SeakingPilot Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Hello everyone, After reading many of the topics here and finding good tips and inspirations, I decided to post my own project on here as well. I've already started a more detailed blog on my website, but I'll give a short intro here to give an idea. I'll try to upload regular updates with photos, but it will take a little while before I can get back to it again as I'm away for a few more months due to my job. Here we go... Ever since I'd seen the show which started in the late 90's, I've wanted to build the BK117. After finishing my previous projects (to be found on my website as well), I gathered all the items needed for the BK. Getting a huge amount of tips and inspirations from Anthony's Westpac BK build, I started working on mine. So far I've widened the body, started work on the tail boom and stabilisers, and began working on the inside. However, since I've received my first real salary, I've bought a lot of new tools which allow me to add more detail to the model. Hence I'll be redoing all the interior work done so far as well as some on the other sections. The project consists of 3x the BK kit, 2x a BO-105 kit, 1x the EC145 and 1x the EC135. Besides that I have a few PE parts (the cockpit from Chris and the Renaissance 145 kit). All the other items will be scratch build. Cheers, Niek BK-117 blog A few of the acquired kits. My workbench (temporary until I have my own place) Work on the upper cowls (I'll be adding engines to the model as well with the doors open) Work on the tail boom and stabilisers Building the interior from scratch (I'll be redoing all of this) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
infofrog Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Nice work area Rick Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Anthony in NZ Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Awesome to see you have loaded your project on here!!!! Sorry for the late reply and not noticing this. Been a bit frustrated at my own one and not modelling much. Looking forward to watching you work on this one. Cheers Anthony Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SeakingPilot Posted September 19, 2014 Author Share Posted September 19, 2014 Hello everyone, It has been a (very) long time since I worked on the BK project. Mainly due to my work schedule and having to wait for tools and parts. I moved to a new address, which required me to build a new workstation. I've done some pretty drastic work on the fuselage, as I tried to merge both the BK and the EC ones together. After a lot of measuring I decided that the rear section was useful if cut in a certain way. Anthony was correct in telling me that the EC fuselage is a lot wider than the BK one, however they do share a lot of the same measurements at some places, especially at the bottom, rear end and top sections. A lot of cutting was the result, and I think I created a lot more work than I anticipated or hoped for. Should keep me busy for a while. While the new fuselage was drying I started working on the rear doors to get a feel for the PE parts. These are a lot smaller than I worked with so far and became a real time consuming job (the doors took me a few hours to get to this stage). . Just before writing this update I merged both halves of the fuselage. Seems like they fit nicely, although it will require a lot of sanding and filling later on. More photos and details can be found on my blog; http://www.nieknijsen.com/modelling_bk117.html. Ciao, Niek Quote Link to post Share on other sites
troschi Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 (edited) Hi Niek, lots of cutting - tbh I don't see the point exactly except for the fuselage width, but It's your choice. As I read that you're in contact with Anthony from NZ, you'll have a competent advisor. I like the rear door closing mechanism, but I wonder If you want to keep the window in the pt rear door. It's a bit confusing - the "real" D-HECE seems to didn't have such window during the initial filmwork, but when the same aircraft was used also for regular EMS missions by the DRF, it had one. The D-HEOE has no window anyway. Regardless of that, the window needs another shape. EDIT: Had a clooser look. During film shootings the rear door window of the "real" D-HECE was covered by red foil. Though the outer window border lines were recogniseable Edited September 20, 2014 by troschi Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SeakingPilot Posted September 21, 2014 Author Share Posted September 21, 2014 Hi Troschi, The rear of the BK model is wrong and I would like to use the EC doors as well as the upper engine compartment. To achieve better fitting, I opted to use important parts of the EC fuselage, hence all the cutting. The windows have been placed in the doors as they provide a perfect seal and I will paint over them later on. They won't be visible in the final product. Therefore I'm not really bothered about the wrong shape either. On a different note, seems like you know a lot about the real aircraft, any info I can use perhaps? I'm always looking for more! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
salvador001 Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Great start my friend, what brand is that PE?? I am a huge fan of medicopter, the intro song is just AMAZING. Rod. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lyash Igor Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 (edited) Hello, Niak! I will watch with interest. I also have a similar set of... Edited September 23, 2014 by Lyash Igor Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SeakingPilot Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 Hi everyone, On my way to work at the moment, but I managed to get started with the interior over the weekend. I've decided to use the stock interior as a base and start scratch adding from there. So far I've made a mock up, although I might actually decide to use it for the final product if I like it enough. I'm thinking about building the interior first, add it to the fuselage and then finish the outside. Basically like any standard model is being build in the manuals. Any suggestions on this or tips on how to do it better? A quick look on the progress so far (the floor is not attached until later but used to align everything): Rod, the PE set used for the aft doors is a EC-145 set by Renaissance (link). I also have a set for the cockpit, made by Chris. Not sure if he still has any sets left as they're rare and quite expensive. But if you're interested let me know and I'll provide you with his contact details. Lyash Igor, thank you, nice to have you here! Will you be starting a build soon as well? I'll be building again in 2 weeks! Ciao, Niek Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SeakingPilot Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 Hi Niek, lots of cutting - tbh I don't see the point exactly except for the fuselage width, but It's your choice. As I read that you're in contact with Anthony from NZ, you'll have a competent advisor. I like the rear door closing mechanism, but I wonder If you want to keep the window in the pt rear door. It's a bit confusing - the "real" D-HECE seems to didn't have such window during the initial filmwork, but when the same aircraft was used also for regular EMS missions by the DRF, it had one. The D-HEOE has no window anyway. Regardless of that, the window needs another shape. EDIT: Had a clooser look. During film shootings the rear door window of the "real" D-HECE was covered by red foil. Though the outer window border lines were recogniseable Hi Toschi, Had another look at the photos after reading your comment about the rear window. It seems that they used D-HEOE a few times as D-HECE, where they would tape part of the O to form the C. This version didn't have the rear window either, but did have the big side scoop underneath the registration on the right side. A lot of additional features (probably GPS and such) are attached to the tailboom on D-HEOE, which are visible on the aircraft when "converted" to D-HECE when using masking tape. This is the version I will be making, since it's the one mostly used in the series (I will have to double check that later this week before I make any mistakes on that too :whistle:/> ). Hope the comment still makes sense ;) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lyash Igor Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Lyash Igor, thank you, nice to have you here! Will you be starting a build soon as well? Of course.....start as soon as I get photo etching from France. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hawkwrench Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 How much is the whole renaissance kit? How much is just the photo etch? Both in US dollars. Tim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SeakingPilot Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 How much is the whole renaissance kit? How much is just the photo etch? Both in US dollars. Tim Hi Tim, The renaissance kit comes in two versions. The whole kit includes resin parts and costs 50 EUR (about 65 USD), but if you're only interested in the PE parts it costs 30 EUR (39 USD). Not sure what shipping to the US will costs, company is based in France. The actual page (in French) can be found here: Renaissance Models Hope this helps. Niek Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hawkwrench Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 (edited) Here's the University of Cincinnati Air Care EMS helicopter. It's pretty cool! This would be cool to build, but Fireball would have to custom the decals! Tim Edited September 23, 2014 by hawkwrench Quote Link to post Share on other sites
troschi Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 (edited) Hi Troschi, The rear of the BK model is wrong and I would like to use the EC doors as well as the upper engine compartment. To achieve better fitting, I opted to use important parts of the EC fuselage, hence all the cutting. The windows have been placed in the doors as they provide a perfect seal and I will paint over them later on. They won't be visible in the final product. Therefore I'm not really bothered about the wrong shape either. On a different note, seems like you know a lot about the real aircraft, any info I can use perhaps? I'm always looking for more! Ah okay - what is wrong? The shape of the rear door section? Hi Toschi, Had another look at the photos after reading your comment about the rear window. It seems that they used D-HEOE a few times as D-HECE, where they would tape part of the O to form the C. This version didn't have the rear window either, but did have the big side scoop underneath the registration on the right side. A lot of additional features (probably GPS and such) are attached to the tailboom on D-HEOE, which are visible on the aircraft when "converted" to D-HECE when using masking tape. This is the version I will be making, since it's the one mostly used in the series (I will have to double check that later this week before I make any mistakes on that too :whistle:/>/>/>/> ). Hope the comment still makes sense ;)/>/>/> I've never been a big fan of this TV programme as HEMS work couldn't have been presented in a more unrealistic manner but... ...what seems to be confusing at first turns out to be simple in the end. There were two aircraft used in the TV series. The first was the C/N 7244 - with the real reg D-HECE. The second one was the C/N 7247 with the registration D-HEOE. A third fuselage was used as prop for the crash scene in season one. The D-HECE was used until 2002 for the TV shootings and the rest of the time, it flew for the DRF (Deutsche Rettungsflugwacht-German Air Rescue) regular HEMS missions, often at the bases in Nuremberg, Leonberg/Stuttgart, Freiburg and Mannheim. The D-HECE was later transferred to Italy to a partner of the DRF and re-registered as I-HECE. The aircraft was repainted in the standard DRF colours and came back to Germany some years ago. C/N 7244 had the window in the rear door, but this was blanked by foil for filming. Check references. The D-HEOE was then used when the D-HECE went to Italy. C/N 7247 was the former D-HBWF of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Police. Therefore it has a specific and different avionics equipment and other alternating details compared to the D-HECE (air ducts on the engine housing, antennae etc. as you recognized correctly). Again you're right, with the help of foil/tape, the the right half of the "O" was covered to make a fake "D-HECE". This can be spotted easily due to the shape of the C. Furthermore, there was one scene showing the fake-reg D-HFOF. The D-HEOE has no window in the pt rear door, was temporarily on loan again for the DRF, IFA Air Rescue ans also in Service with Austrian Air Recue FlyMed. Then it was sold from Heli Travel Munich (HTM) to DL Helicopter in Hamburg. Right now the aircraft is based at Nordholz NAS and equipped with emergency pop out floats still carrying the Medicopter scheme. Check www.helionline.de and be careful not to confuse the individual aircraft. Edited September 24, 2014 by troschi Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SeakingPilot Posted September 24, 2014 Author Share Posted September 24, 2014 Ah okay - what is wrong? The shape of the rear door section? I've never been a big fan of this TV programme as HEMS work couldn't have been presented in a more unrealistic manner but... ...what seems to be confusing at first turns out to be simple in the end. There were two aircraft used in the TV series. The first was the C/N 7244 - with the real reg D-HECE. The second one was the C/N 7247 with the registration D-HEOE. A third fuselage was used as prop for the crash scene in season one. The D-HECE was used until 2002 for the TV shootings and the rest of the time, it flew for the DRF (Deutsche Rettungsflugwacht-German Air Rescue) regular HEMS missions, often at the bases in Nuremberg, Leonberg/Stuttgart, Freiburg and Mannheim. The D-HECE was later transferred to Italy to a partner of the DRF and re-registered as I-HECE. The aircraft was repainted in the standard DRF colours and came back to Germany some years ago. C/N 7244 had the window in the rear door, but this was blanked by foil for filming. Check references. The D-HEOE was then used when the D-HECE went to Italy. C/N 7247 was the former D-HBWF of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Police. Therefore it has a specific and different avionics equipment and other alternating details compared to the D-HECE (air ducts on the engine housing, antennae etc. as you recognized correctly). Again you're right, with the help of foil/tape, the the right half of the "O" was covered to make a fake "D-HECE". This can be spotted easily due to the shape of the C. Furthermore, there was one scene showing the fake-reg D-HFOF. The D-HEOE has no window in the pt rear door, was temporarily on loan again for the DRF, IFA Air Rescue ans also in Service with Austrian Air Recue FlyMed. Then it was sold from Heli Travel Munich (HTM) to DL Helicopter in Hamburg. Right now the aircraft is based at Nordholz NAS and equipped with emergency pop out floats still carrying the Medicopter scheme. Check www.helionline.de and be careful not to confuse the individual aircraft. Hi Troschi, That is some very useful information, much appreciated! The door shape becomes too narrow when I'll be widening the fuselage and the EC doors fit perfectly. Also, the radius of the bottom of the door is too small, it needs to be shaped rounder than what it is now. Based on the info you provided me with above, I've made the decision to build the original model of D-HECE as used in the pilot of the series. That means I'll be adding a window (which will basically be a line carved in the door and some scratch building on the inside to replicate the frame) and removing all the additional GPS boxes and antenna's from the tail. Good thing I have a spare set of the EC as well, saves a lot of time and it allows me to use the first one as a mock up to try and fit things to. Sounds like I have enough to do when I get back! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lyash Igor Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Niek you have such walk?......http://scalemodels.ru/modules/forum/viewtopic.php?t=48616&highlight=ec145 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SeakingPilot Posted September 26, 2014 Author Share Posted September 26, 2014 Niek you have such walk?......http://scalemodels.ru/modules/forum/viewtopic.php?t=48616&highlight=ec145 Unfortunately I don't have such a great photo shoot of the actual helicopter I'm building. But I did receive many photos of Anthony showing details on another EMS BK-117. That and watching the TV series over and over again gets me a long way. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
troschi Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 Unfortunately I don't have such a great photo shoot of the actual helicopter I'm building. But I did receive many photos of Anthony showing details on another EMS BK-117. That and watching the TV series over and over again gets me a long way. Niek, the EMS interior of the Medicopter aircraft ist the pretty much standardised Bucher EMS interior which is also in use with the DRF or ADAC. It is most likely that the helo didn't carry all the stuff for film work. If I remember correctly, bot machines had a plate with three oxygen bottles on the rear pt cabin wall instead of the bottles stowed on the back of the stbd sideward attendant seat. The Interior in the kit is very suitable, except for the compley roll-in-stretcher - this is used by the DRF in regular service but was not carried and used in the TV series. Better exchange it with the stretcher of an (old) ADAC EC-135. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SeakingPilot Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 Hi all, I'm back from another rotation and been working hard on the BK. Although progress is slow and not much seems to have happened, I've spend many hours in the hobby room working away. First I had to make up my mind on which model to build; i.e. D-HECE or D-HEOE. I've decided to go with the one used in the pilot episode of the series, D-HECE. As Troschi mentioned earlier, this is the version with the rear door window and missing GPS parts on the tail boom. This would also affect the interior, as both are slightly different from each other. The interior is taking shape slowly. I've build 3 versions by now, the first being a standard BK one, second mostly EC parts and widened and the 3rd being the final version, containing EC parts with many BK features in it. Took me a solid 2 days to get to this point, but I'm starting to see my ideas come to life. There's still a lot more to do, especially in regards to the medical equipment, as the Revell model is no representation of the real thing, by far. Using both EC and BK parts, I've been able to build the equipment which resembles the real thing a lot more. Using PE parts of older projects to add details, sanding and grinding the stock parts and a few plastic sheets have all been added. Next step is to paint the base plate so I can add all the equipment to it. The storage box on the right rear door is completely different from the one provided in the EC model. As you might recall from a previous post, I added this already to the door with all the PE parts on it. Getting rid of this box was slightly more frustrating than hoped. Luckily enough I managed to get rid of it with only losing one PE part, which I will add again later. After about 3 hours (based on the 1,5 hour playlist that played twice during this time) the new box was ready and added to the door. Still needs work on fine tuning the part, but the putty and Mr. Surfacer have to dry first. Since I now have an interior, I tried matching it up with the fuselage. Damn, did I measure a different model...??? Nothing seemed to fit anymore, besides the width of the thing. I decided to cut out the BK windows from the EC fuselage and put them back once the interior is in place. That way it will align up nicely and I'll simply fill the gaps with putty and Mr. Surfacer (hopefully it will turn out to be this easy). I've also started work on the new tail boom because I was unable to remove the GPS boxes from the already made one. Still want to try and see if I can get the PE part of the old one... That's it for now, be back soon with another update as the project progresses. Last but not least I'd like to thank all of you who've provided me with crucial information so far, can't do it without you! Ps. Ever wondered what old models are good for: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SeakingPilot Posted October 21, 2014 Author Share Posted October 21, 2014 Hi everyone, I'm on my way to work, but have a few hours before the next flight, so I figured it would be perfect to post an update on the BK project. In the previous post I started working on the new tailboom as it was different from the one used in the pilot episode. It's almost done, still a few PE parts to add here and there and some other small bits and pieces. I managed to recover the inspection hatch from the old tail boom, but was too scared to bend it, thus I placed it the wrong way around again. Then again, I think not many will notice without telling them. The interior also received some more work. Once the basic shape was finished, I added the first scratch and PE parts, such as the equipment board to the left side and rails on the roof for the storage box mounted there. It has been sanded and is ready for it's first layer of paint. Should be interesting as it will become the first part painted using my new airbrush and compressor. Perhaps I should practise a bit on some old parts first... The stowage box on the rear door has been removed as it didn't look like the real thing at all. A new box was build completely from scratch which is a lot better. It needs a little more work in regards to detailing but I'm very pleased with the result so far. Good thing the ADAC still uses the same box on their BK helo's and providing the needed photos to get the angles and size right. In terms of super detailing this model, I began building the M/R gearbox from scratch. I've managed to buy a copy of the official maintenance manual which contains very detailed drawings of all parts and components. What I've build so far is made up of parts from a Space Shuttle, an EC-145, a BO-105, a BK-117 and some plastic sheets. A lot more work has to be done (see drawing in the background of the photo below) before it's finished, but a start has been made. Continuing on the super detailing subject, I spent 3 hours on detailing the medical equipment board that will be mounted on the left side of the interior. Using parts from the BK, EC and a lot of scratch material such as wiring, strips and rods, I managed to get a pretty good representation of the real thing. Unfortunately there are not many (useable) photos of the actual Medicopter interior, so some of it is based on other models and imagination / logic. I'm very pleased with the result and think it's a good indication of just how detailed this model will be in the end. I began building the platform on which the helicopter will be placed once finished. Next step is to figure out how to add wheels to it in a realistic way... Any suggestions? I was thinking about using train wheels, scale 1:87. That's it for this update, see you again in 2 weeks. Regards, Niek Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ernest Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 (edited) Niek OMG, wow I see amazing things, great scratch work rotor base, tail, and the least of which is the BK Manual! keep your job, also I started one of these in another forum, I hope you get good results in your next task. Greetings Ernest Edited October 24, 2014 by Ernest Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Anthony in NZ Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 Hey Ernest, I let Niek know about your project on LSP and sent him a link to your awesome build. Between the 2 of you, you are both putting me to shame! Hope you guys can compare notes and help me out get mine finished! Cheers guys Anthony Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SeakingPilot Posted October 24, 2014 Author Share Posted October 24, 2014 Niek OMG, wow I see amazing things, great scratch work rotor base, tail, and the least of which is the BK Manual! keep your job, also I started one of these in another forum, I hope you get good results in your next task. Greetings Ernest Hi Ernest, Thank you very much! I'm impressed by your work as well, keep it up! I'll be back in 10 days with more updates, planning to work on the gearbox, the nose bay and the interior. Lots to do! Hey Ernest, I let Niek know about your project on LSP and sent him a link to your awesome build. Between the 2 of you, you are both putting me to shame! Hope you guys can compare notes and help me out get mine finished! Cheers guys Anthony Hi Anthony, Good to hear from you! Thank you very much, means a lot hearing that from you. Although I'm sure yours still comes out on top ;)/> Hope to see an update from your side soon, can't wait to see you work on those engines and cockpit! I found Ernest's post on the forum, interesting read which I'll definitely follow. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ernest Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 (edited) Hi guys I find it interesting to follow the construction, such as group cooperation, if you do not mind could place post in this forum, and grow together; My plan is to first finish the interior, next week travel to there home and think applying paint, I hope to achieve. With few photo references I hope not wrong in my proposed version Thanks and Good Luck AH .. A BIT OF HUMOR MAYBE, JJJ Edited October 26, 2014 by Ernest Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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