Rotor Power Rescue
Fujimi's 1/72 scale
CH-46D USN & HH-46A USMC

by Derek Derks

Boeing Sea Knight

HyperScale is proudly supported by Squadron.com

I became inspired to build three Boeing Sea Knights after reading about several heroic rescue missions from the armed forces of Canada (CAF) and the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.

One of the models, CH113A Labrador, was already mentioned in another article on this website.

Both models are from the FUJIMI collection. I did add the EDUARD cockpit sets, Micro Scale decals and some EVERGREEN strips and X-TRA oil paints to complete the models.

I decided to make a complete interior design. I studied the Superbase 6 (Kaneohe Bay) and Superbase 16 (Cherry Point) to get a general idea about the layout of the helicopter.

The palletized long range fuel tank is interesting. It gives a formidable extra search range. This is needed to assist in missions where the destination is way out of the regular shipping lanes. The Canadian and Japanese models have the extra external tanks connected to the left and right rear landing gear bays. History has shown that the “Sea Knight” has a good service record. It was, or is still is being used by the U.S., Canada, Sweden and Japan.

The Fujimi models are of high quality. The only disappointment occurred when the cockpit glass had to be placed. It either leaves a gap on the underside, or on the topside. I decided to go for the topside. The gap is over the entire length of the glass. I closed the gap by using an Evergreen round strip, soaked in Tamiya glue and then sort of welded it into the gap, without losing the round structure of the plastic.

Another interesting item is the rotor folding. On most models you see the blades straight forward or backward. It takes some close up studying of the pictures to figure the right angle. The right angle is as shown on the models. After the safety pins are removed, one push on the button and the system starts folding automatically.

It saves a lot of space and makes the model more interesting. In this case I was able to put two models on one base diorama

The CH113A Labrador does not have the folding system. It is a very expensive add on that was deleted on all other foreign models.

Hope you enjoy.

Paints used were Xtracolor yellow and Testor Red applied with the Revell "Master Class" airbrush.

Photos were taken with a simple Ricoh Caplio camera.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Thumbnail panels:

Images and Text Copyright © 2008 by Derek Derks
Page Created 3 June, 2008
Last Updated 3 June, 2008

Back to HyperScale Main Page