AS.565SA Panther

1
October 3, 2021
2
October 3, 2021
Reference photo taken from YouTube video. Note vinyl rear seats, twin rear bench, cargo, and twin folding bench (barely visible on right side).
3
October 3, 2021
Reference photo taken from YouTube video. Note seat belt retraction device on back of seats.
4
October 3, 2021
5
October 3, 2021
I decided I wouldn't be using the kit seats because they are really for the civilian variant, so none of the holes are needed.
6
October 3, 2021
I preassembled as much as I could of the upper interior.
7
October 3, 2021
The kit includes decals for the instrument panel, but not for the center console. The decals are wrong for some of the instruments, specifically the dials they have where the PE has artificial horizons. To keep the coloring and details consistent between both pieces, I opted to just paint everything.
8
October 3, 2021
The kit seats are bottom right. I scratch built replacements using sheet styrene and teflon tape to cover the upper seats. The texture of slightly wrinkled teflon added to the realism of the vinyl seats. Left picture is a rough-in mockup to make sure everything would fit.
9
October 3, 2021
Kit fire extinguishers didn't have handles or nozzle, so really didn't look authentic. I created handles from tape and the nozzle from a piece of wire. The finished product is much more convincing.
10
October 3, 2021
Completed cockpit.
11
October 3, 2021
Before and after.
12
October 3, 2021
Before and after.
13
October 3, 2021
Before and after.
14
October 3, 2021
Mockup of the interior with all the scratch built components in the second and third rows.
15
October 3, 2021
16
October 3, 2021
17
October 3, 2021
18
October 3, 2021
19
October 3, 2021
I really like the wrinkle in the bench seat top afforded by stretching teflon tape over a scratch built frame. On that particular seat, the bottom is shiny vinyl, but the top is fabric.
20
October 21, 2021
Main rotor assembly completed. Painted all the color stripes instead of using decals.
21
October 21, 2021
Save yourself the pain and don't glue on the tail rotor blades until near the end. This will save unnecessary masking, as well as access to the housing for sanding and painting.
22
October 21, 2021
Sub-assemblies ready.
23
October 21, 2021
Modifications to the lower fuselage. Many thanks to Bernhard Schrock (SA.365F Dauphin II (completed) | Album by Yellowwing (1:48)) for his research and notes on the album he has posted. I'm essentially copying his work and he deserves credit.
24
October 21, 2021
I'm not sure if it's because I create sub-assemblies instead of assembling piece-by-piece, but the rotor housing is off by 1mm in two directions. I've made modifications so it will fit, but haven't actually filled the gaps and glued it down yet.
25
October 21, 2021
More modifications.
26
October 21, 2021
Starting to look like a helo finally!
27
May 4, 2022
The glass was a jigsaw puzzle. It mostly fit right. Took several attempts to get the green tint to come out looking good. Custom mix of clear blue and clear green, thinned just right, and laid it down heavy.
28
May 4, 2022
Fixed this section. Added some epoxy to help hold up the housing on top, then used styrene and putty to close the gap previously mentioned.
29
May 4, 2022
Door interiors painted. Too bad they will barely be seen.
30
May 4, 2022
After assembling all the clear parts and test fitting doors, there was a very large gap (about 1.5mm) behind the front left door. I had to add a strip of styrene.
31
May 4, 2022
32
May 4, 2022
None of these panels went together well. Lots of filling, sanding, filling some more, more sanding, then a rescribe. I hope it looks good after I lay down some primer.
33
May 4, 2022
Scratch parts added to increase the detail.
34
May 4, 2022
35
May 4, 2022
36
May 4, 2022
Better view of nose details I added.
37
May 4, 2022
Tail changes.
38
June 4, 2022
39
June 4, 2022
40
June 4, 2022
41
June 4, 2022
42
June 4, 2022
43
June 4, 2022
44
June 4, 2022
45
June 4, 2022
46
July 25, 2022
47
July 25, 2022
Had to scratch build a support arm to make the hoist more accurate and sturdy. Also added the missing cable.
48
July 25, 2022
49
July 25, 2022
Scratch made details. Three screen covers for the intakes and two pitot arms.
50
July 25, 2022
51
July 25, 2022
Had to cutoff, drill, and attach new support brackets for the cable antenna. The kit pieces were over-scaled.
52
July 25, 2022
Used foil tape for the clamps that attach the cable to the lower support arm.
53
July 25, 2022
54
July 25, 2022
55
July 25, 2022
56
July 25, 2022
57
July 25, 2022
58
July 25, 2022
59
July 25, 2022
Dammit! Found this lovely CA booger after unmasking. Can't be fixed.
60
July 25, 2022
61
July 25, 2022
62
August 7, 2022
63
August 7, 2022
64
August 7, 2022
65
August 7, 2022
66
August 7, 2022
67
August 7, 2022
68
August 7, 2022
69
August 7, 2022
70
August 7, 2022
71
August 7, 2022
72
August 7, 2022
73
August 7, 2022
74
August 7, 2022
75
August 7, 2022
76
August 7, 2022
77
August 7, 2022
78
August 7, 2022
79
August 7, 2022
80
August 7, 2022
81
August 7, 2022
82
August 7, 2022
83
August 7, 2022
84
August 7, 2022
85
August 7, 2022
86
August 7, 2022
87
August 7, 2022
88
August 7, 2022
89
August 7, 2022
90
August 7, 2022
91
August 7, 2022
92
August 7, 2022
93
August 7, 2022
94
August 7, 2022
95
August 7, 2022
96
August 7, 2022
97
August 7, 2022
98
August 7, 2022
99
August 7, 2022
100
August 7, 2022
101
August 7, 2022
102
August 7, 2022
103
August 7, 2022
104
August 7, 2022
105
August 7, 2022
106
August 7, 2022
107
August 7, 2022
108
August 7, 2022

Comments

48 3 October 2021, 16:53

Casey Rupley
First time posting a work in progress album. Decided to get crazy with the interior and scratch built everything in the 2nd and 3rd rows because the kit is completely wrong for the military version of this bird. Interior is now done. Next up are the rotors, then I'll begin assembling the puzzle of the exterior - it's a ton of small pieces instead of fuselage halves.

3 October 2021, 17:17

Andrew Horton
Wow! Great start, Casey! I look forward to seeing this project completed.

3 October 2021, 22:53

Daniel
Now this is stunning detail, really impressive💪🏻

11 October 2021, 08:40

Casey Rupley
Thanks, Daniel and FLM! Will hopefully have rotors done this weekend and fuselage well on its way. Daniel - your interior is making mine look like childs play, but I like the motivation it provides to step up my game.

15 October 2021, 21:16

Guillaume Boulanger
Folowing, i like your work and comment on the photo help great.

19 October 2021, 16:51

Casey Rupley
Thank you, Guillaume!

More progress has been made. Main rotors done and the fuselage is starting to come together, bit by bit. Many thanks to the notes and pictures posted by Bernhard Schrock when he built this kit.

21 October 2021, 17:55

Porfiry Pocięgło
Love it when people get crazy with details!

22 October 2021, 08:12

Zsolt Czegle
Great work so far! Following!

22 October 2021, 12:04

Casey Rupley
Thank you, Porfiry and Zsolt!

24 October 2021, 16:27

Casey Rupley
Sorry for the 6 month delay. I haven't worked on this one for a while (was taking a break from everything, then finished my USS Reuben James ship), but I discovered I had pictures and progress I hadn't yet posted. So here you go! I'll be picking this up again next week. I'm almost at the point where it's ready for paint.

The fit has been pretty horrible - all the panels around the engine were horrible, and the clear pieces that make up the forward cockpit/doors left a sizeable gap. I put comments on each of the pictures to explain myself.

4 May 2022, 21:51

Daniel
Awesome work with all these little extras, will look great in paint I think👍🏻

5 May 2022, 07:03

Casey Rupley
Finally primed, pre-shaded, and painted. Next up will be clear coat and decals.

4 June 2022, 23:30

Scott
Looking very sharp Casey!

15 June 2022, 14:44

Casey Rupley
More progress. The helo is sitting on her own legs now, paint has been touched up, decals applied, and a lot of parts and details added. Only a few things left to do at this point, so I hope to have it done shortly. It's been fun (I think), but I'm ready to move on.

25 July 2022, 16:01

Casey Rupley
Finally done!

7 August 2022, 01:23

Florian H.
Great work and result

7 August 2022, 06:18

Daniel
Fantastic clean detail work and the painting is spot on as well - really nailed these softer camo edges, congrats casey 👍

9 August 2022, 16:29

Casey Rupley
Thank you, Florian and Daniel! Yeah, soft edges are a pain and I'm always relieved when they're done.

11 August 2022, 15:44

Laurent VILLANUEVA "HELLER-forever"
great

11 August 2022, 15:49

Scott
Looking awesome!!!

16 August 2022, 16:35

Album info

Military version of the AS365 Dauphin. Search and Rescue configuration. Very few reference photos available of the interior, so I exercised some creative license.

SA.565AS Panther

108 images

1:48

Completed

1:48 SA.365F/AS.565SA Dauphin II (Kitty Hawk KH80108)

All albums

View all albums »