1/72 Italeri UH-1B Huey in a Japanese Scheme

[milktrip]

Oh yeah!! I do love dayglo. Looks pretty darn good as white and orange. This really is great progress!

[Tomoshenko]

Stunning mate. My word though. that dayglo aint arf bright. Reckon I'd go for a slighter darker grey wash on the rotors.

[S5 modeller]

Nice dayglo paint there Nigel, now where did I put my sunglasses.

Matt

[Nigel Heath]

Today I first masked up for the matt black antiglare patch on the nose, I did this quite loosely so as not to get a step in the paint:

Here's how it came out along with the front aerial pylons:

While that was drying I mixed up a dark grey wash and redid the rotors:

Much better I think.

Then I tackled the short decals on the tail rotor. I soon found a good match for the red:

When the red bands were done and dry I sealed them in with liquid decal film:

Here they are finished and ready for some matt varnish:

By now the black was dry so I got that masked up:

I had left the yellow band as long as I could before masking as it's a semi-gloss and is prone to reacting with masking tape if not completely cured. I have also established from reference photos that the grab handle should actually be all olive drab so I needed to mask around its base. I used 1.2mm punch to create some appropriate custom masking:

Those were used like so:

I made a bit of an error with this area of dayglo on the underside. The side bands should in fact stop just above the skids:

With all the masking done I applied the olive drab:

Not forgetting the side doors and skids:

While that was drying I added the bristles to the front aerials (above are the PE replacements) and realised I should have included the wipers in the black spraying session this morning:

I think its best to let the green harden up overnight and then things will be almost ready for decal application.

Bye for now,

Nigel

[Nigel Heath]

Masking removed (I couldn't wait):

There's a few touch ups required but nothing major. I thought I might have to redo the yellow but its come out OK.

Bye for now,

Nigel

[abat]

Excellent work and fantastic attention to detail.

[modelling minion]

Wow!

Superb work Nigel.

The dayglo looks terrific and really adds some colour to the scheme.

Should be finished soon at this rate.

[Col.]

Tidy work as ever Nigel.

Am I the only one who finds it strange to see dayglo bands over a camouflage scheme?

[TonyTiger66]

Stunning! It looks like that vintage Humbrol Matt Day-Glo works a treat. Nice custom masking on the handles.

Tony

[milktrip]

Tidy work as ever Nigel.

Am I the only one who finds it strange to see dayglo bands over a camouflage scheme?

It does defeat the purpose doesn't it!?

Looking great Nigel, echoing Craig's point that we may see this in the gallery soon.

[Nigel Heath]

It looks like that vintage Humbrol Matt Day-Glo works a treat.

My vintage tin of Humbrol dayglo must be nearly 40 years old but still works well.

[Smudge]

Just read this all the way through. Cracking work, Nigel.

[Nigel Heath]

Today, after doing all the paint touchups, I masked and brush painted the bevel gearbox with Dark Sea Grey:

While all the paint was drying I started work on a pitot tube using 0.3 and 0.5mm nickel silver tubes and 0.3mm rod to stop the tube collapsing when I bent it:

Unfortunately when I tried to bend it I got a different failure mode and the tube snapped so I made another one using brass tube this time:

In preparation for the decals I then gave the main craft a coat of Aqua Gloss and while I had the airbrush out also got some black on the wipers and olive drab on the new pitot tube:

Decalling application well underway, I had to add black rectangle under these NH decals, I sealed it with liquid decal film before applying the initials:

Here are all the kit decals done:

I will go over my reference pictures to see if there are any additional stencils required.

Bye for now,

Nigel

[abat]

Gee this is looking good. Lovely scheme.

[modelling minion]

The full colour decals and the dayglo paint really bring this scheme to life, one I've considered doing myself in 1/48.

More great work on the pitots, they look fantastic and much more realistic than the kit items.

I think you are going to be first across the finish line by a big margin.

[Max Headroom]

That is a very nice scheme wonderfully executed.

Trevor

[milktrip]

Booootiful. Great choice indeed. I know I keep saying it but I really do like dayglo! * and your models!

[exdraken]

wow, very nice and rare scheme!

well done close to being finished already!

[Nigel Heath]

This is all from yesterday, I couldn't get Photobucket to work last night. Inspecting the underside I found it had this crazed appearance, I have seen this before and know that it should vanish under a coat of matt varnish:

I had got most of the decals on so applied a second coat of Aqua gloss to protect them:

I did discover a few stencils that I added using decals from my spares box:

I then painted some matt black on the ski steps to represent the anti-slip patches:

After about four coats of white primer I brush painted some yellow on the tips of the main rotor:

Then it was onto final assembly steps, on went the pitot tube and blade aerial:

Tail skid:

Skis:

Front aerials:

I really should have done this before assembling all the sticky out bits but then I applied a panel line wash using Payne's Grey oil paint:

Here is the wash finished:

Next everything got a coat of matt varnish:

I started to remove the masking:

Next some light fabrication. I used plastic from a clear red cocktail stick and 1mm hole to make the light that goes on top of the engine:

For the four navigation lights I used the same technique but clear sprue and a 1.2mm hole, they were then sawn in half and coated with clear green and red, I made up a few spares to be on the safe side:

I thought some rigging wires would look good on this so started on the job of adding them using EZ line and a short length of 0.4mm brass tube:

After two coats of clear paint and when they were dry I started to add the navigation lights:

I used some more clear sprue to make the formation light for the tail (1.2mm dia.) and when sawn off painted the back with Alclad "Chrome":

Here it is glued on with a dab of GS Hypo cement:

Here is the dinky red roof light also glued on with GS Hypo cement:

So here it was a the end of the day, very nearly finished. One of the rings on the skis has gone missing and will have to be replaced and then there are a few paint and varnish touch ups to do but its just about there:

Bye for now,

Nigel

[Max Headroom]

It's those tiny, tiny details that make all the difference and which breathes 'life' into a model.

Still in awe.

Trevor

[Nigel Heath]

Today I added the PE wipers using thinned Gator Grip:

Then I added the FM communications aeriel using 0.2mm nickel silver rod:

Then I painted up and added the missing PE ring to the skis:

The very last thing to do were a few paint and varnish touch ups and with those done this is now finished:

The RFI shots can be found in the Gallery here. I start a new job next week back down in England so my modelling will shortly come to a stop, for a while at least.

Bye,

Nigel

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Lovely work Nigel, it has been great to follow your thread. Given me plenty of ideas for my build if I can find the time.

[HόόK]

Fantastic work on the Huey.

Excellent result.

[modelling minion]

Another excellent build Nigel, with all the usual added and scratch built details which really make your builds stand out.

Dangerously inspiring too!

Very well done.

Craig.

[AlexN]

Neat .

A.