Neal

Got the fuselage halves together and the floor in. Overall it’s a pretty good fit from Airfix although I’ve managed to end up with a few small gaps on the underside which can be easily fixed. The joint on the tail rotor shaft cover is a bit trickier to resolve.

The IR receivers are moulded in clear plastic & eduard have masks for them so using some scrap to see if I can get a reasonable facsimile of the lenses I’ve tried a few things with the spare door, layering gold Tamiya acrylic and Tamiya green tint in different ways & thicknesses. Both brushed so all a bit heavy handed and not ideal but I think gold on the inside of the sensor with a very light mist of the green tint on the outside should give something passable. Finally all the cabin windows are in.

Interior all assembled, just needs a Matt varnish now. The eduard set really uplifting what is already a great starting point from Airfix All the cabin glazing is in the future pot. The IR receivers are moulded in clear plastic & eduard have masks for them so using some scrap to see if I can get a reasonable facsimile of the lenses reference pic from BM

That’s all the belts done. a coat of gloss and matt should sort the glue marks

Interior nearly there. Some Vallejo panel washes applied then Mig ammo dry brushing & dust streaking brusher . Finally tamiya weathering powers. Quietly pleased with the medical pack and extinguisher. Seats just loose at the moment, so the orange should calm down a bit with a Matt coat. Eduard IP makes the cockpit, just the crew seats to finish Bench seats need the harness adding (all 96 of them) next.

Just been dry fitting the bench seats and round there are 4 holes in the floor that I should’ve filled and I need to open up the GPMG mount position. Some thinking required as to whether to leave the holes open or try a fill them in a way that doesn’t leave the floor needing a repaint. Balls

Bench seats turned out ok. I’ve perhaps been a bit over zealous with the chipping on the door entrance floor but I can rectify that later. Crew seats have the scratch made survival kits and covers. Coat of gloss tonight then a wash for the floor.

I love my airbrush I hate my airbrush Both of these statements are true… Wet bank holiday afternoon and so airbrush out to paint the seats, interior floor, cockpit and tyres. airbush blocked completely twice so needed a strip and clean. maybe time to move on from the generic amazon sourced brush to an Iwata Neo. All put aside to dry, hopefully I’ll have the masking off tonight

Sprayed the interior grey (probably a shade too dark but it’ll do) got the floor all masked up, so hairspray before coat of black for the anti-slip then a bit of chipping. Cutting the circular masks was a bit of a problem until I found that a bit of leftover PE that had the perfect size hole. Maybe time for a proper template set…. Seats are all masked ready for the blue as well

Like an hours work and not yet finished….. I guess slow and steady wins the race Enough for now…. to the Laphroaig

Was only a cheap one from amazon: MASUNN Mini Model Photo Etch... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07WVJ6YM5?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share Works well enough for the 1/72 scale parts.

Spent the evening bending PE for the IR defensive countermeasures mounts & attaching the grills to the tail rotor. Airfix just provide decals for these grills so nothing the PE will really lift these areas. The basic bending tool is proving a god send with these brackets.

Awesome

Still no painting but have a few more sub assemblies off the sprue and built up or on cocktail sticks for painting. Really impressed with the fit of the Airfix parts, only a tiny bit of filler required on a few bit & the sprue gates are really well placed so you’ll never see them once built.

Not had chance to crack out the airbrush but done a bit of masking on the seats. Finished the extinguisher and medical kit with a few decals out of the spares box, not accurate but you get the idea.