A few weeks ago, I found a Roban 450 Augusta 109 fuselage at a local swap meet. It was badly in need of TLC. The retracts were epoxied in place, and the windows were yellowed and cracked. However, it makes a great base for some scale detailing. At the end of this build, I’m hoping to have a much more scale version of the US Coast Guard MH-68 Stingray.
The real MH-68 Stingray has an interesting history. It was the first aircraft to test out and lay groundwork for HITRON (Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron), conducting armed intercepts of drug boats. It flew with the Coast Guard from 2000-2008 before HITRON transitioned to the MH-65 Dolphin.
The Roban rendition of this model, while a great sport-scale rendition, definitely needs some work to match up more closely with the real machine. The Landing gear, canopy, windows, and tail rotor are the biggest offenders. As shown below, the stock windshield is undersized significantly, all or the gear are bent aft, and windows are missing the distinctive forward slant:
In addition, the main rotor head sits far too high above the fuselage. The farthest aft window also needed to be eliminated. After some filling, bending, and styrene work, I filled the aft windows in, and reshaped the forward windows. I also replaced the epoxied retracts with new units from Motion, and straightened out the struts:
The next item to tackle was the windshield. After comparing to photos and 3 views, I cut an enlarged opening and sized some clear sheet plastic to replace the windshield. Already, it was looking more accurate:
For the mechanics of the build, I decided to go with a Tarot 450 Pro DFC, modified with a Hirobo Floating 4-blade head and converted to CCW rotation. I was also able to find a set of scale blades from the Roban 470 AS-350. Here is the aircraft mocked up with the mechanics in place:
The next step will be modding the tailcone to move the tail rotor over to the left hand side of the aircraft.
The real MH-68 Stingray has an interesting history. It was the first aircraft to test out and lay groundwork for HITRON (Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron), conducting armed intercepts of drug boats. It flew with the Coast Guard from 2000-2008 before HITRON transitioned to the MH-65 Dolphin.
The Roban rendition of this model, while a great sport-scale rendition, definitely needs some work to match up more closely with the real machine. The Landing gear, canopy, windows, and tail rotor are the biggest offenders. As shown below, the stock windshield is undersized significantly, all or the gear are bent aft, and windows are missing the distinctive forward slant:
In addition, the main rotor head sits far too high above the fuselage. The farthest aft window also needed to be eliminated. After some filling, bending, and styrene work, I filled the aft windows in, and reshaped the forward windows. I also replaced the epoxied retracts with new units from Motion, and straightened out the struts:
The next item to tackle was the windshield. After comparing to photos and 3 views, I cut an enlarged opening and sized some clear sheet plastic to replace the windshield. Already, it was looking more accurate:
For the mechanics of the build, I decided to go with a Tarot 450 Pro DFC, modified with a Hirobo Floating 4-blade head and converted to CCW rotation. I was also able to find a set of scale blades from the Roban 470 AS-350. Here is the aircraft mocked up with the mechanics in place:
The next step will be modding the tailcone to move the tail rotor over to the left hand side of the aircraft.
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