2024 AIRFIX ROTODYNE VINTAGE CLASSIC - how to build it!

Today I'm finally making the Fairey Rotodyne, a Vintage Classics release from Airfix in 1/72 scale.
CT Models mask set from www.ebay.co.uk/itm/395148327752
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00:00 Introduction
01:46 Paints & Products
02:06 Cockpit pt1
04:02 Crew figures
06:46 Cockpit pt2
09:15 Fuselage
10:59 Paint masks
11:09 Flying surfaces
13:41 Engines
14:15 Rotors
14:49 Paint
15:40 Rotor disc assembly
17:37 Rear door and ramp
19:04 Summary
Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
uppbeat.io/t/all-good-folks/n...

[@memkiii]

Nice one. It just screams Thunderbirds to me. Ah the days when We still made things....

[@SturmoviksInfiniteFlight]

Really cool looking whiffer, I like the desert colours.

[@MoonwalkerModels]

Turned out super! I finally got my grubby fingers on one. They are not super easy to get hold of in the US. Didn't know that Airfix was going to re-issue it!

[@soppdrake]

Cracking model, there, Gary!

[@ronaldbyrne3320]

Extra nice job on the greeblies Gary. 😍

[@modelnut]

I have to admit Gary, what a great looking build. I love the camo choice. Brilliant work. 😀👏

[@waynebrown3536]

Loved it in 72

[@JimWattsHereNow]

That's looks great in that scheme, brilliant.

[@c123bthunderpig]

Gary, good looking build out, I especially liked the pilots, I typically spend too much time on trying to detail out a 1/72 crew too much, you caught the details just right and with the wash, highlights look great. I've seen some modelers spray a flat coat after the wash, I don't know how they do that because it dilutes the wash. Next really great technique that I hadn't thought of is the " stuff" :-) I'm definitely going to give that a go next build. Now if I could only build a kit like this in 21 minutes I could get my stash built out - the value of editing. Thanks for the ideas and sharing the build. Cheers Bob

[@allanrichards3752]

That looks really good. The Rotodyne looks a lot less clumsy than the modern Osprey, its a shame it never took on.

[@paultanker5606]

G'day to you Squire, I built this Kit back in the Mid 70s, I added a few things to it, painted it in RAAF colours, put Rocket Pods under the Wings, Mini Gun in the Clam Shell at rear and Twin 50cal in the side Door, didnt look to bad, used in some good War Games! Perth West Aust.

[@uingaeoc3905]

Excellent - a rival to the Hind and the Stallion then!

[@lesgl]

Wow..great job of unusual subjest

[@tonybourke8212]

Very nice build Gary great choice of scheme

[@user-gw8go1ce2p]

The old east of Suez crud and custard paint do. Just like on the old Airfix 1960s/70s 1/72 Lockheed Hercules . That kit had the Bristol Bloodhound , a Landrover and two motorcycles as the cargo. It was great at the time with the old Airfix glass bottle paints that dried up in no time . Then we discovered HUMBROL AUTHENTICS !!! Seriously done a great job there Gary .

[@garys_stuff]

Thanks mate, that Herc was my inspiration!

[@ashleyhawkins4113]

😮 a youtube build with no tamiya thin! 😂 a rare sight indeed. lovely build and uploaded just before me lunch break 😊 thanks gary, stella work

[@davidhinkson8856]

Love that desert camouflage scheme - wonder how this aircraft would have fared had it gone into production and military service.

[@BobbyG-bp9xr]

Hi Gary. What an absolute beauty! 👌 I love how you've built your own version, you wouldn't know it wasn't a choice in the kit! Maybe it should have been! Stunning build from a vintage classic, just shows what can be achieved with a bit of vision and alot of skill and patience. The extra detail, the ramp and the colour scheme elevate this kit to a new level. I hope you're proud of this one Gary, because you should be! Congratulations on another fantastic model and video and also 17K subs! Take care mate 👍 Bobby

[@garys_stuff]

Cheers Bobby, I loved it mate. Hoping to put it together with the Jeep and some figures in a kind of Middle East trials maquette...

[@BobbyG-bp9xr]

@@garys_stuff yes that will be awesome! 👌👍

[@jstorm7757]

Lovely, unconventional color scheme for this Rotodyne. Bravo!

[@iannicholls7476]

Very nice Gary. You’ve got me thinking- I was going to do mine in the kit scheme but now I don’t know. Maybe a ‘60s RAF transport scheme as used on Britannias and VC10s. I wish Airfix would re-isssue the HS 748/Andover.

[@timwingham8952]

That paint scheme really suits it. Bravo. Great work Gary.

[@nutball7537]

Well done!

[@AndrewMcColl]

Loving the idea of a What If? scheme for the Rotodyne. Really opens up the potential for colouration and dioramas. I'm tempted to go for something tropical, like an island hopper in the Pacific. Not between nations, but within specific island groups.

[@hueyJoe135]

Another excellent build Gary 👏 I have to admit I do like the Rotodyne I'm doing mine a a US Army bird.

[@garys_stuff]

Just to say the crew figures are from the Jet Provost - the kit ones are awful!

[@nickboden5866]

Excellent, I am building a vintage too, an Eastern Express Fairey Gannet Mk1. Obviously a Frog kit going back to 1956….

[@hitime2405]

You have done a fantastic job, I immediately purchased the kit thanks to your build video.

[@anthonychappell9409]

Looked like a cracking, fun build. Looks great in desert camo

[@user-us1dt8iw1f]

Great build Gary like the RAF build look like a 1960s scheme

[@gavinbooth]

It turned out well marra , very enjoyable video . Regards Gav.

[@garys_stuff]

Thanks marra!

[@jaws848]

@garys_stuff now build another 1...this time in a grey and green Royal Marine Commandos scheme?

[@marksinthehouse1968]

Mmm no BEA boo ,hehe great job mate looks superb 😊😊

[@garys_stuff]

My other Rotodyne will be BEA...

[@marksinthehouse1968]

@@garys_stuffyour forgiven 😂😂

[@wkelly3053]

Huge fun factor on this one! Very nice.🙂

[@haroldellis9721]

I have one in my stash, waiting for the right time. Thank you.

[@robjohnson2821]

Really enjoyed that mate. As always, I learn something new. Love the ramp details. Great job.

[@kjflynn3379]

Noisy or not, and I gather it was, and that sometimes flames shot out of those tip jets, surely it should have been a military no brainer. Alas, Westlands at that time wasnt flush with brains. I grew up in Yeovil; great place for a child interesting in planes and helicopters 😂

[@uingaeoc3905]

Westland was not flush with money either, they preferred their own Westminster design as a heavy lift, but that was cancelled too.

[@MCT954]

The Westminster was cancelled before the Rotodyne.

[@uingaeoc3905]

@@MCT954 Thanks for that clarification. Both were promising of course.

[@stuart-xt3jo]

fantastic job

[@FinsburyPhil]

Not only a lovely build Gary but also another 'missed opportunity' from that era. Of course the original design needed quite a bit more development, but look how long it's taken to sort out the V-22 Osprey 30 years later.

[@Claymore5]

Cracking build Gary - I have one in the stash and am contemplating a Falklands RN Junglie version... or I could just copy and do an MEAF version...

[@uingaeoc3905]

Really great idea to add the floor and tail-ramp - if there was a military version it probably would have had an Argosy style 'beaver' tail and ramp system.

[@MCT954]

The Rotodyne intended for military use did have a beaver tail, or at lead T the mock up did.

[@uingaeoc3905]

@@MCT954 I have never seen an image for that - any links?

[@VulcanDriver1]

I'm doing mine in RAF green and grey camouflage

[@garys_stuff]

Nice choice!

[@portland-182]

Are those the pilots from the kit? They have caps on in the instructions.

[@garys_stuff]

No, I got them from another box (the Jet Provost) - they just looked wrong with airline uniforms!

[@portland-182]

@@garys_stuff Cool! They look great.

[@uingaeoc3905]

Why this was cancelled and yet we bought Chinooks for £Billions?

[@bugler75]

Officially it was too noisy for it’s intended purpose of city hopping due to the rotor jets. But I think politics really came into it too.

[@dcanmore]

Several factors, despite a lot of publicity no commercial sales came forth, this was down to the rotor tip jets being too noisy for urban take off and landings. Even though work was in process to reduce the noise levels the Government got cold feet and pulled the funding. Also, Westland were poised to take over Fairey and their commitments were on license-building American helicopters and weren't interested in developing the Rotodyne.

[@bugler75]

@@dcanmore Thanks for the in-depth reply👍🏼😊

[@uingaeoc3905]

@@c123bthunderpig The Chinook is a later design than the Rotodyne. The Rotodyne never went into service anywhere - you are confusing some other helicopter used by Pan Am. There was a proposal for a larger production model but there were no orders and Fairey had no money to promote it. There was no issue of 'poor transmission design' or 'relying on rotor jets' was the whole point of the Rotodyne, and I doubt if you are actually looking at the right aircraft. The issue in the late 1950s was that there were so many UK aircraft manufacturers with special projects underway that the UK Treasury was not prepared to pay unless there were mergers into bigger groups and projects cancelled. Fairey was promoting both the Delta 2, the first 1,000 mph aircraft in 1956 WASR, it was also pushing for the Ultra Light Helicopter. The Treasury got three groups to get together, one helicopter manufacturer made out of Fairey, Bristol Helis, Saunders-Roe (itself promoting a mixed power rocket interceptor the SR53 and 177,) and Westland. The Treasury told any firm that did not join up that it would not order the designs even if the RAF-RN wanted them if they did not merge. Handley Page did not merge and so the RAF did not get the Victors or military Heralds it preferred. The new groups, Westland, BAC and Hawker Siddeley then had to prioritise which projects moved forward. Westland wanted the Westminster as a Heavy Lift Heli, dropping the Rotodyne, then decided to concentrate on licenceing Sikorsky designs. dropping the Westminster as well. In the end even the combined groups lost a generation of new types with the cancellation of P1154, HS681 and TSR2.

[@uingaeoc3905]

@@c123bthunderpig You may have miswrote saying Pan Am tried or used any version of the Rotodyne, but it did not. Also, there could not have been a Boeing-Vertol heli being used by Pan Am '20 years' before Rotodyne - go and look at the first flights and the creation of Piasecky Cooperative and the acquisition by Boeing. Let's cut through this - there was NO transmission issue with the Rotodyne - as there was no mechanical connection between the engines and the Rotor - if you think that is a 'helicopter' then you don't understand why it was even called the 'rotodyne' in the first place. The issue of development of the Fairey given publicly was tip jet noise and the actual main reason for cancellation was there simply was no investment capital private or public for it either.

[@jaws848]

These vintage pilot figures are much better sculpted than the modern pilots.....the current ones have heads that are too small,helmets that are too big and just look awful

[@garys_stuff]

Ah, should probably have said I nicked the crew from the Jet Provost set, the originals are a bit too BEA for the scheme I planned....

[@jaws848]

@garys_stuff awseme Gary...they look the part....and a fanstic build too btw..👍👍👍👍