Honduras Navy Handley Page Dart Herald

chrisonord · February 02, 2011, 03:58:08 PM

This aircraft is used for the transportation of military top Brass and on occasion the Honduras President. The aircraft was bought second hand from an executive transport company based in South Africa, and had recently been completely upgraded and given a complete overhaul both inside and out. The aircraft is capable of carrying 15 people in luxury comfort, plus an additional 25 on seating bolted down into the rear cargo hold area if need be. The aircraft can also be converted quickly into a flying hospital if need be, as all the internal fixtures can be removed and swapped over quickly by design.
The kit is the Maquette 1/72nd scale Handley Page Dart Herald, which I think is a copy of the old Frog kit. A bit of a pig to build but worth it in the end. I wouldn't mind doing another one, maybe as a maritime patrol aircraft.
Cheers,
Chris.

Army of One · February 16, 2011, 11:25:37 AM

Awesome build Chris......I was wondering what to use for my Maltese VIP transport.....BN Islander/Defender,Merlin helicopter or poss acquiring a Fokker Friendship....poss airfix one...prefer to use something from my stash though....I like the Merlin with two mangusta escorts or the BN islander with two Hawk 100's or F16's as escorts.....might need something that goes a bit faster though.....great build.....is it bout the same size as a Transall....? Simple looking but effective colour scheme.....

chrisonord · February 16, 2011, 11:45:16 AM

Cheers Hank!!
The Herald is quite a big piece of kit, I have not compared the size of it to a Transall, but I can do as I have one in the stash.The Herald kits are pretty thin on the ground as I have not seen many of them. A Fokker Frendship is similar if not a bit smaller size wise, but would also look good and work well for what you want.
Cheers,
Chris.

Army of One · February 16, 2011, 01:35:33 PM

Chris......awesome....! Bit tucked up with the naval Hind A at the mo.....got loadsa ideas n no time really....atuff outta the box is obviously quick,Hind A needs fettling.....wanna make a mangusta with a scratch built nose gun....got some pics with a nose gun n weird,all down one side ammo feed/storage area......H

chrisonord · February 16, 2011, 03:27:48 PM

I have a mangusta too which is in need of a new chin gun, why they made the kit without one is beyond me. I have a spare turret from an AH-1 that should go on it ok, the ammo feed is another thing though.
Cheers
Chris.

Captain Canada · February 16, 2011, 05:22:41 PM

Cool

frank2056 · February 16, 2011, 08:33:57 PM

That looks great - I'd just been looking at pictures of the Italeri C-27 Spartan and for a second I thought you'd kitbashed this.

Is that an EE An-72/74 in the background?

chrisonord · February 17, 2011, 04:38:12 AM

Quote from: frank2056 on February 16, 2011, 08:33:57 PM
That looks great - I'd just been looking at pictures of the Italeri C-27 Spartan and for a second I thought you'd kitbashed this.

Is that an EE An-72/74 in the background?

Hya Frank,
It is indeed an AN-72P, the armed patrol version, I need to finish it and find somewhere very safe to put it as the parts that need to go on are pretty fragile. I can't remember the name of the kit maker, but it is identical to the Eastern Express kit I have also.
Cheers,
Chris.

Weaver · March 05, 2011, 12:38:40 PM

Belatedly, nice one Chris!

Chap here on one of the Airfix forums built one with motorised props! http://gregers.7.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=12663&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0