Sikorsky S-51/H03S-1 – Mach 2 1/72

Started by Bob Torres · 66 ≡ · ↻ 3 years ago
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    Bob Torres said 3 years, 1 month ago:

    Hi Jay, tonight I worked on one side of the clear parts. It does not look pitted like it did at first but I am not getting the crystal clear look that I was looking for. It is better but I will give it one or two more rounds of polishing.

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    Jay Mitchell said 3 years ago:

    It sounds like you’re making progress, Bob @v1pro. To get the best out of those old kits, like you do, I imagine it takes time . A while back you inspired me to find an old kit and try to make it better. I found an old Airfix P-38F. I took it out of the box and after a close examination, I put it back in the box ! I don’t know how you do it, I decided I needed to wait until I was feeling more up to the challenge .

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    Bob Torres said 3 years ago:

    Hi Jay, I finally got back on working this kit after finishing my Frog Me-262/Avia S-92 build. Later today I will post some progress shots.

    In regards to building old kits some are easy and some I will not touch. And in some that I have avoided I have seen built by the modeler’s simple approach of straight out of the box, clean up all the gaps and seam and do a nice paint job with light weathering. They end up having a pretty decent looking build. But still there are definitely some kits that are hard to save.

    I remember working on that Airfix P-38 back in the mid 70’s and I was never happy on my final build. If I had this kit now to build I would probably keep it on the shelf. But there are other modeler happy with this kit.

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    Bob Torres said 3 years ago:

    Working on the clear parts and I do admit I am losing the battle but not the war on this part. This will not clear up as much as I was hoping for but not all is lost. Later I will give this a coating of Future and just press on.

    4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Bob Torres said 3 years ago:

    The cockpit is close to finish, cleaned up the little parts, added the seatbelts and I have to give it a once over with the painting. Last shot is a dry fit and plan on where to add the final weights.

    3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Bob Torres said 3 years ago:

    The windshield was also polished but the thickness does hold it back some. My goal on this build was not to go nuts on it and I will stay true to my course. I feel the final look will still represent the true looks of the actual aircraft.

    The second shot are the rotors all cleaned up. I still have more smaller parts that will need to be cleaned up. Any parts that cannot be cleaned will get replaced with stretched sprue or cut pieces of styrene.

    2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years ago:

    I really love your progress, my friend @v1pro: you have taken the most out of those crude, foggy "clear" parts. A coat of Furture will definitely help a lot towards clarity. Great cockpit, nice looking rotors! A massive departure from the original kit looks already!
    Looking forward to it!

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    John vd Biggelaar said 3 years ago:

    Absolutely not an easy kit, Bob @v1pro
    The cockpit looks indeed fantastic, very detailed for a 1/72 helicopter.

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    Jay Mitchell said 3 years ago:

    I think I’ll save that P-38 for a day far in the future , @v1pro ,

    Your “Egg Beater” is looking nice, I think that’s the same type used in the William Holden / Mickey Rooney movie “Bridges at Toko-Ri” . One of my favorite old flicks. Had a sad ending though.

    I’m looking forward to seeing your completed helicopter. It’d be cool if you can come up with a pilot figure with a green top hat & scarf…

    3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Bob Torres said 3 years ago:

    Thanks guys, even with the lousy clear parts, this kit is still a keeper.

    Jay, I am sure you will do a great job on the P-38 from Airfix if you do give it a try. And great shots from that movie. I forgot Mickey Rooney was the pilot. Nice shots of the S-51. That is pretty much the scheme that I will be doing.

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    George R Blair Jr said 3 years ago:

    Great model, Bob (@v1pro). I have liked this helo ever since the Bridges at Toko Ri. The photos above reminded me of Mickey Rooney flying this beast. I think his name was Forney in the movie. Also had some really cool Navy jets, too. I built the 1/48 AMP kit of this helo a couple of years ago and really enjoyed the build.

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    Bob Torres said 3 years ago:

    George, the Amp kit looks like a nice kit, this one even though it is smaller is a beast but with not too many parts. I am looking forward to have it done and displayed on the shelf.

    That was a great movie, I enjoyed watching that movie very much.

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    Bob Torres said 3 years ago:

    Cockpit is done, touched up a few areas then gave it a semi-flat coat to even things out.

    3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Bob Torres said 3 years ago:

    Finally glued the fuselage halves together and it fought me. As you can see I have some gaps to fill in but nothing I have not dealt with before. I also added a shim to secured the forward part of the cockpit to the fuselage. This helped out to keep that section centered and a stronger bond to that part of the fuselage.

    4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 3 years ago:

    Looking great, Bob @v1pro
    You are definitely going to win that battle.
    Nice solution with the shim.

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