Aaaand we have a winner!! *COMPLETED 11/7/13*

I agree - should have shimmed it up but oh well. It doesnt seem to be too bad. I slathered some Surfacer 500 on it as well as a couple of other spots to see what kind of damage I am working with and it turns out that it looks pretty good for haven't even touched it yet so it shouldn't take a whole lot of work with a round file and a bit of sandpaper to get it looking acceptable for paint. Also went ahead and snipped off the probes off the nose and smoothed that out with some sandpaper and Sur500. What I wouldnt give for a sheet of Archer rivets right now - can't afford them though just yet.

Oh yeah and that hole on the right side - leave it empty? Thought there was a part that sticks out of there a little bit or something...

Now I REALLY do have to get off this computer and go get ready for work! 

I am pretty sure that opening should stay open. Not sure what it is for. APU intake?

definitely open...

stikpusher

one more...

What is that half moon shaped opening to the lower front on the left side of the rotor mast for?

Its a cabin air intake that feeds fresh air into the cabin when the cargo doors are closed. On the inside are little directional circular vents that can be opened or closed.

My guess for the reason they are facing to the side is for rain/ water leak control. The H series were facing straight ahead and had a deflector for water control inside the intake.

That is the air vent for the Generator that is mounted to the transmission on the left side.  On H models they were facing forward under the front dog house.  

Here is a picture of a 1/35 UH-1C transmission and pylon assy that shows the side mounted black generator.

Melgyver

That is the air vent for the Generator that is mounted to the transmission on the left side.  On H models they were facing forward under the front dog house.  

No Sweat GI!  The picture of the Shark gunship is from my Unit, 174th AHC.       www.174ahc.org

Sheesh!! I was in the 175th CAC flying in H models in the 80's and early 90's. lol. I've got a pic somewhere around here!!

I just rode in them... thanks for the ride guys ;-)

mustang1989,  I was in the Reserves crewing UH-1H Medevac's in the 872nd Med Det, Cajun Medevac, out of New Iberia, LA from 1975 to 1981. Active duty 1970 to 1973.

Melgyver

mustang1989,  I was in the Reserves crewing UH-1H Medevac's in the 872nd Med Det, Cajun Medevac, out of New Iberia, LA from 1975 to 1981. Active duty 1970 to 1973.

Yes, they sure were!  I worked full time Technician at the AMSA Shop so got stick time on Test Flights and on cross country flights to and from Summer Camps.  Loved the Huey!

You'll have to zoom in on this a little but this is out of the Stars and Stripes paper at Fort Hood back in 1990 I think. Its about the only picture I have left of me with a Huey. I had a couple at my parents house but my dad went on a "cleaning spree" and burned everything that was in my me and my brother's old room. He didn't even look in the boxes. Well that's that I guess.

Bummer!  A lot of guys lost their "stuff" in divorces, spitefull wives!  I have been blessed for 37 years!  Dee had bought several nice prints(Phillips "Long Green Line") of Hueys for me and had one airbrushed on cavas from a picture I had drawn years ago.  I have three and a half picture albums from Nam.   I hope to get back to my model building after too many years away from it.  Retirement in April!

I probably have 15 of the MRC Academy 1/35 UH-1C's, 7 or 8 of the Shark kit.  Wish they would do a Delta, Hotel or Victor model!  Just went through the Bell Facility in Ozark, AL where they take old Hueys and convert them to the Huey II.   Impressive, saw an Air Force TH-1H  that was a 1968 airframe.  All glass cockpit and upgraded to the 212 drive train.   Engine is an upgraded T-53 still.  Can't tell the difference from looking at it.   Some even had the 212 noses put on them, others standard nose.    

Thanks for sharing all your histories! This is awesome stuff - and thank you guys for your service 

Didn't get a ton done today but I did pop out those horrible windows and cut my own. Haven't installed them yet but did get them dry-fitted. Looking good! Nice, thin, clear plastic. As you can see I started to sand down the kit windows but they just looked so horrible and I figured it couldnt hurt to at least try cutting new windows and they came out good.

I might re-do the angled window on the right side - you can see I didn't get a good straight cut on it. Looks ok in dry-fit but I think it can be done better.

I cut them as they would appear lowered, thanks to mustang's suggestion. Looks very cool. Will probably wait until after painting is done to install them but I am not sure yet. Suggestions?

Also worked on blending the filter to the fuselage. Probably isnt 100% correct but I wanted to at least make it look good.

Good going there buddy! Lookin great!!!

Major progress today - I got the majority of the paint job done!!

Sprayed Mr. Surfacer 1200, mixed 50/50 with Mr. Leveling Thinner for a base coat.

For the first time, I tried pre-shading. This stuff is FUN!! Used Tamiya Flat Black, also thinned 50/50, and hit all the panels, vents, and shadow spots. 

Then I shot the main color - Tamiya Olive Green, again thinned 50/50. What a great result! I will definitely be preshading most of my kits from now on! I am really excited about getting this thing done - I didn't think it would be, but all that hard work is worth it and I am even thinking abot possibly building one of these for myself... wait a minute what's wrong with me?? Must be all the lacquer thinner...

Got it sealed up in some Future - going to give it a couple days to cure and I will start detail painting, decaling, and weathering. Gotta say, I am pretty proud of how this thing is turning out! 

That looks awesome Todd. Love that flat finish!!! You get a definite thumbs up from one of "the ol' UH-1 crewchiefs" !!!!

Todd, that finish is first-class! The preshading worked a treat.

Thanks for the encouragement, guys! Started on detailing, weathering, and decaling. Whipped up some home made decals this morning for all the markings and just now got them applied. The nose decals are very thick because they are doubled up (There are two identical decals laying one on top of the other) in order to bring out the colors more thoroughly. They are also still soaking in Microsol so they are showing up a lot more wrinkled than they will be once the Sol is done doing it's job. Once that is done, all the "MP" lettering (nose and side doors) will get touched up along with the unit markings. I think this is most of the decaling that I will be doing - Just need to add the cockpit door badges (same one that's on the nose). Other than that, I just have more weathering and detail painting to do.

I am calling this one done! Had some time this morning to work on my "toys" as my wife calls them, and I knocked out the Huey! After taking pictures I did notice that I need to do the lights and wipers but other than that, we are done with this thing. I have to do the base, still, but that is just a matter of a quick sanding, staining, and sealing.

I am happy with the results - Couldve done better in some respects but I really wanted to just get this done and move on to my other projects.

I'll quit the chatter and post the pics. I'll re-post this over at the Helicopters forum too with a summary of what we've got here :)

Looks really good! One small ctitique- the rocket warheads should be OD with Aluminum or some similar metallic color fuse on the tips.

There aint NOTHIN wrong with that!!! That looks really good. I'm liking the windows down on the pilots and co-pilots doors too!

stikpusher - thanks for the input. I am going to leave this on the shelf as-is. As far as accuracy is concerned, there are a ton of things that could be changed. Starting with the fact that 18th did not have any gunships lol

Thanks mustang! Kudos to you for the idea