Howdy Gang!
I was just thinking…I still need to finish my 1/48 Aurora Chinook project and COBRA COMPANY has thier resin set out and with the new MRC CH46E kit…well…I did some cutting and the clear parts from Aurora were pretty icky so…could I use the Sea Knight nose on a Chinook, at 1/48 scale would there be a big enough difference?
Is this drawing accurate?
Troy,
I believe the Chinook is a lot wider than the Sea Knight so probably won’t work. Some of the details from the cockpit might work but your best bet would be forming new glass yourself (either vacuforming or push forming).
Troy,
There’s differences in the window shapes and size between the two aircraft, especially the Chin Bubbles. When I did mine, I used the clear plastic top from a greeting card box to make the side transparencies and windshield (for the side glass, I simply held the kit supplied transparency under a clear piece and traced the shape - the windscreen was done the same way, except I taped the two fuselage halves together and held a clear piece over the front to trace it)
The Chin Bubbles are very different between the two aircraft. With the two fuselage halves taped together, I tacked the kit supplied chin bubbles in place, filled ALL cracks and seams, then sanded/wet sanded the entire nose section until it was glass smooth.
Now one could use this surface to mold a new nose, but this may result in heat warpage of the kit plastic, so I used the smoothed out nose section to create a Nose Blank by spraying a bit of “Pam” on it, and inserting it into some half set-up plaster I had poured into a coffee can. (done too soon, and the plaster fills in… done too late, and the plaster cracks)
After the Blank set up, I coated the inside with more Pam, but no bubbles or pooling, and poured more plaster in the hole and positioned a wood screw in the top center (for extracting the mold after set-up). Once that set-up, I lifted the mold out, rubbed out any imperfections with a piece from an old T-Shirt, used the embedded wood screw to mount it in vice grips, heated the clear plastic, and laid it over the mold.
Example here:
http://modeling.gunsagogo.org/tnt1.jpg
The kit chin bubble frames are not shaped correctly… use reference material and a thin tipped permanent marker to mark the correct shape ON the taped together fuselage halves… then I laid the clear formed piece onto the fuselage and traced the corrected lines. I used a Drummel saw to cut out the correct shape from the fuselage, then cut out the new chin bubble from the clear piece.
Walla… accurate Chin Bubbles![;)]
Various references can be found on my assembly site:
http://modeling.gunsagogo.org/
Remember, on the early Chinooks, the lateral windscreens had laminated gold de-foggers, which can easily be duplicated using some Bronze window tint material from an auto parts store.
Hope this helps some, also, that “Aerofax Minigraph #27” book and the “Squadron-Signal” book are excellent references.
Take care,
Frank
Thanks guys!
I don’t know what I was thinking…too much soda and popcorn last night.
I’m building up all the parts from the kit to complete the front nose ( just foward of the side cockpit windows…the ones that open and close ) and the after all that dries I will cut it away from the body and VACUFORM that section. I know a dude that has a good vacuform set up.
Thanks Frank! I have those books…good shots of the Go Go’s too!
It feels good to get back into this project again! The Sea Knights came in on Friday but now I’m on a buget till next pay day so I figured why not, I’m more than half way through it anyways!
NOW a new problem:
What would be the cheapest and easiest way to replace the seats?..The two from the kit are Horrible! …did you do anything with those seats Frank?
Dang Frank!
Its been a while since I went through your build pics and process. WOW! I can’t believe it! I don’t think I can ever get into a project that deep any more. I use to have that kind of fire in my belly but lately…I’m lucky to have the time to build from the box it seems.
Here is my latest…not a whirly bird but I’m pretty happy with the results! [:D]
I’m getting some of my projects down to less than three months!
Thanks Troy,
Alright!!! You put your U-Boot in the water!!! With personnel!!! Now you’re talking!!! I’m in a race to complete my Revell Titanic before my daughters birthday, so many of the same challenges await. I love the weathering you did on yours!
Not sure that I’d ever attempt a project like the Chinook again. My eyesight suffered because of it, and I’m pretty sure I almost burnt myself out, as it was almost two years before I built another model. Guess I’m not an Iron-Butt modeler anymore, or I’m getting too old or something.
I scratched the seat using a couple seats in my spares box, cut down and built up to duplicate the “Iron Maiden” type used by the Go-Go’ers. Example:
An interesting side note; Of all the additional armor plating added to the ACH-47’s, none of the air crew’s ever remember taking a hit ON the plates. As Hugh Buzzell (FE on “Easy Money”) says; “The critters hit the bitch everywhere BUT the armor!”
I’m not sure if the Cobra Company has made Slick Chinook seats, maybe worth a look, but if not, scratch building them would be the way to go.
Take care,
Frank
“The critters hit the bitch everywhere BUT the armor!”
Isn’t that the way it usually goes!
You scanned those armored seats right from the Aerofax Minigraph #27 book didn’t ya! [:p]
I was looking at the Aurora kit seats agian and I can start with those just some cutting and sanding is needed to start with.
I actually just pull out an old 1/48 Monogram “Hog” kit and noticed there are several parts that could be used as a good starting point for use in the Aurora kit. One of which happens to be the seats.
Now granted they are “slick” seats, but they certainly make a great skeleton for you to shape into Hook seats. Little sanding here, some sheet styrene there…you get the drift.
Another salvagable part i just noticed is the engine halves. With a little dicing and a few mods, they would most certainly pass as T55-L-712s. Only problem is, you would have to get another “Hog” kit if you planned to detail both engines.
As usual…my 2 cents.
Thanks Frank!
Good ideas.
Ummm… Troy… that’s not “Frank”, that’s “Jeff”. [:)]
The real Frank
Oh wow man! …Not paying attention to detail will get me in big trouble sum day!
Sorry about that Frank and Jeff.
[(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D]
It’s okay. Mistakes happen.
Just like that time when i was at about 1500 ft and accidently dropped a generator from my center hook. Whoopsie.
Later found out it was mechanical error whew
Made one hell of a mess though. hehe
I got that beat…see the STUPID MOMENTS thread![:p]
