Helicopter Group Build 2009

Thanks JM! The kit itself builds fairly easily. The biggest snags have been due to the beat up condtion of the kit box when I bought it. Most of the fit has been good to this point. We shall see about the clear parts. Now it looks like a Kiowa at least. I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Looking good so far, Stikpusher! 

You're on the home stretch. I know those Italeri kits can be rough sometimes... how's this one?

Yeterday after I took those pics, I glued the fuselage halves together. This morning was sand the seams and putty a few sink marks and seam areas. In the afternoon I sanded the putty, rescribed lost panel lines and then glued on the tail boom and skids. Here are a couple pics, plus a view of the main rotor placed on the mast.

Almost ready for the base coat of OD.

The intereior has now been painted, washed and drybrushed.

Engine top (transmission?) and upper surface of cabin roof

front view of crew area

upper side view

instrument panel

IP and cabin roof in place

I like the CG markings, and the plastic does look pretty good.

I fell a little behind this past week with my builds , lot's of running around getting the family organized for Christmas , better than leaving everything to last minute , like i've usually done in the past .

Anyway the Hobbyboss HH-60J Jayhawk arrived today , so I'm excited about getting her started .

I like the look and feel of the plastic , there is also some nice cockpit and interior cabin seating and I much prefer the landing gear arrangment .

Overall I think it's much better than Italeri's offering , so tonight i'll start cutting parts from the sprue , some glueing and a little airbrushing and hopfully get the cabin section well under-way .

                                           John .

*Sorry... double post and I can't figure out how to delete it.  

I wanted to thank everyone for the kind words... much appreciated. I usually don't dive that deep into something but I figured I was building with the pros this time around. Plus this was my first helicopter and my first group build so I didn't want to disappoint. 

Thanks again!                 

Aaronw

 ...after about 10 minutes I start to get a headache.

Funny you mention that Aaron because I have the same problem. The small text doesn't help but I think the green is my problem. The closer you get to the blue spectrum, the harder it is for the eyes to focus. I find myself squinting to read the green titles.

Jeremy, the Hind looks great.

I also hope they get these forum issues fixed, I'm not hear nearly as much as I was before either. It is becoming a chore to use the site making it more like work than fun, after about 10 minutes I start to get a headache.

Jeremy....AWESOME!

Great job on that build!

Keep 'em coming!

Justin

I never noticed it until you called it out... the writing is TINY... I had to use a magnifier to read it The larger lettering is "Augusta Bell", and the smaller is "Jet" and what is probably suposed to be "Ranger", but can not be read, even with the magnifier.

John, you are the helicopter building machine! Sorry to read about the problems on Italeri's HH-60.

Your Hind is simply AWESOME, Jeremy! I really like how the faded paint turend out.

jmabx

Klaus - I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for my digi cobras... now get crackin'!

Thanks for your interest!

I think it clear to all now that I won't be done with these two helos for the deadline, BUT don't be afraid as I'll keep you all posted here and in the Helo-section.

And now ... TA-DA ... the canopy as it is now:

Basic shape is done, though it seems to me the bulge on the sides are a little too pronounced.
I have to fill some gaps, add the frame and all the surface details.

Jeremy, your Hind came out gorgeous! A superb build!

Jeremy , Your Mi-24 is absolutly perfect . The paint finish is awesome especially around the canopy frame , so is the subtle panel line wash and the cockpit is just amazing . I may build lot's of helicopters but quanity is no subsitute for quality .

Well done Sir

Kind regards ...  John

NICE!!!  Outstanding build Jeremy.

Jeremy

Awesome build man, I was watching your helo from the begining.

You realy earn this badge!!

Jeremy, it's been fun to watch this build come together, and it is indeed a fine build, congratulations.  I've posted that first image to the front page. 

I think we'll see the site speed up with time.  It has gotten better, but every once in a while I hit a real speed bump.

But, like the buzzard,  we all feel like saying "Patience, Hell, I'm gonna go out and kill something!"

John - You're like a one man helo factory! 

Well the Hind is finished... 1/48 Revell Mi-24.  Alot of work in this kit and it looks pretty good for my first helicopter.

Hope you all like her!

Probably won't be seeing much of me anymore due to the changes on these forums. Fifteen minute ordeal just to make this post doesn't fly with me. I'll check in from time to time to see how you fine gentlemen are progressing and hopefully things will improve here.

Klaus - I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for my digi cobras... now get crackin'!

I'm equally angry with myself as I am with the Italeri HH-60 kit . Mainly because I decided to build four of these birds at the same time and made the same mistake with the landing gear struts four time over .

I was able to remove the short landing gear strut from the completed fuselage build and using some needle files , I filed a small half round section of the underside of the fuselage so I could straighten the landing gear strut , so it doesn't look too splayed outwards .

I'll also file down the length of the short gear strut as that may have also contributed to the helo leaning to one side . I've also cut away the locating pin on the lower nose section on the other three fuselage halves , so hopfully the fit of the two halves will be better , especially around the nose section when I glue the next three together .

I ordered a Hobbyboss HH-60J Jayhawk from Tower Hobbies there in the US , the kit should arrive in about a weeks time and I'll start on her straight away .

                                                                     John

I hate those kinds of problems, especially on a kit from a maker like Italeri, I jist don't expect it to happen on a recent kit.  Drilling and pinning might fix it if you have the patience on the gear, looks like you fixed the cabin alignment.

The Revell SA-365 Dolphin seems to fit together reasonably well , the only thing I did differently was to attatch the seperate cabin roof section to the engine housing first and then glue that section to the fuselage halves , everything appears to line up better .

I'm quite disappointed and frustrated with the fit of Italeri's HH-60 ; It was a real struggle to get the fuselage halves to line up , it appears that the alignment pin on the lower nose part of the fuselage half seems to be the main culprit , it stops the top of the nose section halves from finishing flush when you glue the two fuselage halves together .

Also I din't pay much attention to the landing gear struts when I fist glued them in place , other than making sure the wheel lugs were a right angles to the fuselage , however they splay out at too far from the fuselage and simply doesn't look right , not to mention that the helo has a shocking lean  to the starboard

I'm seriously thinking about buying Hobbyboss's USCG HH-60J Jayhawk , I'm just not happy about Italeri's HH-60 , STUFF-IT , I'll build them as U.S.Navy birds and go and buy a Hobbyboss kit , For a USCG Helo italeri's offering just isn't up to scratch

                                                                      John

Matt - Thanks for the extra Ka-50 pics... love that thing!

Ugh... I'm so slow.   I feel as if I've been working on this old Hind forever. I'm getting close to finished though.... or it looks like it anyway. I still have a list of things yet to do on it but I'm shooting for next weekend if all goes well. Here is how she sits at the moment...

Isn't that crack just a part of the weathering?

polak wrote:

SH*T happens!! huh?...

jmabx wrote:

Matt - That Ka-50 is awesome! Got any more picture of it? I've been looking for one in 1/48 since I started this group build... elusive creature.

My kit was a Revell of Germany kit, believe that I bought it several years ago, haven't seen one since, maybe you might find one on Ebay?

Here are a couple more pictures:

Thanks for the kind words.

Matt

Polak - That stinks! Can you get a replacement from Academy?

Matt - That Ka-50 is awesome! Got any more picture of it? I've been looking for one in 1/48 since I started this group build... elusive creature.

Polak -Man that has to hurt!!!  As was mentioned by Avus here is what I did when I lost a part of the canopy to my Ka-50.

Although in my build there wasn't too much detail that was worth showing off in the cockpit, so you might have to look into a replacement part.

Jeremy - the Hind is looking awsome!!  And all the other builds are looking sweet as well.

Matt

Thanks John and Jeremy!

It seems you got quite a helo-library, John.

"Lock 'n load", Jeremy! Looks great.

OUCH, Polak! Someone, somewhere, somewhen damaged the winshield of his Ka-35 and his trick was to make a small dio showing his helo with a protective canvas covering the glass.

SH*T happens!! huh?...

jmabx wrote:

Nice work Klaus!   You are definitely a brave one! The extra work will really pay off I think. Little bits of progress here and there on the Hind for me. Tonight, I made her earn that squat in the rear...

WOW Jeremy !!!!

Is that what they mean when they say she's "FULLY LOADED"

                            John .