EH-101 AEW Petrel

[kitnut617]

This is some seriously impressive work......BAZTASTIC! in fact 

Thanks Nev, Eddie & Ed.

[kitnut617]

Got some more done today, all major changes have been complete, just the tail rotor to change.  Now I can concentrate on the interior painting, decaling etc. and get this thing closed up.

[kitnut617]

This is the little housing which comes from the P-3 kit, it usually hangs under the wing somewhere, but I'm going to use it as an air conditioner for the electronics/avionics.  I can't decide which side it should go on though, to distribute some of the weight it should go on the starboard side behind the relief crew area, to make the piping more economical it really should be on the port side right adjacent to the electronics room.  Does anyone know if weight distribution from one side of the fuselage or the other on a helicopter is a big issue, seeing as everything is close to the centerline or is it a major problem with helicopters?

Cheers....

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

Superb work, don't you dare give-up on this one !

Ian

[kitnut617]

Not much to report but I'm just in the process of filling in windows and painting up the interior which is fairly basic stuff. There's a bunch of decals to go on various pieces of equipment before everything gets glued together. Photos to follow once the interior is done.

I've decided to go with Barley Grey for the exterior colour, I was contemplating going with Hemp but as that is now being superceded with a shade of grey I changed my mind.

[John Howling Mouse]

Barley will suit it well, too.
Will this be an airbrush attempt? 

[kitnut617]

Hmm!  this could be a good place to start using the air brush, my next project is going to be my 1/72 C-17 so it would give me a bit of practice before hand.

[Mossie]

Does anyone know if weight distribution from one side of the fuselage or the other on a helicopter is a big issue, seeing as everything is close to the centerline or is it a major problem with helicopters?

AEW Sea Kings have the 'Flying Dustbin' radomes on the starboard side, with nothing obvious to balance it as the radar oppies sit inside the fuse.  I drive a van for work sometimes & if the load is heavier on one side it may pull a bit in that direction & be a little heavy when turning in the other.  I imagine similar for a helicopter or transport aircraft?  I think the small amount of weight the cooling system will add shouldn't cause too many problems, although someone else might be able to give you a better qualified answer.

[kitnut617]

Thanks Simon, I think the logical position would be as close to the equipment as possible, so port side it will be for the air conditioner.

[kitnut617]

I've been puzzling over how to do the rear u/c bays, I've got the forward ones figured out but the way I wanted the rear ones to go wouldn't work very well.  I decided to assemble one of the original u/c sponsons to see if I could get a bit of inspiration from it when all of a sudden it hit me what to do.  I'll blend the originals into the new sponson, it solves how the wheel bay looks and where the wheels folds away too, plus it blends into the very rear fuselage section like it really does

[Brian da Basher]

Keep on goin' kitnut! It's looking great!!!

Brian da Basher

[Captain Canada]

Yup, that's the way to do it alright ! I had the same idea.....those little sponsons at the back are just to cool looking to pass on !

[John Howling Mouse]

Dontcha jez luv it when the right styrene bits come together?

[kitnut617]

Using a bit of spare drop tank, I'll blend the end in like this.

[Rafael]

I M P R E S S I V E!!!!

Rafa