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

YES! ... All paints should be thinned, especially for brush painting. The trick to brush painting to not to get too itchy to get it done. When working with thinnned acrylics, keep the idea of "layers" in mind. That's why I like acrylics as much as I do. Depending on how you thin them, each layer will give a suttle change and you should be able to see your brush strokes when you start painting. No matter what the brand, or what I thin them with (acrylic thinner, window cleaner, distilled water) I typically thin them to the consistency of milk. But, however you thin them, if you're paint comes out really "watery" and tries to bead up, you've either thinned it too much or put down too much paint .... or both.

Feel free to ask away ....  hope it's helping.

modelchasm

As for brands ... I like using different ones for different purposes. General purpose, I'll use Model Masters. Flesh tones, etc, I like Vallejo, and for specific colors or metallics, I like Tamiya. I've recently found the artists craft acylics and have started to try and use those. They are cheap, but they have a high pigment count and makes it hard to thin and airbrush. It's taking a little time, but I'm getting it dailed in. LIke I said, I like different brands for different things. Oils and enamels ... I just use what's around.

Hope that helps.....

That does help. When you're using the MM and Vallejos, do you thin them at all for brush painting.

Howdy Griffin .... thanks for the compliments. I'm still learning but I'm glad that you like my progress.

I almost strictly use acrylics in brush painting and AB'ing. I sometimes use oil for washes, sludges, and filtering. I also like using enamels for drybrushing details since it doesn't dry as quickly as acrylics.

As for brands ... I like using different ones for different purposes. General purpose, I'll use Model Masters. Flesh tones, etc, I like Vallejo, and for specific colors or metallics, I like Tamiya. I've recently found the artists craft acylics and have started to try and use those. They are cheap, but they have a high pigment count and makes it hard to thin and airbrush. It's taking a little time, but I'm getting it dailed in. LIke I said, I like different brands for different things. Oils and enamels ... I just use what's around.

Hope that helps.....

First off - WOW! Awesome work. I can't wait to see this finished.

Now - what kind of paint do you use for brush painting and in your AB?

Thanks, Austin! .... As I'm trying to finish this one up, I can't help but think about doing another big '47 but converting it to an MH version. I've heard about a possible conversion kit out there, but it's been listed as "soon to be released" for almost a year now .....

But ... I've got to get this one finished first! HAHA!!!

Almost there though. Trying to work on/ finish up the figures right now.

Looks good Scott!  I have an MH-47 in the stash that I'm gonna use to complete my 'big 3' 160th dio's...

Can't wait to see it finished.

Take care,

Austin

That's pretty sweet, although I can understand they might get old. ... Just for my knowledge (b/c I've been wondering since I started this build...), once the rear gear makes contact can you kind-of feel the ground through the controls, or do you have to rely on the crew in the back to keep you grounded? Seems like you'd be able to feel the rear end either staying put, draggin' around, or floating ..... but what do I know .... I'm one of the 'tards falling out the back!!

Thanks again for offering on the pics. I think I'm pretty good for now unless you have time to get some more detailed pics of the rotorheads. That's really all I have left to finish on the build.....

Thanks again for the comments guys!

I don't have a whole lot more, but if you need some specific picture let me know and I can get it for you. Here's a pic of me doing a "Pinnacle Landing" in Afghanistan a few months ago.With the terrain being what it is over there these are pretty common landings and get old fast

Thanks for the comments Hook and Medicman ...

Hook, thanks too for the photo! Views for the topside are hard to come by. The one you posted give me a few more things to add. (Any others you want to send my way, please do)

As far as finishing 'er up .... I still have to finish weathering the ramp and then detail, paint, and weather the rotor heads and blades and then dull coat everything. But before the final dull coat, and to finish up the weathering, I'm thinking of dusting it with pigments or a very light spray of tan to add "dust". I've never used pigments before so I'm a little hesitant .... don't want to mess things up now!

Thanks again for checking things out.

Looking good Modelchasm!! Really like the weathering. Keep up the great work.

I know it's hard to tell from this photo because she's so dirty, but those black lines that you did are the borders for the black non-skid surface, so inside each of the squares forward and aft on the tunnel covers, along the right side of the tunnel covers, and left and right side of the forward and aft pylons are covered with non-skid for safety. Looks great and can't wait to see it finished!

Ok, finally got a few pictures loaded for an update.

I finally got all the decals finished, to include some custom decals to match the A/C #00264. The glare panel and the outlined areas on top of the A/C were decals but they looked off in color and they were very thin and hard to work with. Instead, I used the decals as a template. Made masks and sprayed flat black.

After letting this panels and lines cure, I went back over them with a cotton swab soaked in windex to pull a little paint off for wear.

I then used an oil wash of burnt sienna for all the panel lines, etc. Followed by dot filtering using burnt sienna and yellow ochre. The oil filters turned out nicely and are sometimes hard to see, but they do help the overall finish a lot. I also brush painted some "touch up" paint as seen on making war-worn A/C.

If you look closely here, you can see fliters used on the right side, but not on the left yet.

Thats pretty much it for now. Thanks for checking things out and as always, all C&C welcome.

Haha!!! I'm working on it, Fermis!!!! .... Almost looks done from about 6-8' back don't it!?!

Finishing the decals as we speak and then I'm moving on to filters and washes.....

Get busy man!!!  Finish that sucker already!!!

Well, maybe not 100% finished and complete ....

Got sick earlier this week and ended up staying in bed. I did, however, find a good display spot for this one. We've got a built in nook that I'll be adding in glass shelves to, plus some overhead lighting. I think it'll make a nice spot for it.

Hope everyone has a happy New Years. We'll see you in 2011!!!

Thanks for the "poke" in the the side guitarist ....

This project of mine still isn't done yet. I got distracted pretty bad and then recently moved my workbench, blah, blah, blah .... Short story .... I'm back to working on it now and hope to have it done by New Years. At least that how I plan to celebrate the new year ... by having this one be the only project finished in 2010.

Sad I know ...

The list is short but I still have a few decals to finish. Then there's washes and weathering and lastly the itty bitty details and then it'll be done.

hi modelchasm!!!!!!!! will upload more pictures of your chinook WIP to see the whole diorama finished???? keep om the goood job!!!!!!!!!!1

Whoops, sorry, they showed up on my computer. 

Yup, lots of issues with the other guys version.  Like I said, yours will be much better.  Keep plugging away at the decals.  I'm sure they are looking great.

Had to paste the links as they weren't showing ....

... and WOW. ...

Not to knock his/ her attempt, but there are a lot of things that just don't look quite right!?! Kudos for trying though ....

... Still chuggin' away on mine. Going to try and finish up the base tonight. Going to spray a little more color and work on a couple other finishing details. Didn't get the chance to work on the wooden, stained base that it will sit on, but I'm going to work on that this coming weekend.

As far as the bird itself goes ... I'm STILL working on completing the 100+ decals that this things takes. I lay down like 10-15 and then I don't even want to touch it for a couple days! BLAH!!! I did however get in some new pigments so maybe this will help me get the motivation to finish it off pretty soon. ... there is some "Turkey" time coming up .... just might have to take advantage of the vacation time!

Thanks for posting those pics Gino .... and for continuing to follow this one! Let me know if you have any advice/ comments to help finish this one off. I'm looking for this one to be "THE" build of this past year. Hopefully, it'll be a show stopper.

Man, looks like someone else has stolen your idea.  I found this in a show report from Germany.

I'm sure yours will look much better though.  I don't like how he did the rotor blades.  It looks like he used the A model too.  And really big aquarium plants for the jungle(?wtf?) around the mountain. 

Here is another nice Chinook dio from the same German show report.  It looks like its from the Grenada timeframe from the vehicles (M151A2 MUTTs) and figures. 

Here are a couple other nice helos from the same report as well.  They look like they are by the same guy.

Possibly, but the first 80%, or so of this thread has covered the construction of the CH-47, so it's all good.  Thanks for the update.  I've been waiting for more updates of the finished kit.  The dio should be awesome.

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

47 .... Almost forgot to address it .... Yes, the landing gear is molded in white metal ...

.... I also just realized that when I started this thread I must have been really tired ..... I posted a dio build in the Helo section! .... At least I got one part right!?!

Thanks again for all the comments guys!

Pat, the figures are a mix btwn the Trumpeter Modern CH47 Crew kit, MIG figures, and a Evolution figure. I think I posted a pic of all of them on the 1st page if you're still curious....

47guy ... that's for your comments. They mean a lot coming from someone with you're experience and background. The kit does lack a lot of interior detail and there is a lot of work that can be done, but honestly scratching detail is something that I like doing. I've never done RR modeling basework .... this is actually one of my first big, detailed bases to do. Most of the time I just do pieces of buildings etc. So thanks for all the comments on the base .... Still a little work I want to do on it, but I'm pleased with how its coming thus far....

Man, she's really coming together!  Who makes the figs?  They look awesome.  Can't wait to see 'er done!

                                                                               Pat. 

That is going to be SOOOOME kind of impressive when you're done!

Thanks MM ... I've got a little more work to do on the base, a little airbrushing, wash, drybrush, pigements (wow ... sounds like I'm no where near done....). I've got plans for a small wooden platform/ base to help round out the presentation aspect of it, but after that ... the base is done.

Thanks again for the compliments, MM....

Wow the base looks great!! Great work. The Chinook looks great as well.

Been a minute since I updated this one, so here we go ....

Couple of shots on the decaling. Going a little slower than I like, but this thing has 100+ decals to place! I started having a little issue with silvering, but I found that if I just let the decal do it's thing, I can gently used the edge of a blade to scrap the silvering away. This also gives the decal a little weathered look .... which is nice. Also had to steal a "US ARMY" decal from my Kiowa kit .... had the original fold over onto itself and it was game over from there. Will have to get a replacement later...

I also started in on painting the figures but stopped since I'm going to be doing a few more figures (for other builds soon) so I'm going to hold off for a minute. Just the base coats and one wash for now ... I'm going to have plenty of figures coming up soon and I'll finish all of these up ... assembly style!

Biggest part of the update is getting the base about 90% complete. I still need to scatch a ladder and give everything an oil wash, but that's about it. Rocks are smashed up sandstone glued in place. Trees are from Woodland Scenics. Dust and dirt are ground up sandstone pieces sprinkled over the ground work after spraying it with diluted glue. Once the Hook is in place, I'll bend the trees over a bit to show movement and rotorwash.

As always, all C&C welcome ..... Thanks again for following.

Looking great. Can't wait to see more. Keep up the good work.