1/72 AMT Kamov Ka-52 "Hokum B"

[Pappy]

Instead of getting the painting done when I looked back at my last post I decided the plastic probe wasn't good enough so set about making a new one using 0.8, 0.6 and 0.4 tubes:

Those were then soldered together and fettled to create the tapered section:

I then created this set up to attach the vanes, the aluminium foil is there to pack the vanes onto the centre of the tube:

Then it was a case of just trimming the vanes and giving it a minor tidy up:

The final job of the day was to glue on the wings which can now harden up overnight:

I'll get the painting done tomorrow.

Bye for now,

Nigel

Insanity!

Brilliant insanity, keep it up Nige, this is great stuff,

cheers,

Pappy

[TonyTiger66]

Superb detailing; the work with rod on the probe, pitot and undercarriage is great. I also liked the work dealing with the cockpit seams and micro meshing the canopies. Very thorough

Best regards

Tony

[John_W]

Their own Vole-ition?

DB

Its the AMT kit, not the one by Roden(t)

[Duncan B]

Oh very good

[Nigel Heath]

I haven't got that much done today as I have been thinking about and sorting out the colour coats. I did start the day with a mammoth airbrushing session though, getting some Airframe Aluminium inside the engine fronts, Burnt Iron and Exhaust Manifold on the outlets and primer on everything else:

I then masked the inside of the engines with a combination of tape, tube, foam and Blu Tack. The next stage for these is to apply some black around the intakes:

I fixed the tapering gaps in the main gear wells with strips of 0.5mm square rod:

During the seam sanding I had removed two moulded discs so I reinstated them with 2.5mm discs of punched out card:

There were some gaps round the wings, especially on the underside, so I filled them with more Perfect Plastic Putty:

I think I will be applying the tops coats to all the ancillary parts next.

Bye for now,

Nigel

[Pete in Lincs]

Fire up the compressor!

It's paintin' time boys!

[phildagreek]

Looking smart!

[Nigel Heath]

I started today with another mega airbrushing session, getting all these colours applied to all the ancillary parts:

While they were drying I made up some grey Milliput by mixing white and black for filling some gaps around the canopy:

Here it is finished:

The next job was to mask the engine intakes starting with some 10mm tape and a permanent marker:

I then used my compass cutter to cut out the arcs of tape:

With the tape on I could then glue on the engines:

I have painted the undercarriage struts with Alclad Dull Aluminium, I then brush painted the hydraulic bits with Humbrol Silver:

Next I masked the wheels with punched discs of tape:

These parts are all ready for another round of painting in the morning:

I think I'll mask the blades so they can join them.

Bye for now,

Nigel

[CedB]

Very tidy Nigel. I particularly like those legs - very effective.

[AlexN]

Looking good. AMT, eh? My one experience with an AMT kit was their re-jigged 1/48 P-40 E(F?): not impressed. It is sitting in bits back in its box down in the lockup, where it will remain for some considerable time, I suspect. I admire your patience and diligence dealing with this one, Nigel.

I also admire your patience with airbrushing - I think that the continual and extensive cleaning of the instrument, not to mention learning what thinners (and cleaner) may or may not work with what paint in the brush, are going to be what ultimately cruels using one, for me.

Cheers,

Alex.

[Sgt.Squarehead]

With a good airbrush you can usually just flush through and switch colours, if you have multiple paint cups (I suspect Nige might) you can do quite a lot in one session before stripping and cleaning the brush.

[AlexN]

Thank you, Sargeant! The Aztec 470 that I have - which I view with great suspicion, being very "plasticky" - has multiple cups, but the Iwata Hi-Line which I have - and which I look upon much more favourably - does not. I know that Mr Green uses the Aztec excusivley, but I am not convinced. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, as they say, though.

Cheers,

Alex (still not not sure what time of day or even day of the week it is!)

[phildagreek]

Very smart work, looking good.

[Nigel Heath]

My airbrush is a Harder and Steenbeck Infinity. Its a lovely airbrush, nice to use and very easy to clean. I do have a spare 2ml cup but only use the 5ml one. I generally strip down and clean between each colour but if they are very similar in shade I just flush through with solvent. The paints here are lined up in the order in which they were applied, starting with the lightest shade and working through to the darkest and then finishing with the metallics. Between the matt black and satin black enamel I only gave my brush the briefest of cleans, same with the two shades of Alclad:

[TonyTiger66]

You've had a very productive time Nigel; must have been fun

I'm just getting used to airbrush and your line up from light to dark really 'clicked' with me. It's so logical but something one doesn't immediately think of.

Looking forwards to seeing the parts of the helicopter jigsaw fit together!

Best regards

Tony

[Nigel Heath]

The first job this morning was to mask the blades ready for a coat of metallic steel on the edges:

These missiles need black bands round them, I had thought about using strips of decal film but decided that masking and painting was a better option:

I did some airbrushing and while that was drying metallised the gun with some Steel metal powder:

Unmasked the wheels had come out really well so I then applied a black wash to bring out the details:

Here are all the weapons, I have hand painted the tips of the missiles and finished them off with thin strips of black decal film wrapped round. Quite a bit of the aluminium on the rocket pods has come off with the tape so I think I'll have to respray that:

Here's how the blades came out. Some of the satin black has come off the bottom two so I'll have to redo them as well, I've also started to mask the the end connections:

Bye for now,

Nigel

[phildagreek]

Looking good!

[The Spadgent]

Looking great. I like your masking technique. I might have a borrow of that one if you don't mind.

Keep up the good work.

John

[Nigel Heath]

I like your masking technique. I might have a borrow of that one if you don't mind.

Not at all.

[Nigel Heath]

To retouch the satin black I masked the edge of the blades like this:

With the black sorted I could then mask the end connections using tape reinforced with some liquid masking on the edges:

I resprayed the aluminium Alclad on the rocket pods and gave the other weapons a coat of Aqua Gloss ready for their decals:

Then the pods and the blades got a coat of gloss as well as they all have loads of decals to go on:

I think the next steps are to give the blades some droop and then on with all the decals I can do for the moment.

Bye for now,

Nigel

[Nigel Heath]

After giving the blades a bit of droop I started to apply the Begemot decals, here are the blades done:

I am happy to report these decals were very nice to work with, they released from the backing paper in seconds and were thin and flexible. The kit decals by contrast took over four minutes to release. Among the decals applied to the weapons was this one, I think its the smallest I have ever come across:

Here are the weapons with their decals done:

The next job was to apply a black Flory wash to the rotor hub and blade ends:

Now I could assemble the rotors:

They just need a light coat of varnish to finish them off.

Bye for now,

Nigel

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Looks great to me!

[CedB]

And me!

[Pete in Lincs]

I'll third that.

[The Spadgent]

Fourth. Looks amazing!