Sikorsky S.55 BEAtles - Conversion of Revell 1/72nd kit + Arctic Decals

 

An old modeling dream of mine becomes reality, as the BEAtles Sikorsky S.55 is completed in the scheme used for the final scene of “Hard Day’s Night”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf7mYCXmj5s

The Revell kit is pretty good, it has no real vices, it is cleanly molded, the detail is adequate for the scale and it’s relatively easy to convert to the civil version, especially now that Arctic Decals of Finland has released a very nice and superbly detailed sheet for the purpose, with meticulous and very useful instructions. My only criticism to the Revell kit is the inclusion of a windshield wiper molded in the transparency that is of course overscale and virtually impossible to remove. A really bad choice on part of the pattern maker. As it is sometimes the case, the kit conflates details from several versions, so you have to sort out details looking at photos of your intended rotorcraft.

Needed changes and additions for the BEAtles machine:

-Discard mil interior and fabricate a civil one (or close the cabin door)

-Discard from the sprue what belongs to other versions

-Remove boom downward-pointing antenna

-Add step to access the pax cabin

-Modify the aft left window to a bubble configuration

-Modify the volume detail on the belly by removing a section and restoring the surface

-Replace or reverse both bulkheads to obtain a smooth surface. If reversing, sand away potentially obtrusive detail and plug the holes in them (unless you close the door)

-Add whip antenna following photos

-Add thin “lip” above the upper ventilation screen on the nose, as per photos

-The BEA”tles” addition to the scheme was only on the left side

-Do not forget to add the indicated nose weight or you will get a tail sitter. Beware that the front landing gear legs are very weak so don’t buckle them

-Remove little pip aft the main rotor fairing

-Remove “discs” along the tail rotor shaft cover (I didn’t notice that until after the model was completed. There is always the little something you realize you missed after taking the photos of the completed model… isn’t it?)

-Add handle at the cabin entrance (if door open)

-Add Pitot to the right side of the roof

-Add small vent to the aft right window (I just added to decal circles, one on top of the other)

Be sure to look at photos of the machine as used in the movie, as details varied before and after that time. Just one example: the tail rotor is not aluminiun color, but black with red and white stripes when the Beatles used it.

More details in the step-by-step building post:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2026/09/sikorsky-s55-bea-tles-conversion-of.html

We are living now in strange times. tThere is too much hate, lies, racism, ignorance, intolerance, blatant ineptitude. It’s builds like this, because of their social and cultural connotations, what makes me feel that there is hope, and that this nightmare will (sooner rather than later) come to pass. Because, and in spite that it sounds naïve, who among those still sane doesn’t want peace and love? Yellow submarine in 1/72^nd scale anyone?

 

Mack AC Buldog Tanker - RPM 1/72nd scale + Arctic Decals

 

 

Here is the RPM’s Mack Bulldog in fuel truck guise, thanks to the beautiful set released by Arctic Decals

A very interesting build as it resembles in a small way an actual vehicle assembly of sorts, with detail minute parts everywhere, for the chassis, the cabin, the engine, the body, etc. Some of this detail will be obscured after final assembly, but for those of us that like a little challenge in the guise of kits with a large number of parts, this is a joy.

The assembly log is here:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2026/10/mac-ac-bulldog-airport-tanker-rpm-172nd.html

Needless to say, careful separation of the parts, cleaning, and study the instructions are a must. I pointed out in the building article to a couple of glitches you have to sort out. Study your kit, so you use the parts depicted in the Arctic Decals art, as there are alternate ones that are not used for this version.

Besides the minute size of the parts and their individual cleaning, the other challenge resides on the painting of those parts, as you have to really plan ahead and not be carried away only to discover that you can’t comfortably paint some parts because you have already glued them.

I made a couple of mistakes, discovered only of course at the end of the build, but I can live with them. One was not to make the flat side panel recommended by the Arctic Decals instructions (which I read after applying the decals, of course 😒) and I mishandled a couple of very small parts that I ended up not using (chassis hooks), as cleaning their injection gates was beyond my eyesight. Fit in these very little kits becomes a little challenging. As mentioned on the building post, some modelers may feel this kit is over-engineered, and I would have appreciated a one-part basic chassis, to which detail is added, and not a multipart one that makes alignment tricky due to the tolerances being fuzzy in 1/72. I personally think that the parts’ separation for the driver’s cabin is not optimal, and a whole roof that is not inserted between the sides, but over them, would have been better.

Given all the detail that is obscured once the model is completely assembled, it seems that this kit would be a very good candidate for a repair or abandoned vehicle diorama (see the mention of the brakes system inside the drum on the building article, as an example).

Overall, this is a nice little kit from RPM (a Polish firm), fairly molded and well detailed. I only wish RPM would produce civil vehicles, so modelers do not need to adapt their kits.

ACE Models (another scale vehicle manufacturer from Ukraine with kits of similar characteristics) is  ahead in the game, having released a beautiful civil Ford truck -mentioned in the step-by-step building article.