1/72 Italeri Agusta Westland HMA.1 
 Merlin

by Jure Olaj a.k.a Phoinix

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The kit from Italeri is not as good as I thought it would be, so a lot of scratchbuilding had to overcome the shortcomings. I used Eduard PE's and a couple of Revell Merlin stencils, as they are way better than Italeri's.

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A lot of time went into scratchbuilding the main rotor head with its 173 parts. I also made the cockpit like it is, too unreal without the shaders on the top windows. The helicopter actually has the engines inside, visible through the fire access holes in the engine cowlings. I went as far as mounting a ball bearing in the main transmission to enable a smooth turning for the rotor.

The rotor head was worth every hour of effort put into it. I try to stick to "lots of detail make a realistic appearance". Guess it worked for me on this one.

This model wouldn't come true without the help and effort of one noble man, Dave a.k.a merlin101. Hope you all like it!

Jure

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Photos and text © by Jure Olaj a.k.a Phoinix