Here's a little something I've started inspired by some of Tophe's artwork. Tophe used a Bell 206 fuselage but I'm using a Matchbox Bk 117 because that's what I had on hand. It will be combined with a P-82 with the cockpits removed. All in 1/72nd scale.
The P-82 is a knockoff of the Monogram kit by Idea Hobby. Holy crap what a bad moulding! I'm not usually the type to complain about kits all the time but wow, what a dog. Its the Monogram mold but it must have been the worst one they had.
You can see here how much I had to widen the mid wing to allow for the Bk 117 fuselage. I used some kit sprue for reinforcement. It also helps to support the new wing sections.
The green is a section removed from the Hasegawa OV-1 Mohawk I'm converting to another helicopter. These wing sections fit almost perfectly. The Bk 117 blades will probably go on the Mohawk so there are many parts changing places here. The tape is holding the wing section down until the glue dries.
Putty has been applied to the wings and fuselage seams. Next I have to figure out how to cover the cockpits without using a ton of putty. I'm thinking of making it with nose gear so the less weight behind the main gear, the better. As is I will have to put lots of weight as far forward as possible. I could extend the nose of the engine nacelles and add some turbo prop engines. A couple of PT-6s should work. Paint will be some variation of Cal Fire or US Forest Service.
