Bell UH-1 “Huey” Helicopter Custom Build

Built this earlier this year, after the demise of the GBC but before the start of this forum. The Ghosts set provided a great start, but there were quite a few challenges that had to be overcome for this build, including using skids instead of wheels, a tail with an upward instead of a downward slant, and a completely different rotor configuration. The biggest hurdle, however, was creating the doors with double windows, in the correct proportions, that were thin enough to work in both the closed and the opened position. Spent the most time on this build getting the doors right, but in the end, I think it was time well spent.

I kept the roof as a removable option, building the engine housing so it could be split in half. I also tried to recreate the jump seats as best I could using a combination of grid plates, ribbed plates, pipes and connectors. Had to make a number of compromises to keep as much functionality as possible in this build…most notably the studs for securely attaching the doors in the closed position.

I also prefer to stay away from modifying any bloks when making a custom build, but some cutting to the rotors was unavoidable in order to get the right look. I took the angled tips off the main rotor blades, and reduced the number of blades on the rear rotor from 4 to 2. For the most part, however, I was pleased with how it turned out. After a lot of false starts, the doors ended up looking pretty close to their real-world counterparts, both in the closed and open positions, and I liked the number of small details that made it into the final build.