I first started with a 1/48th scale model, and a book
I got at the model shop that was all about the
blackhawk helo and all it's varients. The book had
some great line drawings in it. I took the line
drawings to work, (I'm a security guard at an oil
refinery), and used the photocopier to make them
bigger. Like the side view was one whole sheet of
paper laid sideways. Once I got the drawings the
right size...I copied them onto transparency
plastic...like a teacher would use in a lecture on the
overhead projecter. My wife works at our local high
school...so I went to the library and used an overhead
projector and some big white paper. I put the
projection of the helo's different views on the wall,
where I had hung the paper. I moved the overhead
projector across the room until the image on my paper
was exactly 8 feet, 6 inches long from the nose of the
helo to the tip of the tail...
NOTE: THE LENGTH I JUST GAVE DOES NOT INCLUDE THE
ROTORS !!! Those come later : ) Just use a big marker
to trace the image on the big paper.

Once I had the huge line drawings hung on my wall in
the garage, I began the building process.

I measured the big line drawings for my actual
measurments, since the line drawings are now scale 1/1
scale.
I started with a skelaton made out of 1/2 inch PVC
pipe. I made a PCV "box" around the cargo area and
used "T" adapters to bring the tail off the back side
of the "box". The end of the tail boom, where the
tail rotor attaches, was made out of 2 inch thick foam
insulation board. I just cut it with a hachsaw blade,
and formed it with 100grit sandpaper. I cut pieces of
foam to use as vertabre alonge the tail. I basically
cut ovals that matched the sshape of the tail at its
different thicknesses doun the tail from the fat part
of the fuselage to the tail about every 6 inches. I
used cardboard and masking tape to form the shape of
the fuselage from the start of the tail up to where
the cockpit would be. Once I had the fusalage part
formed I tied the tail into the fuselage with foam and
masking tape. This whole process of forming the shape
of the helicopter is just trial and error. This is
where the 1/48th scale model and the book come in
handy. Some of it is just guess work, what looks
good. Remember that you have to leave openings in the
fuselage for the crew doors. Or you can cut the
openings for the crew doors later, but that might
leave more finish work at the end. Use cardboard to
fill in the floor of the helo. This is inside the crew
area...and up the sides and top, inside. The nose of
the aircraft and the cockpit area are formed with the
foam. I basically glued several pieces together into
a square block of foam. I used the hacksaw to get the
basic form and then finished the forming with the 100
grit sandpaper on my pad sander. Make the openings
for the bubble windows in the nose. The whole thing
gets held together with masking tape...I went through
5 rolls, 2, 4 inch wide rolls and 3, 2 inch wide
rolls. Once I had the basic form of the whole helo, I
gave it a skin of masking tape. Use the tape to span
openings like between the vertabre in the tail, and
use it to help you form rounded corners and just work
with it until you are happy with it. Make sure you
cover all exposed foam !!! The polyethster resin that
is used later will eat the foam and you will have a
big pile of goo. Once you have the whole thing coverd
in tape you can start the fiberglasing process. Make
sure you have a nice clean work area before you start.
The warmer it is when fiberglas sets the better. And
make sure you have good ventalation. You will get
rather itchy if you don't have proper clothing, ie, no
shorts ! A pair of coveralls works great, and I
suggest getting a box of latex gloves, like nurses
wear.
You will use about 15 - 20 feet of 4 foot wide 1/8th
inch fiberglas mat and about 2 gallons of resin and
enough hardener to do the job. ( Talk to the folks at
a local fiberglas shop and let them know what you are
working on. the can set you up.) Cover big areas of
the helo with big pieces og fiberglas. and the tight
places and corners and such use smaller pieces. It's
messy !!! Once you have the whole thing covered with
the fiberglas, and it's dry...you can give it a full
sanding. Use 60 - 80 grit paper...that will be a
little faster. I suggest taking it outside or you
will have white dust on everything in your work area.
A "block sander" comes in handy for shaving off ecess
fiberglas. WARNING !!! when fiberglas dries, it is
GLASS, the little pieces that stick out will poke you
and you will get slivers and scratches...trust me !
OUCH !! A pair of leather gloves helps.
Once you have it sanded down a little you can see the
pattern of the fiberglas mat won't go away. Use Bondo
Body Filler to fill in holes abd dips. Use it like a
contour puddy. Don't spread it over the whole thing.
Once you get the spots Bondo'ed give it another
sanding. Once you get the Bondo sanded, you need to
apply about 2-4 coats of just the resin. I sugest
sanding in between coats...the resin fills better this
way. It won't keep building up on the high spots.
You use it to fill the low spots and hide the pattern
of the mat. Once you have the resin process done, you
could basically run the thing into a tree and have it
survive...It's starting to become a toy, right before
your eyes. The doors, both for the cockpit and the
crew area are just pieces of thick cardboard that I
added fiberglas over. I used tape to get the
cardboard to hold the "cupped" shape of the crew
doors. I cut the windows out after I fiberglased
them. The cockpit doors are just hooked on with a 2
inch hinge...find something small and kind of "low
profile" if you know what I mean ? You don't want it
to stand out. Add the extras as you go now. The
landing gear is just made out of 3/4 inch PVC pipe and
wheels from an R/C plane...I think the wheels are like
5 inch giant scale R/C wheels. If you are going to
put lights in it now is a good time...Now that I think
about it...I never use the lights in my pictures...so
If I did it over again, I don't think I'd light mine.
It's not all that hard if you have a lighting kit for
an R/C plane though.

You will notice that the whole thing is not all that
heavy...

The rotor was made out of an ABS plastic coupler and
an ABS plastic toilet flange. I cut a hole into the
top of the helo and placed the coupler into the
hole...I glued it in with Liquid Nails...that's
basically what I used on the whole project. Anyway,
when you go to buy the coupler and flange make sure
the coupler fits INSIDE the flange. The flange is
going to become your main rotor hub. The flange will
fit over the coupler and be able to rotate. You don't
even have to attach it...the weight of the rotors will
keep it in place. I used 1/4 inch plywood for the
rotors..They are 4 inches wide and each one of the 4
rotors is 4 feet long. There are holes in the flange
for a good sized bolt, so I just bolted the rotors to
the flange and painted the whole show flat black. I
covered the top of the rotor hub "flange" with a lid
off of some container that some bulk licorice came in.

You can paint the bird what ever colors you wish.

Basically from this point you can add anything you
want.

I hope this helped out more than the other directions.
If you have any specific questions about parts of the
project, or anything...let me know...I don't have the
plans or the measurements anymore, but I can sure
re-do the measurements for you. If you can just get
those plans blown up to 8 feet, 6 inches long you have
it made...

Well, if you decide to undertake this project or
something similar....GOOD LUCK !!!! HAVE FUN !!!!
and step back and look at it from someone elses
perspective. When you work on something for hours on
end you end up seeing nothing but the mistakes and
problems...just keep reminding yourself that there are
only 2-3 people in the US who have a big ole' toy like
this to play with.

Feel free to e-mail me with any questions you have.


DEVIL 505

I didn't take the time to spell check the whole
thing...sorry for any mis-spellings. : )