42145 - Airbus H175 Rescue Helicopter

[HydroWorld Outlook]

3 hours ago, HectorMB said:

Maybe, but I rather don't think so. The number of blades doesn't add any functionality, just aesthetics. Also, it requires some extend of mechanisms and complexity, so I don't expect to see it in smaller kits, which would be a reason to expect in fewer number of blades. 

There already was a four-blade swashplate part set released in 1991.

[pleegwat]

And it actually did get reused in two other helicopters in 1995 and 1999, according to rebrickable.

[HectorMB]

Indeed, but for this new piece we have not only a different number of blades, but also the blade tilting function, which is a significant -and the main- improvement. 

I think that, as new molds are expensive, TLG will try to re use this new piece into other sets instead of making new pieces. Furthermore, the fact that we didn't get any similar piece since 1991 (or '95, which was when it was used for last time) suggests that having any kind of variation of the new rotor piece is rather unlikely. But this is obviously just a guess :).

Edited June 8, 2022 by HectorMB

[Ngoc Nguyen]

 

Its face looks funny.

[howitzer]

Overall I don't really like that much the looks. Even disregarding the proportions relative to the source material, the exterior is way too busy with a jumbled mess of parts. Funnily, I find 9396 cleaner and better shaped, even though its exterior was more open. Maybe it's the clear two-colour scheme as opposed to 42145's four main colours. I wonder if it would help the looks if the black parts in the middle were changed into red (though some parts like 5x7 frames don't exist in red, which makes it more difficult).

[SNIPE]

I assume there is no HOG dial or lever for steering, but the front wheels will at least pivot.

[andrzejl]

17 hours ago, SNIPE said:

so, 2 battery box levers, 3 gearbox levers, 4 cockpit levers, 2 sliding doors and 400 parts more than 42113, whats not to like :)

The price? 42113 RRP was 140€, 42145 will be 210€.

[Ngoc Nguyen]

Apparently there are two switches on one side and one switch on the other side. According to the stickers, one switch will control the winch function, but there are two winches in the model. Does that mean both of them are connected to the one switch, or is there another switch somewhere that I missed?

[gyenesvi]

20 minutes ago, Ngoc Nguyen said:

Apparently there are two switches on one side and one switch on the other side. According to the stickers, one switch will control the winch function, but there are two winches in the model. Does that mean both of them are connected to the one switch, or is there another switch somewhere that I missed?

Do we know for sure how many motors it has? 1 or 2? The dumb battery box could control two, and one of them could be used for the rotors, the other for the rest of the functions through a gearbox. Is that how it was in the Osprey as well?

I'm not so much into the looks, but I like the mechanisms, seems interesting.

Edited June 9, 2022 by gyenesvi

[Ngoc Nguyen]

Just now, gyenesvi said:

Do we know for sure how many motors it has? 1 or 2? The dumb battery box could control two, and one of them could be used for the rotors, the other for the rest of the functions through a gearbox. Is that how it was in the Osprey as well?

No, the Osprey only has one motor, and so does this set.

[gyenesvi]

12 minutes ago, Ngoc Nguyen said:

No, the Osprey only has one motor, and so does this set.

Oh, okay, so you either spin the rotors or use the winch. Maybe it's safer for the hands :)

[Cumulonimbus]

Well, that is an nice surprise. I really did not expect they would design at least three new parts (starfish piece, swash plate and new ball joint) for a new helicopter. I guess the Airbus license and cooperation has paid of here. From a MOC-er point of view, it a pity that the five blade geometry does not allow many other helicopter designs, but lets be grateful for the new possibilities. At first I thought the set also had tail rotor pitch control, but now the better quality images are here, it seems that the extra parts are needed to set the axle of the the tail rotor at the correct angle specific for this helicopter.

Really curious to see the mixing mechanism in this set which combines the inputs of the two controls into one rotor setting, as can be seen in this overview of a real control system :

I'm also curious how far the realism is taken in this set. If I understood correctly, in real helicopters the input has a phase shift of a 90 degrees due to the gyroscopic precession, In other words, in order to go forwards the swash plate should tilt sideways. Would TLG go so far to implement this as well?

[Jockos]

I spotted a minifig seat as an exhaust at the Airbus sticker  I wonder who will utilise that in their alternative models

[Frequenzberater]

Do I understand right, that there will be no realistic cyclic+collective control compared to real helicopters? 

Because swiveling the whole rotor is not what the real machines do, if I understand right. 

[Cumulonimbus]

32 minutes ago, Frequenzberater said:

Do I understand right, that there will be no realistic cyclic+collective control compared to real helicopters?

No, this set actually represents a a real helicopter mechanism quite good. The vertical axle remains vertical and the plane of the rotor head remains horizontal (in relation to the helicopter body) at all times. Only the angle of the rotor blades (this is called the pitch) changes depending on a combination of the collective and cyclic control input.

A real helicopter rotorhead is an incredibly complex mechanical system, since it must automatically compensate for all sorts of undesired physical effects by pitching, lagging, flapping, etc. It is inevitably that a modeled version simplifies the mechanisms, so my question was in what degree this set has tuned down the realism.

Edited June 9, 2022 by Cumulonimbus

[Frequenzberater]

1 hour ago, Cumulonimbus said:

The vertical axle remains vertical and the plane of the rotor head remains horizontal (in relation to the helicopter body) at all times. 

Sure? My Interpretation of the picture below is, that the whole rotor is swiveling (like in the old 8856 set) while there is an additional pitch function. Or is there something I dont understand? 

Edited June 9, 2022 by Frequenzberater

[aeh5040]

16 minutes ago, Frequenzberater said:

Sure? My Interpretation of the picture below is, that the whole rotor is swiveling (like in the old 8856 set) while there is an additional pitch function. Or is there something I dont understand? 

It's very hard to be certain. The arrow does indeed suggest "fake cyclic" where the whole head tilts. On the other hand, the ring at the bottom appears to be tilted quite a long way, while the rotor is (perhaps) not.

[Cumulonimbus]

10 minutes ago, Frequenzberater said:

Sure? My Interpretation of the picture below is, that the whole rotor is swiveling (like in the old 8856 set). Or is there something I dont understand?

Nothing is sure until the model is reviewed by someone, this is all speculation based on the available images. I know the arrow on top is confusing, maybe it is meant as an indication of the rotation of the whole rotor. Anyway, you can see that the swash plate in that image (the LBG part just above white body) is clearly tilted and the axis of rotation (the vertical beam) is still at a right angle with the body. Even the red cover still sits in line with this beam. Only the rotor blades are pitched, as it should. 

[Magical Duck]

It looks like the cockpit doors are not attached to the roof so they may be openable... +1 for lever accessibility I guess? I wonder if the middle lever will be hard to reach.

[Ngoc Nguyen]

25 minutes ago, Magical Duck said:

It looks like the cockpit doors are not attached to the roof so they may be openable... +1 for lever accessibility I guess? I wonder if the middle lever will be hard to reach.

They are openable, just like those in the real helicopter.

[nerdsforprez]

Do we know when the reviews will be out? 

[aeh5040]

20 hours ago, howitzer said:

Perhaps at some point, but not likely anytime soon. TLG doesn't like to repeat sets of the same theme and scale (Edit: unless it's a car) very close to each other, so probably the next helicopter will be much smaller scale, which wouldn't allow swashplate functions.

 

 

20 hours ago, allanp said:

I wonder if there will be 3 and/or 4 blade swash plate elements in future?!

My guess is we'll be seeing quite a few 5-bladed helicopters for a while!

[Seasider]

I’m a big fan of 9396 but this just isn’t doing anything for me. The overall colour scheme and external parts look messy (although I do like the minifigure seat and the barrel being used for the engines). Also the proportions just seem weird, I haven’t looked at the real thing but the rotor head (as I’d call it) just looks massive in comparison to the rest. 

[nerdsforprez]

lol... the folks at TLG must be reading this thinking that we AFOLs are a funny bunch.  We criticize the UCS cars for being "shelf-queens"  - i.e. being all about the looks and having no functions.  But then we get a set like this that may very well be functionally at least competent but poor in terms of looks and we gripe and gripe.   I am not singling anyone out.... I share the same opinion     but i am sure they look at us thinking we are quite finicky.... 

[Ngoc Nguyen]

6 minutes ago, nerdsforprez said:

lol... the folks at TLG must be reading this thinking that we AFOLs are a funny bunch.  We criticize the UCS cars for being "shelf-queens"  - i.e. being all about the looks and having no functions.  But then we get a set like this that may very well be functionally at least competent but poor in terms of looks and we gripe and gripe.   I am not singling anyone out.... I share the same opinion     but i am sure they look at us thinking we are quite finicky.... 

I would have no problem with it if the Airbus H175 license is removed and everything else stays the same. If it's a licensed model then being compared with the original machine is inevitable, and a certain degree of similarity is expected.