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How to build correct HC.4 in 1:72 from Airfix kit

HC.Mk 4
845 NAS, RNAS Yeovilton, UK - King Khalid Military City, Saudi Arabia

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ZA312 B damaged 19/01/91, repairedPhoto 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4 Photo 5
Photo 6
ZA313 E  Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4 Photo 5
ZD477 A  Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4 Photo 5
Photo 6 Photo 7 Photo 8 Photo 9 Photo 10
Photo 11
ZD480 C  Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3
ZF117 D  Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4
ZG820 F  Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3

HC.Mk 4
848 NAS, RNAS Yeovilton, UK - King Khalid Military City, Saudi Arabia

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ZA298 WA later WJ 
ZA314 WD later WMPhoto 1 - WD Photo 2 - WD
Photo 3 - WM Photo 4 - WM Photo 3 - WM
ZE427 WB later WKPhoto 1 - WB
Photo 1 - WK Photo 2 - WK Photo 3 - WK
ZE428 WC later WLPhoto 1 - WC Photo 2 - WC
Photo 1 - WL Photo 2 - WL Photo 3 - WL
ZG821 WE later WNPhoto 1 - WE Photo 2 - WE Photo 3 - WE
Photo 4 - WE Photo 5 - WE
Photo 1 - WN Photo 2 - WN
ZG822 WF later WOPhoto 1 - WF Photo 1 - WF

HC.Mk 4
846 NAS, RNAS Yeovilton, UK - King Khalid Military City, Saudi Arabia

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ZA291 VN   
ZA310 VQ  Photo 1 © D. Brown Photo 2
ZE425         Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4 Photo 5
Spare Seakings ZA291 and ZE425 were flown to Gulf onboard C-5A 70-0460 from 436th MAW on 21/02/1991.
They were the only two airframes fitted with the latest RWR suite (long nose and fuselage mounted RWRs).

HC.Mk 4
"A" and "B" Flight, 846 NAS, RNAS Yeovilton, UK - RFA Fort Grange

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ZF118 VL remained in green camoPhoto 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4
ZF119 VO remained in green camoPhoto 1 Photo 2 Photo 3
Sent to Gulf 22/08/90

HC.Mk 4
"C" and "D" Flight, 846 NAS, RNAS Yeovilton, UK - RFA Argus

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ZA293 VP   
ZA296 VK  Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4 Photo 5
Photo 6 Photo 7 Photo 8 Photo 9 Photo 10
ZD476 VJ  Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4 Photo 5
Photo 6 Photo 7
ZD478 VM  Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4 Photo 5
Photo 6 Photo 7 Photo 8 Photo 9

HAS. Mk.5
"D" Flight, 826 NAS, Culdrose, UK - RFA Olna, Persian Gulf
22/08/1990-13/12/1990

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ZE422 "270"  Photo 1
XV661 "135"  Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4

HAS. Mk.5
"C" Flight, 826 NAS, Culdrose, UK
13/12/1990 to 26/01/1991 HNLMS Zuiderkruis
26/01/1991 to 16/03/1991 one each on RFA Sir Galahad and RFA Argus
16/03/1991 to 27/04/1991 RFA Fort Grange

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ZA137 "137"Thunderbird 1" on sponsons Photo 1
XZ575 "599"  Photo 1


Interestning info from Mr. N.B.:

As a young Lieutenant Royal Navy (Air Engineer Officer), I was the Engineering Sponsor (ES) for the "Sandpiper" Electro-Optics (EO) FLIR turret fitted to the Sea King HAS Mk.5 (which you refer to). I believe we also implemented a similar installation in the Sea King HC Mk.4, but in the end, I’m not sure it was used very much because the HC Mk.4 commando aircraft were too busy supporting the Royal Marines. The turret was a GEC Avionics device. I attended all the meetings on the installation. It was an Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR), so we were under huge time pressure. I remember taking the design team to visit Bristows, who (at the time) operated a commercial S-61N (stretched Sea King) for HM Coastguard with a FLIR turret on an inverted tripod mounted near the pilot’s footwell. We considered buying extra sets for our purposes, but there were technical reasons why it was unsatisfactory. So far as I can recall, the mounting designed for the Sea King HAS Mk.5 was similar in concept. The details of the Sandpiper project were highly classified. The papers might be at The National Archive (TNA), Kew, London - I did a few searches this morning but cannot find any likely files. This is probably because they are still Classified (and unavailable to the public). You might find that the files become available in the next few years (I’d suggest 2035/36) - you might even see my signature! Although the GEC Avionics FLIR turret was subsequently fitted to the Lynx HAS Mk.3 (along with a "Yellow Veil" jammer), the Sea King fit was fielded first. What was the rush about? The Lynx HAS Mk.3 (with its Sea Spray mono-pulse radar and Sea Skua missile) was combat proven during the Falklands War. The Royal Navy was very confident about this aircraft being able to find/attack/neutralise the Iraqi Navy (which is what happened). The problem was the "Rules of Engagement" demanded that crews positively identified the target before conducting a radar-controlled missile engagement. In subsequent years, the Royal Navy updated its Lynx fleet to the Lynx HMA Mk.8 configuration (fitted with the "Sea Owl" Passive Identification Device (PID)), which is very evident on the nose of the later HAS Mk.8 variant. But during the first Gulf War, the Lynx HAS Mk.3 had no such avionics. Thus, the doctrine was for a "Sandpiper" equipped Sea King to "standoff" at a safe distance, visually identify the Iraqi vessels, and then pass radar vectors to the attacking Lynx. This worked well. Some twenty-six Sea Skua missiles were fired by just four Lynx HAS Mk.3 from four different RN frigates and destroyers (although two specific crews achieved most of the attacks). The Iraqi Navy was completely removed from the action.


Royal Navy HAS.Mk.5s served aboard RFA Olna, RFA Sir Galahad, RFA Argus, RFA Fort Grange and HNLMS Zuiderkruis (Dutch) primarily in mine hunting role.
For that, they had the ASW sonar removed to save weight and space. Their standard fit was ARI.5991 MEL Sea Searcher I-band surface-search radar, GPS Trimble, AN/ALQ-157 IR jammer with frame, AN/ALQ-167(V) "Yellow Veil" D/J-band ASM ECM pod
M-130 chaff/flare launchers, GPMG with a gun mount, SAR equipment, Plain and Secure Speech Radios, Racal MIR 2 ESM "Orange Crop" RWR and EOD Explosives and Diving Equipment.
Additinal role equipment included GEC Avionics "Sandpiper" FLIR, hand held thermal imaging system and the "Demon" camera mine hunting video system.
Crew consisted of two Pilots, one Observer, one Aircrewman, one Diving Supervisor and three Divers.

Following Seakings were sent to Gulf onboard RFA Argus 28/10/90: (date of overspraying to pink camo in UK)
ZA293 (16/10/90), ZA296 (14/10/90), ZD476 (19/10/90) and ZD478 (17/10/90)

Following Seakings were sent to Gulf onboard MV Atlantic Conveyor II 21/12/90: (date of overspraying to pink camo in UK)
ZA298 (07/12/90), ZA312 (15/11/90), ZA313 (12/11/90), ZA314 (16/12/90), ZD477 (19/11/90), ZD480 (16/11/90), ZE427 (18/12/90), ZE428 (07/12/90), ZF117 (10/11/90), ZG820 (22/11/90), ZG821 (15/12/90) and ZG822 (03/12/90)

Looks like Seaking ZA310 was oversprayed on 21/10/90, but was NOT sent to Gulf.