Hi everyone , I thought I would share some progress pic’s of my Lindberg 1/72 HH-3E . I decided to use a Revell Westland Seaking MK 41 to improve my Lindberg kit . I was a little hesitant at first , as I’ve never "cut-up’’ a $30.00 Revell kit to fix a $10.00 kit before. Anyway everything appears to have worked out okay so far !! . I cut and fitted the front cockpit section from revell’s seaking to each of the fuselage halves of lindberg’s HH-3 , revell’s cockpit has a lot more detail and a better canopy than lindberg’s offering . I also wanted to use revell’s rotor blades and hub , however lindberg’s main rotor housing isn’t recessed , so I decided to cut the middle section of the rotor housing from revell’s kit and fit it to lindberg’s HH-3 . This took me a while to do , with quite a few applications or Tamiya putty and sanding to blend it in to each fuselage half . I borrowed some troop seats out of a Italeri UH-34J kit and added some plastic strip to the bottom of the seat backs to raise them up to be level with the top of the cabin windows . I cut open the starboard door and added a gunner and another on the rear ramp . As well as a couple of stretches with roof hooks and wire cables , plus some bit’s and pieces from the spare’s box to make the cabin look busy .
Thanks for the advice Avus . I always stuggle when it comes to posting pic’s . With the pic’s above I noticed that if I place the arrow just next to each image {not actually on the image} this seems to enlarge the pic . I will try the other option.
BTW I’ve spotted Sea King mk41 box on your workbench. Just got this kit for myself this week. From my opinion - its very interesting subject but not quiet my scale. So I was kinda playing with idea to make a conversion for Hasegawa 1/48 scale Sea King into this German Mk41. Is there interest in such conversion here?
This looks great. I’m very impressed with what you’ve done so far. Where did you get the figures and weapons from? They make the model and give it some “action”. I love the door gunner.
Thanks rich , The figures came from a Hasegawa UH-60 VIP Blackhawk . The gunner on the ramp had his legs cut off then glued back on , first I tried to position the gunner kneeling but he kept looking into the tail boom of the helo , so I ended up having to place him seated . The machine guns came from a 1/72 Aerplast UH-1N Desert Storm helo . I only bought this kit for the decals (NAS Leemore) to use on a Italeri UH-1N .I don’t think the Aerplast kit is very good , inaccurate main rotors ,no cabin detail ,basic cockpit . Anyway I’ll post a pic of my VIP Blackhawk , I’m having trouble accessing imageshack . Helo 53
I replaced the door gunners windows with a piece of clear plastic and I cut the cabin doors to open seperatly . The pilot is from Hasegawa’s Pilot and Ground Crew set… Helo 53
Intruder-bass, I have Revell’s version of a 1/48 SH-3H seaking in my stash to build some day , somebody told me it’s identical to hasegawa’s . I don’t know if Revell did other versions in this scale . Maybe there’s something in the aftermarket arena to do a conversion ???
Thanks for that info. Keep the pics coming. It’s going to look great. I love all these conversions and cutting things up. I’m trying to do one now. I have a 1/100 Mil Mi-6 from Nu-Bee which I’m having a go at. It’s the first proper conversion I’ve done so it’s a steep learning curve to say the least. All the windows need changing from square to round, plus lots of milliput around where the tail leaves the fusalage and re moulding cockpit plus new glazing which I’ll have to vac-form.
Hi everyone, I finished my kitbashed Lindberg HH-3E Jolly Green Giant. Revell’s cockpit, rotor housing, main rotors and tail rotor certainly improved the end result. I airbrushed the helicopter with Gunze acrylics and I was pleased with the camouflage finish. I decided to move the door gunner closer to the door opening so you could see him better. I also changed the rear ramp gunner for one who is kneeling rather than sitting. I added some black thread to simulate the aerial on the portside fuselage as well as some plastic wire just below the starboard cockpit window to the refuelling probe. Another cable around the refuelling probe to a small hook under the fuselage. (Not sure what this is for, but I saw it on pic’s in Squadron’s H-3 Sea King publication??) Overall I’m very happy with how everything worked out, it was a lot of work, but worth the effort. I hope everyone enjoys the pics. Kind regards, Helo 53. John.
Thank’s Alby , I’ve been trying to post a couple more pic’s of the HH-3E , one showing the entire front canopy and another from the rear with the ramp gunner . but every time I try to upload an image using imageshack , the internet connection either drops out or the screen just freezes up . I must of reached my down load capacity for this month . I did spend a lot of time searching for pic’s of the H-3 when I first started the build . Anyway I’ll wait a week or so and try again , I’ve got plenty of work to do with my HH-43 Huskie [I got it together and now I’m attacking it with the razor saw]. I also have started on my second kitbash lindberg H-3 . I got some Decals and conversion parts from Hawkeye models here in Australia to build as a USCG HH-3F version and I also bought another Revell Seaking to cut up and use as I did with my first Lindberg kit . It certainly appears that once I got hold of the razor saw in my hands - I can’t let go .[:-,] Kind Regards Helo 53 … john
