Dragon 1:35 UH-1H Huey WIP

Guys- Quick update... applied heavily thinned Burnt Umber oil paint to the interior.  It really helped to bring out the details especially the padded walls.  The floor is little dirty too... nobody ever see a clean floor!  

I am pondering if I should use MIG Fading Panzer grey or something to the black floor and seats to show its wear.  What would you do if you wanted to do this?  Fighting brain f@rt at this moment...

Can't wait to add the PE seat belts tonight... that's my plan!  

Great progress...looking great so far.

Thanks... happy having you stopping by!  Plenty to come... 

Andy , i dont think i would go to heavy on the wear and tear , imo . Some subtle scuffing and dust on the floor panels and uphostery would add some character .

Carl- I agree!  Gonna easy on wear and tear.  I just can not stand how clean the black floor is.  I will use just little pigment... I promise! LOL

Guys- Update... love the seat belts PE.  But it required a lot of work and I ran into my first screw up... 

I drilled holes for the seat belts too far back... now I cannot insert the seat belts thru so they could be attached to the cockpit floor.  Lesson learned... in the future I should have glued the seats in first before I drill the holes.

Oh boy my dogs were so upset about my first error...

Fortunately we really can not see those parts inside the cockpit once the helicopter body is glued together.  So I went ahead and cut the seat belts...

I think they look better now...

Now they are permanently glued inside the cockpit... 

I am so glad those seat belt PE came with the kit... I think they look great!  Nearly three hours... LOL Twelve more seat belts to go... good thing there are no shoulder straps like the first two.  

Have a good one!

Those seat belts are really nice Andy . Dont upset the "wool bags " like that , makes em shed more .

Great job on the belts.  They do really dress it up nicely.  Keep up the good work.

Those belts really make those seats pop!

Thank y'all!  I do agree that seat belts PE was worth every effort.  Even that my wife was so impressed... LOL 

In some way I am not looking forward to work on the rest of seat belts... twelve of them but I know at the end everybody will be happy.  

Guys- I think I need help... here's my question.  The seat belts for the rear cockpit comes with very tiny "O" rings PE to be attached between the wall and seat belts.  And they are coming from different sheet... not silver but gold/brass, huh?   

I think I am going to bypass those rings... they look way too fragile to keep them intact and time consuming process with a deadline approaching in three weeks.  However I'd like to see if anybody has a good picture of the seats in the rear before I make the final decision.  I am going to google for pictures now... 

 They were silver color not gold. I would just bypass them, they are really too small for that scale anyway.

Gene- Thanks!  Those 'O' rings were so fragile as I tried to cut one off the sheet but it was bent.  

Guys- Update on the seat belts... promise you will not mention 'PE' for few days or I will go CRAZY!!!

Had to do this 12 times... first, fold the four sticks onto the belt. Second, bent the edge of belt.  Third, glue the clip onto the belt.  

Oh nightmares!!!  Lost two of clips to the carpet monster.  But I still won... score was 10 to 2.

Completed...

Another Dragon screw up, there was supposed to be 14 seat belts... not 12 belts that came with the kit.  Instructions show 14 positions.  Where are those two missing seat belt PE?  So the rear row have 4 instead of 6...  

I didn't want for all belts to be uniform... some are bent or handing on the side, etc.  I need to clean few spots of excessive glue then I am finally DONE with the interior...

Thanks for tagging along!

The belts look great.  HAving them hanging all over makes them look more realistic.

Dragon actually got the number right.  The total capacity of the Huey was 14, including the two pilots.  The long bench seats sat 4 each (8), with two each on the side seats (4) , and the two pilots for a total of 14, with 12 in the back.  The usual load was 12 though, 8 troopers on the bench seats and 4 crewmen, with only the 2 gunners (1 each side) on the side seats.

 Looks great Andy!

Gene- Thanks!!!!

Gino-  I am glad I followed my instinct doing four seats on each row.  I am feeling a lot better now... thanks!  Looks like another typical DML FUBAR... below is copy of instructions.

Second row...

Third row... it shows '6' and I count five seat belts.  Huh?!?

I looked at the cockpit again this morning... I realize the seat belts look way too clean!  How would you tone down painted PE?  Oh crap, I have said the word!  I am not sure if those painted PE holds dark washes well...

Yup, the Dragon instructions are pretty goofy on the seatbelts.  It also tells you to cut off the darker shaded area of the seat and seatback???? 

For a wash on the belts, use acrylic paint.  It won't harm them at all.

OH yah Andy all of those seat belts must of been time consuming but man they knock the interior detail out of the park !

Gino- Thanks for the tip about using acrylic paint!   I applied heavily thinned light grey Vallejo paint on the seat belts.  Then I realized I could use it on the seats too and the black floor, chairs, and rods in the cockpit too.  I am pleased with the result... I forgot to take pictures of the updated cockpit.  

Carl- Thanks for the nice words!  Yes love those seat belts... glad that part is over.  I am going to attach the halves of hull together later today.

Hopefully its a good fit ......................

I pretty much only use acrylics for weathering now.  They are great for washes.

Like I said somewhere near the start of this thread, the kit has parts for a bunch of different versions, but doesn't tell you which ones to use for which version.  A few notes once you start working on the fuselage, for a US Army bird, add part # B13 (w/o cargo door), not B23.  US Army Hueys didn't have the cargo compartment.  The other parts to look out for are the myriad of antennae that are provided.  So, leave off  B16, B17, B18 (x2), B20 (x4), B24.  Also, leave off C18 and B25 (w/D4).  Lastly, use parts B14 and B15, horizontal vents, on the engine cowling.  That should do it for options.    Keep up the good work.

Gino- Thanks for the tip about parts!  You have been so helpful... how can I make it up?  

I used acrylic paint for weathering and it worked great.  Normally I use oil paint on my armors.  The cockpit has been glued to the half of body and left to dry overnight.  What's the correct word for this... canopy?  Remember I am still learning here.

Carl- Just say prayers that the fit is perfect then drink a ... that would help. 

...half of body ...What's the correct word for this... canopy?

On a helicopter or airplane, the "body" is called a fuselage.  The canopy is the plexiglass windscreen or bubble in front of or over the cockpit.

Don't worry about paying me back for the help.  That is what the forum is for.

Gino-  Thanks again!  Fuselage it is.  

Guys- Little update... the "fuselage" halves have been glued together...  the fit was almost perfect which surprised me.  I applied little amount of putty where halves met around the fuselage.  Then used Mr. Surfacer on the tail part... they are being dried at this moment.   

However there is one area I wasn't sure if I am supposed to apply putty to cover the line...

Time to go... taking my family to Cheesecake Factory for early Valentine Day.  Don't forget to take your wife out or something for her.  Maybe a model kit... 

I don't think so... my assumption it is supposed to be there and the crew can take it apart to work on the engine, correct? 

The engine cover was split at the top. The two halves were removed for inspection etc, so leave a little bit of the line there. It does look a little too big to me as is, but you do need the line.

Gene- Many thanks!  I figured it has to be there for the engine.  I think I can make the line narrower by applying Mr Surfacer 500 or 1000 or something like that.  

More to come... 

Guys- Little update on the Huey... attached the halves of fuselage together.  I was very pleased that it was almost a perfect fit.  The tail part went together just great!  Used little putty to make the surface even on the lower part of fuselage. 

Only used Mr. Surfacer on the tail to hide the seam....

That's where I spent most of work filling and sanding... 

Now it is starting to look like a Huey... 

Plan to attach the top part of fuselage.  Which color should I paint inside the engine panel where the rotor is located... I assume black?  

  Maybe this will help. The inside of most panels were actually the green color shown here. Although some had been painted OD like the front bulkhead that's behind the guy on his hands and knees.

PS, this is a UH-1B not an H.

As Gene says, the inside of almost all the non-exposed panels was zinc-chromate green.  The ZC Green was is a anti-corrosive protectant as well as a paint color.

Thanks guys!  I don't think I have this color I will see what I have. I do have many MM green paint. Drab, olive, you list it.  Can I mix it with something to make it look like that zinc color? 

You should be able to get close to ZC Green by mixing in a bit of yellow.

Gino- Thanks!!!  Will try that... I'd hate to go back to LHS just for this and it will not be much to paint for the interior wall of engine.  It looks like all wirings and pipings were in aluminum. 

Guys- Because of you guys, I had to do something crazy... I wasn't pleased with the rotor head.  Coming from Dragon, it should have been done better.  So I added some details using great drawing Mel posted earlier...

I had ModelKasten bolts and nuts set... it is a must for serious modelers.  It comes in different sizes and shapes...

Here's updated rotor head...

What do you think?  I see poor molded bolts &nuts that I can replace with the MK upgrade set.