Vietnam era helo colors

Hi Andy, I just use Tamiya paints on my helos. The spray paint gives a nice flat finish. BTW, what kit are you building.

David

Thanks David,

I will pick up a can of Tamiya OD and give it a try, Ive got 2 on the go here, a 1/32 revell UH-1H huey and an Academy UH-1C Heavy Hog, The cobra i mentioned is the 1/32 Revell version.

Andy

Hi Andy,

You could use a combination of them all rather than have the A/C all the same colour. Bits get worn more than others, some parts are replaced due to wear or battle damage. I have the Fireball Huey decal set which depicts one ship from the 174th AHC in OD but with the tailboom and lower surfaces in a darker and glossier OD. I guess doors get replaced and might be in a brand new straight out of the factory condition or have been pulled from a wreck in which case they'd be dirty and scratched with maybe the metal showing through etc. If the tailboom has had to be replaced then it would be a different colour with some of the United States Army writing missing. The more dirty and beat up a Huey is the better it looks.

What's that light Olive green like? I've never used that before, might have to get a tin. I generally use Humbrol OD. Tamiya is no good for brush painting as I found out to my cost. I had to use about 4 coats to cover the thing, by which time it came out very dark....you live and learn.

Regards,  Rich

Hi Rich.

I agree, the new and shiny hueys dont look right. Humbrol light olive is the closest thing i have found so far to the worn olive drab in most of the pictures iv seen, there seems to be a few shades of olive drab in huey pictures, the dark new, the worn light green and the very worn sun bleached olive drab greenish brown.

I use the humbrol light olive for the worn light green and humbrol olive drab for the bleached look.

It could drive you mad trying to get the right colour, i have a picture somewhere of a cobra that looks light brown, alot of it could be down to lighting when the photos were taken but i would deffo add a tin of light olive to your paint collection.

Never used the tamiya paints but im gona try the OD spray and see what shade that is. My humbrol OD is like water, might pick up another tin to see if its any better.

What are the fireball decals like? i was thinking of getting some for the air cav markings on the bottom.

Andy

What are the fireball decals like? i was thinking of getting some for the air cav markings on the bottom.

The Fireball decals are great.  They are thin and go on without any issues.  They snug right down as well.  I highly recommend them.

Thanks Gino, helpful as always

Im after the 229th AHB "Winged Assault" crest for the nose and the blue door markings.

The decal sheet looks like it has them so they are next on the agenda.

if anyone hasnt used theirs let me know, if not, when i get mine there will be plenty of spares and it seems wrong to waste them.  

Its a shame they dont have the yellow door markings for the 1/9th but theres always yellow paint and masking tape lol.

Andy

Andy,

As Gino says , the Fireball decals are great and shipping is for cost which makes a nice change. I bought a set of the 1/72 Cobra decals as well and I think I was charged about £2.50 to the UK which was pretty reasonable I thought and arrived within 10 days of ordering. I've not used them yet. I keep meaning to start one of my big Hueys in the stash, but keep getting side-tracked with little 1/72 projects. Just finishing off my Loach which is way too small....never again. Anyway I should have another one arriving soon. I managed to pick up the Revell helicopter patrol set for £7.50 last night off Evilbay which has a much bigger Loach with it. Instead of putting it away in the loft, I'll keep it out and maybe then I'll get round to starting it.

Thanks for tip about the light olive, I'll deffinately  get hold of a tin.

Rich

Rich

Nice one mate, Is that the 1/32 UH-1H and loach set? if id seen it i would of grabbed it for £7.50 lol, bargain.

I have two 1/72 huey gunships to build, they have been sitting in the boxes for over 2 years now, cant seem to get into 1/72, i like my detail to much, I have the 1/32 huey & 1/35 heavy hog on the go,  1/48 kiowa and A-1H skyraider waiting to be built and a 1/35 frog and M113 on the way. now im on the lookout for a loach and ACH-47.

I spend more time researching, buying and talking about models than i do actually building them these days. but i will get them all done eventually, Im not sure about the kiowa, it looks tiny even in 1/48, starting to think that helos under 1/35 are to small. i might put that and the 1/72 hueys on evilbay, dunno yet.

As far as the decals go i will definately get them in 1/32 and 1/35 plus i have a 1/32 AH-1G sitting here decal-less and the cobra decals look great,

I was tempted to get the Tamiya OD for brush painting but i wont now.

Thanks for all your help chaps.

Andy

I'm not sure about the Kiowa, it looks tiny even in 1/48, starting to think that helos under 1/35 are to small.

My thoughts exactly.  That is why I only build 1/35 or 1/32 helos.  I like to add the detail and accessories to them too much.  The 1/35 CH-47s sure are big bitches though!! 

skypirate1 wrote:

Hi Rich. I agree, the new and shiny hueys dont look right. Humbrol light olive is the closest thing i have found so far to the worn olive drab in most of the pictures iv seen, there seems to be a few shades of olive drab in huey pictures, the dark new, the worn light green and the very worn sun bleached olive drab greenish brown. I use the humbrol light olive for the worn light green and humbrol olive drab for the bleached look. It could drive you mad trying to get the right colour, i have a picture somewhere of a cobra that looks light brown, alot of it could be down to lighting when the photos were taken but i would deffo add a tin of light olive to your paint collection. Never used the tamiya paints but im gona try the OD spray and see what shade that is. My humbrol OD is like water, might pick up another tin to see if its any better. What are the fireball decals like? i was thinking of getting some for the air cav markings on the bottom. Andy

There were three basic color scheme's on Army aircraft(the Army was operating a lot of fixed wing assets at this time) during the Vietnam Era. First was the dark gloss OD with full color markings(such as the B model in your photo), the second was the same color without the full color markings(I never saw this on a fixed wing), the third was the lighter OD with black markings. I have had a hard time matching that color except when I was able to acquire a can from our paint locker.

It makes sense Gino with the figures being in 1/35 its a nice size, though i wouldnt moan if those academy 1Cs were in 1/32.

Using your medevac pictures and some photos as a guide i attempted to do some of the cockpit detail on my 1/32 last night, with the before mentioned 000 brush just doing the main black squares over the grey on the dials was unbelievably hard and with the raised rivets on the corners of each dial it proved virtualy impossible to form a perfect square and thats in 1/32 yours is in 1/35 so i am well impressed at how you got yours so perfect.

Tips more than welcome lol

I cant remember the make off-hand but i wanted to build the 1/48 ACH-47, is this one a handfull Gino?

The ACH-47 has been recently released by Italeri.  It was talked about here quite a bit when it came out a few months ago.  It looked pretty accurate.  Do a search for it and you should be able to get some good info on it. 

Here is a review of it too.

The only other tips I can give on the instrument panels are to go slow and use a small amount of piant.  I usually steady my hand/arm against the desk as well to help keep it all straight.

Good luck.

Great link on tha ACH-47 thanks Gino.

Do you use a magnifier for your instrument panels? as im tempted to get one, its easy to look at the detail in other peoples build pictures but its only when you attempt to do it yourself that you learn to really appreciate how much skill is involved.

Thanks for all your help Gino it is greatly appreciated 

Do you use a magnifier for your instrument panels?

Nope, just the good ol' calibrated eyeball.  Perfect 20/10+ vision thanks to Lasik surgery.

Whose SPH4 is that? Love the Numba 10

Hey Snake!

I got your E-mail but couldn't reply back through FSM for some reason.  E-mail me with your E-mail address if you can.  Best thing I can say about all your questions is look at each year on our Web page for the subtle differences in markings on the Sharks.  We never had and white triangles on the tail booms or on top of horizontal elevators. Just white and blue tail boom bands and white "fin" at top of vertical tail.  Some birds had the white on top of the cabin. 

Snake36Bravo,

This restored "Numba 10" SPH4 was worn by Cobra pilot Mike O'Neil, of F troop 1/9th cav

Heres a shot of the artwork on the back of the helmet.

A shot of O'Neil wearing the original but faded "numba 10"

Love it.

Andy