Dragon 1:35 UH-1H Huey WIP

Gene- I think my kit comes with PE wire cutter. I will take a picture and post it here so you can verify if it is the correct one. 

Gino- I almost ordered that upgrade set when I ordered the M60 set but it was asking for $26.  I'd hate to ask the wife to cough up more money but I will see what I can do.  Will it be very obvious that the helicopter isn't 'H' if I don't get that upgrade set? 

Now I am leaning toward to dark green.  I almost bought that bottle of MM Helo drab when I was at the shop today... it looked very dark.  I am sure that he flew those dark green too.  Sorry my mistake... it was Interior not International.  Good catch there! 

I have been working on the Huey today... I haven't dealt with clear plastic that much because I have been building armors since my return.  There are brass wipers to be attached to the windsheild.  I am aware you can not use CA glue or it will fog it up.  What do you use? 

Here's my set of glues... best shot would be Testor Clear Cement I used for the windows on the Huey.  But is it strong enough to hold the wipers too?

 Again thank you for your help.  I lost count how many beer I owe you guys...

But wasn't the "tolet bowl" replaced by the IR strobe device by the 80s?

No, they were used together to defeat heat seaking/IR missiles.  The ALQ-144 "Disco Ball" protects against infrared homing missiles by creating multiple apparent sources of heat radiation.  The toilet bowl dissipates the hot exhaust by blowing it up into the rotor wash.

The toilet bowl is coming back into vogue on Blackhawks and Apaches, now called the more politically correct "sugar scoop" exhaust.

UH-60M

AH-64D

The reason you didn't see the scoop much in the late '80s and '90s is because we weren't in any shooting wars and hi-tech was being used over the good old tried and true low tech scoops.  We get into a shooting war in Iraq and A'stan and the low tech scoops are coming back.  Go figure.

Will it be very obvious that the helicopter isn't 'H' if I don't get that upgrade set? 

None of the ASE are specifically H features.  They are just later, '80s features used on H models to make them more survivable and were lessons learned from late in Vietnam and the Russian experience in A'stan in the '80s where their helos were brought down easily by US Stinger IR missiles.

The wire strike kits pieces are in the kit as both plastic and PE part.  The other parts in the ASE set look good, but are not necessarily "must haves" for an '80s UH-1H.  Its up to you. 

 For gluing the clear parts, I do use superglue.  Just use it very sparingly and go easy with it and yo should be good.

Andy ...................

Carl- Thanks buddy! Happy to have you tagging along...

Gino- Really appreciate your feedback.  I can always build another helicopter if Bob (the guy who flew) wants another one and is willing to pay more than his wife has paid so far.    Thanks for the tip about using CA... I will do just to the wipers only.  Planning to glue the wipers before I have the windshield attached to the helicopter body so it will not affect others... 

Now I REALLY NEED your help!  I am pretty familiar dealing with Dragon instructions... I believe it is my fourth Dragon kit.  BUT this time I am really at loss... I have no idea what those are for. 

I think they are for the center top part of the rotor? 'C30' in the diagram doesn't even look like the actual part itself... 

  The "C30" part is the "stabilizer bar" that goes on top of the rotor system. It's on all Hueys except the Cobra which had electronic stabilizer system. The parts shown are cover plates over the attachment points for the actual bars. Don't worry about the picture, it isn't a complete picture of the bar, but that's what it is anyway. It looks like you could just leave the molded detail if you want and not use the PE part, up to you.

Gene

Gene- THANKS!  Believe it or not the kit part wasn't even molded with details... so I used the PE.  I think it is missing details in the center.  

Guys- Update on my Huey... safe to say most of assemble part is over.  I will add exterior details once the main body is glued together.  I plan to prime the interior tonight so I can start painting the interior.  

Have to say this part nearly drove me nuts.  I cut and sanded a piece to fit inside and hold the circle part and it helped!  

Take a good look at the top part of rotor (right now it is at the bottom in the picture below)... I think the center part is missing details.  I will look at PE sheets to see if Dragon forgot to include something in the instructions.  It happened before...

That was probably the easiest part...

It is how my Huey look right now... 

Again, thanks for looking and your support.  It has been fun so far! 

Nice details Andy .

Andy;  I'm not sure what you mean by the center part missing. The stabilizer bar had the bars on each side with weights on the ends, but the center section was frames on each side but the middle was open. Here's a photo of a model I have:

Does that answer your question?

Gene

Note: this is a UH-1C so there are slight differences in the rotor. Also these kits may not have all the detail that was actually there. 

Carl- Thanks man!  Oh wait a minute, you are trying to milk from me.  I am not falling for that... LOL Nah, only kidding... trust me I am happy you are tagging along.  

Gene- That's nice looking Huey!!!   Where can I find your thread if you have posted a WIP here?  If not, maybe photo bucket website?  According to the instructions it showed more details on the stabilizer but on the actual styrene part it was just all plain.  I know how bad Dragon is with its instruction so I thought I'd check with you guys.  I can take a better picture of the stabilizer when I have the chance... 

Naw , i wouldnt give you a complement just to get you to take a beer  off of the IOU list Andy ......................why , would that work ?

deafpanzer

Gene- That's nice looking Huey!!!   Where can I find your thread if you have posted a WIP here?  If not, maybe photo bucket website?  According to the instructions it showed more details on the stabilizer but on the actual styrene part it was just all plain.  I know how bad Dragon is with its instruction so I thought I'd check with you guys.  I can take a better picture of the stabilizer when I have the chance... 

 

 That ones not something I did. It's another one done by Joe Kline, the aviation artist. I'm just trying to get back to building a little now after a very long break. I've got severe COPD and most of the fumes really get to me. I'm trying to do only acrylics, extra ventilation, etc to work on a Liberty ship model right now, but it's going slow. Anyway, the model Joe built for me several years ago is one of the UH-1Cs I flew in Nam. Here's a link to some pictures:

http://238awc.org/joe2/joe3.html

 Only thing Joe is a little slack on is weathering, it looks a bit too clean! He also did my Cobra:
http://238awc.org/joe2/joe1.html

 He did them for me back before I retired and got the idea to try to start building some myself again.

Gene

Nice work going on there Andy   !  Not sure how I missed you starting this thread but I'll be watching it closely.  My first helo ride was in one of these and I've been hooked ever since.  Just remember panzer grey or dark yellow isn't the appropriate paint scheme for one of these "winged" creatures!

Carl- Dig your expanded banner at the bottom of your signature!  

Gene- Joe did nice jobs on the helicopters.  You flew Cobra too?  I am like you... I like to weatherize my builds and I don't think I will do much for this build because helicopters were usually kept in clean good condition especially in West German where he was based.  Hope I am correct?   

Ace-  Thanks!  Happy to have you tagging along.  You didn't miss much my actual WIP started a week ago or two.  Before that I was just gathering information to buy and build a right kit... those guys have been so helpful.  

Guys- Update on my Huey... doing the masks on windows make me grateful that armors don't have many windows!!!    I had the interior primed... used rattle can this time.  Normally I use airbrush but just for a small part it would be pain in butt to clean up the AB afterward.  I will use Mr Surfacer as primer on the exterior when it is ready.  

Better picture of the rotor... hope it looks OK.  Hope I am not missing something especially on the stabilizer part.

Guess what has arrived yesterday... the package from Cobra Company.  M60 gun sets...

Looking at it made me realize the rod holding the gun isn't inside but attached to the exterior part of the helicopter!  Always learning something... 

Andy;

Your right that it won't need any real "weathering", but it also shouldn't be "gloss" either. If you look closely at the pictures of my Cobra that Joe built, you will notice that the front edge of the rotor blades and tail rotor show "wear" where the paint is missing. This was the case on all Hueys I flew unless the blades were brand new. I don't know if you want to try to do that on yours, but it does make it look much more real. I'll post pictures if you need them.
  The M-60 is mounted on a standard weapons mount that attaches to the aircraft below the track forthe door. That way you can still close the door even with the gun mounted, but it leaves the gun outside so that was rarely ever done!
  The rotor looks great! the inside of the stabilizer bar included the attachments for the control rods and then the attachments to the rotors. It was somewhat complex and at this scale the models just don't show all the parts that well. In case your interested, the stabilizer bar actually controlled the the movement of the rotorhead. The inputs from the controls were applied 90 degrees before . That is to tilt it forward, it applied the force on the right side. gyroscopic precession then took over and the movements actually took place in the correct direction. I know it sounds crazy, but try it with a gyroscope, that's how it works!
  Yes I also flew Cobras. The model is of my favorite aircraft, and it actually is the same aircraft that appears on the back cover of Squadron's "Gunslingers In Action" book, but the date on that book is wrong. It got teh name "Pandora's Box" in 1970, not 72. I flew that one on "special OTB missons" in 71.
  Keep up the good work, your friend is going to be really happy with the finished model!

Gene

Looking good so far.  The Cobra Company sets are pretty nice, aren't they.  Keep up the good work. 

Attached a drawing of the UH-1B main rotor head and pylon assy.  Only difference is the counter weights on grips. 

This is a shot pf a UH-1C rotor head but the only difference besides the hub and blades is the damper arms attach on the opposite side of the stab bar on the UH-1H.

I planned on robbing the pylon assy and stab bar from the MRC UH-1C kit and using the M/R hub from Cobra Co. backdate to a B set. when I build my "H" model.

Sorry this info is late, I haven't been on FSM as much as I used to.   First grand child arrived last month! 

Gene- Thanks!  I think my friend will be one happy man next month.  It is great that you flew Cobra too.  I always thought those was real cool looking helicopter when I was young.  

I agree with you... I am not fan of clean builds.  I love them dirty or weatherized.  Here's my last two builds in case you haven't seen my work before.  I am into armors so this is my first serious helicopter WIP.  Really appreciate help from you guys!

M24 Chafee

Panzer IV Ausf H

I will just weatherize the Huey a bit... 

Gino- Thanks man!  Glad you like my process so far... still long way to go.   Yes very nice resin set from Cobra company... no question about that.  I hope I will not screw up... so many parts each sides.  I didn't realize how tiny M60 gun was... at first I thought 'oh no they sent me the wrong scale but it was in 1:35.'

Mel- Thanks for the great drawing of the rotor.  My kit part is all blank on both sides so it looks like I need to add some details using leftover brass PE if possible.  Congrats about your first grandchild!!!

Quick update... sprayed MM Interior Black inside the Huey.  I am so glad I bought the bottle by mistake earlier but it was perfect for the interior.  Not too black.  I hope to start to paint the details tonight if I am not too tired.

Another item arrived today... the patch I boughy via eBay. 

The wife said it was a perfect match.  She sent me some pictures... it made me realize I am missing the top part so I ordered it too from same seller for only $3.50.

Is this his unit insignia?  I couldn't find it anywhere on eBay even google.  Is there a good website that sells military patches?

Thanks for looking!

The cabin is looking good so far.  The aircraft interior black is a nice color.

The 193d Aviation Company emblem isn't usually a patch.  You probably won't find it as such.  His unit shoulder patch would have been the 193d Infantry BDE patch that you have pictured above.  The one with the bird is the unofficial company emblem that they would have had painted outside the unit areas and such.  You may be able to find it on google as clipart or you could copy it if you can find it on something flat.

193rd also has a page on facebook that has some photos including the company emblem. There are also picts of some of the aircraft. In Nam we wore the Company patch on right pocket of the flight suit, but it looks like they did not do that.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=105777329933&v=wall#!/photo.php?fbid=1701533471532&set=o.105777329933&type=1&theater

HeavyArty

The cabin is looking good so far.  The aircraft interior black is a nice color.

The 193d Aviation Company emblem isn't usually a patch.  You probably won't find it as such.  His unit shoulder patch would have been the 193d Infantry BDE patch that you have pictured above.  The one with the bird is the unofficial company emblem that they would have had painted outside the unit areas and such.  You may be able to find it on google as clipart or you could copy it if you can find it on something flat.

Gino- now this makes sense... Thank you so much!  One of guys mentioned about making the emblem himself in Facebook Gene recently found. 

 Looks like there's a change of plan... In Facebook group of Bob's unit that Gene listed, one of pictures shows both white and black interior?  I will post the puncture in a minute...

It is probably a medium grey interior.  I have never seen a Huey with a white interior. 

GeneK

193rd also has a page on facebook that has some photos including the company emblem. There are also picts of some of the aircraft. In Nam we wore the Company patch on right pocket of the flight suit, but it looks like they did not do that.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=105777329933&v=wall#!/photo.php?fbid=1701533471532&set=o.105777329933&type=1&theater

 

Gene- how in the world did you find the Facebook page of his unit?  You are going to laugh at this... I see Bob in few pictures. No kidding... I hope he doesn't find this thread. LOL

That's Bob in that FB group...

I am hoping that he has an extra embalm of his company so he can add to the set after he gets it.

Thank you so much for finding the FB page.  I see few great pics and I am going to use them as reference. 

Yes you are correct it looks like grey.  Front part of the interior still looks black to me.  Here's the picture from Bob's FB group I am going to use...

Was the front door only black or would it be safe to say that all of the front interior was black too?  Then I will paint the back half med or light grey?

 Also I just noticed that the roof (top) was actually black too? 

Oh boy, after looking at all pictures at Facebook group... they all had "toilet bowl" whatever you call.  Gino recommended to buy this set...

Hope I am looking at the right set.  It isn't too expensive... $12 plus shipping.  The wife said go ahead and do whatever to make it work... ain't she great?  She is very excited about this after telling her I am getting plenty of help here. 

Andy .....................

Andy

  I have seen the small door in front of the main door have a different color on the inside since it was easily replaced when someone hit it with something. I suspect that is the case here, that it just hasn't been repainted. I just ran across that facebook page when searching for the unit. I was hoping they had a regular web page but I guess not. Anyway it also gives you some good info for uniforms if you have crewmen with the kit. The black on the top of the aircraft was non-skid walkways and did not cover the whole top. Let me see it I can find a better photo of that, it was on all Hueys.

gene

OK look at the pictures of my brother's model. Joe was a crew chief on UH-1Hs by the way. The picts show the non-skid section well.

http://238awc.org/joe2/joe2.html

That is a good pic of the aircraft.  The interior looks to be two-tone.  Only the cockpit was required to be flat black for NVG compatability.  The rear cabin was often left medium grey.  Modern UH-60 Blackhawks are still in this two-tone fasion with a black cockpit and grey rear cabin.  If you look at the rear floor and the pillar behind the crew, they look grey as well.  I think only the cockpit was black on this one, which was/is a common practice. 

The CC Anti-Strela kit is good, but incomplete.  I recommend the Fireball Modelworks ASE set.  It is more complete and just as good as CC sets.  It is 1/32, but will fit the Dragon 1/35 kit without issues.  I used parts of it on my WSMR SAR UH-1H.  It is only a few bucks more than the CC set too.

For the walkway on the roof, the Dragon kit has the area that gets painted black as a smooth section without panel lines or rivets.

By the way Andy, if you look at the model Joe did for my brother, don't get confused by the floor of the cargo compartment. My brother's aircraft had a sheet of plywood covering the floor which is not standard, but Joe added it to the model. That's why it looks different.