racer53

Thanks for the feedback gentlemen. It was certainly a fun aircraft to build.

I appreciate the feedback. This model was quite nice to put together, especially considering my last model was a Amodel 1/144 aircraft. This one hardly needed filler compared to that.

Well I finished her up. Here is one final picture of the build, at this stage I had just completed putting on the landing gear. Ready for inspection thread can be found here. Ready for inspection thread As always any comments or criticisms are welcome. Racer53

I've been slowly working on this one since January. Awesome kit to build and I really enjoyed it. Here is the link to the WIP thread Hasegawa 1/72 Build Thread As always any comments or criticisms are welcome. Racer53

Here we are again. I got most of the decals on. There were quite a few decals to put on, but they all went on fairly easily. The only ones that gave me any trouble were the eagles and the large walkway decals on the top, but I think they turned out alright. I've given it one more light clear coat to seal everything. Next I will unmask windows, affix gear and gear doors and finish up the final assembly. As always any comments or criticisms are welcome. Racer53

Here we are again. I completed the wash and gave it another light clear coat. Before... During... After... Before... During... After... And below are a few more of the aircraft after the wash. I also assembled the landing gear. Tomorrow I'll get the landing gear and gear doors painted, and then start the decals. As always any comments or criticisms are welcome. Racer53

Well it's been a while but I am back at it again. Rear De-ice boots have been painted on the empennage, flaps painted and affixed, engine inlet and exhaust painted, and given a light clear coat. Also got the props completed and painted. I hand painted the white tips, and the anti-icing leading edges. The kit came with decals for these, but I knew I would probably get 15 out of 16 correct just to have the last one rip, so I went ahead and hand painted. The pictures didn't turn out too well, it looks better in person. Next up I'll do a light wash and then move on to the landing gear and decals. As always any comments or criticisms are welcome. Racer53

That can't be a Caribou, it's much too clean... Awesome job on the kit, it's a shame we don't see more Caribous.

Awesome job, the fading patterns on the paint are excellent.

Awesome job, the exhaust and staining are some of the best I've seen so far.

Beautiful job, she looks good.

Just wanted to say your doing a beautiful job on her. I look forward to seeing the finished product.

Good looking Sioux. Having worked on a land based OH-13/Bell-47 for about five years, I can personally attest to the fact that ours was almost always flown without the doors on. The only time we would put them on was in the winter [i guess the pilots got a little cold]. I think your model looks completely accurate without the doors. Racer53

Stunning finish. One of the best NMF I've seen on here.

Awesome job, I love the clear definition of the fabric surfaces compared to the rest of the airframe.

You guys are in for a treat when you build her. Lot of the pieces just fall into place. At the end I'll write down a couple things I would have done different so you guys might be able to avoid a couple small pit-falls the kit has that I ran into. Got more done on her. Put down a couple coats of primer, and then started painting. Got just about everything painted. I still need to paint the De-icing boots on the tail, paint the engine inlet and exhaust, and paint the flap recess areas. That's it for now. More updates to follow. As always any comments or criticisms are welcome. Racer53

Beautiful job on the model and finish. I had the pleasure of seeing an AC-47 a couple of years ago. Such an interesting aircraft and a colorful history to go along with it.

Thank you for the kind words. Wingspan is about 14 inches. Length is about 10 inches. It's a good sized model, but it has been an absolute pleasure to work with so far. I have most of the painting done and I'll be uploading pictures later today. Racer53

Thank you for the kind words gentlemen. I've made more progress. Flaps assembled, radome assembled, radome support assembled and mounted. Various antenna and small components have been mounted as well. The radome is actually not a fixed item and can be removed upon completion of the model. This is accomplished through the use of two rubber grommet/washer pieces in the radome itself that slide onto the radome support rod. I've also made the notch cut for the navigation lights. I have also completed the masking, and I'm just about ready to start priming. That's it for now. More updates to follow. As always any comments or criticisms are welcome. Racer53

Got some work done on her this week. Engines assembled and mounted, as well as some various bits and pieces. Continued on with filling and sanding. So far everything except the wing and tail mount points have been filled with super glue. I used milliput for the wing and tail mount points. Almost ready for the first coat of primer. That's it for now. More updates to follow. As always any comments or criticisms are welcome. Racer53

Negative, the wings will remain unfolded. Finally have some progress on this model. Here you can see I've painted and affixed the nose sensor array, and I have painted the anti-glare underneath where the canopy will go. And the underside of the sensor array. Here I have painted and affixed the upper control panel. And a final shot of the cockpit before I close it up. Canopy and nose cone added. I must point out that the canopy fit was amazing compared to the other models I've worked on. Wings and tail affixed. Most of the main sanding and filling has been done and some re-scribing work also. That's it for now. More updates to follow. As always any comments or criticisms are welcome. Racer53

Good Afternoon All, Here we have a 1/72 Hasegawa E-2C Hawkeye. The kit is being built for a friend of my Father's, whose nephew served with this aircraft on the Nimitz. This will be a bit of a slow build as life is busy right now, so I'll update when I can. First up is a couple pictures of the box, sprues, decals, and manual. First impressions are that this kit is definitely a step up from the previous models i have built in terms of quality and detail. Hasegawa has done an excellent job with this model and I would definitely be interested in building another one of their kits in the future. Next up we start on the cockpit, everything is stock although I added seat-belts made from aluminum foil. The instruments are all decals that come with the kit and give a very good representation of the real thing. Quarter is for scale. On the bottom of the cockpit is the nose landing gear-well. Next up the two halves were assembled. I added quite a bit of weight directly behind the cockpit and up in the nose to prevent the plane from being tail heavy. The wings and tail were also assembled at this point. I should point out that the fit so far is fantastic. That's it for now. More updates to follow. As always any comments or criticisms are welcome. Racer53

I had to use filler for the first time a couple months ago on a model I was working on. After much experimentation, the best stuff for me was a product called Milliput Super Fine-White, you can find this at hobby stores or online. It doesn't stink and it cleans up with water, so you can use it inside without having to call the Hazmat team. Everyone has a different filling product they like to use, so I am sure there will be more suggestions from others to follow what I have said. Model is looking good, keep up the good work. As for sanding run down to your local hardware store and pick up some fine grit sand paper {600-800 grit}. I use this all the time for sanding, you can use it flat or roll it a little to get into contours. Good Luck, Racer53

Welcome to the forum. Good luck on your build, I just finished a 1/144 Caribou so I can empathize with the very small parts .

Great job, I love the polished prop dome.