REVELL 1:32 HUEY UH-1D BUILD

Vietnam-era IPs were grey with individual black instruments.  The all black IP is part of the blacked-out NVG-compatible cockpit that was not used until the early '80s.

Cabin finished..... Just need to weather it..... ( getting a bit nervous about that.... I don't want to mess up the whole thing....) Before pics.... I'll post after pics over the next few days....

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Looking good so far.  The seat color looks great, as do the seat belts. 

One issue though.  I have never seen two-place rear facing seats.  The most common setup was no rear-facing seat at all.

The next most common was two single seats facing either rear or out, and sometimes forward, like below.  The ones you have are way too wide.

Lastly was a full bench seat with headrests facing rear, like below.

Yeah I thought I was clutching at straws on that one.... I used the cmk kit and it being 1:35 the rear facing bench fitted better than  the forward facing... Then the original forward facing just didn't look right as a one piece bench ( not wide enough looked wrong) so I just decided to split it... Do you think I should just remove them... ??

Do you think I should just remove them... ??

I would either do that, or cut them down to be the single seats.

The middle seat should have the curved support bar under it as well.  There are six of them, equally spaced across it.

Just before I do here is my attempt at weathering..... Lol I cheated with the cockpit forward instruments..... They are printed... Lol

As usual, you are right on, HeavyArty.  Just to add:

The two single seats in row one were facing rear in medivac or when the crewchief/gunner was in the gunner’s position.  This allowed for easy entry/exit for pacs when the CE was not right there to help.  Plus pilots did not like non crews to face forward over their shoulders.

The rear facing in row 1 (four seater) is an option in current Huey II.  The pictured shoulder straps and padded polls almost looks like a Bell 412.

I’ll also agree GREAT JOB!!   BEDLAM

Is that better....

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Thanks Huey.... And again thanks HeavyArty

The seat situation looks better.  A litte too heavily weathered for my taste, but to each their own.

The rear-facing bench seat w/headrests has been an option on the UH-1D/H since the begining.  Below is a UH-1D from '64 with original red seat fabric with the rear-facing bench.  They were quickly removed to give more space in the cabin.  The original Revell UH-1D slick boxing from '67 included this rear seat as well.

Ok guys.... I have just laid down the primer on the fuselage.. almost ready to join the halves together..... where is it best to highlight/shading ( in flat black) joins etc... before I lay down the OD(.an image guide would be most appreciated).. not looking forward to this masking either.... lol .....

Hello!

I say no use of putting the primer on before you've got the seams all filled and sanded smooth.

As for the pre-shading - our dear Gino here doesn't care for it any... I like to have my panel lines a little darker, to show places where dirt would accumulate, in the recesses and around the rivets (which are mostly flush, anyhow), and where the paint would start cracking first - while the centers of the panels, nice flat surfaces would be easiest to scrub and would get the most sunlight - so some fading.

Please remember that some dirt from the exhaust would probably be visible on top of the tail boom and on it's sides - it's the combination of speed and rotor downwash that put the most of it there.

I hope it helps you, good luck with your build and have a nice day

Paweł

Hi Pawel..... yep all seams sanded... about to fit together... fitting together this week then fill seams then sand and primer on seams... as for shading I'll let Gino have his two cents worth then decide... yep will be doing a wash on the exhaust.. and leading edges.... thank you for your input as every bit of advice helps...... btw only done outside as I was priming interior for a coat of Lt ghost grey to finish interior ...... onwards and  upwards...

Interior looks great!

As Pawel said, I don't believe in any pre-shading, panel outlining, etc.  A real helicopter just doesn't have any of those artistic finishes, so why add them?  I don't prime either, especially before joining the fuselage halves.  That only means you have to scrape or sand the paint or primer from areas where they will be glued together.  For weathering, I do it all after the color coat.  Usually I add an overall wash of a dusty color, maybe pick out some chips and dings arount heavy use areas, and some darker grey/black washes around intakes and exhausts.  That works for me.

Thanks Midnight....

HeavyArty

As Pawel said, I don't believe in any pre-shading, panel outlining, etc.  A real helicopter just doesn't have any of those artistic finishes, so why add them?  I don't prime either, especially before joining the fuselage halves.  That only means you have to scrape or sand the paint or primer from areas where they will be glued together.  For weathering, I do it all after the color coat.  Usually I add an overall wash of a dusty color, maybe pick out some chips and dings arount heavy use areas, and some darker grey/black washes around intakes and exhausts.  That works for me.

 

Thanks Gino

Yeah another learning curve right there... ( first aircraft ..usually do cars where spraying primer is ok before joining together) yep weathering is going to be done as one of the last things...I'll skip the panel mark up on your advice.....  thanks

BTW on a side note..... I managed to get some more info out of the father in-law. He said a couple of the birds in his unit (117th  Annie Fannies) used to fly stripped......  no sliding doors, no half doors behind the pilots ,(sometimes no cockpit doors) no rear facing seats and his bird had no rear cabin seats at all except the gunner seats... they even sometimes removed the blast shields on the pilot seats to run light on some missions

But as I did all that work on the cabin.... he's getting seats lol

Ok masking done..... ready for main colour...... going to lay that down mid week....

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Is it me or does that testors acrylic OD seem too light..... is it supposed to be that light.... is there anything I can do to rectify it ( extra coats/ a touch of flat black).....

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It looks right to me for Vietnam OD Green.

BEDLAM

...btw the door guns are gunmetal.. is that correct?...

Yup, gunmetal w/flat black resin handgrips.

GlennH

Really looking great. I was never in one that had seats for passengers so it was interesting to see how they would have been. Great work.

 

Thanks Glenn.... I really appreciate all the feedback you guys are giving me....

Yep like I said in a previous post my father in-law ran light without any seats apart from gunners and pilots on missions too... but I never found that out from him until I had built the whole cabin...( full details and all) but I spent too much time on the details he'll have to put up with seats.... lol...

Decals have just gone on.... just finishing the rotors ( paint and decals) weathering done... I have gone for the used and abused look like the interior.. I'll be finishing off the rotors tonight and gluing them in place ( as this is going to be a diorama in an acrylic display case I'm putting them in a fixed position... )  then onto the Flatt coat tomorrow afternoon.... then late tomorrow or Sunday I will remove the Masking ( very carefully) to see if my masking skills are up to scratch... ( fingers crossed)

Any tips on getting paint residue off of the windows just in case...

Just a couple of shots before the clear flat coat goes on in about 10 mins.....

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Memorial weekend up date......first of all thank to all you guys that have served....( and have given me advice over the past weeks )

Ok guys finished bird ( apart from door guns.... I had an issue with the handle resin on the Cobra m23 set... bits broken.. but Cobra is replacing them this week for free)

I hope you like it.... I had an issue with over spray in the interior of windows ( masking wasn't totally A1 but I can live with it.... ) apart from that I'm very pleased with the overall outcome.... I just need to construct the diorama base and paint 5 figures... images of that will come later ( but before August .... FiL birthday)

Overall very happy with the kit... fit was good, minimal flashing ...parts used Revell 1:32 Huey, Cmk seats from cargo area kit(1:35 fits with customisation), Cobra m23, all detailing scratch built....