Italeri 1:48 Bell 47G-3B-1
Afternoon all.
Just finished this one, a B47G-3B-1 A1-409 of the Australian Army Air Corps.
According to the Possum's info, she served with 161 Recce Flight, Nui dat, Vietnam, 06/66 - 09/67.
Destroyed 26/05/67, Xuyen Moc. South Vietnam. When tail rotor was shot and destroyed, aircraft was force landed.
Aircraft later destroyed in rocket attack by US aircraft.
Rhe Pilot: Blair Weaver, was ok.
This was the first operational deployment by the AAAC apparently
If I build one again it will be a Blue Eagles cab, although I would want to correct a lot more of the kit and my skills ain't up to that. So much is missing, wrong, or out of scale...Still a Sioux though❤️😎
The images of the AH1 are of the aircraft I worked with between 2018-21. I am exe AAC but these are before my time.
awesome work!
Thanks chap
Absolutely superb job, Chris (@chrisballard). Wonderful detail work. Thank you for sharing it!
Thanks Matt. Early days with scratch building to be fair. The problem is there is a lot missing and a lot out of scale.
A beautiful build, Chris @chrisballard
Lots of detailing and very nice weathering.
Thanks John. Onward and sideways🫣🤣
Very nice, Chris. A lot of great visual detail. Well done.
I have like the Sioux since I first saw Mash at the movies, Chris (@chrisballard). Seeing one in Australian markings is very unusual and cool. I don't see how you could improve your work on this one, it looks perfect to me.
Ah thanks G. Its a funny old thing but this model is quite different to the old OH13 seen in MASH. It used to drive me nuts at displays when the only thing people could relate to was MASH, but as a fan, yea I get it😆❤️
Looks great regardless of the kit issues. I can’t see a Sioux without the MAS*H theme playing in my head.
Very nicely detailed. @chrisballard
Cheers J
Great Bell 47! Really nice work. I, like everyone else automatically thinks of M.A.S.H. when ever I see one.
I'm an old UH-1 and AH-1 helicopter engine mechanic, and I always love seeing a good chopper build.
Thanks chap. Sadly getting a decent UH1 kit currently is difficult. I have a nice cobra G and half decent OH6 down the line. I am not engineer trained but have worked on our Sioux (Agusta/Bell, Westland/Agusta...and this is a political tale in itself!) As a volunteer. I have also flown (iffy) and flown in the Sioux AH1 a fair bit. The Aussie angle just seemed different and as they wore the same berets as us...
Awesome job, Chris! You certainly got the most out of the Italeri kit. Great historical facts, too!
Cheers chap. The info is out there but as it happens I read their unit...accounts, written separately by veterans of the conflict.
Thanks all. One or ywo points IF you ever go down this rabbit hole.
Italeri call for one side of the wooden vertical fin to be yellow. I followed that believing they had miss printed the markings and applied the decal only to realise it was their mistake so for now, the stbd serial is missing. I could not find an image of this cab but in hindsight its pretty obvious...
Secondly. The Sioux wasn't hugely powerful so weight saving is important. After trying to get the best finish on the handling wheels I realised they were not called for in the instructions and, in fact. I could only find one Aussie image with them fitted...and flying. We used to take ours off occasionally and they are standard equipment so I left them suggesting it had just been moved out.
Finally the rear cross tube is thicker as I had to reinforce it with brass tube. It sagged badly. In an sequel I will scratch build the skids.
Be lucky and many thanks for the kind comments.
Excellent detailing!
Ta John. Fitting the horizontal stabiliser and TR control cables was a giggle🫣
Wow, that is some incredible work!
Cheers chap👍
Awesome. I got my first helicopter ride in a 47G when I was a little kid.
Beauties aren't they? At displays I called it our most "helicoptery helicopter". I believe the 47 coined the name "chopper". In 76 I would have...eaten sprouts 😆 to fly in one and was a big fan of the Blue Eagles display team. Fast forward to 2019 and I end up flying one with a member of the 76 team...at least one of us knew how to.fly it😆❤️
Well Done! I have wondered how much out of scale the tail boom frame is and now I know. I appreciate how well you worked with what you got.
Sadly John, faceplant won't let me download my own images otherwise I would post a few to illustrate it. Sadly I no longer have easy access to an AH1 (although I could probably get access) to measure bits. To be fair to Italeri, it's a Sioux and a basis for whatever torture we want to put ourselves through. I think IF you could manage to create a reasonable boom and upper engine mount (the truss that goes over the engine between the tanks) and you re shaped the lower engine...sump (the whole thing sits on a single spigot into a 4 way adjustable "sprague" mount, that is how the thing is rigged, the engine, gearbox and mainshaft are a single stacked unit), then you might get away with the main frame and scratch built skids. I don't think they could injection mold fine enough to produce it in scale and then it would break easily. I did see a 1:72 version 3D printed but no amount of trying got a response re 1:48.
Unfortunately if you have worked on Sioux, the model is frustrating as you know what's missing or wrong but as I keep saying, Italeri gives is a chance do do the best. The area behind the firewall is a semi chaotic mix of Jack's, hyd tank, seat belt reels, electrical boxes and the links up to the lower swash plate. All (understandably) missing. The other problem is that tubes and cables run right round most of the main section and along the boom...no...just no🤣😳