WWII Heli???

Modeling Subjects Helicopters
1

Hey guys, this is the first time that I have visited the Heli Forum. I don’t plan on building any of these in the near future but I am considering an exception. Does anyone know if any Helis ever flew at the tail end of WWII and if so, are there any 1/48 scale kits of them? I think that I remember seeing some at Wright Patt AFB Museum, and the Smithsonian Annex at Dulles, but I can’t remember for sure. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks much. Bob

2

The German Flettner-282 “Kolibri” (hummingbird) was the world’s first helicopter that passed certification. During the Battle of the Bulge (aka the Von Rundstedt Offensive) a formation of five of these aircraft conducted the world’s first helicopter strike against armor! Only twenty-four units were built by end of the war.

See: http://www.hyperscale.com/features/2001/fl282do_1.htm

1:48? Get Huma model kit 6500.

3

The Sikorsky R-4 was in service in WW II and Special Hobby did a 1/48 kit of it, No. 48002. It was an early kit by them but mine looks pretty accurate to me. I don’t expect it to build without difficulty though based on my other experiences with early production Czech kits.

4

Thanks guys. I will see what I can find.

5

Not sure if this would fit the category, but some of the larger u-boats carried a gyro-copter for observation purposes. They had no motor but were towed from behind.

Focke-Achgelis Fa-330 “Bachstelze”

regards,

Jack

6

i believe hanna reisch flew one of these inside one of the big nazi arenas.

7

Hey guys, I did a Web search and I was able to find the Special Hobby kit #48030. It looks like what I’m looking for … sort of… It has floats and it does not have U.S. markings at least on the photo on the box. Does anyone know if this kit has U.S. markings as an option? I tried to find #48002 but no one seems to have it. It does have the U.S. WWII markings, which is exactly what I’m looking for.

8

In February 1938, test pilot Hanna Reitsch flew an Fw 61 from Stendal to Berlin, a distance of 110 kilometres, and then inside
the Deutschland Halle, where the floor area of 2400 metres², she demonstrated the machine made possible fully controlled forward, backward and sideways flights without any assistance from wind.

9

Bob, include the word review in your google searches and you’ll find that both kit versions have American decals.

http://kits.kitreview.com/sikorskyr4reviewrk_1.htm

http://www.helokit.com/?p=819

http://s362974870.onlinehome.us/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=234693

regards.

Jack

10

Thanks. According to the one review it looks like the kit that is available has all the parts of the original kit pu=lus an addad sprue for all the float stuff. So I should be able to build the regular Army version ( I hope ). So I will try to find it again and place an order. Later… Bob

11

I apologize for the typing errors in my last post… someday when I grow up I’ll learn how to type. I just ordered the kit . This ought to prove to be interesting. It is kit # 48430. Thanks for everyone’s help. Bob

12

Here’s some interesting reading on the US development of the helicopter during WWII; most of the work was done by the U.S. Coast Guard.

www.uscg.mil/…/Helicopter.pdf

13

Ok. The kit just got here today. It is #48030 with the floats. There is one version shown that is ( according to their instructions ) U.S. Navy 1945. They have some decals and they show it in the standard O.D. and Neutral Grey paint scheme. Now, I would like to build the USAAC version. It looks like all the parts are there. However, the instructions do not show what to use with the wheeled version and I’m not smart enough to figure it out. Does anybody have the other version of this kit and can they scan the instructions and post them? Thanks much… and I guess I can figure out the decal thing later.

14

Here are links to the 48002 kit instructions. Please let me know when you have downloaded the files so I can take them back off my server, they are pretty large.

http://goldeneramodel.com/mymodels/Kitinstructions/R-4/new-1.jpg

http://goldeneramodel.com/mymodels/Kitinstructions/R-4/new-2.jpg

http://goldeneramodel.com/mymodels/Kitinstructions/R-4/new-3.jpg

http://goldeneramodel.com/mymodels/Kitinstructions/R-4/new-4.jpg

http://goldeneramodel.com/mymodels/Kitinstructions/R-4/new-5.jpg

http://goldeneramodel.com/mymodels/Kitinstructions/R-4/new-6.jpg

15

Thanks a bunch. I got the info. Now for the decal dilemma… Bob