Hughes 500D Academy/Minicraft 1/48 scale

[Guest]

I had to jump on this ,having worked on them years ago. Really tidy kit but lacking in detail some what. I got a really nice resin Main rotor head that comes with the blades and all the missing upper deck detail. I got a jump on the office and filled in some HUGE ejector pin marks

Got some basic color and assembly done in the office

Basic dry fit looks promising

[papa 695]

A very nice start Trey

[flyjoe180]

It's looking good Trey. I'm enjoying this helicopter GB too.

[mossiepilot]

Looks good Trey.

Tony.

[colin m]

Wow, flying along.

[Guest]

Thanks Fellas,really enjoying this Heli g/b as well! I've gotten the pilots painted and in place





Sealed up the fuse halves and really is a decent fit ,no filler



Decided to scratch the WSPS as we had lost one of ours in a testing accident while they were developing the system at Langley. They would swing the Airframe through wires to test the cable cutting ability of the WSPS . Unfortunately a wind gust turned our poor little donor Caysuse sideways just as it hit the cable,we got it back on 2 pallets,neatly sliced in half,trans and upper deck on one and the engine and dangly bits on the other. Anyway I used some decal sheet cut to shape and then soaked in thin ca for the cutters and the saw blade runners are stretched sprue.



Next up will be the resin rotor head assembly,and its cast beautifully with no flaws or distortions

[flyjoe180]

Nice work Trey, coming along nicely. Looks to be a really nice little kit.

[Guest]

This is coming along nicely Trey, plenty of scope for some more extra detailing as well if you feel inclined.

I had to replace the Wire Strike assemblies on the Medstar i'm doing as the original was a little "blobby" .... a bit of thin plastic sheet and some fuse wire sorted it out nicely.

[Ian M]

A nice little bird Trey.

I'm still trying to get my head around a wire cutter on a helicopter....I'm getting all kinds of nasty images in my head.....

Ian M

[papa 695]

Some great work Trey the figures look spot on looking forward to more updates

[Guest]

Thanks all for the kind words. I sprayed some black on it today and am real pleased with how it layed down. I'm going with a Night Stalker all black low vis paint scheme. There were several of these birds stationed next to us in a 'Secure' hangar ,but we were'nt allowed to talk to the crews at all. They had some real sharp looking 500's all shiny painted and dark tinted windows antenaes poking out all over but no 'N' numbers or markings of any kind.

[aaron]

Reminds me of magnum pi.

Looks a slick beast in gloss black

[flyjoe180]

I agree with Aaron, it is looking slick in that gloss black. A bit sinister.

[papa 695]

That realy looks good in gloss black Trey but it also reminds me of a tadpole

[Guest]

Thanks really liking the black myself,and Ian it does have a Tadpole shape for sure maybe I should do a green one

The rotor head assembly was'nt going to be strong enough or adjustable. To remedy this I drilled the blades and grips and used guitar string to give a strong glue joint and allow some sweep adjustment.



The non rotating swashplate assembly ready to instal



The rotor assembly is ready