1/48 Heller Ecureuil 'Fire Bomber' 

converted to Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) AS350B Squirrel

by Andrew Doppel

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This is my first submission to ARC although I have posted in the forum pages for a little while now.  I'd like to share with you my 1/48 conversion of Heller's 1/48 Ecureuil 'Fire Bomber' converted to RAAF AS350B specs that flew with number 5 Squadron at Fairbairn, ACT in 1986-7 before being transferred to the Army.  The AS350B helicopter was used for the conversion training of pilots and crew for the ADF's Hueys, Blackhawks and Chinooks. 

The kit was converted with some internal and external scratch building such as cabling, aerials, windscreen wipers, spotlights and rear bulkhead.  I also used a locally made resin conversion kit that contained the underside light box, aerial, instrument panel, winch control box, fire extinguisher and crew helmets to complete the build.  To improve the detail on the kit I also decided to open the port side doors by splitting them along the panel line.  The paints I used were Humbrol flat white and French blue with a coat of clear gloss.  Decals are from Hawkeye and Aussie Decals.

Click on images below to see larger images

  

  

  

Overall the kit was a joy to build and highly recommend it.

Andrew

Photos and text © by Andrew Doppel