Bell 206B Jet Ranger III Project
The Vario Bell Jet Ranger Kit No.1008 features:
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Model:
Vario Bell 206 B III Jet Ranger kit no. 1008
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Mechanics:
Vario Scale Mechanics
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Engine:
OS 61 SX H WC with Vario scale tune pipe
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Rotor
head: Vario Delta Head with 510mm flybar and heavy paddles
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Blades:
Vario 1530 mm Glass Blades
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Radio:
Futaba 8UHPS 4- 9202 servos on HELI-2 type mixing,
9402 tail servo with Futaba 153BB gyro
Scale
Features:
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Remote
controlled dual halogen landing lights
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Navigation
lights on tail feathers and tail cone
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Xenon
strobe light
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Rotating
beacon on belly
Scale paint scheme color matched with authentic decals
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Four
working doors
Scale cockpit with pilot
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Cockpit
includes: seats, functional seat belts, instrument console, control column,
pedals, fire extinguisher
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Surface
details: Grills, screens, rivets, panel lines, luggage compartment, turbine
intake spoiler, weathered exhaust stacks, Antennas, pitot tube.
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W.S.P.S
Wire strike protection system with windshield guide
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Scale
landing gear with anti slip surfaces.
Pictures

Winter shots

Built by Daniel Grandmaison
Info@variocanada.com
Building the Bell 206
Jet Ranger III
Choosing a subject
I had my mind set on building a scale Jet Ranger for
a few
years. There was no doubt the subject was to be a law enforcement
helicopter. I wanted to replicate something that would be recognized
in this part of the world. The RCMP( Royal Canadian Mounted
Police) have 206s and 206Ls but the paint scheme was not at all attractive to
modeling because of high amount of dark blue covering most of the machine. On
a cold January night I was flipping through the TV channels and stumbled on a
documentary on the Discovery Channel about the RCMP flying fleet.
Featured were all types of aircrafts of the RCMP fleet. The RCMP had
just changed
the color scheme on their cars and aircrafts. I had struck gold,
the new Bell 306 III featured the new paint scheme and met all my expectation as
a subject. I was able to record this show a few days later and this video became
the most important part of my scale documentation. I then contacted the
RCMP bureau in the Capital and I was provided with pictures and small water transfer
decals which were just the right size.
Selecting the fuselage/ mechanics
There are many manufacturers of 60 size Jet Ranger fuselages that can fit conventional mechanics. But the selection of a fuselage/mechanics
system that would allow me to finish the cockpit without having to modify the
servo arrangement was simple. Only Vario Helicopters currently supplies a
"system" where the fuselage/mechanics are designed for one
another. No modifications to the mechanics or fuselage is required to give
unsurpassed engine cooling and perfect servo layout while leaving the cockpit
fully available for scale detailing. Vario goes as far as building in forward
tilt in the main mast as with full size machines. Browsing through the extensive
Vario catalogs leaves no doubt that these machines are designed for scalers.
Vario offers 3 types of Jet Ranger scale fuselages. One designed for the
Vario Scale Mechanics, another for the Sky Fox Mechanics ( pod and boom
type) and the last for the Benzin (gas) Mechanics.
I chose to go with kit no.1008 for the Vario Scale mechanics. This is
were the mechanics are suspended from the top of the fuselage inside a
fiberglass cooling duct. This leaves the interior clear and clean for full
cockpit detailing. With the Vario Scale Mechanics one has the choice of of
servo layouts from "Heli-1,2,3,4" or in other terms "Swash
1,2,3,4". The type 1 & 2 is normally found on all heli radios were type
3&4 require CCPM (Cyclic-Collective Pitch Mixing). I chose the Swash 2
were 2 servos operate the swashplate for collective and roll control. I chose this configuration is because at the time I was building this
kit, I
did not have a radio which supported CCPM. By using this configuration the
servos are located in the cockpit ceiling. This does not interfere with
cockpit detailing and contributes positively to CG location by having the servos
forward of the mechanics.
Preparing the fuse
The first thing I did once I received the fuselage was to wash the inside and
outside with a Prime Wash followed by hot dishwasher solution. This is to
remove any mold release or residue from the fiberglassing process. I then
sanded the inside of the fuse where gluing of the formers will take place with a
coarse 180 grit paper. This was followed with a Hobbypoxy thinner wash on
the inside to get rid of silicone residue from the sand paper. Although
the Vario fuselages are of very good quality, I like to do the rough sanding and
nick repairs on the seam before cutting holes in the fuselage. This gives
me unobstructed sanding and I find this much easier.
Fuselage construction
The Vario Jet Ranger kit is very scale, and building it as per the
instructions will result in a nice sport-scale helicopter. I modified a few
things to give it still more realism.
Since I wanted to modify this kit to have opening
doors, the next thing I did was to install the cooling duct. By
installing this before any holes were cut in the fuselage, the original shape of
the fuse can be maintained. I then made up paperboard templates for the
reinforcement bulkheads which would provide structural strength to
compensate for the door cutouts. Once I had good fitting plywood formers 1/16", I proceeded to cut out the doors. This process was long but
simple. Since I was cutting out the door to have opening door, I needed to
keep the door itself. So cutting was done by hand with a combination of
no.11 blade and no.13 saw type blade. For any cutouts it is a good
practice to sand the out out area with a 360 sandpaper and draw in the cut out
line with a pencil . This makes the cut line very visible. The door frame was
made of 1/32" ply with a 1/16" lip all around. The doors were
reinforced with 1/8" plastic square tubing all
around to give them rigidity. Heating the tubing allows bending them into
shape. The doors were fitted with the no.104/5 door handle and hinge set.
The landing gear
was modified considerably to have the recessed rear strut. This require a rear
strut bearing block to be fabricated out of 1/8" plywood, and installed in the fuselage.
The struts themselves were 10mm aluminum tubing bent to shape using plywood
gigs. Full size drawing is available for anyone wishing a scale landing
gear. The step on the landing gear was made from brass channel bolted/glued in
place. As set of Bear Paws part no.12/20 were fitted to the skids.
Anti slip paint effect was achieved with flat paint and fine sand.
I chose to build up the horizontal and vertical stabs using the balsa parts
provided. The balsa part supplies with the kit has an airfoil shape to it.
Since I wanted to have functioning navigation lights, a slot was cut on
top of the stab to run the wires in. I then covered the top of the stab to hide
the wires, and sanded in the camber in the top part of the stab. The
vertical stab was made up about the same way leaving a slot for the wires.
The original piece was then laminated with a 1/4" balsa into which I sanded
in the appropriate airfoil.
I then proceeded to finish off the remaining of the fuselage work.
Cutting and fitting in the removable belly pan was strait forward. Small
blocks were made to hold in place the tail cone. The cutting of the openings for
the grilles and exhaust pipes was done using a Dremel with cutting wheel.
Vario PVC grille material no 20/16 was used through. These were glued in
place after the fuse was painted using CA. I then masqued the finish fuse
around the grilles and air brushed in the proper colors.
The tail rotor and drive system was installed using the supplied
hardware. I elected to stay with the 2mm drive system which is more than
adequate for scale type flying. Rough fitting of the cockpit completed the
fuse construction.
Painting:
The entire fuse was sanded down using 360 wet paper. Since I need to
rent body shop time; any suspected problem areas were given a brush coat of
primer which was then sanded down. This prevents me from going in the shop
for 2
primer coats. Once the epoxy base primer was done, it was sanded down wet
with 400 grit paper. The entire fuse was washed down with Prime Wash
again.
Now comes the fun part of scale building. Using photographs of
the full size machine, I laid down the major panels to be reproduced. Panel
lines and rivets lines were drawn on the primer using a flexible ruler and a
.5mm pencil. At this point the model comes alive. I used a technique describe by
Mike Ellis in his book Building
& Flying Scale Model Helicopters were a 1/64" tape is placed down
to simulate panel lines. If you don't over do it this technique yields
very impressive results. The panel line were done with a syringe and glue.
After overnight drying the model was painted with Sherwin Williams Ultra
7000™ Base Coat / Clear Coat system. First the white base was applied to
all components. The following evening, the masking for all the colors was
done and by uncovering only selected areas the different colors can applied one
after the other followed by the clear. The quick drying of the Base Coat/
Clear Coat system allowed me to applied all colors, decals and the clear in a one
day visit at the shop. The result is a high gloss durable finish that should
last the life of the model.
Set up and flying:
The DELTA rotor head was set up for beginner/scale flying
with the
links on the inner most hole of the variable rocker. Using a 510mm long
flybar with thick paddles, the control response is very soft but powerful.
Along with a set of 1530mm glass blades this set up yield hands off hover.
The head speed is set at 1250 rpm with a pitch range from -3 to +6 at hover and
+12 at full collective. With a 14 lbs. flying weight, this setup yields a
very scale flight envelope. Take-offs and landing
approaches are scale due to the low head speed and the weight. Using
the Vario tune pipe system and the sound dampening material no. 9/20 this
machine is by far the smoothest and quietest at fun flies. You can actually hear
the blade angle being changed at liftoff and during the flare. The
60¼" rotor disk proves very good during autorotation. Yes, through
the 7 gallons of fuel I experienced 3 dead sticks due to running out of
fuel. All three were uneventfully. I now use a 10 minutes timer to interrupt
my fun so I don't run out of fuel.
A long 30 degrees landing approach at dusk is one to seen and
heard..... Totally awesome!
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