Deano353

That's exactly what I was thinking of doing. I bought AK Extrene metal chrome and gunmetal and was going to use those to do the camo pattern then spray diluted grey. Just wondered about the decals though. Did you apply a gloss coat for them? I worry it will remove any shine from the metal colours underneath.

The detail on your Phantom is next level!

I can't imagine working with such small detail my eyes would fall out lol. The detail in the scale is highly impressive. I'm curious to try something small scale like this as a challenge. Minus the lights and propeller spinning of course!

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.

Fair enough lol.

Cool kit though this at least in my opinion. I think it's a straightforward build if I recall correctly. I think the fin on mine was the same as yours, never noticed that before

I am the worlds slowest modeller so here is another update it's time for decals I'm about half way with those but I also have the main rotors to add and a few other details to cut from the sprue. The model has taken way more time to make than I previously thought it would. The international orange I mixed up and painted has lighter and darker patches as I sprayed it over white. I was initially going to fix this but it's very subtle in real life and breaks up the orange a bit it was totally by accident but it's worth it. The orange doesn't really need broken up though once the decals are on it as it gets very colourful indeed! Hooefully not too long for the next update although I do take ages to make the model.

Superb Flanker. Out of curiosity is the windshield sprayed with clear yellow?

Ok thanks very much for that I'll give it a go. I'm really hoping to get a good smooth gloss finish.

Hi guys has anyone here had orange peel effect they had fixed before? I am making a USCG helo and it has to be gloss international orange. Now I have Tamiya coarse and fine polishing compound I am not sure if it is to be used with water or not. Does anyone know if this might help? Any advice will be appreciated.

That's a great finish all round! Terrific paint job as well. Are these 1/48 scale?