Portuguese SIKORSKY UH-19A (Italeri +Scratchbuild) 1/72
This article is part of a series:
In the early 1950's, the Portuguese Air Force received one Uh-19A to join three Grumman SA-16 “Albatross” and five B-17G. Togheter they will perform SAR missions on Azores Islands.
For some time she formed a 'trio' with one pilot (Cap. Peixoto Rodrigues) and one mechanic (Sarg. Domingos Amorim). They were the only personel qualified with this Helicopter...
Some time ago, Cap. Peixoto Rodrigues's son asked me to build his father chopter. I couldn't (nor wanted to) refuse 🙂
So I managed to got one UH-19 old kit from Italeri on eBay, some photos from the 'bird' that rest in the Portuguese Air Force Museum, and off we go.
As the kit version was not the portuguese one (the kit came with floats and the portuguese chopter had wheels and other diferences) I had to scratchbuild a bit. Well... not much:
- some interior
- antenas
- pitot tube
- steps
- door knobs on front engine compartment
- slight tail modification
- landing gear (from brass tube, plastic sprue and electrical wire)
- home printed decals
- ...
(more photos here: https://imodeler.com/groups/work-in-progress-aircraft/forum/topic/uh-19/?#post-24767)
The kit is enjoyable, with no particular problems, and painting was quite straightforward too. Just some masking on the tail as I opted to paint everything.
As the chopter was silver painted, I choosed a diferent finish than NMF.
[UPDATE] I forgot to tell something about painting, I'm sorry:
I primed it with Vallejo black primer and applied some Alclad gloss varnish over it. I did that because I had problems in the past when applying Alclad II aluminum and verify that it reacted with the putty and with the primary that was underneath. Thus the varnish protects the base work and creates even a better surface for the metal finish.
The yellow stripes were painted with Tamyia and the black ones with Mr. Color H-77 Tyre Black.
The main rotor was painted with Mr. Color H8- silver and Mr. Color Gun Metal, acording to some photos of the real chopter in the Air Force Museum.
As usual, clear parts were treated with AK893 Gauzy Agent Glass Coat.
The weathering was done with some regular oils, although in the photos seems quite heavy.
A light amount of Airfield dust pigment was aplied on the wheels.
As the real chopter was painted with silver and not kept aluminium, I apllied a light coat of matt varnish to 'break' the Alclad super shinning finish.
There's also a cable from the tail, which I did using rigging 0.02mm from Mig
It was my first chopter in over than 30 years, but I'm quite pleased.
Hope you like as much as I enjoyed building it.
Please share your thoughts about it so I can improve next time.
Cheers,
Manuel
[UPDATE II] This model ended up having an honorable mention in iModeler regarding the builts of March 2019 🙂
[UPDATE III] This build keeps surprising me and now has been published on the HobbyWorld magazine, Sept 2019 issue, pags 39-40.
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- 1. Interior made from epoxy
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- 1. Before
- 2. After some drilling
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- 1. testing fit
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- 1. making some steps
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- 1. Steps completed
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- 1. door knobs
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- 1. Landing gear scratchbuild
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- 1. Cap. Peixoto Rodrigues
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- 1. As the kit was a seaplane, I had to make some landing gear :-D
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- 1. https://imodeler.com/2019/04/imodeler-march-awards-4/
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- 1. complete article on pages 39-40
This turned out wonderfully, sir...a very nice piece of modeling indeed.
Kind words, as always Craig. Thank you
Extremely well done!
Your too kind. Thks so much
Uau, very nice work, Parabéns! Está impecavelmente construído e pintado
Obrigado Pedro. One of the birds of the golden age of Portuguese aviation 🙂
🙂 … Greetings … 🙂 :
Very nice work on this model Manuel, to be honest … this is one of the very few I have seen on the Sikorsky UH-19A that do have an appearance and feel of the machine. The detailing and metal sheen applied are well done. Thank you for sharing these images.
thank you for your kind words. Yes, its a beautiful subject to modeling, so its quite easy to end with a reasonable model. My pleasure.
It is indeed a very nice build of a classic kit. I love the scratchbuild parts and the story behind the project!
Thanks. It's easier to copy from a photo. Yes, there are some pieces to scratch, but thats what modeling is about 🙂
It is a very rare topic and a super build, finish and presentation! Like it very much! What silver colour did you use? How did you weather it?
Hi Michael! and thks for your kind words. Yes, its a rare topic as the kit is descontinued and prices on eBay are going galatic... Your reply made me realize that I forgot to write something about painting and I updated my post. Feel free to ask if you want to know anything else.
Thank you Manuel, for your supplementary information about painting. And it is very helpful: it is the first time I read it: adding clear cote over the primer...I will remember this for the next time...
That's what this group is about 🙂 to share and help each other. As I said, I only find the need to add clear cote if i'm going to paint with alclad and if I'd used a 'soft' putty.
Excellent build! Love the detail work you put into it, and the paint and finish are just marvelous. Well done.
Thanks Greg! As I said, it was built to remember a friends father, so nothing is too much.
Really nice looking model. I think the finish is excellent with great markings.
Thks Julian! Those are truly kind words
Manuel,
Beautiful work on this H-19.
It was an H-19 built by a fellow countryman who inspired me to build mine (1/48).
Congratulations!
Thks!