I have Revell’s old HH-53C “Vietnam Rescue” kit which is nearing completion. I should say, rather, that it’s been primed and needs a little more work before painting.
I’m building it in-flight, which means I’ve remved the wheels and suspension in preparation for covering over the wheel wells. While I can’t find any specific pictures of a HH-53C’s belly while in flight, it looks like the wheels retract and have a standard-type cover which goes over the wheel well. The kit didn’t come with these, however, so I’m thinking about how to cover them.
I thought about cutting sheet styrene to fit, but that tends to be a royal pain. My other thought was filling the wells with Squadron putty and letting them sit for a week before sanding.
Thoughts? If anyone has any belly pictures of the Super Stallion with the wheels up, I’d really appreciate it!
That much putty would take a while to dry, wouldn’t it? And I’d think you’d have to deal with sinking/shrinkage in those areas, too.
My idea would be to go with the styrene plugs, but I’ve never really tried anything like that before.
I’ve got the same kit on my shelf, with some idea to eventually turn it into a Pave Low, so how did it go together? Are there areas that gave you serious problems?
The kit itself is okay…lots of raised rivets. The seams suck, so make sure that when you assemble the fuselage halves that you tape it together tight. Proper alignment of the canopy is almost impossible, another area where I’ll be using lots of putty. Other than that, it’s nice and the decals are good. Can’t wait to paint the camo on it. [:D]
There are no main gear doors. There is a two-piece door on the forward portion of the nose gear well. When the landing gear is retracted, the nose tires and the main gear tires and struts are not covered.
Dandy…now I get to go digging through my trash bin for the wheels. [V] Are they (the rear gear) completely retracted (as in, nothing showing in profile)? Would you happen to have any pics?