Fiddlers Green

I just started trying to build the BW version of the Huey and need some help.

I can't figure out how the nose piece goes together. Does it need to be rolled before gluing? When dry fitting it, it seems to be too small to fit around the front section of the copter.

Is there any special trick to assembling the sectional fuselages? I've been having problems with this and usually get so frustrated that the model winds up in the waste paper basket. I know I can't apply glue to all the tabs at one time, so is there any special place to start.

I'd like to finish at least one of the FG models. I built plastic kits before and this is a whole new venture. I worked with instruction that were done as exploded views but these really get to me.

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

Charlie

Greetings Charlie,

I'm far from the "welcoming committee", but as a fellow newbie, I feel your pain. I'm sure others will chime in here with some advice on the UH1 assembly, but here's my $.02 worth-

I started with an "easy" model, say, the Douglas Skyray, which is offered as a free download. I too came from the "plastic realm" and starting with an easy model helped me get used to the new medium of card stock and various weights of paper.

I too, where possible, start a new design with the B&W version first, as this helps expose the "gotchas" of that model and helps me learn what to fix for the "pretty" colored version I do later. Paper is cheap, and the advantage of using it as a medium is you can print cheap copy after cheap copy to practice all you want- doing that with plastic models depletes the hobby budget too quickly!

The simpler models also help demonstrate the basic "order" the instructions usually have the parts assembled in. Wow, now theres a topic for debate- what do you assemble first, the landing gear, props, wings or fuselage? What the instructions lack, I am usually able to glean from a picture of a completed model, pictures/photos of the real thing, my own books on the matter, or the practically inexhaustible resources on the Web. Last but not least, and you have already done this- ask the group. I've lurked here LONG before I chose to join in the conversation, and as my ranching friends would say- you got a good herd of folk here!

I've not attempted the helicopters yet as I consider them towards the higher skill level end of the card-modelling spectrum, but there are many here with excellent advice and tricks to get the pulp to cooperate. I've done about a dozen models now, jets mainly, and am currently focusing on some buildings of my own design (they're just simple boxes with triangles on top right?).

Hang in there and welcome to the "fold"...

Howzit

Charlie, the Huey model is one of FG's more advanced designs and even the more experienced builders have struggled to build it. My advice, put it aside for now, go and build a bunch of the easier models with "nicer" fuselage shapes and then when you've got the confidence, go back and build it later. As MOCR said, paper modelling is cheap, any mistakes you make only cost you the price of a sheet of card to rectify.

Welcome aboard.

Niki

Niki and MOCR:

Appreciate the input and the seply. I'll try dong something 'easier'.

Thanks again...Charlie

My first plane was the Mig 51 from Paper paradise.....is was very easy...and i was hooked.... . www.paperparadise.com/free/mig15.cfm It is a free download......but my favorite plae is still here at FG....

_________________
Laterz
Possm_23
Never say anything you wouldnt think out loud!
Take your time leavin.....but hurry back!!!!
Every tub has to sit on its own bottom!!!!

If you're looking for an easier FG model, Rob's Hawker Hunter might be an option, nice circular fuselage, easy wing attachment but still builds to a beautiful model or even one of my favourites, FG's harrier, an older design but still looks cool.

Niki

Let me chime in on the huey. Rolling the nose pieces before gluing helps a lot. Also, it was designed to be a tight fit because it pulls the fuselage into shape. I generally recommend you start with the first 3 pieces of the fuselage and form them, so you can get your fingers in to work it into shape, then continue backwards. It is a difficult model, I'm even intimidated by it. That's why it took 2 years.

From the horse's mouth so to say.....lol

_________________
Laterz
Possm_23
Never say anything you wouldnt think out loud!
Take your time leavin.....but hurry back!!!!
Every tub has to sit on its own bottom!!!!

Or the rear end, depending on who you're talking to.

Difficult model indeed. I've started the huey 3 times and still haven't finished it, same goes for the Skycrane, that cockpit leaves me in tears, any ideas?

Niki

Well, I've built the huey twice and both times I couldnt figure out how the nose fit. I cant get the windshield to fit properly over the nose, so its just suspended there, leaving a bit of a gap. The instructions implied the nose should be shaped rather like a gell-tablet- straight lines with curves on the ends- but only after I looked up some pictures on the internet did I realize it should have more curves, particularly over the top- closer to an oval shape. This *might* solve the problem with the windshield fit; but as I'm in no hurry to build it a third time, I wont find out for awhile.

I had to guestimate on just how the rotor bits went on too. The MASH chopper model had a little guide to show you how long to make the rotor shaft. The same thing would have gone a long way in helping me to know just how high the whole rotor contraption should be.

Oh. Great. So that's why I'm having troubles...

Can I ask one pre-building-the-middle question?
Why did the designer make the middle out of 3 parts, instead of making one, hard to cut out but easier to build and stronger one peice?

Cause that's where the curves of the fuselage are, and a single piece didn't capture them, and was harder to build.

_________________
Official member of the "If We Can't See It With The Unaided Eye, You Didn't Build It".

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