World On Fire: The S-64E Skycrane Firefighter

[Out2gtcha]

Good on ya Tom!

 

Ive got the original release, as well as my current non-military civilian heavy lift S-64 and about every bit of AM you can buy.....

 

Ill be watching closely, can't wait for more!

[Kagemusha]

I came across this stunning photo in an article on the fires in Turkey.

 

[Martinnfb]

weeeee

 

 

following with interest

[Uncarina]

6 hours ago, Oldbaldguy said:

I have one of these staring at me from under the bench.  Now that you have more building experience than most with this kit, maybe you can tell me what the Reskit AM adds to the model.  Is the cockpit open enough that the extra detail will make a visible difference?  If it does, is the difference worth the price once the model is finished vs relying on some judicious scratch building?  Speaking subjectively, of course.  There is so much going on outside the airframe (where it is very visible) that could stand some love and attention that I'm having a hard time warming up to the idea of going to the trouble and expense of building a cosmic cockpit that is pretty much fully enclosed.  Lastly, why the purple seat covers?  

Due to the size and number of clear parts, added detail will be visible. Not necessarily all the rivets, but I would recommend scratchbuilding the more obvious items like the deck cutout. From a cost/benefit analysis using the Reskit set probably doesn't make sense with a limited budget, plus you might have fit issues using the entire set even without warped pieces. 

 

As for the seat covers:

 

 

 

But to your point I went back saw my seats have a little too much Tamiya lilac and not enough sky grey, so I've repainted them which you'll see after today's post.

 

Cheers,  Tom

[Uncarina]

1 hour ago, Out2gtcha said:

Good on ya Tom!

 

Ive got the original release, as well as my current non-military civilian heavy lift S-64 and about every bit of AM you can buy.....

 

Ill be watching closely, can't wait for more!

Brian, I know you've shared my enthusiasm for this subject ever since we saw it first announced by ICM years ago--just hope I can do it justice! Thanks for following along.

 

Cheers,  Tom

[Uncarina]

1 hour ago, Kagemusha said:

I came across this stunning photo in an article on the fires in Turkey.

 

Thank you! This is gold.

 

Cheers,  Tom

[Uncarina]

16 minutes ago, Martinnfb said:

weeeee

 

 

following with interest

Thanks Martin!

 

Cheers,  Tom

[Uncarina]

For my next update I've finished adding the rivets to the cockpit as well as the detail on the bulkhead behind the crew seat:

 

 

I then added the wiring harness behind the instrument panel and started closing up the cockpit:

 

 

 

Here you can see I added the lightening holes along the forward fuselage panel that were missing from the kit as well as the fire extinguisher from the Reskit set. I also added wiring at the cockpit rear:

 

 

After this I'll be finishing up by adding detail to the bulkhead at the rear of the cockpit then closing it up. Note: since I took these photos I've adjusted the seat color to add more grey. Until next time!

 

Cheers,  Tom

 

[Grissom]

Hi Tom,

 

Like you and many other members of this forum I live in a place where Eriksson Aircranes grace our skies in the warmer months and are used to fight bushfires.   I bought this kit (minus the water tank) when it first came out.   I'm really glad that ICM have decided to sell the water tank as an individual kit and I'm also really glad that someone is now building an S-64E fire-bomber on this forum.   I've got my pop corn, a comfy chair and I'll be closely following your progress.   Wishing you all the best with your build.    

 

Cheers,

 

Wayne

[Uncarina]

2 hours ago, Grissom said:

Hi Tom,

 

Like you and many other members of this forum I live in a place where Eriksson Aircranes grace our skies in the warmer months and are used to fight bushfires.   I bought this kit (minus the water tank) when it first came out.   I'm really glad that ICM have decided to sell the water tank as an individual kit and I'm also really glad that someone is now building an S-64E fire-bomber on this forum.   I've got my pop corn, a comfy chair and I'll be closely following your progress.   Wishing you all the best with your build.    

 

Cheers,

 

Wayne

Thanks Wayne! I appreciate having you on board, and hope you enjoy this kit as much as I have.

 

Cheers, Tom

[AngryJazz_Models]

Cockpit is looking really amazing! Also the subject is very interesting - very much looking forward to this one 😊

[Uncarina]

4 hours ago, AngryJazz_Models said:

Cockpit is looking really amazing! Also the subject is very interesting - very much looking forward to this one 😊

Thank you! I appreciate it. I’m finding the scratchbuilding so much more satisfying in combination with some added detail from Reskit. Today I hope to get the rear bulkhead/fuselage section installed then it’s on to the rest of the airframe.

 

Cheers,  Tom

[Uncarina]

Sadly I have to report that today two brave crew perished when their Skycrane crashed fighting the Widemouth 2 fire in Utah. This build is dedicated to them and all those who fly in harms way fighting these fires that are taking such a tremendous toll.

 

Sincerely,  Tom

[Hubert Boillot]

On 8/6/2026 at 11:23 PM, Kagemusha said:

I came across this stunning photo in an article on the fires in Turkey.

 

Striking picture, indeed. So striking in fact that it looks like an AI creation … Or these pilots are so tired they have forgotten all their training about flight separation …

Still, a memory-worthy illustration of the difficult work these firefighting involves …

 

Hubert

[Kagemusha]

1 hour ago, Hubert Boillot said:

Striking picture, indeed. So striking in fact that it looks like an AI creation … Or these pilots are so tired they have forgotten all their training about flight separation …

Still, a memory-worthy illustration of the difficult work these firefighting involves …

 

Hubert

 

I think they're quite far apart, no doubt been taken from the shore with a long telephoto lens, apparently a S-64 crashed in Utah yesterday while fighting fires with the loss of both crew members, and there was a collision between two Bell helicopters in Greece last week, the crew of one survived, the other didn't. RIP.