Helicopter Group Build 2009

jmabx wrote:

Klaus - Lookin' good so far! After seeing your Pave Hawk in the Helicopter forum, I can't wait to see how this one turns out. Still considering the digital camo?

Thanks Jeremy!
Yes, I'm still thinking of painting one in digital camo and the other one in standard two tone gray ... that is IF I get to work on them!

Your Hind is proceeding very well; that cockpit looks awesome.

rotorwash wrote:

If it's not too late to join up ...

NOOOOO! Don't let him in: he'll fill his posts with pictures of helos he has seen!

Just kidding, I'm only envious that you get to see all those helos. It's great to have you aboard, Ray.
This will be an interesting model just like the firefighter you made last year.

Thanks Ray and Klaus... you're too kind!

Before I show you the small amount of work I did on the Hind... let me tell you what I know about helicopters. Almost nothing! Most of what I know is info gathered right here in this group build.

#1

lewbud wrote:

Actually, they don't fly.  The earth is repelled by their ugliness.

#2

darson wrote:

Helicopters don't fly, they beat the air into submission.

#3

How to sit inside of one and look like a complete idiot who is so afraid of the ugliness and the beating that he is trying to pull his head into his neck like a turtle... all the while trying to smile for the camera like "it's cool man".

Now that you understand my vast knowledge of helicopters, here's what I have done. This "piece" just looked too plain. I felt that it needed to look a little busier. It has now received the jmabx patented 100% inaccurate makeover. Ahhh... looks much better!

My brother is in town for the week so I may not get much done besides drinking. He's a cool guy... big into RC airplanes. He just can't figure out why I spend my time building all these tiny little planes that don't even fly!

Jeremy,

  No way man, THIS is how you sit in a Huey and look like a complete idiot:

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You'll note I don't even have the good sense to grab the collective!

By the way, the Hind part looks great.  

   Ray

HAHA! That's great Ray!

I've definitely got ya beat in the idiot department though!  Must be your hat... only a few people can handle that look in a Huey...

As for the collective... I just grabbed it 'cause I was scared!

Avus wrote:

NOOOOO! Don't let him in: he'll fill his posts with pictures of helos he has seen!

Well Klaus... looks like he's already started!

The thread ended up on page two. This can't be so let me "bump" it up to page one!

jmabx wrote:

Avus wrote: NOOOOO! Don't let him in: he'll fill his posts with pictures of helos he has seen! Well Klaus... looks like he's already started!

I hate to say it, but ... I told you so!

I don't know the Hind that good, but your "100% inaccurate makeover" looks good to me.

Thanks for the comments on my Hind "piece", Ray and Klaus! It's just some styrene strip and rod and a little copper wire to add some flavor! 

And thanks for keeping us on the front page, Klaus!

I'll help to keep us up there by throwing out a small update on the Hind.

It's not much, but I got this little dude painted up in aluminum. Once that was dry, I gave it a light wash of thinned black artist acrylic. Before the black wash was completely dry, I followed up with a heavy wash of raw umber to give it a little blend. I was hoping to get the look of hydraulic oil stains and just general dirtiness and nastiness. (These things do work off of hydraulic fluid, right?) I think it came out lookin' a-okay!

Let me know what you think. (wrong approach?.. done something different?.. add something to it?.. etc) 

Avus wrote:

This will be an interesting model just like the firefighter you made last year.

Ray... do you have a link to this build? I tried to find it but came up short. I'm very curious to see your firefighter!

Jeremy,

  That part looks beautiful!  

   My old Huey biuld is buried over at ARC in the Group Builds.  here's the link:

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=167567

 Ray

Again, don't know if it's accurate but I like it!
It looks corretly stained.

Jeremy,

That's looking good.  If you want to go hogwild on the rotor head let me know, I've got pics of three-one damaged, one that's possibly rebuildable and one that's flight worthy.  They're of the bottom of the head, but you can have some fun with it.  Same with the tail rotor.  Don't know if that kit comes with engines, but I got pics of one of those as well.  Let me know and I'll put em up with the rest of the pics.

Thanks everyone!

Ray, that is a cool Huey! Never seen a firefighter before! Nice!

Buddy, that would be cool! The rotor head on this kit looks like it was molded with the mold halves misaligned. I'll be spending some time on it trying to make it look decent, so why not add something to it! Good times!

The kit does have an engine, but it's a lost cause. I had to cut the front of it off just to get the intakes to fit on the body! I also cut the exhaust pipes off of it... got a little something else in the works.  

Cavtanker - If you don't mind, post some pics of your pilots. I've been thinking about doing something with mine but I've only done one pilot figure and he was 1/32 scale. I could definitely use some help with figures.

I finally managed to close up the fuselage. The troop cabin seemed way too wide and the two halves didn't want to close up around it. I had to clamp it so tightly that I thought I was going to shatter the plastic! She fought me tooth and nail! The old Hind is going to need alot of work to clean up the seams!

There were three vents on the tail that I opened up. After making the necessary hole, I thinned the plastic from the inside with a file (no power tools here ) and super glued some "screen" inside.

Used the same old faucet screen on this vent that I used on the one next to the exhaust.

These two got a screen made out of an old Christmas ribbon... worked perfectly! If you look closely at the one on the left, you can almost see some of the detail that I added behind it. I got a little crazy with the one on the right... still got some fixing to do on it but it will be okay. Also notice the perfectly executed Ambroid fingerprint! I have practiced this technique many times and I think that I have finally mastered it!

Added a little detail to the other side to busy things up some. Almost a mirror of the Ambroid fingerprint, on this side we have the elusive Ambriod thumbprint. Seldom photographed in the wild, I managed to capture her on film for a rare treat!

She's starting to look like a helicopter!

JD - Hope you're doing well! Can't wait to see your old commie bird finished!

Jeremy,

The pics of the Hind's engine, tail and main rotor heads are up.  They can be found on pages 3-4 at  http://public.fotki.com/lewbud/helicopters/mi-24-hind-1/   Hope they're helpful.

Well, I got off to a late start after hemming and hawing about where best to begin.  I've ben out of the plastic modeling genre for a few years, and was only in it for a short period then after many years away.  I've wanted to have a model of the UH-1N's that I flew in during my (too) short stint as a Flight Engineer in the Air Force.  I'm building Panda's 1/35 scale UH-1N basically OOB, with the exception of some decals which I'm trying to have made.  I started yesterday on the cabin interior mainly relying on my fading memory, and some pics posted elsewhere in the Helicopter forums.  Not yet the quality I'd like to produce, but it'll improve with more projects.  Alright, enough babbling.  Here's the pics:

Buddy - Thanks for more reference material! The engine is a definite no-go for me. I wish I had taken pics of how everything fit together between the engine, engine cover, and fuselage halves... disgusting! Hope you didn't take those pics just for me.

I will definitely reference the main and tail rotorheads. The tail rotor on the kit looks pretty nice as is, but I think I can help it out a little bit. The main rotorhead is a disaster! I don't know what to do with it! Your pics will really come in handy there... already been studying them like a good boy!

Tango Juliet - Can I call ya TJ? Is that you hanging out of the side of that thing? What year was that picture taken? Very cool!

Your cockpit is looking great! Quality will improve with more builds, but I just gotta tell ya... your work looks top notch to me!

Tango Juliet wrote:

I was grounded from flying for airsickness , although I never got sick on the H-1's .  Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

That SUCKS! .... rrrr ... or blows (chunks) in your case....

Great progresses Jeremy and TJ!

I'm still working on the cockpit (aka "the office")  adding PE and scratch detail. Not much to show yet.

Thanks Klaus!

Can't wait to see "the office" when it's finished!

Hi John, I'm in for sure. The -46 is just a little way down the food chain. Because you never answer PM's, here's a shot I took on Saturday of a big old beasty I've driven by a "100" times in Sonoma. Looks like a Harpoon to me(?). Your thoughts.

And no, smarty pants, not the Bonanza.

Excellent Hind, my favorite helo! There was a great book "Lie down with Lions" about dodging those infernal beasts in Afghanistan back in the '80"s.

Bondo,

Your post is most perplexing.  I get these messages by email also, and when I read it by email there were two very fine looking hounds lounging on a deck instead of aircraft.  Naturally this confused me, and I'm still confused because when I come here, there are aircraft instead of dogs.  Since I haven't had me ration of rum, somebody's gotten silly with the electrons again I guess.

bondoman - That's a classy shot right there! Two beautiful gals!

But what do I see tucked in between them?

jmabx wrote:

bondoman - That's a classy shot right there! Two beautiful gals! But what do I see tucked in between them?

Luscombe 8A, I think.

jeaton01 wrote:

Luscombe 8A, I think.

I never would have guessed that in a million years! Good eye, John!