Jssel's Italeri H-21 Flying Banana***Finished***

[jssel]

Thanks, Jim. No I never flew in one. They were gone by the time I enlisted. I watched one land at a local airport when I was a kid. Probably perked my interest in US Army Aviation. My dad had taken some slide photos of it. Gloss OD with all the bright US Army markings on it.

Been looking over the glass situation. A little trimming here and there will get it to fit. I am just going slow and easy.

[airjim]

Hey Jim, any possiblity of you attending Kalamazoo this weekend? I know it's a drive but just wondering.

Sadly no, I'll be in Seattle. I really would like to attend someday as I've never seen the Museum.

Jim

[splash]

Seeing your build is making me really want one of these, it’s a shame about the canopy fit, that is always my nightmare trying to get them to blend in.

Fingers crossed with a bit of trimming of the fuselage, you will get it to fit without the dreaded use of super glue and it’s fogging problems.

Regards
Splash

[kruaxi]

Cool job.

[shangos70]

Looks great , nice work . I'm sure you will sort that canopy easily.

[jssel]

Problem mostly solved on the conopy. Two areas that caused the problem was 1. The anti-torque pedels were slanted to far forward making contact with the glass and 2. There was a small lip on the upper glass that would not tuck under the forward doghouse. The first part was fixed by removing the pedels and re-attaching slanted more rearward. The second part was fixed by lightly "adzing" the top of the glass with the hobby knife to remove the offending lip.

The fit was much better.




Attaching was done with Testor's clear part cement with small strips of tape for anchors. A little blending is stil needed.

[Softscience]

Looking good Jeff. How do you like the testors clear part cement? Does it work better than white glue?

[jssel]

I like the Testor's cement. It is great for making windows. Adhesive properties are better than white glue but it stays flexible. That translates to removing maskings etc very carefully.

[jssel]

Finished the glass and started masking today. Also, I had one rotor blade that kept breaking off. A hole was drilled in the blade cuff and the rotor head. A small piece of wire was super glued in and now it is as good as new.

I will be using Floquil Old Silver for the overall finish as it will take masking. Tamiya goss red for the upper spine area. Maybe some pre-shading but not much.

[jssel]

Here is a shot of the masking completed. The rotors are dry fit for right now. Lots of fiddly tape and Micro Mask.



I just may be painting tonight. Bare metal bottoms and red top.

[TimJ]

Looking good Jeff.

Shouldn't a flying banana be yellow?

[jssel]

Today, there was time to do some painting. Floquil Old Silver has long been my favorite even though the drying time is longer.



Maybe later today will find the masking and red paint added. We'll see. Hope I am not disappointed when the masking comes off.

[shangos70]

Looking good there sir , keep it up .

[jssel]

Is that the Red over Blue scheme with large Canadian Roundels? Had I the decals I would have done that one.

[jssel]

Getting back in the saddle again after quite a bit of time on family duties.

Masking came off without a hitch. Just a small bit of touch up with a 12/0 brush.





The rotors are again placed on for the pose. I did have a ptot tube come off during my rough handling but it is found and re-attached.

Hopefully, tonight the red top will be masked and painted so I can move on to the decals