Deano353

Terriffic looking Raptor. I have the Academy one in my stash I was going to build it next. How did you tint the canopy? It looks much better than whats in the box.

Now thats a model you never see. Looks great!

Superb work as mentioned above best F-35 I've seen made. Did you take any shots of the underside or did you close everything up?

Stunning build. Detail is very good. You did the kit justice.

Amazing build. The worn paint job is outstanding. With the right background that could be mistaken for the real thing.

That's unique I like it. Great paint job too very striking. An enjoyable kit to build you say? Good fit I take it? I'm between kits now and there's nothing in my stash that jumps out at me but this is inspiring.

Looks superb

Looks great! Any chance of a few more photos from behind with the afterburners on?

A mate said the same thing so I have asked another mate with a 3D printer if a Pamela Anderson from Baywatch could be printed to go alongside it. If that happens I will be sure to post it.

@Alpha Delta 210 Thanks for the explanation! I was in the Royal Navy myself and during the Gulf deployment straight after 9/11 happened (My ship was on the way to the Gulf 2 weeks prior to 9/11 it happened along the way) I recalled seeing a USCG ship and I did wonder why they would be in the Gulf. That answers that! Also being a service that switches roles is quite interesting. I am thinking of another USCG aircraft since they're so vibrant in colours.

Thanks Pete, yeah there's not a lot of helicopters on here and I'm assuming this is still military just very bright that's all lol. I think I have seen maybe one of these made before. Not sure if it was on here thiugh.

Thanks man it was hit and miss at times but glad I finished it!

Thanks it turned out better than I had expected. Looks good on my shelf now brightens up the grey and green everywhere lol.

Here's my Trumpeter 1/35 Dolphin HH65C. It was a mixed bag with the build parts that didnt fit included all of the glazing around the front and the engines, engine covers, landing gear, nose and tail rotor. Nothing major in terms of fit that wasn't easy enough to fix just a bit tedious and with large parts which are windows it certainly made me question on occasion whether or not this was even going to get completed. I added my own detail inside and out which was milliput for all of the internal equipment in the back. Spare photoetch and electrical tape for straps and lead wire for internal comms connections. On the outside I added stretched sprue for the wire which is attached to an antenna to a point under the tail rotor. The wires around the search light and also the engine that is visible plus all of the door handles. At a few points along the build I really did think it was going in the bin but in the end I think it tirned out well. I never would have guessed a shiny orange helicopter wouldhave used up all my masking tape which was almost 2 rolls! But it did. The model was painted with tamiya red and orange about 1:5 parts orange to 8:5 parts red this mix to my eye looks like international orange. The clear coat was Tamiya clear and the decals are from Caracal which give you all of the squadrons so the best looking one to me was Texas so it has Houston written on it. The kit comes with photo etch sprue and in areas the detail isreally good and others non existent. It's as if two people worked on it, one who wanted to make a great kit and the other couldn't be bothered. I drilled out the APU exhaust as it's just a circular indent but the front has a photo etch grill with full length intake so that's the sort of thing I am on about. Anyway enough of my complaining it adds a splash a very bright one at that to my collection and I hope you all like it.

Got the last decals on and put about 4 more coats of Tamiya clear on it the shine is great but my efforts not so much. I do have the orange peel effect but I cam live with it. When you see it on the internet and can zoom in it's obvious but in real life it's better looking. Anyway I hope at least someone likes the helicopter it's a really nice and bright addition to my collection and I think I have only seen one or two other examples of this kit being made. If anyone watching hopes to make this I hope my build was useful at least. I will post the finished model in the coming week on the ready for inspection page. Well I have seen Kitty Hawks Pave Hawk in 1/35 as well and I am tempted after this build since helicopters are off the beaten track for me. I hope some of you like the pictures and I will hopefullybe concluding this build soon.