Dear Nigel, It is very nice that the engine Mount you pointed out is in the shape of a letter M. Makes it easy to spot! There are an enormous number of greeblies to be sure. Great video sir- proper modelling!! Regards, Z
Nigel, my name is Charles Jackson. Back in 1968 I was crew chief on this very aircraft,18426, in Vietnam. I am about to start building this kit and I find your videos very helpful. You have asked for info on various parts of the aircraft. I can help with this. The "box" on the maintenance deck is the "hydraulic sled". It contains the reservoirs for the first and second stage hydraulics as well as the utility stage. The tall cylinder with a "knob" on top is a pneumatic/hydraulic accumulator. It holds pressure to start the small APU engine when the main engines are not running. The 2 large boxes in front of the engines are the EAPS (Engine Air Purification System). State side Cranes did not use them but in Vietnam the sand was eating up engines in less than 100 hours. You decided to leave the landing gear covers off. Commercial cranes do not use them but all US Army cranes did. I only removed one to get inside and then put it back on. They are made of fiber glass and painted the same color as the aircraft but fade to a flat dull green. The rotor head was not sealed like the CH53 and we were required to grease all of the grease fittings after every flight. This caused the head to be fully loaded with grease every day. Subsequently the rotor slung grease all over the bleads and aft end of the ship. So we would wash down the vertical pylon and bleads with JP4 (jet fuel). This caused the aft end of the deck and pylon to be a splotchy dark discoloration. As for the name, the official Army Indian name is Tarhe which was never used. the Sikorsky name was Sky Crane but the Army always used Flying Crane. I did not know about Tarhe until years later. In Vietnam we had about 5000 pounds of armor plating over the flight controls and around the pilots seats. One last thing, the kit does not model the steps leading from crew deck to the flight deck. I'm going to cut out a portion of the flight deck between the pilot and copilot's seats using estimates from my collection of photos. I will then make a 3D model of the stairway and then run a 3D print. I enjoy your videos very much. Keep up the good work. Charlie
What a beast! She's looking great Nigel. Excellent tips and techniques for getting that mottled "I've been left in the sun forever" look. Will definitely be trying that one on the AH-1G.
Great video my friend the sky crane is looking amazing really like your approach to your builds great tutorial on how you do your pre shading really looks fantastic can’t wait to see it finished thanks for sharing and doing what you do 👍👍
Hi Nigel, enjoying the build. As you asked, the ‘box’ on the port side, aft of the main gearbox is the a hydraulic support panel. The rod is an Accumulator with a pressure gauge on top. The other tanks are for the different hydraulic supply’s. Two for the flight controls and one for the Tail servo and ancillaries, such as wheel brakes, rotor brake and main hoist. The seat over the tail rotor is a mount for an antenna. Hope this helps?
Thanks so much for this series. I preordered this kit and now I bought the brass landing gear thanks to your insight. I see Eduard has interior and exterior parts now. This helicopter is important to me, I flew in them in the 80s and love them. I wasn’t a part of the aircrew but was their Doc.
That pipe looking thing that your using to locate the hydraulic sled is a hydraulic accumulator used to store pressure to start the auxiliary power plant (APP or APU) it’s recharged when the engines are started or manually with a hand pump ( which is omitted in the kit) located on the front outboard side of the hydraulic sled.
Nigel, as an engineer, I completely understand your "optimization" of the build sequence. It's what I attempt to do regardless of whether I'm building a model kit or assembling a piece of electronic equipment. I feel it is so important that new modellers understand this skill and learn to apply it in their work as they progress in the hobby. The more you do this, and explain what and why you're doing, the better (at least as far as I'm concerned). Keep up the great work!
Another terrific video, Nige. BTW, an unrestored CH-54 is on display at a local museum and it, in fact, has the cowling for the struts. I have pix, if you'd like.
I'm not surprised by that, all current birds seem to have the cowlings fitted. I personally prefer the look without them and have seen action pics from Vietnam without them fitted, so I left mine off.
Nigel, The CH54 Operations Manual would seem to indicate that the vertical pipe and the box surrounding it are part of one of the hydraulic systems, possibly the Utility Hydraulic System which deals with such items as main wheel brakes, winch hoist, load levelers, etc.
I checked the CH54 Operations Manual, and just FYI: "The nose wheel is self-centering, free-swiveling, and has a shimmy damper. A manually-operated nose wheel lock will lock the wheel in the trail position." So, installing the nose wheel in a slightly cocked orientation is consistent with the nose wheel lock being disengaged.
don't worry about going out of shot, it's big lol the Aero scale under carriage adds a certain sturdiness to it (thank god they do the u/c for the ICM OV-10)
Great video Nigel thank you as always, learned so much about shading and priming from you here it is really improving my modelling skills! If I may ask a question, I am building the Takom AH64D what colour would you recommend for the fuselage?
Dear Nigel,
It is very nice that the engine Mount you pointed out is in the shape of a letter M. Makes it easy to spot!
There are an enormous number of greeblies to be sure.
Great video sir- proper modelling!!
Regards,
Z
Nigel, my name is Charles Jackson. Back in 1968 I was crew chief on this very aircraft,18426, in Vietnam. I am about to start building this kit and I find your videos very helpful. You have asked for info on various parts of the aircraft. I can help with this. The "box" on the maintenance deck is the "hydraulic sled". It contains the reservoirs for the first and second stage hydraulics as well as the utility stage. The tall cylinder with a "knob" on top is a pneumatic/hydraulic accumulator. It holds pressure to start the small APU engine when the main engines are not running. The 2 large boxes in front of the engines are the EAPS (Engine Air Purification System). State side Cranes did not use them but in Vietnam the sand was eating up engines in less than 100 hours. You decided to leave the landing gear covers off. Commercial cranes do not use them but all US Army cranes did. I only removed one to get inside and then put it back on. They are made of fiber glass and painted the same color as the aircraft but fade to a flat dull green. The rotor head was not sealed like the CH53 and we were required to grease all of the grease fittings after every flight. This caused the head to be fully loaded with grease every day. Subsequently the rotor slung grease all over the bleads and aft end of the ship. So we would wash down the vertical pylon and bleads with JP4 (jet fuel). This caused the aft end of the deck and pylon to be a splotchy dark discoloration. As for the name, the official Army Indian name is Tarhe which was never used. the Sikorsky name was Sky Crane but the Army always used Flying Crane. I did not know about Tarhe until years later. In Vietnam we had about 5000 pounds of armor plating over the flight controls and around the pilots seats. One last thing, the kit does not model the steps leading from crew deck to the flight deck. I'm going to cut out a portion of the flight deck between the pilot and copilot's seats using estimates from my collection of photos. I will then make a 3D model of the stairway and then run a 3D print. I enjoy your videos very much. Keep up the good work. Charlie
Hi Charles.. welcome along. Thank you for your advice. I have now finished this kit, it's a beauty!! I would recommend the Aerocraft U/C legs.
Dear Nigel, outstanding workmanship! Thank you for sharing. I am really enjoying following your build. Best Wishes Johnny
Looking great Nigel. Like seeing airbrushing. When i get my paints out Poppy also goes out of room, saves me having to shut her out.
What a beast! She's looking great Nigel. Excellent tips and techniques for getting that mottled "I've been left in the sun forever" look. Will definitely be trying that one on the AH-1G.
Great video my friend the sky crane is looking amazing really like your approach to your builds great tutorial on how you do your pre shading really looks fantastic can’t wait to see it finished thanks for sharing and doing what you do 👍👍
Stunning work as usual mate😉🫡👌👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Hi Nigel, enjoying the build. As you asked, the ‘box’ on the port side, aft of the main gearbox is the a hydraulic support panel. The rod is an Accumulator with a pressure gauge on top. The other tanks are for the different hydraulic supply’s. Two for the flight controls and one for the Tail servo and ancillaries, such as wheel brakes, rotor brake and main hoist.
The seat over the tail rotor is a mount for an antenna.
Hope this helps?
Hi Nigel, The Sky Crane is really looking nice. Thanks for sharing. Have a great day. Jeff
Thanks so much for this series. I preordered this kit and now I bought the brass landing gear thanks to your insight. I see Eduard has interior and exterior parts now. This helicopter is important to me, I flew in them in the 80s and love them. I wasn’t a part of the aircrew but was their Doc.
Yeah, Ive ordered 320081 for my next build, Red Fox are also making panels for the kit.
@@NigelsModellingBench That’s good news, I keep checking their site too.
That my freind is a cracking paint job! Looks bloody brilliant mate!
That’s looking nice - bet Jess enjoys the pub!
She does, just as do I lol.
great work Nigel looking forward to the next video
That pipe looking thing that your using to locate the hydraulic sled is a hydraulic accumulator used to store pressure to start the auxiliary power plant (APP or APU) it’s recharged when the engines are started or manually with a hand pump ( which is omitted in the kit) located on the front outboard side of the hydraulic sled.
Nigel, as an engineer, I completely understand your "optimization" of the build sequence. It's what I attempt to do regardless of whether I'm building a model kit or assembling a piece of electronic equipment. I feel it is so important that new modellers understand this skill and learn to apply it in their work as they progress in the hobby. The more you do this, and explain what and why you're doing, the better (at least as far as I'm concerned). Keep up the great work!
Its looking great, with every step.
Nice
Nice work on this project
Another terrific video, Nige. BTW, an unrestored CH-54 is on display at a local museum and it, in fact, has the cowling for the struts. I have pix, if you'd like.
I'm not surprised by that, all current birds seem to have the cowlings fitted. I personally prefer the look without them and have seen action pics from Vietnam without them fitted, so I left mine off.
Nicely done !
Nigel, The CH54 Operations Manual would seem to indicate that the vertical pipe and the box surrounding it are part of one of the hydraulic systems, possibly the Utility Hydraulic System which deals with such items as main wheel brakes, winch hoist, load levelers, etc.
Tnx Nigel
I checked the CH54 Operations Manual, and just FYI: "The nose wheel is self-centering, free-swiveling, and has a shimmy damper. A manually-operated nose wheel lock will lock the wheel in the trail position." So, installing the nose wheel in a slightly cocked orientation is consistent with the nose wheel lock being disengaged.
looking good its getting there
I tried to use the instructions once recently and it drove me nuts lol.
I usually read through them and then lose them somewhere haha.
Nigel - Yest that's the APU
don't worry about going out of shot, it's big lol the Aero scale under carriage adds a certain sturdiness to it (thank god they do the u/c for the ICM OV-10)
Hi Nigel, the beast is looking great, will you be using a load with the chopper? Best regards from a Kiwi living in Australia 👍👍👍👍👍
Hi Nigel - It's coming together well...Can you give your viewers a BM Lancaster update pls...👍
I am not currently working on the Lanc Alex. I have some issues in my life right now and just can't get the enthusiasm to work on it. Sorry.
Great video Nigel thank you as always, learned so much about shading and priming from you here it is really improving my modelling skills!
If I may ask a question, I am building the Takom AH64D what colour would you recommend for the fuselage?
Not sure yet, but it's something I will look into very soon.
Looking good! You going to get it lifting some armour? 😊
Doubt it..