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Its time for me to take a break from armor builds and build something with rotors. I had so much fun building UH-1H for a friend's 50th birthday last year so I am afraid I am hooked...
My next victim...
Was disappointed to find this not as good as most Dragon kits. Didn't realize it was made in 1995...
PE belts and foot petals are from Eduardo...
Primed with Vallejo black primer...
Painted...
Kit miniguns were terrible... shame on you Dragon folks!
Brass miniguns from RB to resuce... but they were not that easy either. After many hours they are finally assembled...
I had to use stryene to reinforce the brass round pieces to hold the barrels better. They were way too thin and fragile... I would be keen about buying miniguns from RB again.
Ammo belts were damaged when I had it painted. So I went ahead and ordered an aftermarket set from Cobra Company that comes with four long ammo belts made of rubber. And a set of decals... believe it or not Dragon didn't include decals for this. All pictures of actual Little Birds I have seen had marks...
Hope you will enjoy this...
Andy
Hello Andy!
That's a machine I like very much. Judging by the start you made, the model's gonna be really good! Good luck with your project and have a nice day
Paweł
All comments and critique welcomed. Thanks for your honest opinions!
www.vietnam.net.pl
Looking good so far. Keep up the great work.
Gino P. Quintiliani - Field Artillery - The KING of BATTLE!!!
Check out my Gallery: https://app.photobucket.com/u/HeavyArty
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell
Thanks Gino and Pawel! Was trying to build it out of box without aftermarket but it is not happening... 8-)
Hope the stuff from Cobra Company arrives soon since I am almost done with the interior. Dark washes applied to the pit last night... will post an update soon.
Have a great day too!
Update on the Little Bird...
Cockpit dark washed and covered with dust. Planning to add more dirt to the floor later...
Halves of fuselage have been glued together... fitting was just horrible so it required plenty of putty and sanding.
I am sure I will need to add more putty after it is primed.
Canopy has been dipped with Future to cover some scratches. It already was off the sprue when I opened the kit unfortunately.
Skids and weapons attached... now it is armed and dangerous!
I have two weeks and half to finish this in time for the model show. LOL Thanks for looking...
Looking great! Just curious, but what are the dimensions in millimeters of the armament mounting "plank". I have the Academy 1/48 MH-6/MD-500 kit and am lacking that information. That kit only comes with TOW pods like the standard MD-500 Defender, not the MH-6 kit it purports to be. I can convert from 1/35 to1/48 with the scale ruler that I have, but if you can provide me the 1/35 dimensions I can scratch build that part for mine. I have scrounged up miniguns and rocket pods from other kits.
F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!
U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!
N is for NO SURVIVORS...
- Plankton
LSM
Thanks Stik!
Sure, I can help you but I don't have one of those fancy measuring thing. I only have a standard ruler... I can measure it in CM if it helps?
Stik- Here's pictures... I figured it was best to take pictures with a ruler placed next to it.
3.5 CM from edge of the door to the tip of wing excluding the missile launcher.
Little less than 1.5 CM width.. Hope this helps... good luck!
Thank you sir, the photos help a LOT! As long as its measured in metric, it makes the math conversion a lot simpler. Could I get a thickness dimension also please?
Absolutely! Will take another picture tonight... glad it is helping.
It helps immensely! Many thanks my friend!
Good looking bird!
Shepherd Book once said to me, "If you can't do something smart, do something right."
stikpusher Thank you sir, the photos help a LOT! As long as its measured in metric, it makes the math conversion a lot simpler. Could I get a thickness dimension also please?
Sorry it took me a while to do this. Here's the thickness pic you requested...
Hope this helps...
Centerdeck2 Good looking bird!
Sorry I missed your post earlier... thanks! Appreciate it...
Here's update on the Little Bird... man, this kit has a lot of fitting issues especially the bubble canopy but its almost done.
Added couple of wirings to the miniguns...
Then it was painted with Vallejo Black Gray with few drops of black. Then it was highlighted with thinned Dark Grey for the fading parts...
Fitting issue between the bubbe canopy and fuselage was nasty... after coats of putty and Mr Surfacer it looks OK now...
Thanks for looking!
Andy, I knew it's going to be a hot looking chopper! Say, what kind of launcher is that - it's unusually long for that type. Keep up your great work and have a nice day
Thanks Pawel! I agree... thought those launchers looked long. Relying on the only good source pictures at this site it looked pretty good.
http://s362974870.onlinehome.us/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=185268
Notice the launchers were dark gray not black?
They started life black, but the black used by the 160th quickly fades to a dark gray color. The rocket launcher is a 7 shot 70mm M260 pod.
Ray
Thanks Ray! Is that you the same guy who posted great pictures of the Little Bird?!?!?!? I have been using it to build mine and paint it too. You have been a great help!
That would be me, but I'm only a pixel pusher. As you probably read they were given to me by James Green. I'm glad they are proving helpful. You might also find THIS thread interesting. Most of the photos there were taken by Graham Stevens who was a plank member of the 160th. They are earlier Little Birds but still very cool. Graham coined the name NIght Stalkers for the group.
Awesome! Thanks again! It was great looking at more pictures you posted. Noticed right away earlier version only had four blades while current has five. And I dig the hanging antennas under the tail.
It is great to have somebody to help us builders with pictures to preserve history.
"Noticed right away earlier version only had four blades while current has five."
Actually, the current version, The AH/MH-6M, has a six blade main rotor and a 4 blade tail rotor.
The 5 blade version was the AH/MH-6J.
The 4 blade version was the original AH/MH-6C. It had the original Y tail of the OH-6C as well.
Thanks Gino! Jeez, noticed the current version has bigger missile launching pods. LOL So it started with 4, then 5 and now 6 blades. What will be next? So much to learn here... but hell I enjoy building helicopters cause it is a great break from usual armor builds.
I hope to build Little Bird with planks as shown in Blackhawk Down movie one day. I recall Cobra Company sells upgrade set but only with one plank instead of two, correct?
The Cobra Company MH-6J MELB (Mission Enhanced LittleBird) set comes with two planks, one for each side. It is a great set. I used it for mine a few years ago.
Great that it comes with two sets!!! I thought I saw only one in the photo at Cobra Company. I will definitely order it if I can ever find another Little Bird set out there.
Thank you so much! Great work on yours!!!
Sorry for not posting final pictures of the Little Bird sooner... was fighting the deadline but managed to finish it the night before the model show. I was surprised how fragile the Little Bird kit was... parts broke repeatedly everywhere so lesson was learned next time I will add reinforcing rods if I build another Little Bird but with special planks.
Base was built from scratch. Here's the pictures...
It did very well at the show... brought home a gong.
Thanks for looking and your support... it was a nice break from building armors.
She came out looking great. Excellent job. Congrads on the awards as well.
Thanks Gino! Couldn't have done without your help... my next rotary build will probably be a Vietnam Era 1:48 Chinook next winter.
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