborate conversion. I think that if we knew before we started how much pain we'd run into on a project, we'd throw the kit away and take up a less irritating hobby, like fishing.

 

The Wessex kit has several areas that need modifying more than I originally estimated: I mentioned the canopy and the nose but the belly of the model has these huge raised rectangular panels that don't exist in the original UH-34 and the model has no gas tank fillers or crew steps. My photo of the belly shows the "after" shot of those rectangular raised portions filed and sanded down. When the model is in the final stages, I'll add all of the piping and antennas and other details  that we had on the belly back then.

 

Obviously, there are much work yet to do, but at least today, the gas filler pipes and the crew steps are closer to being where I want them. I used 4.5mm thinwall brass tube I annealed and the used an aluminum mandrel I shaped from an old .30 caliber cleaning rod and reshaped the tube and then trimmed it off. I will install the gas filler caps and the crew step inner parts next. After that, I'll keep going with the internal details in the fuselage walls - I finally realized that the ribs and longerons aren't curved enough, so I will used my trusty heat gun to shape each of them as I cement them in. Note too, that I have opened the portside windows to the "emergency escape windows removed"  size, as I said I'd do earlier because all of the Marine Corps birds in country put an M-60 machine gun on a flexible mount in that forward window.

 

This model will have to be built in three major assemblies which will have to be completed separately: starboard side, portside, and nose. The fuselage halves will not be glued together until all of the internal details and painting and weathering inside is done.

[Rotorman]

Great progress. There is so much that can be done with this kit and I see you are doing

it. 

[YF65_CH53E]

Great start to a really nice UH-34D!  Gotta love the HMM's and the "Dog" of Vietnam.  My first maintenance chief in my HMH-462 days at MCAS Tustin was a UH-34D crewchief and gunner.  Great stories of that ol beast!

 

Anyways, watching this build so I can learn, as this is a helicopter Iwant to build, along with the 1/32 HH-43, HOK to us jarheads.

 

Semper Fi USMCVet

 

s/f

Gunny Dan

[USMCVet]

Great hearing from you, Marine!  I was stationed at Tustin in 1968-69 and I was with HMMT-302 (known as "F-Troop" back then and it was an advanced training squadron for CH-46 pilots heading over. We still had some Dogs then and I got homesick every time I heard those beasts fire up in the morning.  Damn shame that hangar burned recently - those were amazing structures!

 

It's going to be a long build to finish this Dog, but I'll do my best - Thanks for watching!

 

Semper Fi,

Rick Lindsey

[11bee]

Just stumbled on this build.  Love the work so far, I’ll be following closely.    Thanks for your service over there Devil Dog!  

[USMCVet]

I am sure that those of you watching this thread have entertained thoughts that I have given up. How little you know me...

It has been a tough kit to build so far - those Czech guys at Fly Models really need to look at hiring folks that know some basics of kit design: those inner wall ribs and longerons are a beast to put in - but I think that I've got them in there OK.

 

Here's what I've been working on:

1. I fitted the floor to the cabin (like I said, a tough kit - the floor was too wide to fit) and then applied some thin aluminum foil onto the floor. The idea being that after it's painted its light grey, I can wear small sections to simulate the wear the floor would have at the time.

 

2. Next, I finished the pilot's entry steps and fuel filler ports and I modified the cabin door (exactly the same method as Heavy arty used - though I didn't know it at the time)

 

3. I am still working on vacuforming the canopy - the issue is getting the detail on the frames and getting the angle right to get all of the panels evenly formed. Many cusswords, but I will succeed, Eventually.

 

4. I finally made the leap to modify the gorgeous Norbert nose to correct its shape - I used Tamiya epoxy putty to get close to the final form and used a template that I made from sizing a photograph of the nose contour. The template indexes at the top of the center of the air vents and at the lower edge of the clamshell engine doors.  I will use small amounts of Bondo to complete the basic shape, then Tamiya putty as it get closer to final, and then I'll engrave the panel lines and the door outlines.

5. On the cabin interior, I will place the photoetched reinforcing bits and then paint the whole interior the lights grey and begin weathering/staining.

[11bee]

Wow...    That's some highly impressive work.    

[YF65_CH53E]

Looking good Marine!  Stay on target!

 

r/Gunny Dan

[Rotorman]

we want more of this build. ....well, i do.

[USMCVet]

I have had some very kind requests to post more of what I am doing so far - but to be honest, I am at the very ugly "making sausage" stage of building: I am using auto body putty (Bondo) in slow stages and using patterns to shape the nose to what should be a more accurate version. This is really Old School modeling but not at all attractive so far. I will, however try to show you what I am up to at this point.

 

Now, I told you that this is ugly - I know that it's a creepy blob at this point but I have a couple of much smaller layers to fill the gaps and then I will glue on the styrene strips to give the door edges and cut the openings for the exhausts and the intake and landing lights. When all of that is in and I am satisfied with the placement and the horizontal and vertical shapes, I will use a thin layer of resin to seal everything and give a smooth, paintable finish.

 

I hope.

 

Anyway, that's the plan.

[Rotorman]

1 hour ago, USMCVet said:

I have had some very kind requests to post more of what I am doing so far - but to be honest, I am at the very ugly "making sausage" stage of building: I am using auto body putty (Bondo) in slow stages and using patterns to shape the nose to what should be a more accurate version. This is really Old School modeling but not at all attractive so far. I will, however try to show you what I am up to at this point.

 

Now, I told you that this is ugly - I know that it's a creepy blob at this point but I have a couple of much smaller layers to fill the gaps and then I will glue on the styrene strips to give the door edges and cut the openings for the exhausts and the intake and landing lights. When all of that is in and I am satisfied with the placement and the horizontal and vertical shapes, I will use a thin layer of resin to seal everything and give a smooth, paintable finish.

 

I hope.

 

Anyway, that's the plan.

Thanks for the update. I see you have your workcut out for u.

[USMCVet]

Now, I am sure that all of you saw that nasty nose I photographed yesterday and thought "this guy is sloppy and he can't be serious" or thoughts to that effect.  OK, I agree but here are some photos today - not there yet, but getting closer. My dad - who was a professional artist - used to say "the difference between an artist and a painter is that an artist knows how to fix his mistakes".  So here is what it looks like on Day 2 -

 

I used a system of shaping and checking the shape using templates that I made from carefully scaled photographs. I glued the photos to styrene sheet and then cut out the shapes to line up with specific reference points on the model. The first Bondo fill gave the main shape to the templates and then the filling and reshaping begins. The pen shapes on the current form are where the exhaust, air intake, and landing light openings will be made. This is the same technique I used to make my P2V-1 nose a decade ago (that cartoon of the Truculent Turtle was drawn on the actual record-breaking Neptune by my father).

 

Anyway, have faith my friends - I'll get there!

[Rotorman]

I see some progress going on here. Starting to look like a nose.

[YF65_CH53E]

Looking good!!!  Lots of patience my friend!

 

Semper Fi Mac!!

 

Gunny

[USMCVet]

I am going very damn slowly: part of it is the difficulty (for me) in getting the parts where I want them, part of it is because I have two teenagers at home and they are at a very attention-needing phase.., and part of it is because I am a clumsy oaf!

I dropped the nose I was working on and broke all but two of the vent ribs and cracked one side all the way to the top. After a somewhat sleepless night, I calmed down and carefully searched for every bit - which was challenging, since the small bits landed quite a way from the impact and were mixed with my parrot's spilled seeds.

 

But, perseverance and innate stubbornness won out and the nose was repaired, and I have continued.  The first photo shows the method I used to support and hold the frames in position - this was at about the 3/4 point in the repair work. The results at this point are encouraging, so far, the nose looks like a UH-34D nose to me.  I spend a lot of time staring at the photographs I have and comparing what I have in my hands.

 

The next steps are to finish final filling and shaping, complete the intake edge and landing light, scribe the door edges, and then the really hard part, start inserting the carefully fitted grillwork into their individual spaces. Just damn.

 

The silly-looking landing gear are a test "mule" to finally determine the part lengths and position to pose the model in the "landed, with full load, struts compressed" mode.

 

Wish me luck!

Edited March 30 by USMCVet
Misspelling

[Rotorman]

its starting to take shape. great work on the nose, i think you might be  a bit busy remaking all the rivets holes on the nose. I believe Heli Scale ( i think thats the name) in Germany makes the landing gear in the version you are doing ( i think Gino used them on his h 34 build). in any case its looking good.

 

Oliver

[USMCVet]

Hi Oliver - I have tried the Heli Scale landing gear but they are molded in the "flight mode". i.e. the main strut is fully extended since there's no load on it.  That, and thanks to language issues, they sent the wrong gear after a month's wait - they sent me the "bent leg" gear, which is already in the kit. I think that once I've resolved the dimensions, I will use thinwall brass tube to make the main strut and I will mold/construct the support struts. I am unlikely to try to do all those rivets in the nose, just stick to the panel lines: on the bird I have nearby, they are virtually invisible until you get right next to it. I have rivet decals which are 3-dimensional but I think that they would be too prominent to look real.

[Rotorman]

Looking good from here. Sorry to hear u got the wrong part. Again, good save on the screen.

[USMCVet]

I am still very slowly progressing - I have a feeling that this is one of those models that will take me a very long time to get the way I want it to be - and to reiterate, my intent is to build a Marine Corps medevac bird, 1967 with all the changes they had in coloration, added armor, gun mounts and the debris and clutter of combat operations. The nose is much closer to what I want but it is still weeks away from being done. I also working on the interior of the cabin. I'm pleased with the Light Gull Grey so far and the shading - and I am building the seat frames and brackets. The only kit parts I'm using are the photoetched clamps for the horizontal suspension bar and the seat cloth pieces, already painted in faded OD. I am using 1.5mm aluminum tube for the seat rails and I will be making the seat to be folded up against the sidewalls, out of the way for the casualties. The only seats that will be down with be the seats for the Crew Chief and the portside gunner'. Then I bundle the wires, painted white along the cabin walls, put in the gas lines up the walls - and then build the two machine gun mount.

Long ways to go!