Fiddlers Green

Hi fellow Fiddlersgreen fans. I thought I would do a repaint of the H-21 "Flying Banana" to represent one used by Spartan Air Services in civilian registry during the construction of the mid-Canada early warning sites in the 50s. It is a rough draft at this point for the test build. Yes, I intend to then do an RCAF version from this colour scheme .

I modified the assembly process a bit by cutting a clearance slot at the front under the forward pylon to give room for my tab smoothing tool to the inside and allow adjustment for fitting the canopy. The slot will be covered by the front pylon (I hope).

Regards,
John

That is gonna be great. Interesting to see one of those old helicopters repainted.

Beard

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More Scotch and stogies for my wingman!

Sweet! Beautiful job!!!!!

This will be a great addition to the "Workhorse" stable

Very nice. Thank you!

The colors really pop out so clear. This is a really beautiful model and like Willy said a great add. Very nice. I wish I could get the colors of my prints to print out for bold. Thank yo for the great add to the fleet. wc

Oops - just found another picture of JJW other side confirming the windows are very different from the FG H-21. It will take a lot more window and door modification to properly represent JJW, so, for the final recolour I will change the mark to CF-JJP which was an earlier model with windows that match the FG version.

So far the repaint is going together ok. Some minor realignment to the stripes will be needed in the final version and change the uppermost canopy glazing to red instead of glass.

I also used marker on the inside of the tail boom to take away the white inside those big air exhaust holes. The original model designer did a great job in providing a very nice construction for the H-21.

Regards,
John

More photos.

I made a bit of a mess with the tail gearbox housing, trying to get it to sit right until I realized I had to make the front point like a "beak". Why didn't somebody tell me sooner . I will add a note to the recolour illustration. Otherwise, the trial build is going along fine.

Nose gear is now on. My paper nose-gear struts seemed to be too short (likely my building error). I used toothpicks instead, which I kind of like better anyway. In the recolour kit, I will put in the option for paper wrapping toothpicks for the nose gear struts. Also, all the photos I have been able to find of JJP show the main gear struts without the strut covers (a photo of JJW shows main gear strut covers in place). I will do the option for paper-wrapped toothpick struts on the mains also.

Regards,
John

This is great, great stuff, keep the pics coming please!

It is now on its wheels . This side shows with the covered main struts.

With the optional uncovered main struts for CF-JJP.

Regards,
John

And, as a testament to the incredible design of this machine and the strength of the people who worked with them, even in extreme conditions:

That's turning out great!

Beard

_________________
More Scotch and stogies for my wingman!