Westland Seaking Mk.41 German Navy 89+63 (50 Jahre)

As warm up I modified the HAS/HC instrument panel to a Mk41 panel 

 

I replaced the molded on rope with wire-rope.  

Different position of the antenna mast.  

 

Baseplates for the sponson flanges. Aprox. 2,2x5,2 mm.  

Baseplates in place. Because of kits overlapping panels I used additional halves on the lower side.  

Installation of the sponson’s completed. Panel with electrical connections for auxiliary loads. (5 x male and 5 x female).  

Distance between fuselage and “wing” about 1,6 mm. „Glacing“ for the light made of transparent Tesa tape. Masking as usual with a piece of Tamiya tape cutted in shape EXTERNALLY. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reworked connection points for the winch: 3 x flange, 3 x hydraulic and 2 x electric. The flanges have an asymmetrical design: 3 holes for installing on the fuselage and 1 short “raised” bolt in one corner for the strut. The bolt (0,2 mm wire) will be installed later. Very left is the installation flange for the fixed light.  

Courtesy Burkhard Domke 

Support / mount for the Mk41 winch.  

Courtesy Thomas Neuss 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Missing rivet rows added (red). Mk41 has an additional antenna on top (green = mount/base).  

New research results: the most Westland-built SeaKings has x-shaped doubler between the rear and main fuselage section. German Mk41 don’t have them. One side reworked. Two rectangular mounting plates for the U-shaped antennas in place.  

main door: research results. 

Mk41 main door about 1 hour and 43 parts later 🙂 

 

Main door opening detailed & corrected.  

Correct positions for the flare dispensers. All 4 will be installed after painting & finishing via wire pieces (0,2 mm).  

 

 

Courtesy Thomas Neuss  

Many thanks to TN for his extraordinary original pictures 🙂 

 

Left side: Hinges added.  

Right side: fasteners added.  

Right side corrected and detailed minus ventilation panel. SeMa - oval side plate plus several panel covers in place. Electric cable and his 8 fittings will be installed after painting. 8 x 0,25 mm hole is well visible.  

Courtesy Thomas Neuss 

First round of detailing the front seats. German SeaKings have modified upholstery (wider and thicker). Will be modeled new of ureol as master for duplication.  

 

Upholstery made of ureol completed & fits.  

 

Ready for duplication. 🙂 

The area behind the left door is an eye catcher… That's why I've made a special effort here🙂 

Courtesy Burkhard Domke. 

 

 

Westland built SeaKings have no roof in the left door area. Interior structure and installation are well visible.  

Cables (white) will be installed later after painting.  

Courtesy Burkhard Domke 

All knobs and switches (Anyz Models) will be installed after painting . 

Courtesy Thomas Neuss. 

 

Courtesy Thomas Neuss.  

 

Westland added electronic control units (computers) for the engines. Both computers were installed in the rack/tunnel located on right side of the cabin. The „influence“ of both engines took via wires. The wires were guided via narrow „channel“ above the right seat to the center console. 

Courtesy CW.  

 

The Seakings are full of surprises, everywhere. Both sides of the cover of the instrument panel have not the same design.  

Courtesy Thomas Neuss 

 

5 x lamps as instrument panel illumination. 

Informations about the rotor brake are missed… only the lever is installed .  

 

Extra panel on the upper left (circuit breaker). 

Courtesy Burkhard Domke 

New research results / informations about the rotor brake (thx CW🙂) 

Courtesy CW 

On the right side of the upper control panel the SeaKings have the rotor brake.  

 

Mk41 instrumentpanel 

 

Courtesy CW 

 

Completed minus cable trees.  

 

Have a break? Have a (Kit)cat! 🙂 Bio-Limo in Café „Black Cat“ 🙂 

 

 

 

With the Mk41, there are two observers who have their seats at the very back next to the windows. These seats are (unfortunately) different from those in the british (kit) variants. A few pieces of round rod (0,63 mm) help to „improve“ the impression. 

 

 

Six man dinghy 1.0.  

 

 

Six man dinghy 2.0. Yesterday I airbrushed the first coat and was not satisfied with the entire result. Because the (first) part is a little too big, the decision was easy to build a new one. 🙂 

 

 

 

Oxygen bottles for the „Beatmungsgerät“.  

 

Courtesy Thomas Neuss 

 

 

 

 

Correct blue gray shade of the upholstery.  

The color of the upholstery is not corrected yet.  

 

The standard equipment of an Mk41 includes a "rescue basket" with which injured persons can be taken on board more easily. 

Rescue basket in action / „ deployed”.  

Rescue basked will be stored on the left side (“Duschkabine” aka working place of the radar operator🙂 ) courtesy Thomas Neuss.  

It's been more than 30 years since I have last “woven” something. I was the Pinta of Heller in 1:75...🙂 

Working station of the radaroperator.  

 

 

Courtesy Thomas Neuss  

New research results: the entire radar console & mounting / rails for the seat is ONE unit. If necessary, a curtain can be pulled down between the two vertical bars. To the right of the right bar is a fairing/upholstery (coming later). 

 

 

Today is 27.5 but it's a bit like Christmas. 🙂 because… 

…the package from Jam-Screw is arrived! Thx! I am very excited and curious. 🙂 

 

 

 

 

Rescue basket. Amazing: Installation on the „shower cabin” took as long as building 🙂 

 

Result of a “mini-painting & put the parts together task”: the Stryker-Stretcher, which has established itself as a quasi standard in the emergency service. 

 

 

 

 

Not all parts painted yet.  

Upholstery and bag modeled of putty.  

Courtesy Thomas Neuss  

 

 

Courtesy Thomas Neuss  

„Faces“ for the medical equipment (1200 dpi)
After researching in internet now I know which funktion each of the three devises have: from left Beatmungsgerät, Absauggerät und EKG Monitor/ Defibrillator 

Medical equipment completed minus paint.  

 

Courtesy Thomas Neuss  

 

 

 

 

 

Upholstery for the left side completed. Medical equipment minus “Mickymäuse“ (ear protection) in the top middle completed. Beatmungsgerät, EKG-Monitoring/Defibrillator, Injectomat, Box mit 230 V Schukosteckdosen, Absauggerät.
 

 

The filter from Jam-Screw has a huge advantage over the kit: you just have to glue the side tubes and you’re done. When uncovering, I recommend separating the accessible pillars and then twisting the part. In this way, all inner pillars are separated at the same time without damage. All 4 wing nuts are still on. Let’s see how long...🙂
Overall excellent quality! 

 

Today I wanted to do something other than seats, boxes and backpacks and mixed the fire orange (50%RAL3024 und 50% H132).  

Correct shade of fire orange: 60% RAL3024 and 40% H132.  

The are goods news: The rasterization is no longer visible under the two layers of paint: base coat/pale yellow and fire orange. 🙂 

Totally thrilled. Also because of the connection flanges of Jam-Screw. The number of screws and the shape are exactly reproduce!!! 

Landing gear in place minus wires and hydraulic.  

Jam-Screw parts: 🙂🙂🙂 

Jam-Screw: Sandfilter and wheels. Outstanding! 🙂 

Take you time for masking.  

 

Result of a mini modeling task:
Yesterday I kneaded and „backed” (30 min, 130°C) 2 x upholstery and 1 x heating pipe of grey Fimo. Today I added insulation made of Tamiya tape and installed the parts.  

Upper bar for installing the seat backrest. Lower bar for installing the seats. 

Courtesy Thomas Neuss 

Current task: 7 seats on the right side. Number of seats courtesy CW🙂🙂 (thx) 

Template for upholstery (made of fabric in original) of self adhesive aluminum foil.  

Belts will be installed after painting. I intend to use 3D-printed decals for German-Navy by DF-HeloStuff🙂 

New research results. The lower horizontal bar is in fact a part of the seat-modules. Because of that I ripped the part of.  

Several bags and one suitcase for stowage of the rescue equipment.  

The last task on the interior wall / inlay: thickness thinned down because in original its no gap between two layers.  

 

Labeling for the cabin. 

It is amazing what quality a normal printer delivers at 1200 dpi. The font is about 1.3 points and is readable.🙂 

It's amazing: you can read the text!🙂 

Result of a mini modeling task: five seater and bags with medical equipment. Each bag-group is installed via 2 pieces of 0,4 mm wire.  

Rearside bulkhead of the cabin with different rescue equipment.  

The last big point for interior components is completed: rack for electronic equipment & foldable seat.  

 

 

 

Ready for paint and cables  

 

 

 

Picture for the “face”.  

Courtesy Thomas Neuss. In fact the “black boxes” are not always black… 

 

Last elements for the cabin: foot rests for the aft observer seats and a second stretcher. In the original photo you can see that the blanket is on the left (The lettering „BUND“ is inverted🙂) 

 

New / last research results: the radar compartment (“Duschkabine“) has on the front a blind.  

 

 

 

A waterproof green rubber mat is laid on the cabin floor of the SeaKings of the German Navy. However, not under the equipment rack and not in the area of the „shower cabin“ (radaroperator workstation). There, the rubber mat was left out, shortened and folded upwards.

At the points of the mountingpoints and other hatches, access covers (probably also made of rubber) are incorporated into the rubber mat. 

 

Rubber mat and covers & rails painted. 

 

 

 

 

 

Because of the extra upholstery, the sticks are suddenly too short🙁. Therefore, I have weakened the curvature a little.🙂 

 

 

For assembly of the engine housing I recommend to left the parts B1 and B2 loose without gluing for more flexibility during installation of both side panels B11 and B12. 

Seamless transition between floor and fuselage.  

The fit of Eduards etched part ist excellent. 

I used only the outer part of Eduard and reinforced the top edge with 0,4 wire. You can see the reinforcement made of 0,4 mm round rod on the lower side.  

Don’t forget to fill the hollows on the inner side bevor removing the “bulbs” on the outside.  

Detailing of the underside finished. Compared to the fuselage sides, it was quite simple. 

 

 

Corrected tailrotor shaft tunnel 

 

 

Tunnel and Radome in place. On the lower side I add a narrow stripe of selfadhesive alu foil.  

 

 

New research results: the aft antenna radome is in reality smaller as assumed and is not square but trapezoid. That's why I ripped down the part and made it smaller. 

 

IMO a optimal base for the fire orange: a mix of yellow and light grey, semi matt 

Especially with helicopters with open doors, I wait as long as possible to install the glass parts. 

 

 

Two more airbrush sessions with very dark gray (“black”) later.  

 

 

The last big hurdle in the cockpit: support framing on the inner side of the upper tinted windows.  

 

The last big hurdle is taken: clear parts for the cockpit in place without mess. 

Green: I had to add a 0,13 mm plastic stripe to fill the gap. Red: I had to remove a bit plastic (about 0,2 mm).  

 

 

I have waited four months for this moment. The timeconsuming tasks, the patience and the effort were worth it: I am very satisfied with the result of the cockpit. 🙂 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided to use only the PE parts for the ladder because the upper door is in original thicker as one PE layer.  

 

I made the triangles for the „deflection“ of the ropes from wire (for better stability). As attachment to the fuselage i used two pieces of wire. The holes can be seen in the other picture  

I have hardly any experience with 3D printed parts, especially concerning the flexibility. The material used by Jam-Screw is quite brittle. Therefore, I decided to disconnect the axles and insert a wire. This also has the advantage that you can align the wheels precisely afterwards, especially because they are flattened. 

 

 

 

I wanted to be very „smart“ and install the exhaust pipes from the outside after painting. I overlooked that the opening in the fuselage is much smaller than the „hidden“ end. Therefore, I had to improvise: I sawed off the outer end and inserted them obliquely from the outside. 

 

As usual I installed the door without glueing via 2 x piece of 0,26 mm wire. I drilled 2 holes (0,24 mm) from outside through the door into the fuselage.  

Mooring rope. Almost white.
Red arrow: I overlooked that the bulge must be removed and I had to do this on painted model. 

Today I finished one of the last complex parts for the fuselage. The wiper. What do you think: how many individual parts does a windscreen wiper consist of? 🙂 

 

Courtesy Burkhard Domke.  

Never before have I completed a tailrotor in this quality in such a short time! Thanks to Jam Screw!!!🙂🙂🙂 Compared to the original, all this is great: even the kink at the back edge of the blades is reproduced correctly. 

The leading edges are made of self adhesive aluminum foil. The fact that the blades are separated makes it easier to paint the ends in red. 

 

Courtesy Yellowwing (🙂🙂🙂🙂 ) 

 

 

 

New research results: connecting cable for the filter exhaust. Pipe for left half of the filter (on the outer side, not present by Jam Screw). 

 

Completed winch. 

 

 

 

 

Drain with flat lever, made if brass. I could only recognize this detail properly because I was sitting on the ground in front of it. 

Connection jack for the intercom on the inner side of the bubble window. You can only see such details if you stand 1/2 m away from it🙂 

I got the decals on Friday. Everything except the blue elements is meanwhile in the right place: I'm thrilled! 41 x thank you very much David! 🙂🙂🙂🙂 

 

 

I can read everything and I'm thrilled! Note that date is added in handwriting within the text (as with the original)🙂 THX x 41 David!!!!!!!! 

 

The big moment is here: the decals are applied and the final assembly can begin!🙂🙂🙂 

 

 

Today I worked on the antenna. This is the result. 🙂 

Courtesy Thomas Neuss 

Courtesy Burkhard Domke 

It is much easier to assemble the complete antenna system including the eyelets, clamping sleeve and insulators outside the model.  

 

 

 

 

 

In the last week I actually managed to instal all the parts without mess, breakdowns and disasters on the fuselage.
Although I am not finished yet (the parts for the rotor have not yet arrived from Australia) I wanted to share some photos of the details with you. ? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Slowly slowly the rotor head is in sight 🙂🙂🙂 As warm up, I prepared the blades. The end is flat, with a raised „panel“ in the middle on which the staticdiscarger housing is installed. 

 

Blades painted. Narrow stripes light gray (topside) and dark grey (under side) coming next.  

 

 

„Device“ for painting the light grey strips. Much simpler than applying of 20 pieces of decal.  

15 minutes later than the last photo. Everything turned out the way I wanted it to be.🙂 

 

After four months of waiting, the build will be continued with the rotor head von Jam Screw. 🙂 

 

 

 

The fit is excellent!🙂🙂 as in the instructions mentioned note the correct order of assembly: first the dampers to the upper star-half, then the lower star-half.  

First batch of hydraulic lines BEFORE installing the lower star.  

 

Fortunately I managed to put all parts together nearly without breaking of the fragile edges. Now ready for laying of cables. Several weeks ago I produced two dozen of T-hydraulic connectors by soldering of tube and wire. This seemed to me the only useable way to produce reasonably stable/durable T-pieces for 0.2 mm wire.🙂 

 

This is what the intermediate result looks like after a productive modeling day. 🙂 

 

 

After a productive model building day, I am now done with the detailing. Next step: the paintwork in dark gray. 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to Jam Screw’s pictures (Thx!) I could install the scissors correctly.  

If you have an earlier batch/series of the MRH, I recommend making a protruding „installation-point“ for the pitch link on the arm. 

Completed minus pitch links. 🙂 

 

 

 

 

After almost a year, I'm almost done. Honestly, I took a four-month break and waited for Jam Screw's MRH. Tomorrow I just have to mount the star and the axle for the rotor on the fuselage and then I'm really done.🙂🙂🙂