HELICOPTERS: ATTACK HELO GROUP BUILD!

Good work, Cobrahistorian. I notice that the Apaches you are building are all 1/32nd scale. How good are the IMEX 1/35th scale -64's? I'd like to keep my helo collection all in one scale if possible, and IMEX has been the only kit I've seen of the Apache in 1/35th.

Well, in true multitasking fashion, I'm working on my AH-64D conversion as well as the Kiowa Warrior. So, here's the latest pic of my Longbow. I just added the radome from the IMEX kit. Its a bit small, but seems to be doable. That's my finger in the pic, since the nose turret mount hasn't been glued on yet!

Don't worry Par, I never give up. Sometimes to my detriment.....but hey!

Can be a steep learning curve this modelling!

Hi-
Thanks to those who made positive comments on my HH-60H. Much appreciated.

To osjohnm, the floor is just painted. I airbrush almost everything, so I just sprayed the floor gray, cut some strips of masking tape and laid out the stripes on the floor. I then airbrushed the stripes flat black. Then I took some sandpaper and sanded the stripes down to look faded and worn, especially near the cabin door. Pretty straightforward, although the masking was a bit tedious. I followed with a black wash to deepen the tiedowns in the floor. Then I used a silver colored pencil to pick out the floor fittings to look like the paint was worn off, but it doesn't show up in the pictures very well.

Dan, I would be seriously bummed if anyone gave up on anything based on looking at my models. As long as you're enjoying yourself and trying to improve your skills with every model, it's all good.

I've taken a break from the fuselage to work on the external stores, my favorite part. I finished the CC 120 gal tank for the left inboard pylon, and have started on the Hellfire rack for the left extended pylon. Probably have some pics in a couple days.

Thanks again,
Phil

Okay, having major fit problems with the hughes 500D. Curse Acedemy, why can't they be more like Tamiya. None of the windows fit and the two halves of the fueselage have gaping holes underneath.......

Now some questions..........how do you assemble the cockpits?? What I mean is once the interior is all painted do you add the windows then glue the fuselage together. I can't seem to mask enought of the cockpit and I'm worried that when I airbrush the fuselage it's gong to cover the interior as well. Any help would be greatly appreciated......I'm sure models weren't this frustrating 10 years ago!

Ok guys, here's my first pic from the new project. I apologize for the fuzziness, but my camera sucks.



The cowl and ALQ-144 mount are from Cutting Edge and were a lot of fun to work with. That cowl is beautiful! Takes just a little trimming and sanding and it fits perfectly. The ALQ mount was a bit dodgy, but it worked alright.

The rocket pod is a modified Cobra Company M157 pod which I sanded the face flush except for the four protruding flechette rocket noses. Looks pretty mean. I'm working up some harnesses for the seats, since none are supplied.

I've turned the crosstubes over so they're facing upwards now. Gonna do the verticals today and then add the skids.

That's all for now. Gotta run to class.

Par249 that looks amazing. The details are fantastic, I love the harnesses and comm set. Maybe I should give up on mine now, it's nowhere near as detailed!!
Well I started the Hughes 500D last night and have managed to get the interior built and painted too. That said it's very, very spartan. Unfortunately Academy 1/72 kits don't seem too detailed but I've got to walk before I can run anyway.

Hi everybody

Progress has slowed down again, hopefully get some work done tonight.

Phil, looking good. How did you get the lines on the cabin floor?

Ya see, that really irks me Phillip. That 1/48 HH-60H interior looks awesome (especially the floor) and it raises the bar for my 1/35 Pave Hawk and Little Birds. Thanks!

Hi-
I have pretty much finished the interior for my 1/48 HH-60H. I have just a couple small things to do and I should be ready to glue the fuselage halves together. The interior is almost entirely from the Cobra Company HH-60H set, including the console, seats, controls and the avionics rack. The avioincs rack is fairly straightforward to assemble, although some careful measuring is required to get the shelves spaced properly and to make sure it doesn't end up being too tall. (Don't ask how I found this out!) But I think it really looks good, it's too bad it will be hard to see once the fuselage is assembled. I left off the instrument panel until the fuselage is assembled so I can make sure it doesn't interfere with the windscreen. The cabin looks a little bare, but most pics of HH-60H's I have seen there isn't much in the cabin.







My album is at:
http://photobucket.com/albums/v485/par429/HH-60H


Phil

Great thanks. Will post pics along the way.

BTW how the heck do I add an image to my signature? Do I have to host my own pics?

Thx

Sure Dan,

Come on in!

Hi everyone, is it too late to join in the group build??

If not I was going to build Academy's 1/72 Hughes 500D TOW Attack Helo. I think it's the Israeli Air Force version. This will be my first model that I've built since I was about 10 (nearly 20 years ago now!!) so I doubt it will be amazing but hey, you've got to start somewhere right??! If it's too late don't worry i won't be offended I'll just keep an eye out for the next one. Many thanks in advance.

Dan

thanks guys A1w as for what countries thats use the 530g i have no idea i cant find any pics of this version. all i can find is pics of the plain old 500 the kit had no decals with it so thats why i painted it in the tiger stripes. yep jay those are hand painted stripes i got a good bit done on the little bird last night yet should have it painted

cool man! are the tigerstripes hand painted?

Nice work....can I ask what country uses the armed MD500 and had it in those markings?

ok guys here is the finished product finally. the md mms 530g gunship with 50 cal pods and mast mounted site. and dressed in the tiger meet colors and looking for a cat fight. the next build is the ah6-j little bird of course this is a all black bird. so with out any futher delay i hope here are the pics for the group for some unknown reason i couldnt get one pic to post..thanks for letting me be apart of the gb rob

Well, I gave my first Little Bird cockpit and interior it's initial coat of paint. Built the tail (sans rotor for now), attached some of the external antennae and began on the weapons.

osjohnm: nice work so far! you should have seen my first cockpit... everything is frosted!

AH1Wsnake: the Dragon Little Bird kit has no decals. you're not missing anything! btw join the build! we need more little birds in this group! lol

QUOTE: Originally posted by osjohnm AH1Wsnake, thanks for the feedback. I used flat white to drybrush the cockpit, do u think light grey would have been a btter choice?

Yes. You just want to start off with a subtle difference in paint shades. Pretty much what Par429 said. If you don't like to spend time mixing white paint to create a particular shade, use a dark grey or gunship grey to drybrush over black. You may not notice the difference you want at first, but let your first attempt dry and go over it again for a couple days. Your photos show that you have a good technique down, but if you use a not-so-bright paint as well, you'll be really happy with the results. Good luck with the rest of your build!

osjohnm-

Instead of using flat white, I would recommend just mixing a little flat white with whatever color you are dry brushing over, just to make a lighter shade. After you dry brush with this color, you can mix an even lighter shade and dry brush again, but using a lighter touch. You can repeat this process as many times as required to get the look you want, and it prevents overdoing it.

Looks pretty good though. Keep posting pics!

Regards,
Phil

AH1Wsnake, thanks for the feedback.

I used flat white to drybrush the cockpit, do u think light grey would have been a btter choice?

On a side note, I received my AH-6J Little Bird from Sprue Bros. today! woohoo! It came along with a couple other kits -- I had a bout of chronic model-buying syndrome the other night! It would be cool if I could get this thing started and join the group, but I dunno....there's so much on my plate already, both modeling and school-related.
Dragon's Little Bird does not come with a decal sheet, correct? Just wanted to make sure I'm not missing anything.

Looks good so far, osjohnm. I think it will really shape up once you get some putty in the seams and a coat of paint on the exterior. I like how the detail on the instrument panels comes out and the color of the MFDs. The dry brush is a little heavy and maybe too light-colored, but you could touch it up again if you wanted to:)

Ok, that worked

When viewing these please bare in mind that this is only my second helicopter kit.

Here are two photos of the cockpit, over did the drybrushing on some parts.



Now for some negative photos, unfortunatly there was no way round the seem at the rear rotor. Reviews on the net warn about this.


I caused this seem by not dry fitting the rear landing gear properly, a few mm to far forward.


And here is the vinyl mesh that Italeri included, turned out rather well.


And one complete shot


The black specs are from the overspray when I airbrushed the inside the fuselage halves, going to use flat black as a primer anyway.
Time to whip out the Tamiya putty, sandpaper, nailpolish remover and Q-Tips.
Would white glue be an option here as a filler?

What do u guys think so far?

First a test to see if I can post pics.

ok i finally got some work done yesterday! (but didn't have time for taking pics) anyhow I heat-bended those rotor blades to produce natural sag, which (luckily) turned out great. and I assembled several subassemblies, like the weapons plank, the instrument console and the tail boom. man this project is easy! i would say i'm about 50% done already!

Hi all

Was sick last week so didn't get much done but should hopefully have all the "middle" bits installed in the next day or two so that I can glue the 2 halves together.

The good news is I'm borrowing a digital camera tomorrow so will take some pics tomorrow and post on Thursday.

Well, I'm back in NY. Seems like I was just here, but man is it good to be home.

KW project is going pretty well. I've gotten the basic interior done, although I haven't weathered anything yet.
I've also cut off the cowl and intakes and have test fit the new Cutting Edge cowl. Looks GOOD!

I'm headed to Fort Indiantown Gap tomorrow for 3 days of meetings, flight physicals and WWII reenacting. Gonna be a good time.
I've got my g/f's digital camera, so I'm gonna try to take as many pics of the flightline as possible. They pretty much have everything in the
Army inventory at EAATS, so I should be able to get some great shots of Hawks, Kiowas, Hooks and Apaches!

i love that paint job!!! great work. sure hope mine doesn't sit on it's a**!