I am on the hunt for a Mcdonnell Douglas MD500 (civillian model) Helicopter model in a 1/32 or 1/35 scale. It’s also sometimes known as a Hughes 500.
The problem I’m having is that there are not many to choose from in this scale especially if you want a civillian model. I would really like one with the pointier nose rather than the more rounded bouble shape:
But I would still be happy with the rounder shape too. Especially if it has a cool retro stripe design like this:
I have found a mititary one on ebay but I would only want it if I could easily modify it to look civillian including paint scheme (is this hard to do? I figured with tape I could creat stripes quite easily). This is the ebay one + a police one I also found:
All the Revell 1/32 scale kits are the same whether you get the original Vietnam OH-6A boxing, CHiPs, Magnum PI or whatever. They include a civilian style seating arrangement in addition to the military style seating. Very old kit from the 1960s and not very good kits.
The DML/Dragon kits are newer but have been out-of-production for quite some time. I know they did a version that is right in line with what you are looking for. The did a Los Angeles Sherrif department version that was well received when it came out. It is most likely the same base kit as the gunship you have linked to.
The Dragon LASD MD-500 is a great little kit. unfortunately it has been OOP for many years. I built one back in the 90s as a gift for a co worker (I work for LASD). The Dragon kit comes with the “night sun” spot but not FLIR, which half or so of our 500s were equipped with. It is right in line with that lower photo that you posted, but unless you are gonna build the kit Sheriffs bird, you are on your own for markings.
“The did a Los Angeles Sherrif department version that was well received when it came out. It is most likely the same base kit as the gunship you have linked to.”
Thanks for your reply, I think you may be right. The Dragon I linked to appears to be the more pointy fuselage that I am after, and good thing is it has doors unlike the LAPD one you mentioned (I’ve seen pictures of it).
So I was thinking would I be able to leave the gunpods off and also leave off the radar bits on the front and on top of the rotor? That way I could just paint it any colour I want and it would look civillian, right?
Am I overlooking something here? Would leaving bits off, leave holes that I woulkd have to fill? Would this be hard?
I’m also wondering if it would be hard to do a paint scheme with stripes, or would it simply be a matter of taping it off properly before painting?
Dragon’s usual MO on kits like that where multiple versions can be made (MD-500, MD-530, 500 Defender, MH-6) is to have any holes needing to be made for mounting stuff molded as divits on the inner surface that are opened bythe builder. Your challenge will be in coming up with any law enforcement equipment such as the spot & mount, FLIR, etc. And of course painting and markings. Your gonna have a lot of masking ahead of you, but how challenging/difficult will depend upon you.
Hi, thanks for your reply. Just want to clarify what you are saying: Because of the way Dragon designs models, there won’t be holes and gaps if I leave the Guns, radars etc off? This would be awesome!
I only want a plain civillian model, I’m not wanting to create a Police model.
Are there any guides out there for painting and masking custom paint schemes? Would love to check some out to see what I am up against.
The Dragon kit is “modular” in a way. Fuselage is one assembly area, tail boom seperate, etc. this allows them to make the multiple versions off the same basic molds. All of the 500’s except the NOTAR (which is not a kit) have the same basic fuselage, and the kits should as well. Mind you I built the Sheriffs MD-500 back around 96 or so, so my memory is not crystal clear. But I do not recall having to fill any mounting holes. If you are going to paint your build in a style like the photos you posted, that would be a simple masking job. My Department (LASD) uses a more intricate striping scheme and would be more of a challenge to mask. I would just suggest doing some image searches and see what you turn up. Plain civilian 500s could be more intricate like the “Magnum PI” bird, or simple like the ones you posted. Then all you have to do is come up with some number/letter decals for the FAA registration numbers.
I don’t have much information on the LASD kit, but I’ve done the AH-6J Little Bird. My kit included the rounded nose, no doors and armament, basically what you need to build a “killer egg”.
Having said that, I agree with Stik that Dragon designed these kits so multiple versions are created with a singe base kit. Add or subtract a sprue and a different version is created. You usually have to drill out holes from the inside of the fuselage in pre-marked areas to use external ordnance.
I don’t know it the LASD version has doors or not, but the base kit should be able to be built as a civilian bird without any problems.
I have saved nearly every instruction sheet from every kit I have built for the past 30+ years. I had a look thru those but could not find the MD-500 instructions at this time. That being said, I am 90% certain that the Sheriff’s 500 kit comes with the doors, as those are almost always mounted on our birds. I did see a build of the kit over on Scale Rotors where the doors are installed and it was marked up in a civilian logging company’s livery.
The MD-530G MMS Gunship model (the second one you linked to on eBay) does include doors. It is the one you want to get. Like stated above, you can leave all the military gear off and it will build up into a civilian helo just fine. The one thing you will have to source is a rear seat(s) as it does not include any.
That is too bad. I was disappointed, but understood why the Little Bird didn’t have doors, but you’d think the LASD bird would have them to give you the ability to build it as a fully civilian helicopter.
That’s great to know! Thanks for this information, it looks like this is by far the best kit available for me to turn into a civilian model. It’s got the right shaped fuselage and makes it easy for me to convert plus has the doors which many do not.
Thanks to everyone so far who helped give all this important info to me, and for all your suggestions.
I just need to find some good guides on how to properly paint model kits to help me out because I haven’t built a model in years and definatley not to the point that I would like to take this one. Even just some general info guides would be good.
Does anyone know where I could find some? Videos would be good too!
