After seeing some incredible pic’s of coast guard helo’s on these forum pages , when I went to a couple of hobby stores today to buy some paint for my current two vietnam helicopters I’m building ; I saw some USCG aircraft and just couldn’t resist buying them .
They are rather addictive, I built one of those Dauphins and it resulted in my getting the Fireball Jayhawk conversion.
I’m going to have to watch for that H-19, I’ve seen the kit in USCG colors but haven’t been able to find one. I hope his means Revell has recently re-issued it rather than it was hiding in a dark corner of your LHS for the past decade.
I’m afraid the latter may be true in regards to the Revell H-19 kit as I asked the very same question to the hobby store owner.He told me that the wholesaler sent it to him along with his usual shipment yesterday as a one only.It appears that I was the lucky person who happened to stroll into the store at the right time,it had only been on the shelf for less than an hour…
Luck doesn’t come around very often ; It sure is nice when it does happen[tup] Helo 53
is the Revell kit the reboxed Italari? If so that kit is plentiful, sans markings. Nice kit to begin with and I have seen it built up with this paint, looks very good when done. The colors and shape of the AC flow together very well.
David
Your 100% right patlaborUnit1. The Revell kit is identical to Italeri’s recent release of their Kit No.1267 HO4S-3. Revell’s box art shows a different type of rescue hoist [similar to what you get in an italeri UH-34J Seahorse] However you only get a small bracket and hook as in italeri’s. Revell kindly molded their kit in white plastic obviously to assist in the painting process.
Something else I noticed with Heller C-130 , [forgive me for not posting this in the Aircraft section , but since I already posted the pic I’ll keep going]. Heller’s kit is identical to Italeri’s C-130H Kit . Interestingly the Coast Guard Hercules was $46.00 and Italeri’s kit is $66.00. A big difference , just because of the different decals ??
Yea, I considered the Italeri kit, I’ll probably get one eventually to build in the USAF rescue markings as in the kit. I would like to find one of the Revell kits which include the USCG markings though since I’m not aware of an aftermarket source for them.
There is a DC4 in USCG markings as well from Minicraft I believe, might go nicely with the C-130.
I hope this doesn’t sound like I’m becoming completly obsessed , I came across a couple of pic’s of an USCG HUS-1G [HH-34F] Seahorse/Choctaw in Squadron Signals H-34 Choctaw publication. There are plenty of H-34 kits currently available so I was thinking of adding another coast guard helicopter kit to my ever growing collection . I’ll have to search for aftermarket decals-perhaps the logo and U.S.COAST GUARD lettering is all I need ? However I did notice that the HH-34F had external fuel tank . I haven’t seen any H-34 kits which have a tank and bracket included . Is there an aftermarket set available in 1/72 scale . I do have a spare fuel tank from a Fujimi Westland Seaking and some bracing/bracket pieces left over from a Revell Seaking kit. [part of the SKUA arrangement] . I suppose I could try and modify these pieces to use ??? Anyone have any thoughts [:-^] Kind regards Helo 53
Hi John,
Have you seen these. Shouldn’t be too hard for you to get as they’re from your neck of the woods. The hawkeye links wont take you straight to the decals but look under US Military decals and also Conversions and just scroll down, you should find the USCG sets.
http://www.hawkeyemodels.com.au/Site.htm
http://www.hawkeyemodels.com.au/Site.htm
http://www.sandlehobbies.com/decals/hawkeye/72/hmcgds005-72.html
Can’t wait to get cracking. Good luck.
Rich
Thank’s for the links Rich , just over a week ago I did recieve two conversion sets from Hawkeyemodels ; Someone mentioned their name on another post so I checked them out . I now have the HH-3F Pelican conversion and decal set as well as the HH-60J set and decals for my Italeri HH-60 Rescue Hawk kit . I do appreciate the tip , it reminded me to check their site again and I will now send away for a U.S.President’s Blackhawk conversion and some VH-3D Seaking , CH-53E VIP Stallion Decals . Unrelated to the coast guard helo’s I know , but suits my total obsession with U.S. military Helicopters . I have both a Fujimi Seaking and Hasegawa Blackhawk kits in my stash , It would be nice if Italeri would re-release their CH-53E Super Stallion . Thank’s again Rich and good luck with your builds …[tup] Kind regards John .
Hi John,
Glad they were useful to you. As you have the conversion set for the Pelican, what exactly do you get for your money? I was thinking of getting a set but as there’s nothing on the www to describe its contents, I’m a little reluctant to spend out and have it shipped half way round the world to Blighty. If you’ve got the time, can you post some pics, or at least describe what you get. Many thanks. As regards the CH-53E, keep looking on Ebay, one is sure to turn up sooner or later. Good luck. If I come across one I’ll give you the nod.[tup]
Rich
Hi Rich , Here are some pic’s of what you get . I must say in regards to the HH-3F , for $38 you don’t really get that much . The instructions say the conversion parts are designed for the Lindberg kit but I can’t see why it wouldn’t work on other brands . Each part appears that it will fit okay without too much trouble , although the plastic isn’t all that smooth , especially the FOD screen . However as I said the overall size and shape seem accurate . The decals look alright but untill I try using them I guess I won’t really know . For some reason the decals weren’t available seperatly , you had to buy the conversion set to get them . The rescue hoist isn’t that much different to what was in the revell seaking kit Iv’e used to improve the Lindberg H-3 so I’ll use revell’s . The radome for the nose will require some carefull filing and sanding to fit neatly . I suppose the extra parts wouldn’t be that difficult to scratch-build if you wanted to find an alternative source for the decals ; the close location of the aftermarket parts and decals obviously suit my circumstances but perhaps not everyones . Kind regards john .
It seems I can only post 3 pic’s at a time , tomorrow or the next day I’ll post some pic’s of what I got with the HH-60J Jayhawk conversion set . It suits the Hasegawa Seahawk kit as it comes with extra port side sliding windows , I have the Italeri Rescue Hawk kit which won’t require as much work you need to do with a Seahawk version
I’ve never seen the Hawkeye Jayhawk kit but can say the Fireball kit is excellent, nicely cast resin parts and great decals. Good instructions too not always something you find with resin kits.
Not USCG but Fireball has a nice Navy SAR “abandon chute” decal set as well, different design but still very eye catching and would fit in nicely with USCG aircraft.
I managed to get these two pic’s up , the instruction sheets are much more comprehensive than the 3F Pelican set , There are 3 double sided A4 sheets given decal/stencil placement , step by step guide on where to make all the saw cuts if you use a standard navy seahawk kit [removing the radome from under the fuselage , cut open the fuselage to accommodatethe two sliding doors , etc ] As I mentioned earlier with the Italeri HH-60H Rescue Hawk kit , it already has the two doors for the port side fuselage and no radome underneath to cut away , so hopfully a little less work . I’ll post some more pic’s tomorrow . John
Hi John, Many thanks for posting those pics. I reckon I’ll be able to scratch build the bits and bobs, so I’ll just have to track down those decals. I’ve emailed both Hawkeye and Sandle hobbies but not had a reply yet. The decals do look good though. As far as the Jayhawk goes, I think the Fireball set is on the cards…se what you’ve started now!!!
Cheers,
Rich
Yeah Like I said not much for $38 bucks . I checked out the link that Aaronw posted about the modelworks decals etc . From what I could tell they appear to be slightly better . I’ll think about those Abandon Chute decals and some other stuff . I was wondering if there were any conversion parts to fold the main rotors and tail fin on a H-60 , I’ve seen some awesome pic’s on the net of completed models of the seahawk but it appears that a lot of the work was scratch-built … john
Hi again everyone , here are the rest of the Hawkeye HH-60J Jayhawk instruction sheets , just a bit of extra info for those who may be interested in purchasing a set . Kind regards John
Hi I work on Eareckson air station (Shemya island) in Alaska I might be able to help we get in coasties HC-130’s I have a lot of pictures of them when they stay night email me and I can send them they will take alot of space. I notice the HC-130’s have a square window behind the cockpit on the main flight deck.
I’ve got a spare copy of that H-19 kit with USCG markings in the stash that I can sell. PM me if you’re interested.
As for the side-mounted fuel tank on the S-58/H-34, the best source is a F6F Hellcat or F8F Bearcat kit - that style of tank was standard in the USN at the '40’s - '50’s period.
(An interesting note on the USCG H-34’s; they had a very short and unfortunate tenure with the USCG. Six aircraft were purchased, and of those six, two were lost in a single day on a single operation. A USAF B-47 Stratojet ditched in Tampa Bay; aircraft #1343 went to rescue the crew but went in also, aircraft #1333 went to rescue the combined crews, and was then itself lost.
Aircraft #1336 was lost off Florida due to engine problems, and the remaining three airframes were bailed to Air America, the CIA “airline”.)
Thank’s for the info RotorheadTX on the H-34 auxillary fuel tank ; I’ll certainly look around for a Hellcat/bearcat kit . Just out of curiosity I was wondering what the color scheme would have been on the CIA operated H-34 , was it like the silver and blue scheme I’ve seen on the UH-1 . I was thinking of building a couple of CIA helo’s in the near future , I do like the look of their Huey’s. john