Hi Gang,

Here is one of my longest duration builds, finally finished. I clearly remember buying this in 2009, starting it, and packing it away for some reason. It has been in its box for so long it migrated down to the cellar. No idea why I packed it up, there was no problem with it when I got it out of the box.

It's the Revell kit, finished as the famous Bravo November. The diorama is inspired by a shot in a documentary I have about BN that shows it at rest during the Falklands War, after a light slushy snow had fallen. The snow only 'stuck' on the grass around it, and it looked like the snow that landed on the airframe melted immediately. I won't repeat the story of BN here, it's well documented on the web. It is one of the more interesting stories from the war though, containing feats of airmanship, heroic maintenance and not a small amount of luck. BN soldiered on as the only heavy lift helicopter to make it to the Falklands and as it gathered more and more dirt and the rotors barely kept balanced it became known as 'The Shuddering #%&*$#'.

I added lots of bits from a couple of Eduard sets, mostly to the interior, which can't be seen. (Brilliant...) The pilot figures are originally some FAA crew, but I filled some of the details in to make the G-suits look more like normal flight overalls, and changed the pose of the heads.

In the photos you'll see the replacement port door that was cannibalised from an Argentinian machine when BN reached Stanley at the end of the war. The original was lost in an accident that very nearly proved fatal. The scene is designed to be viewed from the starboard side, and I couldn't resist adding a little Easter egg on the port for anyone who takes a closer look. 😉

The model does have rotors, but they are enormous and don't fit in my soft light box. It looks a lot better with them fitted.













Thanks for looking in,
Gareth

Love the gulls and their deposits!
"Oi! Gerroff ya feathery w*nkers!"

Beautiful work mate.

Thanks chaps!