Hi Cliff ,

I also like the box art for the M-46 , especially the tiger striped gun barrel

I'm sure you will turn out another armor masterpiece for the Korean War GB .

I'm looking forward to the WIP pic's , buddy .

                           (comrade)  John .

Academy puts out a 1/48 scale Hughes 500 kit with  ROK markings, maybe someone on a helo group build can give more guidance than this link:

http://www.xairforces.com/galleryd.asp?id=46&galleryid=204

It shows the RoKA bird in overall Dark OD Green (IR Supressing), same as US birds are.  Oh, and if you do a Google image search for ROKAF Hughes 500 you'll turn up a thread talking about NKPAF owning some.  Not true, just someone trolling. 

Cliff, I almost wonder if that's the same markings for the Pegasus 1/72 vehicle!  Looks almost identical to the box top I have beside me (that I haven't thrown out yet).

Re:  My C-46 ---  I've had to put it aside for a couple of days for various reasons, today marks the third day of being removed from it because I had lunch at home today and spilled a cup-o-noodle Ramen on my computer and workbench [one in the same for me].  I'm going to have fun this evening cleaning up a bunch of former lunch on my desk.  Getting hungrier and hungrier while I do it!  I'm desperately trying to lose weight for my tae kwan do class and, mostly, to help control teh diabeetus.

Type to y'all later!

Andy , The AZ model kit does have South Korean AF Markings ...

It's quite a good kit as you get two MD-500D helicopters for the price and there is even a small PE set .

You also get an extra set of extended landing gear skids (higher) for both helicopters .

I'll take a sprue pic and post it first thing tomorrow .

I read on a few internet sites about the DPRK getting 500D's , I thought this was true but I guess I got stung on that one . I would still like to find out the color of a Nth Korean Hind ?

You mentioned before about the three and four prop blades for the C-46 , I'm also using the Four blade set

Look after yourself Andy , especially having diabetes .

                                 John

John: As I said I've got some other stuff I'm trying to finish off so it may be awhile before the next photos of the M46. Still thanks for the vote of confidence!

Draken: Pretty cool! I'd guess that this being one of the more colourful 'tiger-face' M46s both Pegasus and Dragon based their model off the same vehicle. Hope mine comes off as well as yours. BTW: Good luck with your computer.

Looking forward to seeing more of those choppers. Funny I haven't done a helicopter since my old 'Airwolf' kit back in the mid '80s! I've a JASDF Apache and a US Blackhawk in my stash somewhere, if I ever get caught up I'll have to build one or the other.

Here's a sprue pic of the AZ Model Hughes MD-500MD ...

There are also two different canopies for each helicopter , one is slightly pointed for the 500E version .

I was looking at the wings palette site for color profiles of DPRK aircraft/helicopters and saw this one of a North Korean SU-25 Frogfoot ;

Unfortunatly it doesn't mention what the colors are ?

I have the 1/72 Revell SU-25 in the stash and was wondering if it would be a suitable partner for the Mil Mi-8

The kit comes with Soviet and Czech markings and the camouflage patten on the instruction sheet for both versions doesn't appear to be the same for the DPRK color side profile .

                         John .

Heya Helo!:

That looks like a nifty LOACH kit there, and there's two of them in the box, you say?  Awesome, gonna have to pick me up one of them!  As far as markings for the Su-25, the camo should be the same as what you've got there.  Standard Soviet camo, or really close.  I don't know where you'd find decals, but I have a sheet at home in the states for a Mig-29.  I'll do one of those when I get back from vacation.  As far as what the DPRK has in inventory, there isn't really a whole lot, and they don't have much for smart weapons.  The Su-25's are older models, as well as the few Mig-29's they have.  There's some Mig-21's of various marks (some of the older fair weather style and some of the later style with the full spine hump) and I'm told they've got a bunch of MiG-19's in stock (Shenyang J-6's).  They have a very few Hinds but I don't know which mark.  Definitely not the old flat glassed A's, but probably early D's.  They do not have Su-27's or later, is what I'm told by the Koreans that I know in their AF.

For the RoKAF, there's tons of stuff out there!  From F-15K's, F-4E's and RF-4E's (One of the last users!), F-5E's, T-38's, T-37's, A-37's, CH-47's, UH-1N's, UH-1D's, Sea Lynx, P-3's, and even (believe it or not!) the Ka-27.  The Rescue 119 folks here use the Kamov design for mountain rescue and forest fires.  Hiking is like, a national sport, or something, and enough hikers get hurt in the mountains that they needed a chopper with a small size and heavy lifting ability, the Kamov design fit the bill.  It's in a lovely red/white design.  I see them flying around all the time as I've got mountains and hiking trails all over near me.  We say that the Koreans hike their way up (in full k\hiking fashion outfits with backpacks full of lunch and portable gas grills and such) and drink their way down.  Everyone carries lots of soju (rice wine brandy at 40 proof) and gets hammered and tries to hike down.  Funny way of getting exercise, but there you are.  It's Korea!

I can't wait to see those birds built!

Hi Andy , thanks for the list of ROK aircraft and helicopters , Great stuff .

I was thinking more about the SU-25 and am I right in saying that the 'Frogfoot' was designed to counter the U.S. A-10A Warthog ?

Also does the U.S. Army operate AH-64 Apaches in South Korea ?

I was thinking of a foursome Face-Off ,, with the Mil Mi-8 Hip and SU-25 on one side of the line and the A-10A and AH-64 on the other side ???

                                             John .

Heya Helo!

Yes, the frogfoot was a development of the (I'm not making this crap up!) Il-10!  Suckhoi wanted to continue the 'tank-buster' of the "Great Patriotic War" and the Illyushin bureau contributed several designs along those lines.  Sukhoi continued it with his Su-25 series.  Similar in layout and planform to the Northrop A-9 (the final contestant against the A-10) the Soviets went for it and chose it to replace and assist the Mig-23BN/-27.  Look at the Northrop A-9 from Anagrand and the Sukhoi-25 and tell me that great minds don't think alike!

The Us Army does operate the Apache here, both the -D and the Longbow.  The Longbow will be replacing the A-10 COMPLETELY by 2012 (BIG MISTAKE IMHO!!!).  Only the OA-10 and the Apache-DLongbow carry any air-air weapons on the UN side, although, the RoKA will be getting Longbows by 2015!  On the DPRK side, the Frogfoot definitely can have Air-Air, but it's unknown what version of Hind the DPRK has, and therefore what weapons fit for air to air.

Now...  If you're only talking what ROLE is performed, then, yeah...  GREAT idea!  Perfect in the nature of the role that they were designed for.  The helos would be Anti-armour, and so would the fixed wings.

Hope that this helps!

By the way,

I'd started sanding my Commando and was getting really far on it.  It looked as though I ight even get the rattle cans out tonight!  and then I noticed that my cat had been chewing on the tail!  AARRGGHH!!

Out comes the filler putty, another 24 hours to dry, sand, and then ask that area...

Damned ignernt fuzzbutt!  If'n he wern't so cute I might hafta do something to him!

It was suggested that I posted this badge here in The Korean War G.B.. I came across this shoulder patch while in Grand Forks ,a city in the Dakota Territories, while attending the annual pickin days. Pickin days is just what it sounds like. People are encouraged to clean out thier closets ,basements garages and such and the city goes around and hauls the stuff away. Private parties are allowed to go around and scrounge these items left at the curb.The patches were among some items in a box I got along a curb.I am sending this patch to Andy "Deafpanzer" to display next to his Chaffee Dio. and hopefully any one attending the show(forget the name,myapologies Andy) will see it .

                                                  Greg"Detailfreak"Rowley

Thanks Greg!  You didn't tell your full story how you found it?  They would love to know how you came up with this badge...

                                Alright Andy I edited my original post to include how I found the badge,It is in the mail.

                                                             Greg"Detailfreak"Rowley

Yo, Detailfreak...

In Fargo-Moorhead we call them boulevard days.

Sioux suck...

                                Korea is a bit out of the way from Fargo-Moorhead.LOL glad you added that.

                                                Greg"Detailfreak"Rowley

the_draken

By the way,

I'd started sanding my Commando and was getting really far on it.  It looked as though I ight even get the rattle cans out tonight!  and then I noticed that my cat had been chewing on the tail!  AARRGGHH!!

Out comes the filler putty, another 24 hours to dry, sand, and then ask that area...

Damned ignernt fuzzbutt!  If'n he wern't so cute I might hafta do something to him!

Maybe he's lonely and needs a mate !

Anyway I grabbed the 1/72 Airfix AH-64D Apache from the stash and airbrushed a few coats of flat black on the interior pieces ;

The kit comes with British and dutch markings only , however I have the Hobby Boss AH-64D in the Israeli stash which has US Army markings , although they are for the 3rd Infantry Division , Southern Iraq , 2003 .

If I remember correctly , Stikpusher said that modern builds need to be of a AF/Military base currently operating in South Korea . So I'm not sure which Army unit operates the AH-64D and what the tail code would be ?

In any case I'll continue with the Apache build and I got the A-10A Osan Warthog out from under the bench and will contine on with that build as well ; there are some WIP pics back on page 81 or 82 of the A-10 . The Hobby boss decal sheet for the D Apache has the tail code of 99-5102 with a sharks mouth .

                             John .

DetailFreak: Very cool patch. Funny things that you find sometimes.

DeafPanzer: How much more do you have to go on the M24? Did you finish already I missed it?

Heya Helo!

No tailcodes on the Apache whirly-birds up here.  Just the serial number.  Typically, USA birds of any sort don't have any tail codes while the other three services will have all different varieties based on location (USAF) and Squadron (USN/USMC).

If you wanted to, you could put a small 2nd ID emblem on it somewhere near the nose.  They're called the Indianhead Division; an American Indian Chief's head inside of a star inside of a shield.  The shield and head would be black, the star would be OD green.

Gamera- Yes, that's why I wanted Greg to tell how he found it. I thought it was so cool too! 

I am not done with my Chaffee... 99% completed.  It still needs little more MIG pigment then I will cal it done.  Things have been crazy busy at home and work that I haven't been at my workbench for last two weeks.  

I was looking through Squadrons AH-64 Apache Walk Around book and saw that the sponsons on both sides of the fuselage are a different shape on the ends with a couple of screen/vents fitted ;

So I thought I might try and modify whats on the Airfix AH-64D fuselage pieces by using some block resin ;

I cut away the rear of each sponson and cut and filed the resin block to what is similar in squadrons book ;

It seems to have worked out okay ;

I still need some vents , I was hoping to find some decal screen/vents to use ???

                           John .

Hey John!

The best way (short of decals) is do what everyone in our scale does when we have to make the heat exchanger fins on the ECM Pods of an EA-6B:  Use darker coloured paint.  The pods on the Prowlers have these heat exchanger fins in pairs on either side.  Since they're so close and so small, in our scale they simply look like a bunch of shadows.  Typically the kit manufacturers will include small rectangle decals of either dark grey or black.  It would be very logical for you to simply mask off the areas around your 'vents', use a 100 or 60 grit in up/down and left/right directions and then go about one shade darker (or black) in paint.

I've used this method before and had good comments on it.    I'd suggest trying it on a spare piece of resin first, as I've always done it with styrene, m'se'f.

On a second note...  I went ahead and bought another M-39 from Milicast and threw in an M-4 as well.  I noticed that they had the M-41 listed in their Premiere line, but it's noted as being out of stock.  I sent in a reply asking when it would be available, but haven't heard from them since.  Maybe you and Doc and anyone else her on the group build could go to their website and ask as well? 

*hint hint, nudge nudge, wink wink, knowwhatImean knowwhatImean, saynomore saynomore!"  ~Eric Idle

Aircraft question for the group:

I'm going to go ahead and invest in some more 1/72 scale kits for the build, particularly some of the Japan based Navy and USAF rescue and cargo aircraft.  I'm using this website as a guide, but I think that there might be a few aircraft missing from the list.

http://www.korean-war.com/KWAircraft/index.html

The USAF had the HU-16 and the Catalina.  The USN had the Mariner, Neptune (old style), and Privateer.  Didn't they also have the Coronado?  Does anyone make a conversion for the old style Neptune?  Which kit is best for the correct version of the Catalina?

Also, who makes the C-54, is it Mach 2?  I can never remember...  And I've got the old Combat Models vac of the Globemaster, but I think I'd rather invest the $$$ for the Anigrand kit and have it come out nice.  Maybe bash the two.

I've also got a kit of the AF-2 Guardian, but I don't recall seeing them listed anywhere else, while I have seen the HUP2 listed for underway replenishment use.  Has anyone seen the Hasegawa kit of the TBM-3 in JMSDF colors for under $60 [USD]???  That was the lowest price I saw for it on eBay and that's just too damned much for an old kit with new decals and some resin bits.

Anyway, advTHANXance to all answers!

Andy , thanks for the tip on making vents for the AH-64D .

With your wish list , Mach 2 do a 1/72 ( Our Scale) of the C-54 , I have started one ;

She has a nice cockpit as well ;

Also I recently picked up from Hannants the Falcon Vacu form P2V-5 conversion for the Hasegawa P2V-7 Neptune ;

As well as two new fuselage front section , there is a new tail section also , along with a vacu form canopy .

I splashed out and bought the Anigrand C-124 Globemaster , a really nice looking kit .

Like you I couldn't part with the $60 Bucks for Hasegawa's TBM-3 .

I'm not sure about the HUP-2  or the Cataliner ? , I also Have the Revell Privateer in the stash

Back to the Apache , When I dry fitted the cockpit tub into the fuselage halves , I noticed some gaps down each side ;

So I cut some sheet plastic to build up the tub sides ;

I'll re-paint everything tonight and then install the cockpit into the fuselage halves and glue together ;

The Airfix AH-64D Apache was a little more work than I expected but I'm having fun !

BTW , Andy , I'll take a pic of my Korean War Stash of kits , ther maybe other aircraft you may wish to include in your shopping spree .

                              John .

Well it's Sunday evening 10.45pm and I managed to get some airbrushing done today ;

The underside of the Hip C got a few coats of Gunze H-67 and I Finished airbrushing the two Marine birds ,

F2H-2P Banshee and the F9F-2 Panther both based at K-3 Pohang ;

I also glued the tub and fuselage pieces together of the Airfix AH-64D Apache ;

I needed a few clamps to get the Apache halves to line up nicely , so I only installed the front consol panel and will add the pilots consol and seats later .

I also cut both crew doors from the canopy on the AH-64D to pose them open on the starboard side and the Osan A-10A has made a return to the bench .

Making steady progress on lots of builds

                                              John .

Uh, John...

I think you might have made a booboo.  I'm pretty sure that someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the Apache (and likewise, the Cobra) have opposite opening canopy doors.  Having them both open on the same side wouldn't be an option.  The Pilot's is on the starboard, the gunner's is to port.  See this link:

http://www.usaarl.army.mil/TechReports/95-23.PDF

and scroll down to page 23 for a representation. 

Sorry to bear bad news, dude.

Andy , It's okay buddy ....

There is a small pic in Squadrons Apache Walk Around book of three South Korea based AH-64D's ;

You can see both cockpit doors are open on the starboard side .

Your right about the cobra's though , they have opposite opening cockpit doors .

                                 John .

Here's an AH-64A Apache I did a couple of years ago for my Israeli IDF collection ;

It's an Academy 1/72 kit which went together really well and I also cut open both crew entry doors .

The Academy kit was a much better fit than the Airfix kit I'm currently working on , I whish Academy would issue a Longbow in 1/72 !

                                        John .

Andy ;

The Millcast resin M-32 rcovery Tank and Amtrac LVT-3 just arrived at the front door ,

Did you make a lower Hull (bottom piece) for your M-32

The Amtrac looks awesome too ;

I bet Gregbbear is drooling over this one

I hope I can do both builds as well as your Armour models Andy !

                                John .

Heya John!

Glad to see you got your resins!  I didn't bother with the lower hull on the M-32.  I closed one hatch and put a figure in the other.  Then I put a tarp over the big hole that goes in the center of the 'turret'.  I've got a figure standing in the back of the 'turret'.  The LVT-3 is on the list, but a bit further down than you might think.  A good number of them were haze grey or light blue, as well as the OD green ones.  Any colour is possible for a build of the LVT's.  I'm still working on the Commando, got everything sanded, now getting ready to mask.  filling and sanding the horizontal stabilizers was a pain in the wazoo.  There were so many fit problems that it was ridiculous, and my Squadron putty is nearly dried out.  I've got some Testors' but it's kinda weird, either too hard, or full of liquid. 

I took Sunday eve. off and sqitched gears from the C-46, I built a little Italeri/Hat/Armourfast M-3 with 76mm gun.  Fun little build that I had done and ready to shelve in less than three hours.  No part of the group build, it wasn't used in Korea, but it's still a nice little unit for taking home!

I sit corrected on the Apache, sorry 'bout that.  I know that I've seen an Apache with opposing entry doors.  I wonder where the deuce I saw it?  Maybe, there was an early production version, or it's the Westland one?  I have no idea...  Anyway, glad the Apache is coming along, despite the build issues! 

I'll provide as much incorrect guidance as possible! 

Andy , I was thinking of adding a couple of M-3 Halftracks to my Korean War armour , in fact I already put the Italeri (fast assembly) kit together and painted it . I wasn't sure about the gun supplied is that the 76mm that you mentioned ?

I was going to add some 1/72-76 figures like in the pic below ;

                        John .

Yup John.

That's the one with the shielded 76mm.  I'd read on one site that it was used in Korea, but a further, far more detailed site, said that it was replaced mid WWII by a different unit.  It was still a wicked little quick build for me.  As for the 1/72 scale M-3's, I'd stick with either the Academy (first and best) or the Hasegawa (also do an M-4 with mortar).  The Airfix one is just too danged clunky, lacks detail, and the fit is pretty nasty.  Having done the M-16 by Rev/Matchbox, it's a dainty little unit and goes together quite well.  The best part is, it actually has separate tracks!  And they fit together well, and fit the kit well!  Almost too good to believe in this scale.  Ha ha ha!

I built the Academy and added a third LMG with an ammo box, and but belts of ammo for the other two LMG's.  I was really happy with the Academy kit.  The only real plus to the Airfix kit is that it also comes with the trailer.  If you're interested in showing your 105mm gun in travelling position, you could hook it up to the back of one M-3 and hook the trailer on the back ofthe other.  Add enough seated personel to make a battery.