Building the Testors/Italeri C-130H: Scale - 1/72 or 1/48

    Build by Ola, a master modeler from Sweden

• Independent 4 engine turboprop startup with GPU sounds
• All exterior lights
• Cabin lights
• Operating cargo door 

Videos of completed model towards bottom of page

  Fixed Sequence demo of lights and engines (7.65Mb)

Inserting the DC motors and propellers

Making the props spin true (concentric) can make or break the project so special care must be taken

• Cut the shaft off the backplate of the spinner.  Glue the prop blades onto the backplate.

• Very carefully measure the spinner backplate to find the center and drill a .75mm hole.  The hole must also be drilled at a 90° angle to the backplate

• The prop backplate should be a press fit onto the DC motor shaft.  DO NOT GLUE.

• Test by installing backplate on the DC motor shaft and applying power to see if the backplate spins true.  If not, this has to be filled and redrilled.  Fill the hole with superglue or plastic rod and retry.

• When the backplate spins true, add the prop spinner and retest.  When satisfied, model the nacelle by opening the different vents.  Eduard or Flightpath provide etched parts for the larger ventral vent

• Enlarge the opening in the holder ring to fit the front bearing on the DC motor

• Remove the prop and line up the DC motor carefully and glue motor into place.  Use epoxy or a slow drying superglue.  Take care not to get glue into the motor or on the shaft.  When the glue has dried, clamp the nacelle halved together and retest the motor with prop.

• Cut out grooves for the electric wires at the end of the nacelles

• Install Teflon ring between the prop and nacelle, press on the prop, and retest

• Complete all four engines

  C130 engine test - authentic recording      C-130 prop test 1/48 scale (1.86Mb)

Light and Motor Installation into wings

		making the light housing	landing light housing	completed pop out wing landing lights

	landing light working	cut off molded wingtip navigation light	file out trough for 1mm fiber optic rod		completed wing wiring

Making the pop out landing lights

• Site the landing light and drill a small hole.  Enlarge into a cup shape using a round end mill (2mm diameter).  Take care not to go too deep!!

• Test fit the LED into the cup

• Make a master of the light cup from scrap and and heat thin plasticard over the master to form a headlamp.  Paint silver.

• Cut a small plastic tube in half to form two U shaped pieces.  These will be the light fitting that joins the lights to the wing.  Make sure they are not too short!!

• Cut a U shaped notch in the light cup for the fitting and fabricate a clear plastic lens cover

• Loom the LED through the headlight hole in the wing and glue the housing into place, the wires running through the U shaped piece

Fuselage interior and exterior lights

• Before detailing interiors, always install lights and wiring first

• Test fit continuously.  Test electronics at each step to ensure integrity of circuits.

• Electronics should be fitted into one fuselage half to ease assembly

		these cargo bay lockers need to be fabricated to conceal electronics	ribbing and padding added to enhance detail	painted fuselage half

		tape down wires first then superglue into place when location is correct

  video of interior light sequence.  requires Quicktime     Remote control light test - Scale 1/48 (2.41Mb)

Cargo Door Installation

•  Constantly test electronics after each part is fitted. 

• Tape together the fuselage halves and test that all parts move freely and have the correct range of motion

  video of lower cargo door in action     video of both doors in action (900Kb)    video of door electronics (377kb)

Miscellaneous build notes

replacing the turbine exhaust nozzles	completed	diorama base	make sure that connectors are covered before painting		ready for clearcoats

•  The Italeri kit has raised panel lines which were sanded off and rescribed.  In addition to looking better, the seams made when joining fuselage halves can be sanded off and panel lines rescribed as opposed to making new raised panel lines

• The turbine nozzles are very basic and do not look convincing.  Cut off the exhaust outlet area in the engine nacelles, sand the edges, and install a replacement for the nozzles.  In this case, a protection tube for a Badger 150 airbrush nozzle was cut to shape and epoxied into place.

Tp84 Lighting (4.73Mb)     Tp84 Cargo Doors (3.81Mb)    Tp84 Engines (5.66Mb)

NOTE:  Since Ola built his Tp84/C130, the engine control circuit boards have been revised for smoother spinup/spindown to more accurately model turboprops

 Ola's TP-84 (C-130) won the prestigious Connecticut Yankee in King Gustav's Court trophy at the IPMS show in Stockholm (April 2009).  The trophy is made out of a fan blade from the jet engine of a JA37 Viggen

"One thing that really warmed my heart was a bit older woman coming over to me saying that these shows are usually a bit boring, (she goes with her husband) but my model had really been fun to watch."

Javier Velicia, a master modeler from Spain, has posted a video of his Italeri 1/48 scale build using the same electronics as Ola) on You Tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psZ-Tg2xLM0                   same video as on You Tube:    (4.39 Mb)
 

Javier won the Gold Medal for his Spanish Air Force (Wing 37)C-130 at the Torrents Model show held in Valencia,Spain.