1/35 CH-47D Chinook ... Finished, APR 2011

exellent build escpecially the dio its great but my only suggestion is that i was under the impression that the seats in real life are fabric and yours look sort of flat and sheet metal like. i may be wrong but otherwise its an amazing build

Thanks for the comments, David. You are exactly right. The cargo seating in real life is a fabric material, not metal . I did try to take a rounded end of a hobby knife to rub/ burnish one of the seats into looking like someone just take in it, but it didn't really have the give that I was hoping. Looking at other hook's that have been built, as well as reference pictures, I've decided that once I add washes to the interior, close up the fuse halves, and finally tilt the A/C into its final position in the dio ... you're going to have to REEEEEEAAALLY get down there to see those seats.

I did, however in an attempt to make them look a little more "not-so-rigid", let some of the seat straps hang down from the top bar. I doubt that these will really make any difference, but it was a try.

In the end, the ramp will be crowded with a couple of figures, one of the crew windows up front will be manned by a gunner, so that doesn't leave too much of these seats to be seen.

Thanks again guys for all the comments. And thanks again Dave for pointing out the seats .... maybe I'll go back and see if there's something else I can do for them.

i think its a bit late now but i would of used bed sheet or other thin material and airbrushed it then put it on the seats

Phoooeey!! Look at the amount of detail. What I like about this build is the planning of the rigging to suspend the Chinook.

I won't be too worried about the seats being fabrique looking 'cos when all is closed up and at the angle the heli's going to be, it's going to be tough for scrutinising. Believe me 'cos it's the same with my UH-34 when closed up and a door gunner in the way, you only see the basic stuff. Anyway it still feels good to know that the interior is as it should be.

Cool mini-guns. I enjoyed looking at the progress. Patiently waiting for the finished heli/dio.

Cheers,

Richard

good point about the seats should be fine your build quality is very good so it will look amazing in the end!

It is coming along great.  In scale, lead foil is the best material to make the seats out of.  I did the seat for my MH-60J the same way. 

Once it was closed up, it could hardly be seen. 

Also, a bed sheet will look like heavy sail cloth canvas in 1/35 scale and be way oversized.

your very clever! good work! and keep us posted on your dio!

VERY nice!  I see one of those in the Local HL and think that would make a nice, BIG assembled kit, and perfect for doing some scratching and detailing.  I stop at the price.  Maybe, if they ever do a 50% off again.... 

Those miniguns are sweet.  I may have to pick one up to just do.  Nice detailing.  How did you manage to follow the contours for the vertical ribbing?  That may be the next helo I do after trudging through my AH64 kit.  I'm spending too much time removing flash and fixing shifted mold issues.  Thanks.

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

I have to say that as a almost 20 year CH-47 mech, & lifelong modeler, you are doing some nice work.

The seats are nothing more than red nylon, & are very tight when brand new.  Over time, they stretch & wrinkle, but the bottoms don't sag appreciably.

Are you doing an Australian Army CH-47D?  Only reason I ask is that I've never seen miniguns on regular US Army D, non spec-ops models, but the Aussie Ds do carry them. Pics of miniguns in Aussie D model:

As a mild critique, it looks like the nonskid portions of the cabin floor have not been painted:

Non-skid on the ramp:

The APU area looks ok, with the B-17 gear leg a decent idea to a visual interest, but I'd cut it so its level, not slanted, if its not too late.  I'll try to find a pic on my collection of that area.

Ish

has it ever occured to anyone that "minigun" is a very unsuitable name for the most powerful machine gun in the world?

Most powerful machine gun in the world?  The M134?  Its only fires 7.62mm rounds.  What about the 20mm Gatling style weapons out there?  The way it was explained to me when I went through a fam course is that the M134 is a miniaturized version of the 20mm M-61.

I couldn't find any APU shots in my files, soooo I just grabbed my camera, walked outside to the hanger & took some photos.  I'll post them when they finish uploading to my P-bucket account (slow, slow connection speed over here).

Thanks for all the comments guys! I'm glad that you are pleased with the progress thus far.

As far as the quesiton about making the tubes for the spent shells, I thought that I explained that before but just in case I didn't or wasn't clear .... I simply took a length of wire and coiled it around a round tool. Then I stretched the coil out a little to open up the coils. Lastly, I worked the coiled wire into a short length of heat shrink tubing used to seal electrical wiring connections and applied a little heat. This shrank the tubing around the coil giving it the look I was aiming for.

The bird in the actual picture is, if I'm remembering right, is one from the 101st. These birds would normally have 240B machine guns for the door/ ramp guns, but this weapon isn't easily found in 1/35. The only one that I've found, and have, is one from an AFV Club STYKER kit. I could mold and cast it I guess, but 1/35 weapons never come out very well. So, I opted to go with the M134's from Legend. I'm not going to be building this specifically to be a Spec Ops bird, but I guess it could have that feel. However, I still might try to cast that 240B .... sure would like to have a couple of copies of it for this build as well as a couple others in the future.  .... Hmmm, might just have to break out the silicone and resin this afternoon ....

Thanks again for posting all those extra pics. I'm always looking for more interior reference photos. And I'm glad that my progress so far as passed the "smell test" with an ol' 47 mech!

Thanks again for following ... we'll try to get an update in asap.

These birds would normally have 240B machine guns for the door/ ramp guns, but this weapon isn't easily found in 1/35.

Actually, they normally carry M240Ds with the dual grip and spade trigger like on a .50 cal.  They are easy to convert from M240G (USMC versions w/o the forward handguards), which are available in the Dragon Modern Machine Gun set (2/set) by their European designation L7A2 (a.k.a FN MAG, GPMG, MAG 58, etc.).    One also comes in the Dragon Modern Marines set.

Here is the M240D:

Dragon Modern MG set:

Dragon Modern Marines

A few other sets have them as well (Dragon IDF Paratroopers).  Also the M240 can be found in a few other sets and Trumpeter sells a small set with the M240B and mount and a fluted 25mm barrel from their LAV 25 kits.  Also, the AFV Club Upgrade Equipment Set for Stryker Series contains a nice M240B.

Here are those APU pics as promised:

Ramp pic:

Some interior shots:

Thanks for clarifiying the nomenclature, Heavy. I didn't know they were considered Deltas, but I knew what they looked like. I also knew that the Marines carry the Golf, although the only difference btwn the Golf and the Bravo is that the hand guards are removed. .... gotta be different.

I knew that I could find the 240 in different kits here and there, but instead of buying a new kit just for a couple of MGs, I'm going to try to cast a couple. I've always failed at 1/35 weapons, but I'll give it a shot none the less. Thanks again for all the comments and pics guys..... appreciate it.

I forgot to answer a question from earlier .... someone asked how I made the framing for the rear ramp area. I have to admit that I was clueless about this. The answer was right there and I didn't even know it. I was pointed in the right direction by someone over at Scale Rotors. I ran to Home Depot and picked a wood workers contour gauge for less than $10. Worth its weight in gold if you ask me. I simply used the guage on the inside of the fuse and then transfered it's contour to styrene sheet. Drew a line following the guage and then moved it over about 3mm and drew another line. Poof! There's your frame. Once I cut this out, I traced its outline, as the frame on the other side will just mirror it. Sanded and cleaned up both together and then drilled the lightening holes together so they would match ... then .... wash, rinse, repeat.

I was terrorfied that this process was going to take days! ....... but all in all, I completed the framing in about 4-6 hrs. Not bad at all ... actually might prompt me to do framing in later projects.

Hope that helps.

Chasm,

Yes, definitely.  That was about the only way I could think that would work, although I do seem to remember someone who built ribbing for a B17 (IIRC) using a different manner, but couldn't come up with the link, or the method.  The other way is if the manufacturer happens to also make detailed assembly instructions in the same scale.  Contour gauge is the answer, though.  Thank you.

Now, I get back to more casting flash sanding. 

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

Thanks for the comments, Gene ... and good to see someone from the neighborhood!

I really haven't thought too much about where I might use this method later on, but I know that I do have Italeri's 1/48 Osprey in the stash ... but I don't have plans to build it just yet.

Yeah, I noticed that, too.  There appear to be several here from the Houston area.  We're over by Clover Field (Pearland Regional Airport), out in the County.

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

I got'cha, Gene .... I'm over on the western side of town .... Maybe we can grab a cup of coffee one of these days and I can show you the progress in person.

No picture update just yet. Just shot the interior with another light primer. Working on the engines while that's drying. Will try to get something up later tomorrow or Sat.

Stay tuned ....

Scott, take a look at my -47 album on P-bucket:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v26/ishthe47guy/CH-47%20pics/

I'll work on the other requests as the days goes by.  I work nights, so lighting is crappy for most of my 12 hour shift.

Ish

Awesome!!! That's good stuff, Ish!! Thanks. I think I should prrobably find almost everything I need there.

I see the T-patch and 1st CAV .... are you in TX?

I'm not in Texas right now, but yes, I've lived in the Dallas area since 1996, & I spent 11 years with the Nat. Guard as a CH-47 mech, crew chief, technical insp, section sergeant...

I've been over here in the 'Stan for almost three years, working with both the US Army & the Canadian Air Force on their CH-47s.

Great work on the Chinook so far. I love the padding. I to live in Houston (SW side near Bellaire) and i'm currently working on the Osprey. I wish it had a ceiling like the Chinook has but i'm still thinking about it. Do you know if anyone makes door guns in 1/48 scale. Would like to add one or two to the Osprey.

Great looking Chinook though. Can't wait to see more.

Medicman71

Great work on the Chinook so far. I love the padding. I to live in Houston (SW side near Bellaire) and i'm currently working on the Osprey. I wish it had a ceiling like the Chinook has but i'm still thinking about it. Do you know if anyone makes door guns in 1/48 scale. Would like to add one or two to the Osprey.

<SNIP>

 

(hijack) What?!?  No WIP pics?!?  Inquiring minds want to see!  ;-)  (/hijack)

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

Ish - thanks for the great work you guys are doing over there. You guys always kept our gear running great.

MM71 - Thanks for checking this one out. As for as the door guns ... I think you're going to end up in the same bost as me. Scratching some .... What weapons were you looking for/ wanting to put in there? I'm going to ATTEMPT to make resin casts of a 240B this week. If you're interested, I can make 1-2 extra for ya. I've got the Osprey kit as well, but I probably won't get into it until later next year.

For now .... I got a the engines all worked up, just need to get to painting them. Not too much left to go on this one before it starts bursting with color!!!

modelchasm

.

MM71 - Thanks for checking this one out. As for as the door guns ... I think you're going to end up in the same bost as me. Scratching some .... What weapons were you looking for/ wanting to put in there? I'm going to ATTEMPT to make resin casts of a 240B this week. If you're interested, I can make 1-2 extra for ya. I've got the Osprey kit as well, but I probably won't get into it until later next year.

Yeah i'd like that. I know they have at least one gun at the back ramp. I'm still not good enough to scratch build one yet. I'm scartchbuilding some other things for the Osprey though.

CrashTestDummy

Medicman71:

Great work on the Chinook so far. I love the padding. I to live in Houston (SW side near Bellaire) and i'm currently working on the Osprey. I wish it had a ceiling like the Chinook has but i'm still thinking about it. Do you know if anyone makes door guns in 1/48 scale. Would like to add one or two to the Osprey.

<SNIP>

 

 

 

(hijack) What?!?  No WIP pics?!?  Inquiring minds want to see!  ;-)  (/hijack)

 

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

Yeah I know. People keep asking about pics. Will try to get some WIP post soon. Will let everyone know when I do.

HAHA!!!! You got dinged for no pics .. hahaha!!

The 240Bs that I'm casting will be easy enough to convert to the D-model ... IF they come out ok. Never had much luck with 1/35 weapon casting. Keep meaning to build my pressure chamber for casting but still haven't done it yet.

MM - Have you detailed much of the 22's interior? I'm curious cause I'm thinking I might do a "repeat" of this build on the Osprey kit .... at least on the interior.

.... and how is it that I just got roped into hijacking my own thread!?! .... HAHA!

Hahhaha! You did hijack your own thread. Don't worry. I see it happen all the time. As far as the interior of the Osprey, i've done a little detailing. Not as mush as you did with the Chinook though. There's no roof to the rear cargo area so it's a little difficult. I did add some to the side walls. But the interior of the cargo area is extremely busy with wiring and plumming. I have no idea how to make a roof/ ceiling for it.

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GOOD LORD!!!! That interior IS busy!

Well, depending on what you're doing with, it may not be very visable at all. But, if you HAD to ... I'd guess that you could get away with just a simple sheet styrene ceiling, using a contour gauge to get the framing members and then add in all the wiring and plumbing. The framing and the wiring should hide a lot ... just my two cents ....

.... Now stop 'jackin' my thread and get your own!!!! HAHAHA!!!!! (I see I'm gonna have to update w/ pics to pull the audience back .... hahaha!!!)