START HERE |
|
Register | FAQ | PM | Events | Groups | Blogs | Calendar | Mark Forums Read |
Unregistered
|
Large Scale Projects 790+ Large Scale Projects 790+ Discussion |
|
LinkBack | Thread Tools | Display Modes |
05-14-2015, 12:23 PM | #1 (permalink) |
Registered Users
Join Date: Feb 2015
|
Airwolf scale model recreation
Airwolf scale model recreation
Hi everyone I have always been a fan of the Airwolf TV series. I know it's mainly US fan based but there are some like me in the UK and so I wanted to try to get a scale re-creation of Airwolf made to pay tribute to the pilot episode. For sure I believe the original pilot together with plot and music score made for a great episode and caught my imagination all those years ago. Even the actors I thought were great. But for me the star had to be the Helicopter and so this I hope is a tribute to all of the above but most of all "The Lady" Anyhow, so a quest to try to get something which is worthy of display has begun. Not the nice 1/48 scale models which are available. Yes they look great in my opinion but not big enough in scale for a good display piece. So onto the larger remote control scale versions. There are a few on the market and unless one is lucky enough to own a Larry Jolly Original, none I believe are exact to the filming miniatures used. They are just wrong in looks. There is the Funky, Vario and Century versions. I decided to go for one of the larger scale pieces, the Roban Airwolf. This has a pre-built lit cockpit and a good size but the fuselage is lacking in detail but looks great from a distance in the air even though the colour is wrong. Airwolf was not black in colour. Now I cant fly for love nor money and to have all the money spent on a project in order for me to crash it is pointless. So I wont be wasting money on engines and servos I just want the thing to look great on display. Perhaps in the future but funds are limited. So I have commissioned this as a major project using a pro builder and we will see how the project takes off. This is to be based on the photo show in this thread and recreates Airwolf at the back end of the original pilot episode where Sting goes after Moffett the original designer of Airwolf. Airwolf has been through hell and is flying through a narrow valley and is being shot at by a brigade of Libyan tanks and so the many shell hits which miss Airwolf hit the ground close by and cover the heli in sand and dirt and the heli looks battered and weathered to hell. This is something I wanted, not a shiny looking beast like many owners have but something a little more true to a weathered scale heli which has seen serious action. I hope u all enjoy the ride those who have interest in this unusual project. Not something one sees in the UK!!! More to follow soon PS the Roban Airwolf I purchased from a UK store and here is the link so you can see the size of this thing. Not a true shape but close. http://www.quickuk.eu/products/4571/...h-awblx-8.html Please see the attached link for the Airwolf build project Replica Prop Forum Thanks for looking Wayne |
Sponsored Links | |||
Advertisement |
|
05-14-2015, 06:09 PM | #2 (permalink) |
HF Support
Join Date: Sep 2006
|
Welcome to HF - as you can see there are a few Airwolf builds, including the Roban one, here - be interested to follow your posts on the progress of the build
Better to start practising your flying - large scale models are quite a handful ! MAybe if the build takes a year you might be just up to it if you are a quick learner !
__________________
John |
05-14-2015, 06:59 PM | #3 (permalink) |
Registered Users
Join Date: Dec 2008
|
Sweet!!!
Please keep posting with updates. Following with much interest!!
__________________
Steve |
05-15-2015, 02:34 AM | #4 (permalink) |
Registered Users
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2015
|
Airwolf
Hi John/Steve,
Sadly I dont fly and dont intend to. I want this Airwolf to be a scale model for display and so all the effort is going into the detailing. Many Airwolf scale helicopters look great in the air but upon close inspection they just dont have the detail. So this certainly will. I want this to be a little different in that unlike all the others, which look shiny and new and sometimes a little plastic, I want mine to look more real, more worn looking as if it has been flying for sometime and also has gone into battle in Libya. As the original Pilot showed. So lots and lots detailing to be added to the belly and main fuselage, there just isnt enough detail and the under belly is pretty much a blank piece of plastic. No way is this detailed enough for my liking. The paint is so wrong too. So this will be changed and also, there will be some added sand effect and lots of detailing added around the panel lines. I hate the window stickers!! They are coming out for a realistic 3D looking window effect. Same for Turbo Exhausts. They are too small and mine need to be much larger and also has the heat bloom effect. ADF pod needs serious work no more than the guns will be replaced with solid aluminium barrels. Enjoy the build. Wayne |
05-18-2015, 08:45 PM | #5 (permalink) |
Registered Users
Join Date: Dec 2008
|
Wayne,
Build is looking the part for sure!! Quick question, what are you using for reference material for the under belly of the fuse detailing? I have had a hard time finding good pics of the underside of Airwolf. Most pics are very grainy and lack any focus to see detail. Thanks!
__________________
Steve |
05-18-2015, 10:40 PM | #6 (permalink) |
Registered Users
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Pittsburgh,Pa.
|
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesh...ream/lightbox/
Not Airwolf, but the best underside image I have found of a Bell 222. Hope this helps for the basic details. HW.
__________________
. Some people drink from the fountain of knowledge, others just gargle. Robert Anthony. |
05-18-2015, 10:49 PM | #7 (permalink) |
Registered Users
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Pittsburgh,Pa.
|
Totally forgot about this site, dang near anything you wanted to see about Airwolf.
http://www.airwolf.fr/ Just click on everything possible for images, Everything from studio blueprints to program stills. lots of stuff! HW.
__________________
. Some people drink from the fountain of knowledge, others just gargle. Robert Anthony. |
05-18-2015, 11:51 PM | #8 (permalink) | |
Registered Users
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2015
|
Belly shot
Hi Steve,
Exactly, same problem here, so the builder has the movie pilot of Airwolf and has stopped on freeze frame many images of Airwolf from it and also has many photo stills of Airwolf from images on the net. There are many variations as some shots are of the actual helicopter used and some using remote control versions so mine will be a hybrid of these references. For sure it will look close but not exact but a damned site more detailed than having a bare underside and will look the part for sure as a lot of work is going into this. Judge for yourself once its done buddy Quote:
|
|
05-18-2015, 11:52 PM | #9 (permalink) |
Registered Users
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2015
|
Airwolf
Great ref links, thanks for those
|
05-22-2015, 08:36 AM | #10 (permalink) |
Registered Users
Join Date: Dec 2008
|
Thanks Heliwhisperer!
__________________
Steve |
05-22-2015, 08:58 AM | #11 (permalink) |
Registered Users
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Pittsburgh,Pa.
|
One day I hope to do a detailed 222.
I have been amassing pictures on the interwebs for this, I just have to get home projects done before I retire. I am glad to help others when I can. HW.
__________________
. Some people drink from the fountain of knowledge, others just gargle. Robert Anthony. |
05-22-2015, 06:19 PM | #12 (permalink) |
HF Scale Support
Join Date: Jan 2010
|
I have been asked to build one of those Roban Airwolves so I will be keeping an eye on all threads involving these helicopters. So far, it seems to be a straight assembly job and setup but things may change, especially if I find that there are defects in the newest versions. I know that Roban has a sponsored pilot in Germany but there were no pictures of his machine to compare it to the average kit. I am not implying anything about his kit but sometimes well experienced builders will just do things that they find missing from the kit they are working on and forget to make it known. I have been known to make changes when I find sub-standard parts (at least in my estimation). I'll make up a thread as soon as I get this kit in my greasy fingers, lol. Take care.
Don |
05-22-2015, 06:33 PM | #13 (permalink) |
Registered Users
Join Date: Dec 2008
|
Don,
You'll find the assembly to be straight forward. I had the Roban Airwolf for a short time. The kit is nice and will go together fairly quickly. Little modification / rework is required, unless of course your modeling instincts take over. :-) The hardest part is getting the retracts installed and setup. It's a bit of a pain in the but. Enjoy the build! And of course please keep us Airwolf junkies in the loop during the build with pics!!!!!
__________________
Steve |
05-29-2015, 08:19 PM | #14 (permalink) |
Registered Users
Join Date: Dec 2008
|
Build is coming along nicely Wayne.
Looks really good so far!!
__________________
Steve |
05-29-2015, 08:32 PM | #15 (permalink) |
Registered Users
Join Date: Jan 2006
|
waynem0,
Welcome to the forums, sir. I read your post with interest, as this subject is somewhat close to home for me. Glad that someone out there realized it was not black paint, but gunmetal (it was a Mazda automobile color, as I recall). This is a photograph of one of the originals on the living room floor of my apartment back in the early 1980's (you can see the paint on the doghouse is still the correct color-most of the ship is in primer after a crackup): The original fuselages were from another company-Century I think, but it has been too long for me to remember. Jack Sessums made vacuum formed prostheses for the sides to make it look like the real Airwolf (and less like a Bell 222). When Larry came in later, he pulled a mold from this for his fuselages (and I think because it was cheaper than purchasing the originals commercially). The flying ones did not have all the detail that it sounds like you will be including. The very first ones, built by Ed Baxter and Roy Levy, had flybars and did not even have retracts (mechanics were GMP Competitors with O.S. .61FSR-H's). When they cut to the guns popping out, that was another, larger model and the guns were pulled out by hand through some internal mechanism (Jack or Dave Humpert designed this). There was no room for them in the fuselage/wing pods. Good luck with your project, sir. I am looking forward to seeing photographs of your model.
__________________
KBDD-Team Captain, JR DFA Team Pilot. Forza 450, Forza 600N, Forza 700, Compass 6HV-U, Warp, 7HV,Knight Pro,Knight 3D, Atom, Odin II, 6HV, 3D Plus, Knight 50, Chronos, Velos, Steam 550 and 600, OMP M2 (and anything else I can get my hands on...). |
05-30-2015, 01:39 AM | #16 (permalink) |
HF Support
Join Date: Sep 2006
|
Lot of nostalgia in that photo Richard! Before cordless phones, DVD and love the old valve wireless
__________________
John |
05-30-2015, 03:19 AM | #17 (permalink) | |
Registered Users
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2015
|
Airwolf
Superb photo and information, many thanks for sharing it with us all here. Great stuff. More photos have been uploaded now please take a look :-)
Quote:
Last edited by Mercuriell; 05-30-2015 at 07:11 AM.. |
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|