Helicopter Group Build 2009

AaronJeremy,  the Hind paint looks very good.  Just right, a nice thin layer.  I like the dot filter wash method, it has worked well for me.

Bill, why can't you work on both, you got two hands and only need to stand on one foot at a time!

Okay... a quick peek at what I'm trying to accomplish with my weathering on the Hind...

So far it's looking the way I had hoped. Over in the aircraft forum, I saw that KJ200 did a dot filter wash to his Bf-110. I really like the way it looked so once I get another coat of Future on this gal, I'm going to try out that technique... hopefully it works. 

jmabx wrote:

Avus wrote: The scheme looks great Justin, as does the faded paint. Completely agree on what arki30 says: looks like "those anti-slip flower shapes you stick to the bottom of the shower" AHEM... Jeremy?

That's what happens when you don't read the post before clicking that darn "Post" button!

Sorry, Jeremy!

John, you're proceeding very well. I'll have to keep that filler trick in mind for my canopies.

Rest assured, Polak, once the fuselage halves are together, the intakes and engine covers are in place and all is filled and sanded you're done ... unless you start chopping around you helo like I did!

Talking of which, there might be some more chopping on the way: I've been told that the fuselage is about 5mm short and this shows particlarly in the area behind the cockpit ... soooo, where did I put my Dremel?!

Avus wrote:

The scheme looks great Justin, as does the faded paint. Completely agree on what arki30 says: looks like "those anti-slip flower shapes you stick to the bottom of the shower"

AHEM... Jeremy?

I love the flower shapes... had to do it when I saw 'em. You should see her now though... lookin' kinda rough.

Polak - I don't know how you work in such a small area. I have so much clutter that it annoys me sometimes. Maybe I should clean up!   

Helo 53 wrote:

So , she's ready for masking and I've decided to go with Bondoman's suggestion and finish her in the Blue/Brown over light Gray scheme , which should go nicely with my other helicopters and aircraft of the same era .

That will be a good looking scheme. You're moving right along... can't wait to see some paint on her.

 Thank's everyone for the kind words on my Super Frelon build , they certainly are gratefully appreciated .

Well , I got the two fuselage halves together okay ; I was half expecting it to be a real struggle to get everything match up evenly and much to my suprise , the fuselage join wasn't too bad , certainly not perfect as I did need some Tamiya putty all the way around the join .

The canopy fit was okay I guess , it needed some filing with a sanding stick along some of the edges to get the canpoy to sit back against the cockpit , I glued the canopy on with some white glue which dries clear and afterwards just added some selleys "no gaps" [water clean-up] around the frame/fuselage join .

So , she's ready for masking and I've decided to go with Bondoman's suggestion and finish her in the Blue/Brown over light Gray scheme , which should go nicely with my other helicopters and aircraft of the same era . I'll start masking later this evening and hopfully tomorrow I'll start airbrushing . I'll add all the antena's etc after painting .

Thank's again for the ongoing complements ; I still think everyone else's work is absolutly amazing .

                           Kind Regards John .

It can't just be to put the parts together without any problem.

Trying to put air intakes I  noticed that the bit marked on the picture in red doesn't look nice

and when I move intake to front a gap appears so I decided to glue some plastic to the intake, in other words a lot of sanding for me.

and guys this is my work station:) tiny coffe table and everything's packed in the box or shelve so whenever I need something need to pick it up.

Whoa... snuck that one right in there didn't ya, Chris?!

Well, the big boss has doled out your punishment for no progress pics but I'm in awe at the way you can just hammer out a sexy Cobra and throw it in our faces like that!

Well done!  

Love the paint scheme and she looks pretty darn good OOB to boot. You should be proud to have her sitting on your desk... I would be.

Okay, sorry for no in-progress pics, been busy. This is my Monogram 1/48 AH-1S done as an AH-1F from the US Army Sky Soldiers demonstration team.  Other than the decals from Fireball, it is OOB.  This is going to to spend life on my desk so I didn't do any detailing.  Hope you like it.

Jeremy - good job , I am looking forward to see more pictures of your build.

Justin - nice one:)

Klaus - I realy can't wait to see more of your progress and as I said before I wish my Cobra was as good looking as yours.

Ok guys here's a little update from me, after gluing, filling, sanding them filling , sanding and some more sanding it is slowly getting shape. Next step is to put all the parts together and start working on the canopy which is going to be probably the most diffcult part of this build as from the test fit I noticed that it doesn't fit perfectly. Even some changes with the cockpit are required as some parts are to wide and they are blocking the canopy. I will post some pictures later on but you guys probably know what I am talkin gabout.

Thanks for watching guys.

bondoman wrote:

When are you gonna unmask the windows so we can see the tie-dyed curtains??

Don't forget the orange shag... floor to ceiling.

Helo - Your work looks pretty good to me! I like your method for getting the rotor droop... I'm definitely going to try that.

 I forgot to add this pic ,

                                    John .

 I've made some more progress on my Super Frelon .

I must confess , joining this Helicopter Group Build , I really do feel like I've suddenly found myself in the "Big League" with the pro's . All the scratch-building , detailing , paint masking etc is just awesome . I'm not sure if what I've done so far is up to the high standard everyone else is doing .

Anyway here is some more progress pic's , I glued the main rotor blades to the hub and then placed the rotor assembly upside down on a dinner plate , I then added a small amount of weight to the center [rotor hub] and placed the plate and rotors outside in the sun for a few days , I wanted to get a slight droop in the blades .

The only seats I had were a little short in height so I cut the backs from the seat section and extended them with masking tape .

Next I airbrushed the insides of the fuselage halves , filed the cabin windows to fit , found some pilots and painted them , added some stretches because I didn't have enough spare seats and everything is about ready to close up .

There is a small roof consol which fits nicely into the top of the canopy , so I painted out the instrument panels and added some wire handles and mic cable to give it a busy look .

I've painted the main rotors and tail rotor , I'm pretty happy with the droop on the rotor blades , I dont think it's too over-done .

So everything is going along okay ;

I just can't believe the amazing builds you guys are doing , I hope mine turns out at least half as good .

Thank's for looking ...                     

                                      John .

Justin, those are the engine air inlet screens.  Sorry about that windshield fit, that shoebox shape the Huey has looks like it leads to problems.  Looks good every where else, though.  The AH-64 is probably better, it is a much newer kit, isn't it?

The front page is updated with your finished build, you are number four to finish.

Yay... pictures!

She looks great Justin! I like the custom camo.

After seeing first hand what comes in that box, you get an extra thumbs up from me just for attempting to build that thing!  

Now,I just realized, that I did not paint the ,i guess they are exhaust coolers? right near the rotor shaft...I have since gotten paint on it...

during assembly, the front panels just wouldnt line up...I didnt notice how bad it was until I added the front windscreen...I can only hope that the Revell Apache is a much better fit!

That camo scheme on the Hind totally reminds me of those anti-slip flower shapes you stick to the bottom of the shower!  

Groovy.

That's really well done Jeremy, and interesting. When are you gonna unmask the windows so we can see the tie-dyed curtains??

The worn effect on the tan looks really good too. I primed the Phrog this morning and am going to start coating green on it tonight. It has kind of a bizarre construction sequence since I have to build an inside-out helicopter and put a right-side out one over it, with  windows trapped in between.

Here's a question for the experts. The fuselage is Marine Green, but the instructions call out for the tops of the blades to be Olive Drab. Does that seem right? I looked at the box side photos, where I discovered that whoeever built the prototype has both rotors turning the same way, so i can't rely on anything Academy states.

Matt - that engine looks great... nice work.

Klaus - I love watching someone else slaughter their kit!! Have at it!

Don't tease us Justin... we wanna see some pictures!

I'm not an old like you John and I wish I could build like these talented fellas!

Here's the fresh camo on the Hind. I really love the patterns on this scheme.

In all my haste, I completely forgot to paint the elevators(?) and gear doors. Oh well!

Matt, I like the detail you are putting on the Huey.  I don't know if I'll ever be able to build one to the level you guys are, what with the so many models and I'm an old (you choose)thing.  But I suppose I'll try some time.  Same to you, Klaus.

Soon as you get some pictures up I'll update the first page, Justin.  Thanks for playing.

I am gonna call my build done!...I took aclose look at the side guns and the ammo belts, and, to avoid getting pissed off,I am stopping! Maybe one day I will decide to fix the ammo belts, but until then...

Pics coming soon!

Justin 

Your technique looks intersting and should fo the trick, Jeremy.

Simply awesome detail on that engine, Matt. Looking forward to see the rest.

This WE I felt more like working on the scoop and the TSU:

Another little surgery (more like a slaughter) and a dry fit.

While the scoop is done the TSU needs a little more TLC.

As for the turned exhaust let's just say there's a synergy ...

Here is where I stand with the UH-1C gunship that I am building.  So far I have added the bracing in the chin bubbles for the 40mm grenade launcher mount and some of the visible wireing in there as well.  I have also began scratching in some of the details left out of the transmission and engine areas.  In doing this I have also realized that I might want to open more of the cowlings than Academy has opened which is going to add even more stuff to do.  At any rate here is th current state of the build.  Anything that is white or copper or metal color is the stuff that I have added in so far,  as always comments questions and critiques are always welcome.

Thanks for looking,

Matt

Bondo - I originally tried the blue tape idea but it kept curling up on itself and my clumsy fingers kept ripping it trying to seperate it. Scratch that idea for me... put the brain to work!

The reason I painted it the way I did was that pictures of the real helicopter show the tan paint faded to the blue primer and the green paint faded to the tan... I think. So it is layered blue, tan then green. So it is written, so it is done.

Pain in the rear but hopefully it will look good when done.

That looks good J. I do a version of your technique, I have a 2" wide roll of 3m blue tape and put down two strips side by side slightly overlapping, on my cutting matte. I make two copies of the cammie at the right scale, like you did. I keep one for later reference and tape the other one down over the blue tape. Then cut out the shapes.

It I were to do that scheme, and you can do this still, I would paint on the flower shaped pattern color first and then make flower shaped masks, put them on and paint the sandy color second.

Also, any time you need to mask off a whole section, like that weapons pylon, you can just wrap it in tinfoil and tape down the edge where it meets the other color/ fuselage.

That is an awesome beast BTW.

Mr. Bondo - I was starting to think you forgot about us but judging by the "crime scene", you're tearin' into things real nice like!   That Cobra Co. resin is some real nice stuff. I have the interior, exterior, and weapons set for the Hind and it's beautiful.

So here I am... a full day's work and only half of one side masked. I'm sure I went about this all wrong but my tiny brain couldn't figure it any other way.

I blew up the camo diagram from the Linden Hill decal booklet and printed it out then cut it out and taped it on. Easier then trying to mask those circular patterns I guess.

Welcome aboard Helo53!

Looking forward to see your washed away paint Jeremy.

Thanks for the pictures lewbud.

It was about time you got started Bill!