Keyserj, your truck build is really coming along nicely.

Eagle, your Falcon is looking good as well. Are you going with gear up or down?

Thanks Ed.

I'm building it gear down.  Its getting its legs next.  Just got the standoff mounts done for the GPU-5/A 30mm gun pod that's going on the centerline.  The test fit was perfect.  They actually had to put standoff mounts on the real thing to get the gun pod to clear the gear doors.  Now that the test fit is done, the gun is back off the plane to leave me easier access to get the gear mounted and gear doors put on

John & Eagle: Both of those are coming along great guys!!! 

Need to get back to my van, but I keep getting distracted by other stuff... 

Figured that I should start building something so I got some A-7 action going. I probably havnt touched anything since June.

Nice choice for a build, Ed.  

My Lizard finally got its legs...and a BIG GUN.

Great work there guys!!! 

A bit of a progress on the MUTT

Very clean now but mud is on the way

Hello!

I just realized the Cobra (AH-1F) I'm currently building was used in the eighties (late). Would you accept my entry in the GB at this stage?

Good luck with your builds, all, and have a nice day

Paweł

Pawel, Since you pretty much just started I would say yes.  Just post some progress pics and we're good.  What kind of marking you using?

Looks good CN and welcome Pawel!

68GT - thanks a lot, I'll give it a go, then!

OK, I was researching a Vietnam Cobra and I found out it ended up as a memorial in South Plainfield:

I decided to model this baby, just without all the bad things they did to it - like painting it the wrong colour or mounting the TOW launchers for firing to the rear...

So it's going to be US Helo Drab with probable black markings - just as it would look like in the late eighties, at the end of Cold war. I'm going to use custom decals of my design here.

I started with the cockpit - put on the decals and painted up the crew that will help to hide the lack of detail there:

I just HAD to build the collectives for that cockpit - IMO a helicopter needs those. Not much will be seen from the cockpit anyhow:

After closing up the hull halves I had to fill and sand the seam and then replace a few details lost in the process, like the two antennae under the tail boom. I have also scratchbuilt one wire cutter - WSPS blade that wasn't in the kit:

castelnuevo - the Jeep is coming along nicely, but you might want to blank off those holes under the seats on the underside. I've got a web page that shows how to to this (although on an A1): http://vietnam.net.pl/M151moden.htm

Thanks for reading and have a nice day!

Paweł

Is that South Plainfield, New Jersey? Thats not too far from me and there is one at an American Legion Post in Milltown, NJ and yet another one in Monroe, NJ.

The one thing with helo green is that it will fade randomly.

1123141201_zps6c1a284d by Scode68, on Flickr

1123141202g_zps92f6dd11 by Scode68, on Flickr

1123141202_zps6f7c9fed by Scode68, on Flickr

That looks sooooooo good Pawel! Great job on the pilots! 

68GT - that's what I thought when posting here in the GB - South Plainfield is in Jersey and 68GT is from Jersey, wonder how far apart they are located... Thanks a lot for the photos, it's a great help, especially that I'm working on the TOW launchers right now... If you happen to be in South Plainfield, can you snap a few photos of the Cobra from the rear?

Gamera - thanks a lot, glad you like it!

And I have some more progress to post here - a few days ago I did some painting. Like 68GT wrote, some fading is a must:

Now I'm waiting for my decals, and in that time I'm working on subassemblies, and there are many of them - rotors, TOW launchers, Hydra launchers and the gun turret to name a few.

Thanks for lookin' and have a nice day

Paweł

That looks really good Pawel. Great idea attaching the canopy and then masking. I tried to add them to an Apache I did years ago after painting - and it didn't work so well... 

Some more bits and pieces

I'll be able to swing by that way next week after work. It's in an area they call monument park. The photos I posted are from one located in Monroe, NJ at a place called the Stone Museum.

castelnuovo, thats some nice progress on the MUTT.  I did a little work on the A-7 last night but nothing worth showing.

Very cool CN!

castelnuovo, I took some photos today of the South Plainfield one.

www.flickr.com/photos/70058423

68GT - I think you meant me, didn't you? Thanks a lot for the photos, they help me a lot - for example they show the machine retained the VOR antenna on the tail boom (the "handles") that were often removed on these choppers. I still can't get over how they mounted the TOW launchers for firing to the rear...

And I painted up the rotors, the TOW launchers and the "disco light" jammer - I'll post photos soon.

Thanks again for your great help and have a nice day

Paweł

Made some more progress this morning.

Cool builds guys!  Love the snake and the A-7.

Got the 370 gallon tanks finished and hung.  Used some .010" X .030" Evergreen strip for the tank joints.

Working on the AGM-65s now.  The Hasegawa weapons kit ones are just fine for detail, but I added some copper tubing for rocket motors and chopped off the noses so I can put epoxy lenses up front.

Been a while since I last checked in. I spent a little time on the Mack the past two weeks but don't have any progress worth showing. 

Pawel: love the detail on those pilots.

eaglecash: the falcon looks great! Can't wait to see it finished up.

68gt: nice start to the Corsair. That front intake is such a unique look.

68GT & Eagle: Ohhhhh, nice work guys!!! 

68GT - The Corsair is a real classic! Your model of it looks very good!

Eaglecash867 - nice camo on that F-16!

I'm waiting for the decals for my Cobra, so I'm workin on the subassemblies. Among others I painted up the main rotor:

I also took a shot at the ALQ-144 disco light:

But most of the time was spent detailing and painting up the TOW launchers:

Thanks for lookin' and have a nice day

Paweł

Looks great Pawel, love the missiles.