Dragon 1:35 UH-1H Huey WIP

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

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.

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

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.

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...

 Looks great Andy!

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.

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!

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

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... 

Those belts really make those seats pop!

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

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

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!

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 .

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

Great progress...looking great so far.

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!  

OK , i dont need the number . I was wanting to know if it was a wash with oils but i see you were speaking about the head rest with the wash . Looks like it could of been a bit tediouse . Gotta get it correct though .

Hey buddy!  I used same paint that was used for the cockpit... Model Master enamel "Aircraft Interior Black".  I can not remember the number... I think I took a picture of it and posted here earlier.  It offered softer tone of black which I liked... that's why I bought it for the Huey.  

Andy , what did you use to blacken the I.P. ?

LOL!  Thanks Oddmanrush!  Happy to have you tagging along.  I have both OCD and ADHD... bad combination!  I try to take modeling seriously especially this time because it is my first commission build for my friend's 50th birthday and he will be happy if I do it correctly especially his wife who is paying for all of this.  Of course no labor fee... I will never charge my good friends especially a veteran!  

Guys here have been big help especially Gino and Gene!  I look forward to finish this build in 2-3 weeks before the birthday party.  

Lookin' good Andy! Nice attention to detail! I like to follow WIPs like this where people chime in and builders take their advice / input seriously! Well done!

Thanks Gino!  I am feeling a lot better now... however after studying the great pictures of the panels you posted earlier I noticed how shiny the glasses were.  So I applied drops of Future on the panel... 

BEFORE...

AFTER...

I probably will apply another drop of Future after work.  Like Carl said, hope we will be able to see much of the interior after the fuse are glued together.  I plan to keep the rear doors open... 

Again, thanks for looking! 

Great job.  The IP looks really nice.  Much better.

Gino-  like I said earlier I know very little about helicopters but I have learned so much since I started this kit.  Guess what I did do tonight.  

Applied washes of dark green... They look better now. 

And...

I couldn't leave the instrument panels alone... Figured it will bug me for rest of my life so I went ahead and painted them black. LOL  Also Cleaned up paint around the details.

Hope you guys like the improved look now.  Now highlighting is next...

Glad it doesn't seem I am picking on your build.  Dragon left them grey since they are representing a Vietnam UH-D/H with the kit.  Grey is correct for that era.  I think you could paint around the instruments carefully with black and it would look good.  It's up to you though. 

The headrests should also be green.  They had a removable fabric cover.

Keep plugging away, it is looking great.

Carl- Overlooked your comment!  Thanks buddy!  More to come with couple of changes... 

Guys- I forgot to ask you this question... 

What color should I use for the head rests?  I am not sure if I used the correct term.  I added an arrow to help you what I am talking about.  Right now I am leaving them as black until I know the correct color.  

Thanks again!  

Gino- Bearer of bad news?  Hope you are kidding me!  I am very happy to have you here helping me with my build.

About the instrument panel PE, why did Dragon use grey instead of black?!?!?  I don't think I will be able to paint black on those panels without ruining them.  For now I will leave them alone and explain Bob why if he asks me.  Let's hope he will have one too many during his birthday party to notice it right away.    Nah, I will just tell him after the party if he hasn't... LOL 

For the seats, yes you are correct.  I used your WIPs as my references ALOT and I am not sure why they look so brownish in the pictures.  I used my new iPhone 4s.  They are more greenish as I used LifeColor Olive Drab.  However I do agree they look too light now.  It will not be a problem for me to paint darker green and they will look darker after couple of dark washes using Burnt Umber oil paint.  

Thanks again for your feedback! 

It is looking good.  One issue though, on the black (NVG-compatible) cackpit, the instrument panels should also be black, not grey.  Also, the seats should be more of a dark green, not OD.  Sorry to keep being the bearer of bad news.