Helicopter Group Build 2009

Hey John, ... mark me as a "GO at this station" ... this buid is complete! (Thank God!)

Took this one to a show this past weekend and won bronze medal. Not bad! Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did. Thanks again Klaus!!!!

Sooo .... does this mean I can keep the GB badge!?! HAHAHA!!!!

Hi

So I have just started my Cobra, there is a lot of work in detailing cockpit, specially those little Ed's parts, so from this:

you get this:

and two more pictures, the gunner seat with attached seatbelts and fabric on it as taking off the old, plastic seatbelts damaged the seat structure

and some wiring, which took me a lot of time, as this is the first time for me to detailing a model in this way, hopefully the final result will be worth it

Thanx for watching.

HAHAHA!!! That's "good" to know Jeremy ...

Thanks again guys for the comments. I'm pretty please thus far ... but I've still got A LOT of work to do before Saturday ....

Scott,

That is amazing... you haven't been slacking at all!

Truly stunning!

And the "tool kit" is slowly getting better.

Thanks Klaus! Glad you like the bird ...

The figures are coming along ... I guess I just REALLY liked them in their "winter" camo! HAHA!!

Great work Scott!

The helo is great, but the fiures are somewhat white!

Alright .... since Jeremy pointed out that I'm a HUGE slacker and made me feel bad for now posting anything since somewhere around page 2 or 3 .... here's a good 'ol update for you whirly bird guys .... (since I'm also covering this one in the dio forum, I can't remember where I left off w/ this one ... so I'll start w/ the completed cockpit and go from there. Also in the spirit of the Helo GB, I'll be leaving out the base, building and the rest of the dio stuff for the GB.)

The completed cockpit w/ pilot and co-pilot ...

.... and here's a little more background ....

I hadn't done an A/C in quite some time, and in the beginning my gitty-ness got to me and I sealed up the helo before really thinking. I ended up literally breaking/ prying/ and praying the halves apart in order to get things right. After fixing things, I was really to seal it back up ... again. However, the 1/2's didn't fit quite right the 2nd time so a little putty, sanding, and repainting was in order. I used some Archer Transfers raised rivet decals to help replace some rivets that were removed w/ sanding. I also started to add decals from Cobra Company. However, once I got the CC decals on, I thought that they were much lighter in color than I wanted. SO ... I only applied the A/C's numbers on the fuse, but I went back over them w/ a mist of the main black color to "dirty" them up and tone them down. I think they turned out well. (I might go back and add the US Army on the tail boom since the numbers turned out like they did ....).

... and fast forward to now ...

The four Delta operators are primed (although as of this post, the uniforms are almost done ...). Priming REALLY helped show the flaws that needed to be fixed ... 

... and the nearly completed helo. I'd say its about 95% complete. I still need to go over some details like the formation lights, painting the straps on the benches, painting the front nav/ search light, and some touch-ups .... and maybe the "US Army" decals on the boom ...

That's pretty much it for now ... and as always ... all C&C welcome.

... oh hey, Jeremy ... I hope your .... Rrrrr .... tool-kit is feeling better ... HAHAHAHA!!!!!

Hey, polak, I think there is still plenty of time, go for it.  I'll add you to the list tomorrow.

That canopy work looks right smart, I'd want a spare in hand before I set my clumsy hands to that task.

Polak - Hi! I don't see any problems with you joining in. And as long as you're not a slacker, like some of us , you should have plenty of time.

Klaus - Thanks for the tip... I never thought of taking down that ridge with an x-acto.

Modelchasm - We need pictures! I'm dying for an update. Also, the slacker I was talking about with Polak was me... yeah... that's it!   

As for the Hind...

I had a minor "procedure" done in the name of birth control which left me pretty well laid up this week. I never got a chance to pick up another kit and rob the canopy and I'm too impatient to wait for a replacement so I figured... "what the heck". I decided to use the original that had "crazed" as it only shows in one window pane. I've got some filler on the canopy seam as the fit wasn't very good. Did some sanding and it's starting to take shape. I will get some progress pics up this weekend. Until then, I will be slacking off... errr... recovering. 

Nice job on that canopy, Klaus!

Hopefully, sometime today, I'll be posting much needed update on my MH-6 .... I don't think that I've put up anything since like page 2 or 3!!!

... I know ... I'm a slacker.

... hehe ...

I have to check the grids at home, Jeremy, but in your case I'd use a blade's edge and a fine file. Then polish with a paste like Tamiya's compound and eventually give it a coat of Future.

I'm not the organizer, but for me it's ok if you join in, Polak.

Hi

I know there is not much time left but I am soon starting my first helicopter AH-1W Cobra by Academy 1:35 + some Eduard parts and would be grateful if I could join you guys.

Thanx

Klaus - What grits of sandpaper did you use to accomplish this?

I have to sand a nasty seam out of a Spitfire canopy and your results look great... I would like to try your method.

Thanks!

Just a quick update on my Canopy adventure:

Steps 1 and 2 are after and sanding with coarse paper; I had to reduce the plastic width.
Step 3 is after sanding with various types of fine sanding paper (and when I started praying).
Step 4 is after polishing and a hand of Future.

Avus wrote:

Paul, you must have a stady hand to cut those maks with such precision.

its fairly steady but theres alot of "big" detail on this kit,so it was a case of following the mould lines.

paul

Paul, you must have a stady hand to cut those maks with such precision.

Justin, your tiger-stripe Huey looks good so far and the test pilots look "good" too!

Mmmm... I'm gonna chew on your test pilots a little bit!

I like the stripes. Kind of hard to get a feel for them with the helicopter so shiny but they look pretty cool to me.

finally got some time to get some modelling done...the what if tiger stripe camo is done on the huey, I dont really know how I feel about it...

decals are also on, and after the setting solution has a chance to dry, I wil clear coat the decals, and then begin the weathering...

and the two test pilots...

Justin

lewbud wrote:

Aaron, Model Master has it in their line of enamels Russian Interior Blue Green.

Exactly what I used except my bottle just says "Interior Blue/Green". No mention of it being Russian but I believe the MM paint racks have the colors seperated by country with a small section for Russian colors... should be there.

Aaron,

Model Master has it in their line of enamels Russian Interior Blue Green.

hi all,

i've not forgotten this build,its just i've been real busy and i've got nowhere to spray at the moment as i'm converting my garage into a workroom.

but today i've spent an hour or so(in between coffee breaks)masking the glass on my 1/48 gazelle.

i've also changed my mind on the colour of the helo...

hopefully i'll get around to spraying in the next week or so...

paul

Thanks, Jeremy!
Indeed all that filling and sanding is rather annoying.

Regarding the monitor: you don'tcha see notting, capisc' !
(actually it's an episode of "The Unit")

Nice to see those Cobras coming together, Klaus. Those gaps on the nose don't look to fun.

One thing though... that picture on your computer monitor... looks to me like someone is all tied up over there. What have you been up to lately? Hmmm?

Interesting helo-plane you got there, Jeremy, and the progress on both, the XV-1 and the Hind are great. Sorry to hear bout the crack.

John your 37 is proceeding splendidly; I love how you handled the tail assembly.

Sorry to hear about your paint job, JD. I confident you'll fix it after cooling down the spirits.

Indeed MC: GIMME PICS! Looking forward to see that Six-Pax done.

Looking good, Matt. As it has been said the medicaltape is a brilliant idea for harness.

Now, my update:

Status; the skids are only dry-fitted:

Dog-house (puttied and sanded):

NTS-Nose:

As feared the nose was a pain in the you-know-what! In order to be able to fit it properly I glued two styrene strips on the inside as guides. Then slided the nose-strips into the fuselage, fitted the nose, waited for the glue to harden and added CA-glue to stengthen the hold.

Currently I'm filling-and-sanding the gaps on the nose and the engines.

John,

Well there is that, plus I'm trying to reduce the stash.

John,

Can you remove the 1/48 Cobra?  All my quarter scale stuff is going at the next club auction.  If you allow stuff that's already started, I may resurrect the 1/72 Hind I started for Arki's Mud Mover's GB.  It's about 10%, if that.