specky Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 (edited) Hi guys My local Toymaster has recently had a clearance of slow moving stock including a selection of plastic kits, most of which have been added to the stash. One of which is this 'out of my comfort zone' subject, but for way less than a tenner, it would have been rude not to - wouldn't it? First impressions? - well the box looked a little empty, so much so, that I had to check the parts diagram to make sure I wasn't missing a sprue or two, but since everything appears to be present and correct, it seems this will be a fairly simple build. Unfortunately, 'simple' seems to extend to what's actually on the sprues as well. The cockpit and seats in particular are a real disappointment and not at all what I was expecting from what the box suggests is a 2015 release. A quick check on Scalemates reveals the truth - this isn't Revell at all, its a re-box of a rather elderly Italeri tooling - - good job it was half price! Since the only way to display the cockpit is, and I kid you not, to cut the side windows out of the canopy which has disaster written all over it, I wont be doing that! Instead I'll be adding a couple of coats of Tamiya Smoke inside for a bit of a tint and calling it done. Despite a fair bit of flash on the 'A' sprue, the fuselage parts appear to be free of any sink marks, which is lucky because the surface detail is all raised panel lines and rivets which obviously wont survive through much in the way of filing and sanding. AM appears limited to gun barrels from 'Master' - which look great, but will, at a stroke, double the cost of the build! I think I'll wait until I can be sure the build is worth it before 'buying it now'. The 'soft edge' camo looks like a bit of a handful - I've had no success in the past with Blu Tack 'sausages', but I have just received my new 'Fine' airbrush so this may be its 'baptism of fire' on a free-handed scheme! Despite these, what might seem rather negative, comments, I am actually really looking forward to cracking-on with this and so many thanks to the mods who have stepped in at the 11th hour to ensure the Build gets 'up and running' Craig Edited August 22, 2016 by specky 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milktrip Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 Welcome Craig, And thank you for being the first to post. Looking forward to seeing this progress. Good luck with the new airbrush and kudos on trying freehand. Something that scares me to be honest. Cheers Aaron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helios16v Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 Sounds like a perfect kit for a change of pace, try something new, and experiment with some new techniques. It's not all doom & gloom for a "cheap" kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S5 modeller Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 Hi Craig. Welcome aboard. Hope your new airbrush works out fof you, still struggling with mine. Freehand camo seems the best way to get the soft edges, especially if you haven't had much luck with blu tack. Looking forward to seeing how you get on. Have fun, and enjoy the group build. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specky Posted August 4, 2016 Author Share Posted August 4, 2016 Hi Aaron and Matt, thanks for the welcome and I think I speak for everyone when I say Thank You for stepping up to ensure this build goes ahead as planned! Hi Helios16v, agreed, there's nothing wrong with a 'cheap' kit, as long as its reasonably close in shape and size, you have the option to add as much or as little as you see fit until you're satisfied. After a wash and dry, the main fuselage parts were removed, cleaned up and test fitted... ....and since the fit is actually better than the photo suggests, I've placed an order for Master gun barrels... ...it will be a couple of weeks before they arrive, but there's plenty to occupy me until I really need to get them fitted. Roll on Saturday morning! Craig 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milktrip Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Hi Aaron and Matt, thanks for the welcome and I think I speak for everyone when I say Thank You for stepping up to ensure this build goes ahead as planned! You're more than welcome Craig. That master gun barrel looks lovely. cheers Aaron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S5 modeller Posted August 6, 2016 Share Posted August 6, 2016 Nice choice with the master barrels. I tried the exact same item, but in 72nd, a while ago. The quality of the brass was brilliant, amazed they could drill them out in such a small size. They will compliment your build. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specky Posted August 7, 2016 Author Share Posted August 7, 2016 Hi everyone, so, the journey begins and as is often the case, its the cockpit first. Despite the simplifications, which become increasingly obvious once you begin looking at walkarounds, I'm going 'out of the box'. I've already abandoned one 'chopper' build this year after getting bogged down with the 'pit and as I've already mentioned, the plan is to slightly tint the glazing which will disguise a lot of the short comings - photos to follow when the matt coat's dry In other news, some experiments on an inconspicuous area suggests that this 'hard' plastic is much more 'scribe-able' compared with the much 'softer' stuff that Airfix, for example, use and so that offers a solution to the biggest 'elephant in the room' - the raised panel lines. It wont be a 5 minute job to re-scribe this because walkarounds show these machines are covered in panel gaps! In other, other news, a lot of walkarounds show these things 'tooled-up' with TOW missiles which, in my opinion, make them look even more aggressive and as luck would have it, one of the other kits I scored from Toymaster is this Airfix Lynx... ....which includes missiles and what look to me very much like the correct launchers - result! In other, other, other news, for anyone planning to build one of these, or the original Italeri boxing (same sprues), take care with the main rotors, if you fit them as per the instructions, they will be spinning in the wrong direction - I must admit that it took me a minute or 2 to figure out why the plastic in my hand looked nothing like the walkaround on the screen! Simple fix - install upside down after swapping the head detail from top to bottom and vice-versa . More later Craig 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milktrip Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 I think you have the right idea re-scribing to get rid of the raised panel lines, especially in this scale. At least the plastic should work in Your favour. Will you be keeping the raised rivet detail? Good call on the rotor, not the only revell kit with this problem (although to be fair it's not an original Revell kit); the old tool EC135 was the same I think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S5 modeller Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 (edited) Hi specky. Your seats certainly contain more detail than the ones in my 32nd scale cobra. The most detail on my seats are the dodgy ejector pin marks. Not even got the armour panels. Good catch on the rotor, and I think I might blatantly steal your canopy tinting idea for my build. Edited August 10, 2016 by S5 modeller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 nice start! I hope to follow close on your heels with mine thanks already for your observations! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specky Posted August 14, 2016 Author Share Posted August 14, 2016 Hi everyone. Not much to report this week I'm afraid - real life and all that sort of nonsense, but there are some things to show. As I mentioned previously, the 'pit has had a splash of paint.. ...shades of grey mainly, rather than lots of black as the guide instructs. As is often the case, it looks better in the flesh, but after assembling the 2-piece fuselage halves, I can do some 'dry fitting' and it seems that the 'pit can be fitted later which means I could 'tweak' it before committing and also means the, potentially vulnerable, chain-gun mount can be left off until the seams and panel lines are addressed. Since there isn't much AM stuff available for this kit, its time to get 'creative' and after a search around home I've found some 'mesh' which looks useful for this air intake area... ....after chopping out the plastic representation and holding the mesh in place with Blu Tack.... ...although it is a little fine and not quite the right 'weave', it still looks a whole lot better! Hopefully a little more next week Craig 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milktrip Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 Nice job on the pit Craig, when you say 'tweak' does that mean you will no longer be tinting the canopy with Tamiya smoke? Agree about the mesh. Looks a lot better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S5 modeller Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 Nice work Craig. That cockpit looks brilliant, much better than just lashings of black in black. Where did you get the mesh from? It certainly looks the part, and a vast improvement over the moulded in detail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Heath Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 Another thumbs up for the mesh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specky Posted August 22, 2016 Author Share Posted August 22, 2016 Hi everyone. Once again, not much to show I'm afraid, but it's still creeping forward. The second intake was opened, both were meshed over & a very simple 'interior' scratched up but even under the most extreme lighting, nothing is clearly visible! There is a third, much smaller intake above the cockpit which will be much more difficult to deal with since it spans the joint - but I have a plan... of sorts! After a quick check over to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything, it was time to close up.... ...the quality of the fit was always going to be compromised by the 2-piece fuselage halves, but with some careful clamping, regular sprung loaded wooden clothes pegs were perfectly adequate and with lashings of Tamiya Extra Thin, its turned out OK. After a quick clean-up of the seams, it will be time for some scribing. Cheers for now Craig 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milktrip Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Progress is progress. Will be interesting to see your plan for the mesh on the third intake. Good to see the fuselage stuck together... I'm quite far from that milestone. Cheers Aaron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 Looking good Specky, good progress. Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milktrip Posted September 4, 2016 Share Posted September 4, 2016 Hi Craig, Just wondering how you're getting on with the build? Cheers Aaron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 Updates please!!! I am about to overtake you... that is not fair as I was gonna learn from yours.... !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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