Huey questions.

Andy,

Get  a coffee/beer or both, lock yourself in the room where you keep your pc and click on the pinned thread at the top of this forum called Vietnam Huey. All your questions will be answered and you'll gain a lot of other very interesting info along the way. Enjoy.

Rich

Andy,

  Is it just me or are there a lot of Andys building hueys around here?!  Rich is correct that most of your questions can be answered in one of the Huey threads on in this forum.  However, since I am virtually obsessed with Hueys, I thought I would get you started on your quest for info.

 "I picked up a 1/72 Italeri UH-1D.  I'm planning to build it OOB as the Army gunship version (116th Assault Helicopter, '71). "

    - There were NO US D Model Hueys officially equipped with the M21 armamanet system (M134 miniguns + XM157 rocket pods)!  I'm sure one of our other Andys would be happy to tell you about the armed D models called "Bushrangers" used by the Aussies in Vietnam if you really want to arm your D model (there are lots of pics of these birds in the Huey threads).  There's lots more about long vs short fuselage Hueys in the various threads here as well.

  "It seems that the upper windows over the pilots usually seem to be tinted green.  Would that apply to the UH-1D as well?"

    - All Hueys had green tinted windows above the pilot and copilot, hence the name         "Greenhouse"  

    "There seems the be a textured/non-skid surface on top of the fuselage.  Italeri specifies flat black for it.  Is that correct?  I couldn't find any photos that definitively show tha area, but I couldn't see any hint of it on any of the photos I found."

    - I think it has been noted somewhere here that the antislip surface was either painted black or dark grey.  There is also a photo of a top view of a D model from the belly of a Hook that's lifting it out of  a rice paddy somewhere around here.  It's kind of like a treasure hunt looking for the info and pics you need, but having spent hours in the forum, I can assure you that almost anything you need to know is mntioned somewhere here.  Good luck and let us know if there is something you can't find.  

    Ray

 

Hi Andy

Lol Ray is right there seems to be a fare few Andys on here, i guess our mums all had good taste 

As far as the floor goes although i have heard that black none slip paint was used (sand added to the paint to produce the none slip properties) i havnt seen many pictures of this. From what i have learnt the usual color was a very light gray for the floor and walls and darker gray for the soundproof padding. A dry brush of silver over the light gray on the outside edges and rivets of the floor will give a more realistic worn look. 

Its also worth bearing in mind when looking at photos that alot of POST Vietnam era hueys have black painted interiors, i have seen quite a few with black floors. Also black control panels were introduced to help stop glare for night vision equipment. 

Now onto weapons ..(Ray knows me to well lol), If your building a US Army D model, leave off the miniguns and rockets. Unless you want to build an Aussie Bushranger huey, which was a slick with miniguns mounted behind the cockpit doors and M158, 7 tube rocket launchers (7 individual tubes tied together) as opposed to the M157, 7 tube rocket launcher (7 tubes incased in a cylinder) which is the type i expect you have with your kit. Hypodermic needles or brass/Aluminium tubing can be used to make the individual M158 tubes.

   

None of the doors were padded.

Ray is correct about the Greenhouse windows, every huey ive ever seen has tinted green windows above the pilot/copilot seats (Tamiya clear green is the usual color for this, although it is also possible to stain the two windows with a pot of Future and a mixture of green and blue food coloring).

The textured none slip surface on top of the fusalege was black and was there to help stop people falling off while working on or checking the rotor system. But not all hueys had this so you can get away with either black or olive drab.

I hope that helps out. As Rich & Ray said, check out the other huey threads on here for more info. They are packed to the brim with useful Pictures and information from enthusiasts, historians and most importantly veterans who actually flew in these fine birds. If you cant find what your looking for then ask away, the guys on here will be more than happy to help.

Good luck with your build.

Andy

 

   

All I could find in the army manuals is a reference to Mil-W-5044 Walkway Compound non slip. This would have been used on the walkways on the cabin roof. The colors used were to Mil-Std-595 and the color most frequently used was black 37038. There is a reference to this paint being in Olive Drab 34087 also however this color wasn't listed in the Army manuals. Since I can't pass the color test using the little dots I would hate to advise you but flat black looks good to me

I mentioned in another post the color spec of the cabin soundproofing, the cabin is the same spec. sorry I don't remember the color but you will find it in the Huey discussions.

I have heard that sand was used, but seems to me we tried this with black lacquer paint and the sand wouldn't stick well and fell off.

Ed

We were trained in school to mix sand with flat black enamel for use as non-skid paint. Some Huey did have OD of the roof, but most were black

Hey guys, thanks for the info.  I had already answered answered most of my questions frome perusing other Huey threads here, not to mention Google images, and with these last few items, I think I'm ready to get started.