The Hoverama - HMMWV

[FALAES]

This HMMWV is part of the Hoverama, which I announced over at the aircraft WIP section. There everything concerning the Hoverama is explained here http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234971984-the-hoverama/ . Basically this HMMWV is to serve as a sling load beneath a Blackhawk and for me it is the training ground that allows me to get back into modelling after ten years of hibernation and before going for the bird itself.

I have read all the discussions about Italeri getting everything wrong in this kit with respect to realism – but I don’t care :-) . The logic was simply that it was the cheapest HMMWV kit I could find and I wanted a HMMWV as sling load - so be it.

It will be finished in a standard euro-woodland camouflage to fit in tune with the OD of the bird. The only thing that bugs me is that the kit only comes with USMC decals – no army helicopter would ever sink as low as to sling load a USMC vehicle (aren’t the leathernecks supposed to pull that d*mn thing themselves anyway ^^ ). So I might use some artistic freedom on the decals, too.

I wanted to unload the suspension springs, as there is no weight on the wheels, but the construction of the kit would have demanded a rather delicate surgery from me. For now I am not yet up to it... Maybe I’ll mount the wheels eccentrically later. So I started, as demanded by the instructions, with the framework under the HMMWV. And I must admit I really like the massive and sturdy feeling these big scale parts have to them – having built mostly 1/72 a long time ago.

Axles, drive train and exhaust fitted and painted green

The Revell-Aqua colors, which I use, give me quite a head-ache - the become all foamy when applied with a paint-brush :eeks: But once they have dried the present a neat, flat, buble-free finish. This becomes evident on the large flat surfaces on the underside of the cabin

While these are drying I started experimenting with washes. Tricky business: using water-colors on the Revell-Aqua-colors. I expected the green base coat of of Revell Aqua 65 to dissolve at any time under the influence of the water, which is used to dilute the black water-colors, at any moment - but it worked so well

The upper door is still green. The wash is applied only on the lower door. I could swipe the wet brush through the water all over the door for without the Aqua colour base coming of - it did this for about 10 minutes and nothing seemed to happen. Then I grow tired of it and decided to trust the Aqua-Colors and to apply the wash the rest of the interior.

And then I tried the rattle-can of OD. I chose the seats for this colour. This is what you do, if you build your own plane at home : you always start with the seats ;-) The idea is to get used to handle the rattle-can and to work with masking tape (also a first for me), because there wont be much practice available for me before going for the complete helicopter. It took the opportunity to give the pilot figures a flak-vest in OD as well.

Summary of the first steps : Revell-Aqua colors are my new best friends - they are odorless, stretched with simple tap-water, bubble-free and basically water resistant once dry.

Cheers for now !

[FALAES]

So, here we go again

But first I hope you all spent great Christmas holidays and found many kits under the tree

I finished my last post with the preparation of test of the OD from the rattle can. It turned out good :

The pilot figures will get their flak-vests in OD, but they are put aside for now, until being seated in the nearly finished helo (which means, I have to protect against dust... ). For the seats of the HMMWV it was important to experience the workings of the masking tape. I had some OD getting under the tape in some limited places, but that is not important : important is that I understood why - because I did not properly apply and press the tape against the seats. Lesson learned. Back to work.

Another reason for the OD on the seats is the application of decals. I know this has no meaning at this point, let me explain my reasoning : First, this is a test for the UH-60, and not for the HMMWV. The major part of the decals on the bird is going to be applied on the exterior. That's just the part which is going to be sprayed in OD from the rattle can. So, having the seats of the HMMWV in OD is a great opportunity to see how the decals from the bird are going to react to and stick on a relatively even surface, treated in the same way as the exterior of the helicopter (You're with me ) So I simply took some spare decals form the helicopter's sheet and placed them on the front seats. I did a comparative study for the application of the decals with and without settling solution. The decals applied on the front-passenger seat were applied with water only. They didn't stick too well and detached during washing (remember I use water colours as wash). On the driver's seat the decals were applied with settling solution. This fixated the decals enough to withstand a wash. Yet, there is still some silvering. But not enough to justify two additional rattle-cans with gloss and matt clear. For now... I might think otherwise when I apply the large decals on the helo. We shall see.

You can see the decals on the driver's seat a few photos further down. I left them there for fun

And apart from testing, I did also some real work :

The drive train has been mated with the hull

and the inside of the hull has been painted

This is a detail shot of the Revell Aqua colour, which turned all foamy while being applied with a paint-brush. But as I experienced this before, and it turned out okay, I was no longer shocked.

And it really turned out okay : No bubbles any-more

Then I turned the whole thing dirty

and if you think, this is dirty, you haven't seen my plans for the exterior yet !

What I really liked about this step is, how well I could modulate, mix and blend the effects of the different water-soluble paints with a wet brush. I really like the result - so far from a sterile and anonymous model of a HMMWV - and gained a lot of experience and gathered a lot of courage for the exterior.

You can see the decals on the drivers seat. The reason I left the decals on the seat, is simply because this version of the HMMWV is really buttoned up

With these high side walls it reminds me of some kind of scoop rather than a vehicle. And its cavernous interior is full of shadows, hiding the decals and all my attempts at weathering and dirtying the thing up - perfect !

The last step for now is taping the windows from the inside*, dry-fitting the roof on top and glueing all the small external bits and lights and latches before it is ready for the paint-shop

Note that the most important parts for the Hoverama - the sling-load shackles - are well protected

The scheme to be applied is euro-woodland and I am currently working on where to put which colour. Naturally the available schemes are for 'classic' HMMWVs and not directly applicable to this hunchback.

Cheers for now !

* NB: If you are interested in HMMWVs and if you haven't seen the mini-series Generation Kill yet I highly recommend it to you. Especially that part about the commander 'duct taping his windows and being all tactical and sh*t'

Edited December 28, 2014 by FALAES

[Dadeo911]

Looks like a good start.

[FALAES]

Thanks Dadeo ! That will help me through the works with the helo - for the HMMWV I am done now

First of the last steps is painting the base colours of standard european woodland

As you can see, the hood is flat green. This is because I went for a patch-work HMMWV. During research I came across this picture on modellbau-universe.de : http://www.modellbau-universe.de/uploadfiles/original/dr_777296.jpg. And I decided, that's my HMMWV. This one had some problems with its left front side and got some replacement parts that have yet to be coloured to blend in with the rest of vehicle.

Up to this point the roof is only placed, being held in position by the tape covering the windows. After the paints contours are all applied, the roof is lifted, the tape is removed, the windows are placed and the roof is glued down. After that I added the antenna from stretched sprue and tied it down - so it wont tickle the helos belly

I also added the decals - note that I did not use enough settling solution on the one US stencil. Everything else went on just great and I decided not to apply a gloss clear coat.

The next steps are the turret (assembled separately and painted in pattern as if it was pointing forward, for the transport under the helo it stored in a rotated position), the tires (now it stands on its own feet and on all four feet at the same time that is) and the cammo nettings (plastic parts that look like turds, covered in basil soaked in paint - best smelling model ever )

Note the left front wheel. It has a black hub in accordance with the patch-work approach.

And then the whole model is covered in mud (I promised you the mess in the inside is nothing compared to the exterior ) . I used water colour and backing soda. The lighter patches of mud also include opaque white. The whole mud turned a pinkish hue, so I had to tone it down with a light wash.

I even added the foot-prints of the fellow who braved the down-wash, climbed on the roof and attached the sling (which is to be added as I advance with the helo). For this I detached one of the resin figures of the helicopter crew from the sprue and used its foot as a stamp - as easy as that.

I am really pleased how the mud, and the HMMWV under it, turned out - the helo will be a lot cleaner !

The HMMWV is now in storage. I'll get it out once more the next days to get some decent shots for the RFI and then it will be stored until it can be united with the helo.

Edited January 4, 2015 by FALAES

[infofrog]

Nice Job .

What kit is that ?

Rick

[FALAES]

Thanks Rick !

It's the Italeri 1/35 M998 Desert Patrol HMMWV N° 249.

I read a bit about it and apparently it depicts a weird combination of several obscure prototypes which all fell trough at the army's trials - so nothing for the die-hard realism modeller :-)

But otherwise it is a nice little kit.