"Battle for Mogadishu" ***COMPLETE*** 24oct09

yeah yeah, i'll believe it when i see it!!!

I'm not saying a word ... ...

(but thanks again ....)

Working on trying to get the pilots finished up today as the stain and poly coats dry on the SEAL figure's base. Although "finished up" I'm finding is slightly tricky. I'm finding that on the OH-58D pilots, the figures I'm using for the MH-6, don't really have the tactical vests molded on the torso. Rather, they have molded seatbelts. So, instead of filing all that off, I painted the vest on, kind-of hiding, the seatbelts. When the figs go into the A/C I'm planning on adding in belts made from masking tape. I think that these will help hide the lack of detail on the torso, and will look a little more real than the molded on belts.

I'll try to post some pics once I get closer to that phase ... hopfully this afternoon. I'm ready to close the puppy up ... again!

camo junkie wrote:

we know, avus & ark helped ya out...its ok.

Who, me?

haha I hear you on the gift heads, they do look very nice- right out of the movie

we know, avus & ark helped ya out...its ok.

Stated previously, but I'll throw it out there again ....

The heads used for te D-boys are not MY custom work. I wish it was ... but I can't take credit.

Oo custom- nice

As previously stated ... the d-boys are a mixture of figure kits to include Dragon and Verlinden. The heads/ faces are custom.

All M4 variants have been pulled from different kits here and there. The best kit/ set IMO for the M4 has to be the M4 series produced by BLAST Models.

MC its looks great period, the figures are really good, and the face painting, priceless,.dont forget to drill out the grenade launcher on the m4, and if i may, where are you getting the D-boys from? ive gotta get some myself as well, and if you find a good source for m4 carbines do tell us all. great work ,calvin ng

looks great! I love the look of those AFV plastic parts- That CROW kit looks like it's worth every cent.

 

Those D-boys looks awesome, where'd you get the heads? The rolled sleeves look really good too. Looking forward to the fire extinguisher!

Awesome job there MC! coming along quite good!

It keeps going on splendidly!

I love how you diversified the figures in their pose and their gear.
I'm looking forward to see them painted!

Thanks guys. I'm pretty pleased w/ the pilots thus far. The base coat is on the uniforms, but I'm about to take off to workout. So, more work will have to come later.

The M4 w/ 203 is from AFV's M151 Remote Weapons (CROW) kit. Its actually plastic. Pretty nice detail for plastic, huh!?! I think that the kits comes w/ 2x different rifles.

Anyway, I'm hoping to get the pilots finished and strapped in w/ masking tape seatbelts, touch up some paint spots, close up the AC, mask off, spray w/ Future, decal, and respray w/ dull coat all by the end of the week. All so I can turn my attention back to the building and the base. Hopefully! ... polishing this one off in the next week 1/2 to 2x weeks.

I want to take not only this one but my HMMWV build as well to a show in late September. But, I've got to get cranking if I'm going to take both.

Awesome!  What M-4 is that (is it resin?)?  I like how the pilots look, and am definitely liking the look of the interior.  Also, the soldier with the rolled up sleeves looks pretty nice too! Once the decals go on the fire extinguisher, that thing's going to look real!

 

Take care,

Austin

nice looking figures, and ya already answered my question about hair lip harry up there. but seriously, i think those delta's will look great.

Alright, .... SOOooooo, its about time for me to put my keystrokes where my mouth is as I've been promising an *** UPDATE *** now for quite some time.

(Thanks Jeff for poking me in the side...)

Not too much to talk about as far as the bird itself goes. I've been adding a little weathering to the interior prior to the pilots going in, but that's about it. I'm still having a hard time getting over my "fear" of flying things, as I've been modeling mostly figure for awhile now. Not to mention that I picked something w/ a black paint job, and weathering that has been a HUGE learning lesson. However, I've mostly been sticking w/ getting the figures done. But, I've figured out that working the 4x D-boys has really slowed the whole progress down since all I really need to get done at the moment are the 2x pilots. Since I REALLY need those to close everything up and complete the bird itself. The D-boy riders can be added all the way up to the very end.

Here's some progress shots starting off w/ the D-boy figures. (2x shots of ea. fig)...

Here's some shots of the pilots' faces during the flesh painting process. I'm hoping to get the uniforms finished this afternoon/ evening ....

Base coats...

Dark wash ...

Blending ...

Highlighting/ finishing ...

Obviously, not all above pics are of the same face. One of the faces seems to have a bad spot in the upper lip, but I'm planning on covering that w/ one of the mics. I'm also going to be adding chin straps to the helmets for the next update.

Here's the only shot I have of the cockpit for now. Seat are repainted tan, and I've added a small strap (masking tape) that will go around the fire extinguisher after some small decals are added.

Any and all crits welcome ....

 

not a challenge...although.... . i dont have alot left to do and i need to finish so im getting there...3 1/2  (one's half painted) more figs and a pathetic attempt at weathering my hummer!!! b4 september!!

camo junkie wrote:

i can say i'll be done b4 september!!!

Hmm .... someone is trying to drag me into a challenge ....

hey...i can finish ANY time i want to!!! i just "choose" not to. the great thing is i can say i'll be done b4 september!!!

ME not finished!!! You're one to talk there, Camo!!! HAHAHAHAH!!!!!

I'm hoping that this one doesn't take too much longer. I'm not getting tired of it, I'm just not seeing the work at the end of the week .... so to speak.

Anyway, thanks again for following.....

"worked" is such a relative term chris...he still isnt finished yet! j/k scott!!

haha I do know you better than that- glad to hear the SF guys'll be getting their own MC-special. I can understand what you're saying about the 8 out of 9 lives, I still can't believe you were able to pull that surgery off, the inside of the bird looks great too so I'm glad it worked.

Thanks for those points, Chris.

Yes, I have more plans for the extinguisher. Nothing has been washed or weathered yet, and I'm getting ready to add in a few decals. I'm having to work a little slower w/ this build as since I don't normally do stuff like this, I don't want to screw up again. I think I used up 8 of my 9 lives when I seperated the fuse. halves.

Thanks for the information about the MP5s. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with that, but I'll figure something out.

As far as the casted "riders" all looking the same .... common' Chris! You know me better than that! HAHA!!!

Thanks again for the points ... right on line w/ what I've got goin.

Awesome update... very nice interior- only thing, any way you can make that fire extinguisher look less... red plastic chunk? Not a huge thing, it’s just one never really sees accurate looking fire extinguishers in tanks or helos and I think if you could give it like a little “instruction panel” and maybe make it look more metallic somehow it’d be reaaal sweet.

From what I recall from the book, at one point during the famous firefight, some of the LB copilots were actually shooting their MP5s out the window, they'd also be flying low in the street and a few times the main rotors nicked the buildings. I think the leg holster is a nice touch, and I like what you did with the folded belt strap. As for the MP5s- I think between the seat and the consol sounds somewhat familiar, it's been a long time since I read the book though and it was back in 9th grade so I'm way rusty. I'm not sure if there were two MP5s per LB or if there was only the one- all I know is they jammed frequently, the weapon needed a lot of maintenance and sand got everywhere over there and the 9mm 30(?) round stick mags are so small that they had at least 3 in the bird +1 in the gun...

I think. Again, I haven’t read that book in a while and I don’t know how 100% Mark Bowden was... So don't know if that helps lol and sorry for the confusion on the roof cutaway

The SF guys look like they’ll go together easy enough, but also 4 of a kind, I’m looking forward to seeing how you make them your own custom creations- those pilots sure do look great- nice work on the visors!!

hmm... good point. Maybe I can fashion some kind of strap from masking tape so that it looks like its supposed to go there. The only other place I can think of/ see is possibly strapped to the side of the front console.

We'll see what I come up with....

Maybe they put them next to the upright part of the seats. In the kit there seems to be enough room there. thats where i put a CAR-15 in my Loach

Thanks, Avus .... I'll take your word as expert ... enough! HAHA.

I know that Blackhawk pilots kept their M4s up above the dash, so I'm guessing that's where the MP5's went ..... but where in the (^%(*&^%)(#*^%(&^!!!!! ..... do you keep an MP5 in the little bird. Let alone, two of them! Rrrrrr ..... The only place that I see is one little spot next to the co-pilot btwn the seat and the console. The pilot's side has the collective there, so I don't know what to do there.

Thanks for your help, Avus.

It definitively was worth onpening up again: look at all the corrections you were able to make.

Regarding the sidearm, I looked through my references and it appears that in 1993 the 160th pilots didn't use side arms (neither on legs nor chest). They had a MP-5A3 or A5 for personal defence stowed in some misterious place on the helo.

Hope this doesn't qualify me as an expert since I'm not one; let's say I'm an enthusiast!

HTH

nope!

I don't know? Is it wrong one way or the other?