Rick’s 1/48 Airfix Sea King HAS5

Waspie

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Rick a couple of pics of back seat and comparison of Mk2 vs Mk 5.

Business end of ASW SK. Observer, (Obs. or 'Looker') on the left. 17inch fresnel radar. navigation, weapons and comms switching above!
Above the Sonar Op is the HF radio fit, bathythermograph, comms station and a bunch of switching I have forgotten after 30 years!!!
ASWSK_backseat1.jpg


Sonar position with 195(M) sonar. (M) for modified. Which gave the operator the option to select a narrower angle which meant more power down a bearing and therefore greater range. As fitted to the SK Mk's 2 & 5. Mk 6 and a few Mk5s had a different sonar suit with a QUERTY key board and a MFD rather than two cathode ray tube displays. (MFD - Multi Function Display)
The two orange displays are way too bright, I suspect for effect! One display gives range, the second gives bearing left/right of a centre line. The circular display above the two oblongs is the direction control for the sonar. It searches in 90 degree sectors which can 'jump' in 90 degree increments or can be manually changed as the operator is doing to achieve a specific direction.
Any sonar contact can be selected and then that contact can be transferred over to the observers radar so the observer can then take tactical control of the situation.
ASWSK_Sonar1.jpg

SK showing dipping sonar below helicopter. Recovery is the most delicate part of the operation as any large swing on the Transducer can damage the hull. Note the colour is vastly different to how Airfix show it.
seaking7.jpg

Below, a comparison of Mk5, bottom SK in the stack, the remainder are all Mk2's. Main differences is the shape of the radar dome. and the aerials beneath the aircraft following the upgrade to be used for passive sonics. (Sonobuoys).
Sorry about the poor image quality, the weather was crap, low cloud - well - just a dismal day on the West coast of Scotland.
819-1 first mk6.jpg
Hope they are of some use Rick.
 
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boatman

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HI Rick nice lookin kit an regards them grey colors on the chopper i found humbroll no 64 matt light grey will give that i think true colour as like on my ships its all to do with wheather the sun is shining on the chopper as if a dull day then the grey looks darker an are you goin to make it work with motors an nav lights in as it will look fab ?
chrisb
 

Waspie

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@Waspie - what’s all the stuff by the tail wheel circled?
View attachment 489663
TBH Rick, never seen it before. It was never fitted to an 819 aircraft. The only thing I can think of is a Chaff dispenser! Although it has the look of a weapon carrying point with what looks like two red struts across the top, it's too far aft to carry any weight. The SK would be flying nose up!!!
I'll have a mooch around, I have another ex SK crewman up the road who was 820 and 824 - if I catch him he may offer a clue. I'll also have a butchers at my Helicopters of the FAA in the loft and see if that gives and more info.
We, (FAA), had a few specialist helicopters with specialist one off fits for particular operations which still remain - shhhhhhhh!
The grey box above the black is part of Orange Crop, the ESM fit.

Just seen a similar box on a HC4 and was firing flares. Not convinced yet though!!
 
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boatman

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Waiting for Xmas and my wish list can go out - Hunter FGA9, Gannet, Sea King all 1/48 and all Airfix. Then next year I can add a few flying items to my collection and build them.
Meanwhile I have brought my own chair, tea and bacon sarny to watch this build.
WOW Mike youre pushin the boat out bringin T an bacon sarny oh my god my fav hope you bring some extra for little ole me lol
chrisb
 

Waspie

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Rick, troop seats in a SK2/5/6. Four behind the observer, (port side). I believe there was seven, starboard side from the broom cupboard to the fwd end of the back sliding door. An addition seat, rarely used other than to put your foot on was aft of the pilots and central.
It used to get very tight when we were in MCT role with a full compliment of Booties.
When in ASW role, the starboard troop seats were always in the folded up position to allow movement from front to back easier. (That area need to be clear in case a sonar hydraulic failure occurred as you had to stand by the side of the unit just fwd of where the SU was housed.)
 
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Richard48

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Some great pictures there.Really interesting Waspie,I went to see some friends in Redruth and went to Marazion and i was mire interested in seeing what was flying around culdrose.
Richard
 

rickoshea52

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TBH Rick, never seen it before. It was never fitted to an 819 aircraft. The only thing I can think of is a Chaff dispenser! Although it has the look of a weapon carrying point with what looks like two red struts across the top, it's too far aft to carry any weight. The SK would be flying nose up!!!
I'll have a mooch around, I have another ex SK crewman up the road who was 820 and 824 - if I catch him he may offer a clue. I'll also have a butchers at my Helicopters of the FAA in the loft and see if that gives and more info.
We, (FAA), had a few specialist helicopters with specialist one off fits for particular operations which still remain - shhhhhhhh!
The grey box above the black is part of Orange Crop, the ESM fit.

Just seen a similar box on a HC4 and was firing flares. Not convinced yet though!!
There seems to be a bit of orange cabling so perhaps it is a trials fit.
 

Waspie

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Are the upper cockpit panels as detailed, Throttles, rotor brake etc?

And if there are orange cables, my eyesights not up to that much detail, orange as you say is symptomatic of trials equipment.
 

Waspie

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Some great pictures there.Really interesting Waspie,I went to see some friends in Redruth and went to Marazion and i was mire interested in seeing what was flying around culdrose.
Richard
I tend to stay away from CU these days. It was my training establishment when I was aircrew, (shiver). I was there in the very early 70's as a mechanic when it was a totally different place. All the Junglies were based there prior to their move to VL. Loverly area non the less.
 

rickoshea52

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Are the upper cockpit panels as detailed, Throttles, rotor brake etc?

And if there are orange cables, my eyesights not up to that much detail, orange as you say is symptomatic of trials equipment.
It doesn’t look like it has the rotor brake handle but it does have something resembling throttles and fire extinguisher handles.
IMG_1966.jpeg
image.jpg
 

Richard48

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Some builders are concerned of the cockpit glazing as its multipart constuction rather than one whole moulding.Interesting to see if there are any issues doing this.Knowing my shaky hands id make a dogs dinner of it if im brave to buy one.
Richard
 

Jakko

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Interesting to see they’re taking aftermarket detailling sets into account with that second windscreen. My experience is that plastic kit manufacturers don’t usually do this unless they intend to sell a set like that themselves.
 

Waspie

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It doesn’t look like it has the rotor brake handle but it does have something resembling throttles and fire extinguisher handles.
View attachment 489744
View attachment 489746
Laugh!! They remember the plethora of circuit breakers but forget the rotor brake lever!!!!
Just the look of them throttles bring back nightmares!!! Don't know if the RAF did it with back seat crews but in the RN we had to train and become competent and qualify as Manual Throttle Qualified, in the event of one pilot conking out and having a computer malfunction. One of the back seat crew would then sit in the left/right hand seat up front and operate the throttles keeping the engines matched and the NR needle with them too!!
 
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rickoshea52

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Some more shots of the surface detail, the more I look the more is see.
The tail fold bulkhead is detailed very nicely, look at the disconnect coupling (DCC) engagement cone, splines, unlock flag and tail rotor control rod bell crank! Beautifully recreated.
IMG_1967.jpeg

The mesh over the tail rotor gearbox (TRGB) and intermediate gearbox (IGB) will be difficult to improve on with etched metal. One tiny gripe would be the lack of oil level sight glass for the TRGB - the IGB sight glass is there.
IMG_1968.jpeg

The tail fold pole hole. During tail folding an angled pole is fitted into the small hole depicted here for the ground crew to use as an aid to control the movement of the tail pylon into the stowed folded position or spread and engaged position.
IMG_1969.jpeg

IGB oil filler cap.
IMG_1970.jpeg

The yaw pedals have two types, I’d have to check my references but I believe the pilots pedals are in the shape of the Westland logo while the 2nd pilots pedals are more plain.
IMG_1971.jpeg

The collective pitch levers look great but I think the 2nd pilots shouldn’t have as many nobs or the collective friction device.
IMG_1972.jpeg
 

Waspie

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From memory Rick, I believe the two collectives were identical. This was due to either pilot could carry out all functions due to the length of sorties we flew. (We'd regularly do double bubbles - 2 x 4.5 Hr sorties.)
 
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