slick95 Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 This will be my first helicopter build in years..and it's a biggy! Snagged her at Hobby Lobby for $38ish including tax. I figure after waiting a little over a year for them to drop the price of the kit, I would go all out on it with some after market stuff. After following Mason's (doupnik) build of his HMH-465 bird and his new one currently in progress, I learned a lot of techniques that I would like to try on my own kit as well. Both builds also have a lot of reference photos and a lot of inspiration. The outstanding HMH-465 build can be found here: http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index....lion&st=160 Anyway, not much progress yet. All I have completed so far is the assembly of the rotor head using the kit parts. I'll start a bit of scratch building soon to make it look a bit more cluttered...as per the real deal. SLICK Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rocat Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 nice start. I subscribed this wip, I love this chopper. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
doupnik Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Nice start, I'll dig up some of my rotorhead detail pics, I've got some nice ones since my last build. mason Quote Link to post Share on other sites
slick95 Posted June 7, 2009 Author Share Posted June 7, 2009 Nice start, I'll dig up some of my rotorhead detail pics, I've got some nice ones since my last build. That would be great man! Thanks! I was looking through the HMH-465 build at the color coding on the main and tail rotor, trying to figure out which colors go with which blade. SLICK Quote Link to post Share on other sites
doupnik Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 (edited) Something like "Remember Bring Your Own Gun With Bullets" for the blade colors? Red Blue Yellow Orange Green White Black, CCW from maybe the solid blade? I have a great pic of the tail rotor that clears the banding up.Yep you got it! That is the G rated version. Sounds like you got the color answer already (I was too slow). Red is the non-folding"naked" blade and if you are standing on top of the rotor head the colors go CCW around the head also the direction the rotor turns. Timmy! From my build pics, here. It's post 67. Some of the color coding goes in areas that aren't represented well on the model, but you can get it close. mason Edited June 7, 2009 by doupnik Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rampage55 Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Great choice Slick! I admire your ambition in taking on a 53 for your first helo build...Ooohhh Rahh! You're certainly in good hands following Mason's lead. Mark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Adam Baker Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Nice job so far. That main rotor is fun, aint it. Here are reference images ive gathered for the '53 Im working on http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh218/R...rence%20Images/ And fwiw, here are the pic's of my build so far, what there is of it. http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh218/R...per%20Stallion/ Here's a pic of about how the rotorhead for mine looks right now Quote Link to post Share on other sites
slick95 Posted June 8, 2009 Author Share Posted June 8, 2009 (edited) Wow! Thanks a lot everyone! All of these references will be a huge help! Again, thank you. Excellent build so far Adam! She's going to look great all opened and folded! I need to go out and buy some dymo tape before I start the riveting. This build will also be my first attempt at riveting. I've done a bit of rescribing before...but I assume this may be a bit different. Still waiting on some supplies to show up before I get too deep into the build (ie. one of the things is the pounce wheel). Also, the photo etch interior and exteriors and the MAW Heavy Haulers decals should be here in not too long. SLICK Edited June 8, 2009 by slick95 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
doupnik Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Here are a couple of rotor wiring pics I have. Hope this helps, there is a bunch happening on each of the blades, except the non folding one. As far as I could tell, there was only the single line that comes in from the blade. mason Quote Link to post Share on other sites
slick95 Posted June 8, 2009 Author Share Posted June 8, 2009 Awesome, thanks a lot! THere is quite a lot of wiring to be had on this model SLICK Quote Link to post Share on other sites
slick95 Posted June 9, 2009 Author Share Posted June 9, 2009 After about three and a half hours of work I have finally finished the wiring of the main rotor head assembly. And I thought wiring the 1/32 Tamiya F-14A wheel wells took a long time...this was very tedious. But, never-the-less, it won't detract from the build. I can't wait for the next challenge, and I know it's right around the corner. Until the next update, here are some pictures from today. Thanks a lot for all the rotor head pictures. They helped a ton for the wiring, and I know I'll need them again for the painting. More to come soon! SLICK Quote Link to post Share on other sites
otis252 Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 (edited) Really nice rotor head Slick. What are you gonna do with the rivit detail on the fuselege? Chuck Edited June 9, 2009 by otis252 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
slick95 Posted June 10, 2009 Author Share Posted June 10, 2009 What are you gonna do with the rivit detail on the fuselege? Once the riveter arrives from Micro Mark, I plan putting as much rivet detail as I can on the aircraft. I'm not sure if you've seen Mason's build, but I plan on riveting the aircraft in the same manner...which of course is realistic. Hopefully the photo etch parts arrive soon so I can start working with those as well. Thanks for the comment! SLICK Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gervais8 Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 I love this chopper too! It's huge and can't wait to see more progress on your great start. RG ;) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
afterburner Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 subscribing to this one. Lovely detail work on the rotor head, Slick! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChernayaAkula Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Great job on that rotor head! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Adam Baker Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Great work on the rotor head. And yea, riviting makes a huge difference in how it looks. I followed Mason's example on mine. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
slick95 Posted June 11, 2009 Author Share Posted June 11, 2009 Thanks a lot for the complements everyone. While I'm still waiting for my pounce wheel to arrive I figured I would maybe add some more wiring to the rotor head. What says everyone else...? Excellent job on the riveting Adam. I favorited the link to your reference pictures as well. They've been a big help! Thanks again! I suppose by the time the pounce wheel arrives I will be ready for riveting... SLICK Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Avus Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 (edited) Another 53! You guys are really tempting me to get one! Great work on the rotorhead and all the wiring, Slick! I'll be following your build with interest. Edited June 11, 2009 by Avus Quote Link to post Share on other sites
slick95 Posted June 11, 2009 Author Share Posted June 11, 2009 Well...I added some more wiring to the rotor head, but I'm really at a stopping point until I get the needed supplies and aftermarket sets. I'd work on the interior, but I don't know what photo etch parts the eduard set has. I don't want to have to undo some work to put photo etch on if I start early. Anyway...still waiting... SLICK Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Avus Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 (edited) If you don't want to wait, you could download the instruction sheet on Eduard's web-site to know what parts will be added by the PE-set. Edited June 12, 2009 by Avus Quote Link to post Share on other sites
slick95 Posted June 12, 2009 Author Share Posted June 12, 2009 If you don't want to wait, you could download the instruction sheet on Eduard's web-site to know what parts will be added by the PE-set. SWEET! I didn't know you could do that. I ordered the PE from a US distributer, so I figured I would just have to wait. I'll check that out! Thanks. SLICK Quote Link to post Share on other sites
slick95 Posted June 14, 2009 Author Share Posted June 14, 2009 Finally! Some real progress. The past couple of days I decided to just go ahead and finish the rotor head. I painted the base grey coat, then painted on the black details as well as the wiring. I also painted the color coded areas for each blade hub (that what it's called?) and on the swash plate. The top of the rotor head is not painted to its final color yet (will do that later), but it does shoe some tamiya smoke from testing my airbrush before a bit of weathering. Some pics: Today was also a big day on another aviation related topic. Today marks the 1st Anniversary of flying the Pitts. After a two year restoration, on Friday June 13, 2008 (Friday the 13th!) Pitts N599JW flew again. If anyone is interested, here is a quick video I put together last year: I took the plane out for a quick 30 minute routine this morning. It was a blast..and a year has gone by really fast! SLICK Quote Link to post Share on other sites
norbert Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Hi Slick this rotor head is great. You do a clean job, as your very close pics would show everything. Thank you for sharing Norbert Quote Link to post Share on other sites
slick95 Posted June 15, 2009 Author Share Posted June 15, 2009 Thanks a lot Norbert! According to the tracking information, the MicroMark order should be in tomorrow. Also, if I'm lucky the aftermarket stuff will be here. I'll really be able to step up this build! SLICK Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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