Aaaand we have a winner!! *COMPLETED 11/7/13*

Clear plastic packaging Mustang?

stikpusher

Clear plastic packaging Mustang?

Ok............this stuff.(the clear plastic). Again I apologize for the poor description without a picture.

I used this stuff for my window in the headrest of my Bf109 G-14 build and it works great! Scale thickness and all.

I remember a friend trying to build this kit while in college in the mid-80s. He called it the worst fitting kit he had built, and that was 30 years ago.

Yeah and I remember there being a "handle" screwed in to the window about three quarters of the way up. Man I wished I could get you some pics right now! Technically you could leave the window post as is and cut the windows out of the plastic and glue them in with clear plastic glue. The window down was just an idea to add another level of realism to it. This idiot web filter here wont allow me access to photobucket. I'll see what I can do later on tonight as far as references though Todd.

DeafAviator

That is, for the worst fitting kit I have ever built!

Working on a 1/48 Revell Huey Hog for an army buddy of mine. Being done up in 18th MP Brigade colors. 

The entire forward half of this thing is atrocious... Huge shims and huge amounts of gap-filling superglue needed to close things up. 

Brings back fond memories of building it in the mid 1960s as  a Monogram kit.

I think I have 2-3 in my stash. Not sure why but I do. Can't wait now to get started.

Dunno why.......I also heard similar complaints about the kit by Echo 139er  that match my memories of the kit........and yet, unlike some old AURORA kits, I'm actually contemplating building the kit again....if the price is cheap enough.

A local swap meet is next month; maybe I'll check prices on the kit during the last hour of the show.

Would love some references - I definitely would consider dropping the window - didn't know they could do that!

It only dropped about halfway down if I remember right.

Still - I think I could give that a go. Did the glass itself have any framing on it or was it bare glass like most cars are?

A small update... not much of one but I think this will be interesting for ya.

So here's a question before I show you the pics though... how do you tell when it's time to stop sanding/carving/shaping? 

When solid olive drab colored plastic begins to turn transparent, thats how you know! 

Built up the gaps and steps around the top of the engine intake and started shaving and shaping it all down. I stopped and I was thinking I was done and about to apply Surfacer 500 when I noticed just how much light was peeking through on the plastic - lo and behold I had sanded the intake down to just barely anything left!!

Before you ask, yes it is indeed still a solid piece with no gaps or cracks... but barely! Will probably pour some super glue on the inside of this area to reinforce it before going any farther on this.

DeafAviator

Still - I think I could give that a go. Did the glass itself have any framing on it or was it bare glass like most cars are?

Okay thanks! I think I may just stick with leaving the windows in there but I will probably try cutting some windows up and see if I can come up with anything I am happy with - if thats the case then I will go back to popping these out and putting new ones in. However I think with careful painting and thin black trim I can get these to look okay.

Got a question for you vets and military guys... I came across this challenge coin, and I was wanting to incorporate it into the base for this chopper. Like I said, this is being built as a surprise for a buddy of mine who served in Vietnam with the 18th MP Brigade. I found the unit's emblem and will be using those markings on the Huey, but I was thinking that this coin would look really nice epoxied onto the display base.

My question is would this be appropriate or would it be odd for whatever reason - aka against military culture or not the correct coin? The picture shows the side I would have displayed - the reverse side has "United States Army Forces Strategic Command" "Coin of Excellence" with "Presented by the Deputy Commanding General" and a red flag with a single white star. No idea what all of this means - maybe y'all could educate me?

I may try an H model sooner or later. Probably later given my build list.

Here is a great screen shot from Apocalypse Now that I found online shwing that window down and exposing the top metal strip

Hmmm... that does look pretty cool - I may have to really consider doing that. I am intimidated as thats also something I've never done before but I've been doing a lot of firsts lately anyway so I might as well at least try to find some material and cut it out to see how it looks.

The clear plastic packaging as a source for the window material is a great idea. It is plentiful and cheap, far closer to scale thickness, than the kit part in this case. And if you screw up the first (or second, or third) attempt, easily replaced with more of the same done better.

And I'm guessing if I chop out the pillars on the kit I can replicate them on the new glass with bits of BMF?

Thanks for that picture stikpusher. If you look about 3 inches up from the bottom of the window opening you'll see that "handle" that I was talking about. on the inside of the glass.

I see that. Well with this kit being as much of a challenge as it is I am on the fence about doing anything extra but if I am going to do something, now definitely would be the time.

Anybody have a picture of the engine area where that fat half-circle exhaust piece goes, just aft of the rotor shaft? Most of the kits online have it sitting on there with a big space beneath either side and I can't tell if that is how its supposed to be or if that is just another massive engineering misstep?

The air intake area? Originally it was an open cowl type scoop

later the filter was added

here a few more shots I was able to turn up

one more...

Here's where I am at now as I close out the "shop" for the day... most of the sanding and filling is complete as far as the intake and roof goes. Installed the exhaust grill/shroud that sits on top of the engine and filled in the canyons with a couple buckets of superglue. Hit that with accelerator and will be filing it to shape next week probably - will not be able to get back down here until Tuesday at the earliest.

Did some work on the skids, cleaning them up and getting them looking good enough to be installed whenever that time comes - will be doing the weapons set-up next. Started work on the doors - will have one closed and one open. Cleaning up the flash on them and filling no less than 10 punch marks between the two of them. Did some more clean-up of the belly and that is pretty much ready to go except I think I will go ahead and scribe it if anyone has a belly shot or plans that show panel lines? 

So what is left? Well I need to finish prepping the doors, weapons, antennas, stabs, rotors and all those lovely little bits and pieces. After that will be painting and base work. So I guess all in all, a lot of the truly tough stuff has been done. I just need to blend that exhaust shroud into the fuselage and tie up any other loose ends involving files, knives, shotguns, TNT, and electric turkey carvers. Of course, how fitting is it that in the background of the picture below you can spot a full-size construction-purpose razor blade holder... maybe THAT wouldve been useful on this beast! 

Need to make a decision on those side windows over the weekend as well. 

Coming along nicely. Today is the first time I have been able to look at this thing and think "Hey... I think this is going to turn out alright after all!" Kinda looks like a Huey doesn't it? 

Great pictures Carlos! Exactly what I needed to see! Filter, huh? Gotcha... did they filter the front as well or no? Good to see that it does indeed not sit flush with the fuselage and the kit does have it correct. the only issue I had then was a HUGE gap in between the filter and the fore/aft of the spot where it sets. Kinda made the roof gaps look like hairline cracks. I shoved it all the way forward and filled the rear up with an ungodly amount of superglue - probably too much actually. See if it cures over the weekend. If it does I'll file it down to shape the best I can without destroying the vents/louvers nearby on the engine cover.

Thinking about cutting off the probes on the front too - aircraft I am modeling didn't have them.

Well, after the fact, I would recomment using sheet styrene shims on the filters to reduce or eliminate the gaps between the filter and the engine housing. No the front opening forward of the rotor mast (to my knowledge) never had a filter. No need for one there. The rear scoop was the intake for the turbine and would be likely to ingest all sorts of stuff in forward field operations. The forward opening (a guess on my part) would likely be for access to the stuff there and not an "intake". I only rode in Hueys, never crewed or maintained them. But there are a few folks here who did.