Sikorsky NH-3A Seaking "Highspeed-Testbed" - COMPLETED

Stabilizer from Monograms Cessna A-37, plastic, a lot of cyanoacrylate and more lot of sanding dust. Stabilizer for NH-3A about 3 hours later.

Question to all you aircraft engineers out there: are the hinges always on the ribs or could they be mounted between the ribs?

Fortunately I saved the old Monogram Mustang kit. With its raised panel lines it is better for this project than each modern kit with engraved panel lines🙂

1,5 hours later: 8 cuts, a lot of spare plastic and approximate 3-4 cm3 cyanoacrylate. More cutting and producing of sanding dust coming soon🙂.

Right wing completed including hinges, panel lines & rivets. Left wing maybe tomorrow.

Construction of ribs for the lower "wings" with a stone age software (Micrographics Designer 3.1) which offers very comfortable "transforming of shapes". No1: fuselage, No4: inner wheel well, No16: outer wheel well, No21: outer rib.

Plastic, balsawood and a lot of cyanoacrylate before (right) and after (left) producing of a clowd of sanding dust🙂

Plastic, balsawood and a lot of cyanoacrylate before (right) and after (left) producing of a clowd of sanding dust🙂

In connection with the large auxiliary tanks from Revels Strike Eagle I was able to manage the first jet pod in about 1,5 hours including the fan on the front (from Monograms Cessna A-37) and the thrust tube.

Today I had a first success: I managed/carved from ureol (a kind of soft plastic like material)the wing/fuselage fairings. It was worth investing 2 quite hours in precise work: the wings fits perfectly.

The alignment (sanding to fit with wing airfoil) coming next.

Door and door rails removed, windows and holes for winch-support closed (original has no door and no windows). Steps filled.

Windows and steps filled.

Today I managed to fit one of the ureol wing-fuselage fairings and was stunned that after only 15 minutes I was ready.

During sanding I protected the wing with Tesa tape. Successfully: perfect fit an no scratches from sanding.

Today I glued the wing fairings to the fuselage and used a simple but very effective technology: cyanoacrylate was applied not from the outside but from the inside via 5 auxiliary holes. Result: 100% clean and no sanding or cleaning.

Good visible: 5 auxiliary holes per fuselage half for applying of cyanoacrylate glue.

Dry fit for mounting of the engine pods on the lower wing. I'm afraid that will be not so easy. Putty or coating of the gap with thin plastic... That is the question.

......result of "one week hard work": completed new sponsons & engine pods🙂

In any case I sanded through the thin plastic. Balsa and mix on microbals & ca-glue are clearly visible.

Result of a mini-task at the evening: wheel well doors.

It was easy to save the tunnel for the tail rotor shaft.

For a Hasegawa kit is the fit not the best....

Of course what I most "like", the harness, is not finished yet🙂

On the left side are the thrust levers for the additional turbojets well visible.

On the middle of the panel roof is the remote unit of the APG-513a good visible🙂

What could have been in the cabin of an experimental helicopter?

A lot of electronic equipment, in certainly several racks. But I'm only going to equip one. You can't see more thru the one large window and thru the cockpit anyway🙂

It's stunning of how many etched parts (Flighpath) a door/ladder can consist.

Exhaust pipes were thinned with a mini tool.

The underside of the bow was faired over. In a the typical way I managed this task from plastic and CA- glue.

Surprisingly the wings of the Cessna A-37 the correct thickness and nearly the correct shape. Well visible is the offset to the right side of lower part of the trailing edge.

For better contrast I used parts of horizontal stabilizer of Hellers F4U-7 (blue). I'm not going to build it anyway🙂. The plastic parts needed to roughly form the shape are clearly visible. Finishing is coming soon after the CA glue hardened.

The shape of the first drop shaped fairing turned out wrong🙁. So I did it again. The olive colored part is the spare spinner from a I-16 Rata.

The housing of the drive shaft for the tail rotor in place. I did not yet fix the last 3-4 cm to make it easier later to fit the part to the forward fuselage.

Air inlet for cooling of the gearboxes in place. An approximation to the curve made of plastic and CA-glue. Fitting tomorrow.

Uffffff I'm very surprised how much work is needed to build a small plastic piece and fit it to the rest..... (Dorsal fin/tail wheel support)

Two thinner coats Mr Surfacer 500 later: I'm very content with the result🙂 Only the rivets could be more visible:I

There are to few models in pink: here we go🙂

Today I was very believed that my worst fear did not come true: merging of the fuselage, the lower wings (via fairings made of ureol). It all went superbly because I made an experiment:

I produced a colour optimated filler that I could use for airbrushing from 1/3 Mr Surfacer 500, 1/3 my special alu-mix (based on Testors Metalizer and Sealer) and 1/3 Gunzes Mr Thinner.