Sikorsky S.58c passenger conversion. Italeri 1/72nd scale + Air-Craft Models resin parts

 

Graphic material from the Net. Hope I am not stepping on anybody's toes

 

We are back on the ether after hurricane Lowell. We were fortunate and did not suffer any damage, only went without power for a few days. But many people got it really bad, and the property and infrastructure damage is extremely high, and many areas are still suffering the consequences. Please consider helping any vetted, serious organization that is hands on. 

https://www.gettyimages.se/search/2/film?family=editorial&phrase=hurricane%20lowell&sort=mostpopular

The Kauai community is incredible. We got help from friends and neighbors, and the Aloha was everywhere.

 

 

Strange contraptions of complex engineering and somehow giving the general impression of charming clumsiness, helicopters have been there almost from the beginning of the industry. So goes too for the kit industry. I like to build one of them now and again, just for a change, and (I must admit) because they are usually easier to build than planes (gasp!). But why keep it simple, right? Let’s do a conversion to a civil passenger transport, completely modifying the fuselage of an existing kit. For that I acquired an Air-Craft Models resin aftermarket set that after some serious surgery should render the necessary changes to represent a Chicago Helicopter Airways Sikorsky S-58C.

Nice transparencies, but Italeri packed them with the rest, so of coarse there are several scratched that will need polishing. Hey, Italeri, how expensive is a plastic sleeve?

Major parts detached, all cleaned up. Bonga-Bonga bits to the trash can:

The aftermarket set, sturdy box to protect contents:

Profusely illustrated instructions with added advice:

Well-cast, no bubbles, no deformities, nice detail. So far so good. They don not have on catalog the one I want t build, so I purchased a similar one that includes flotation gear:

The interior walls are smooth and have some detail, and do not show the coarseness of other resin offerings:

The set includes photo-etched details and decals (the latter won't be used, as I will commission a particular set for the Chicago Helicopter Airways machine):

Masks, but other will need to be hand-made for the additional windows:

The resin parts are easily separated from their pouring blocks. The fuselage sides need all their cabin windows and doors opened. This is not an easy-peasy affair as the flash membrane that covers these openings (at least on my sample) is thick, so this is a multi-step, carefully and gradually approached business:

The resin is very nice to work with, and again no bubbles, no short pours, no warping. Good set.

A caveat that came via Tim and Tom Kalina: The tail rotor in the Italeri kit "rotates" the wrong way, so those blades have to be cut-off, a metal pin inserted, and re-glued in the opposite direction. Thanks to them for this very important detail that completely escaped me, naive as I am, thinking that most kit manufacturers do their homework 🙄 

 

To be continued...