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+++ Finished!!! +++ Marines attack helicopter AH-1G Cobra, Vietnam 1970 (AZ Model, 1/72)


jrlx

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Hi again,

 

Sorry for the lack of updates since mid-July. I've been working on this build but I haven't had the time to post updates.

 

Continuing from where I left, I glued the parts through which the cannon and grenade launcher stick out of the gun turret:

y4meEG7gdLK-s0VAAJD8zrG5VkVfwqDMh1ig9i61

IMAG6850

 

I also removed the cannon and grenade launcher from the sprues and glued them to a toothpick, ready for painting:

y4mqMx42TgT0VpjnVYRDnzxwIm6W9eHqvVry34kv

IMAG6851

 

Next, I glued together the tail rotor blades and shaft. The shaft does not fit tightly on the corresponding hole in the tail fin. So, I glued a piece of thin plastic sheet around the shaft's end:

y4mKWSACJn0mjLBo59i5CG5Uri-_lnmbA8kX68BY

IMAG6852

 

I also glued the PE part to the blades:

y4mRTv0vMvyj1l0iCLGGSVnmFYUrqrDWuMc5q60S

IMAG6854

 

There were also a few PE bits that had to be glued to the fuselage:

y4mbCvkVJ0A3v5cZo3yi5ksmG0Uz4JklLSwGrEAg

IMAG6853

 

The wings and pod holders were glued together (the parts on the left were cleaned from flash before glueing):

y4m9PQBsGzNoVG7xjnvUuLytgS7CVi27kQ2dYbmn

IMAG6857

 

The exhaust parts were also removed from the sprues and cleaned, in preparation for painting:

y4m35OgPoYS7m64_qO7yXF9uFMMvGo80V3khPWuA

IMAG6858

 

The next step was the installation of the links between the blades and the centre of the main rotor. These are build with PE parts and small sections of plastic rod, but I used pieces of copper wire instead of plastic rod.

 

Here we can see the PE bits already bent to shape:

y4mp_YO2Vkl1CLfDptgrEBZsc3MNwkRHB0lGRnaH

IMAG6859

 

These bits were glued in place:

y4mVilxMTDHI4nXGZwJ6E4hjdPiI0IcY5pfY-Mcj

IMAG6860

 

After a few tries, to find the correct length, I glued the pieces of copper wire in place, as shown in the following two pictures:

y4mL5vVCbX0g4yM1rnjJfjzZXS7bEIO_JoQpprPE

IMAG6861

 

y4mZuH1ezKFN-vZx6UTS6qUwqf0EdaoronT6VgHW

IMAG6862

 

To finish with the main rotor, I glued the shaft in place:

y4mZM0zb8iD6d56jZBvNbfu2gDJzrZT7UFleYJeW

IMAG6866

 

There is an antenna to install on the lower port side of the fuselage, but there are no locating pins or slots. To ensure a proper installation, I drilled holes on the mating surfaces of the fuselage and antenna and glued a piece of copper wire on the antenna:

y4mCxUdmJ1Y2s6XkIAoaPM52iOpT8TZIFv4Z1jSq

IMAG6864

 

The final PE bits to be installed on the exterior are the bits that go on the skids. To ensure a proper installation, I drilled holes on the skids before glueing the PE bits in place:

y4mSek7ot_CHBbE5DclMjpvfZT2h1BQaPBQS3YXj

IMAG6865

 

Finally, Alclad Black Primer and Microfiller was applied to all parts which will be black or need metallic paints:

y4mPpHi9u1qs0uqgUYXsD5Di6kQrW2h_oUpTAtpG

IMAG6867

 

Thanks for looking

 

Jaime

 

 

 

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Hi again,

 

After priming the parts that will be painted with metallic colours, I needed to mask some of them.

 

Here's the PE fret after the first round of masking:

y4mThrs2oljVnLhh91Rmiv4uu3u021c_Jsb_K-oq

IMAG6871

 

The rotors have black blades with yellow tips, with metallic shafts. I'll use the black primer for the black blades, so, I masked the parts accordingly:

y4m6xvBbeSH4ofLa_LMfi4QTKYP75gJMCg0HsKDt

IMAG6872

 

y4mFnXABhsviGGxRBFa64Es1flXcpRPlLUpo2cfM

IMAG6873

 

y4mEzExX7OKzL0KBkzzAojD9Eupq4WgCRyYchU_z

IMAG6875

 

The centres of the rotors and the shafts were painted with Alclad White Aluminium

y4mBR2oRCIAudsKVXXOGHQpKjAWz6H6zg2MB4wIO

IMAG6876

 

y4m5ndJqtSBuvItvSx49_xDY-_uMq-7d39PiuMwd

IMAG6877

 

The guns were painted with Alclad Gunmetal and the exhaust parts with Alclad Burnt Iron. The exhaust part with the turbine face was, then, masked inside and out, except for the turbine face, which was painted with Alclad White Aluminium. Then, I used blu-tack to mask the turbine face, as shown in the following picture, because the turbine shaft would be painted with Alclad Aluminium:

y4mkEyFoy5EYFBMmEDw1JoSALjCGy2nN4s3cgUZx

IMAG6884

 

After unmasking, here is the end result:

y4moq0ArLRWgPhiOQYuTwJJTC_Hk8hMP7U9v33pd

IMAG6887

 

While waiting for the different metallic shades to dry, before moving to the next one, I decided to cut the vacform canopy.

 

Here it is before cutting off the surrounding plastic:

y4miFCRoSmtrzu7utv8xk5gf7wnZKMiINPjW1vk7

IMAG6878

 

It should be said that it is not very clear were the cuts should be made, because there's not a sharp separation between the canopy's frames and the surrounding material. As a result, I may have cut it too short or the canopy itself was moulded too short, because it didn't fit properly on the fuselage: there were some visible gaps, especially in front of the canopy:

y4mNAuqC2R67ZaCkHFD9PgCpvXISEIatiHfqzcPD

IMAG6879

 

y4mFtq3dLliSxH2cSQfMrL4Ea35bZyFmD3rNJVao

IMAG6880

 

In contrast, the kit-supplied canopy fits almost perfectly:

y4mdqGUqdMSZZDZtfoIhfkh91YZ27qOkAtf0qlrH

IMAG6881

 

y4m4tWk9rLCsuoU3S2Pro4QOB5UokyYjW1-Xekmq

IMAG6882

 

A side by side comparison of the two canopies shows that the vacform one seems to be a bit shorter than the kit's canopy in the frontal section:

y4mgO_EOvXe7YrzPO9vvDp5ItC_QdgFXYpIyxXwQ

IMAG6883

 

I'll have to use the kit's canopy, then. Fortunately, it is very clear.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Jaime

 

 

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Hi again,

 

The kit's canopy had a sprue stub attached, which I sawed off. The setup used to avoid damaging the transparency of the part was this:

y4mnMBwBh7P3Im_1a2jQ4PE19zDOEDdVgumCl4Zj

IMAG6885

 

The canopy was washed, left to dry and later given a bath of Alclad Aqua Gloss to increase brilliance and transparency.

 

Next, I painted the cockpit parts, including those still in the PE fret:

y4mbRMWi4EId0G9aFTWfH_zfw5XcpL4--P5ndUg8

IMAG6888

 

After applying a coat of Aqua Gloss, a dark wash was used to weather the cockpit parts:

y4mNijdmo0bGmvzTDgcH5Rm7MXxY3tkNbIbRO5K5

IMAG6889

 

Here's the cockpit base after application of the wash and a silver dry-brush on the floor and side consoles:

y4mROf4Gv504iWCVHJmLv7Z4pcpaTESEaRfLgTzv

IMAG6890

 

Here's the PE fret in final form, with all the colours applied:

y4mMxZ6ABQ6pfZ-mpSI2pR6x9pxhXa04y4iMSk_S

IMAG6891

 

The next step was the assembly of the instrument panels. Each of these are made up of a PE part and an acetate with the instruments (whose back I had already painted with flat white):

y4mwDzXNv25hzD-lZ6LoKpy0BFIfV_h-u3rs1W3f

IMAG6892

 

The PE parts were removed from the fret and the instruments cut off the acetate:

y4mYOTjOgc3XyTwz7wQwU4_N0WycSXiy1yjD8Fxx

IMAG6893

 

I used Aqua Gloss to glue the PE and acetate parts. This also provides a nice "glass-like" cover to the instruments:

y4m90cnsxUAT97Ul2jmUJgnvm5LZ3SjBbuj0EFcr

IMAG6894

 

Final assembly of instrument panel consoles:

y4m9w7ZSyq6Yc4QV86yrmBdpcDu8bLsQNIHwHMV6

IMAG6895

 

Next, I installed the PE seat belts:

y4mTEr0WywW7c9S2AbPZSxHbsgFtNJ91M970GTnG

IMAG6896

 

and the control columns and levers on the cockpit base:

y4m7Wnhh-rK6F9XoWZuWtKxP5wWzYP7KY5uaSBf8

IMAG6897

 

The seats were glued in place:

y4ml43c9MRZXvl2vX3eU7lkwMXGVYSLIp7r4szMB

IMAG6898

 

From reference pictures, I noticed that a control lever was missing on the left front console:

87wRSG6GTL6Y92hLiwxNuZW5vC6b5PRlqjrGYMqm

 

So, I scratch built it using a piece of plasticard and a small length of copper wire:

y4m98Lu6vuMxjJ-NEzi8twx411iiq076Z3k6WOlA

IMAG6899

 

This was painted matt black. A bit of red was also applied to the inside of the front right console, to replicate the label that can be seen in the picture of the cockpit above:

y4msCKeJBNWG2SsrhLQlTtQMiXFHuDmbAQhGuvrE

IMAG6900

 

I glued the cockpit base to the starboard inner side of the fuselage. I also glued in place the front instrument panel and the back end of the cockpit. However, there were no guides or tabs to keep the front instrument panel in the right position. I had to guess where to glue it and inserted a piece of sprue to hold it in place:

y4msSadBdpnD46hTQ4iNUfRmifMeUDbAVi_8Bc0v

IMAG6901

 

Here are two views of the results:

y4mNmImXQIsT8sD6ejLKx4ADDl53Qq2F86-mxDvJ

IMAG6902

 

y4mGPc8TjVFuh61fsfJEbLQrzFkRus9BfRzonOjL

IMAG6903

 

To finish this phase of the build, I closed the fuselage:

y4m8xHxu4kpiSF7cXyuT-P1fyJM7GxJJbMN7jKkG

IMAG6904

 

y4mwVSwJnRWBizlscy6Z9KeHJFF7jKFibj81ppfA

IMAG6905

 

Thanks for looking

 

Jaime

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On 15/09/2020 at 20:17, desert falcon said:

You are making good progress 👍

 

9 hours ago, CliffB said:

This is all looking very nice Jaime.  You're really getting the best out of that PE. 

Thanks for the kind words and interest!

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

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Hi again,

 

After closing the fuselage, I test fit the canopy and found that it didn't fit in the front. This was due to the incorrect positioning of the front instrument panel: since there were no location tabs, I had glued it in a position that was too inclined to ther front and interfered with the front of the canopy:

y4mQdS-UIR-qWO2PabFedsYOnuUAIt3AnZ7oP6Da

IMAG6906

 

After a lot of sanding of the instrument panel's cover and thinning of the canopy's front under the frontal rim, I managed to make the canopy fit in place:

y4moJNuEH6NRLoQ3hMYvLmIY04F8I-zbqQcKd231

IMAG6909

 

This is how the instrument panel's cover was after all the sanding:

y4m32wzW2aTVuK52DaghLO8yMN1-jv06nM2vU6St

IMAG6908

 

Just to compare, I also test fit the vacform canopy, which still showed gaps, especially in the frontal area:

y4m7DuFkdTj3dKu0xc4dqhERba3slyGxomNBQLt0

IMAG6909

 

y4mj0CMRNCiRn-AjEylORpNODubeO5JoxQiuYMXn

IMAG6910

 

y4m2f6v8hCDntEtIjv8F6Gri4RxdAszcXCAQOv7J

IMAG6911

 

The somewhat loose nature of the fit of the parts of this kit also showed up in the back of the cockpit, where gaps between the back cover and the sides can be seen:

y4mnrELba-AbqZnlwj2a4Grs9Ei0F7lx2wV8ioDp

IMAG6912

 

Since the underside opening of the fuselage was still not closed, I filled in the gaps from the inside using super-glue.

 

There are also gaps between the cockpit base and the port fuselage part but I didn't manage to reached them from inside to fill them with super-glue:

y4mEyxCgJWlPUfkDTzeoYy0r3IQg8mfl9iCnRu-a

IMAG6913

 

Finally, I closed the underside of the fuselage. As can be seen, the fit of these parts could be better and I'll have to fill in a few gaps:

y4meV_QZ56j2eLRbK5zPLE5t-EsxgsVhgTjbDGK7

IMAG6914

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Jaime

 

 

 

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Great, precise work as always Jaime. Impressive i/ps. :) 

 

That canopy is a pain… I've had similar problems with vac forms and, to be honest, they're not my favourites. It looks like you're sorting the issues though and she's coming together well.

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  • 1 month later...
On 22/09/2020 at 08:44, CedB said:

Great, precise work as always Jaime. Impressive i/ps. :) 

 

That canopy is a pain… I've had similar problems with vac forms and, to be honest, they're not my favourites. It looks like you're sorting the issues though and she's coming together well.

 

Thank you very much, Ced! Very kind, as always!

 

I'm afraid I didn't manage to finish the build in the time frame of the GB, in keeping with my tradition regarding GBs...

 

I did manage to progress slowly since I returned from my holidays in September but real life has been extremely busy since.

 

I'll update the thread in the coming days, possibly in the regular WIP area.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 27/10/2020 at 08:15, CedB said:

Life often gets in the way Jaime, but it'll be good to see it progress :) 

 

Hi @CedB

 

Indeed life gets in the way. I've already finished this build (mid-December) but my time has been very limited since the Summer holidays and I had to choose between progressing with the build and updating the thread.

 

I'll update the thread in the following days, hopefully.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

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12 hours ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

I've enjoyed catching up with your build, Jaime.  I too have a stalled AZ AH-1, as well as two additional kits still in the overtree Joy Pack, and the Brengun PE set and the Pavla vac.

 

Hope to see more soon, cheers.  

 

Thank you for your interest Jackson! This kit is a bit "vague" in terms of fitting but the level of detail and the shapes are good. My experience with the Pavla vac was frustrating, as shown in the posts above, and in the end I used the kit provided canopy. The Brengun set is good and is a great improvement to the detail of the  kit.

 

I'm now waiting for the delivery of Special Hobby's 1/72 Cobra, in its "early tails" boxing. Seems to be a good kit, hopefully less problematic than the AZ's. I still have to order the PE set from Brengun for the SH.

 

8 hours ago, heloman1 said:

Excellent build, I like what you have done.

 

Colin

 Thank you very much Colin, much appreciated!

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Hi again,

 

Finally, a new update on this build, which I already finished two weeks ago.

 

I glued the pilot's instrument panel assembly in place:

y4mY1epzPGIr7-jGnuV22RGLlcjDf6gwsQ0dqMWp

IMAG6992

 

The left side panel is partially obstructed by the instrument panel but the later sits well in place, nonetheless.

y4mzdohA_to9zkxt9duUIQAKsizzfT0myC0SCFm1

IMAG6995

 

The tail fin sits a bit below the tail spine. I had to elevate it using a piece of plasticard:

y4mVHq8VfjEh6PSMmrFMzSDLvQnGghFCqUg3Gba-

IMAG6993

 

y4m2eurJqPjNcFGvjlSD5bMShIwVEf4Y4gCI9Nyc

IMAG6994

 

The excess plastic was later carved out.

 

On the lower edges of the canopy, I carved out a small indent to install the PE opening handles for the moving panels of the canopy:

y4msBgyodejU0iW60SgJaCCHGIv5QuL1oLpr2slM

IMAG6996

 

y4me_SQKdEwWOyzHPfOeHXnGhsruMb0zqbuI-5Zc

IMAG6997

 

Next, Perfect Plastic Putty (PPP) was liberally applied on the seams on the fuselage:

y4mn4H886uhIFwMuOLok3Onz3nPfEwDqG-cUceju

IMAG6998

 

y4m0ONtp-YI9fhYKfoNYYKh4ZJZFbzEfP9-h04I3

IMAG6999

 

PPP was also applied on the joints between the wings and pilons:

y4mPPxpOT3D8Oen8-xcZ01IQwOdyf71VqWjvOZso

IMAG7000

 

and on the seams of the weapons:

y4muPRtGrofhCgHYl63s8Xp_0jOYIMW0LJgKmHde

IMAG7001

 

The PPP dried for at least a day and the excess was, then, removed with a damp cotton-bud.

 

I also masked the canopy, both outside

y4m58pBfuM3hvcbcIfvz7GIyU7Qk-nTKoeLaLmkt

IMAG7003

 

and inside:

y4ms85ffHuszwm2FEeO1-rDvt5lTFhPtbSqhEYN5

IMAG7004

 

The interior colour (Gunze's H317 Dark Gull Grey) was airbrushed outside and inside:

y4mg8hCyioZCul8vcc-ovsmEDCtzWwstd8GM3Knw

IMAG7005

 

The paint was allowed to dry and a gloss coat was applied to the inside of the canopy, in preparation for the application of a dark wash.

y4mWXuJgatiHBr6oByMpgwI14yQuA_sptxZ5bYR7

IMAG7006

 

Here is the set-up for the wash application:

y4mKb84WNIN6BcSZdM3PSVaJvePi5yLZyv8S2jWC

IMAG7007

 

To finish with the canopy, the PE parts were applied and the inside was sealed with an Alclad Flat coat. Here's the end result after removing the inside masking:

y4m0tC6nIXoRdwUh9qJ3DoXTfGpUPTz6g0CaRvud

IMAG7009

 

y4mZWHtagS2gA9uUpzD03BhGKHw_I-KjX3liZCQB

IMAG7010

 

Thanks for looking

 

Jaime

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, jrlx said:

My experience with the Pavla vac was frustrating, as shown in the posts above, and in the end I used the kit provided canopy.

 

I was disappointed to see that.  ☹️  Perhaps cutting the moulded canopy to leave the stationary parts and using the appropriate portions of the Pavla vac for the opening bits would be a workaround?  You've done a fine job masking and painting yours.

 

My big issue is decals.  I've three of the things to build, with no markings and little aftermarket support from what I've been able to determine.

 

The Special Hobby kit does look to be quite good, Libor Jekl included an inspirational specimen in his workbench guide.

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7 hours ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

Perhaps cutting the moulded canopy to leave the stationary parts and using the appropriate portions of the Pavla vac for the opening bits would be a workaround?

I considered doing something like that but opted for not trying to cut the kit canopy and risk ruining it. By the way, the Special Hobby kit provides separate transparent parts for the moving and fixed parts of the canopy.

 

7 hours ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

My big issue is decals.  I've three of the things to build, with no markings and little aftermarket support from what I've been able to determine

So it seems... In a quick search I could only find a Printscale decal sheet for AH-1 Cobras, but only two schemes are applicable to the version of this AZ Model boxing.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

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Hi again,

 

While manipulating the model, I managed to knock out the gunner's instrument panel and control stick. I had to re-glue them in place:

y4mWejdgRUHsRZpfyIcOKQLrRvmfQZbyTBNKSIq7

IMAG7008

 

I used thin strips of plasticard to straight the horizontal edges of the front air intake. Unfortunately, the grid of the intake wasn't perfectly aligned and I couldn't adjust it:

y4mx2mUIZugp1fx3CBH32rttxOY9wbDUpYOkSn5T

IMAG7011

 

The piece of acetate representing the pilot's head up display was CA-glued in place. A better option would be using Aquagloss or other clear varnish to glue it in place:

y4mgPsIe2wdEsULad6hLysf_p1btwxZ2aCwx24Yp

IMAG7012

 

Next, the canopy was glued in place with Contacta Clear glue:

y4mMJvEND9h6GsH4iI5mHVzsvfhG5hqU49AriEvN

IMAG7013

 

The wings were next. They were glued in place and the model was left to rest on a LEGO gig to ensure proper alignment of the wings:

y4mvcZuC9OaOszoBqbFDoL4a3_JxNdK2SoecUFMb

IMAG7014

 

y4mYEMi4ebTMtcOevl0gEaq9tDMiWur_G90gmzYm

IMAG7015

 

The horizontal stabilisers were next:

y4m7YP5-yJEesLy7vX1QgVSoIIC5AVgNs28DEvhW

IMAG7016

 

The joints of the canopy, wings and stabilisers with the fuselage weren't good enough, so additional PPP was applied:

y4mkne0TGb6E8CNvv6bNi97lV0HYwXKKlp0Afxuo

IMAG7017

 

Look after removal of the excess PPP:

y4m2wcVPWueTTdP2kUY59mzHbfvwcePOYVD4p15K

IMAG7018

 

The cockpit interior colour was re-sprayed but the joints between canopy and fuselage still needed improvement:

y4mOzuw7pIh5VC35DAyy9JqbxgNFi21FI8PK0KAx

IMAG7019

 

y4mrXoGlYYhjLm79f4IWw32Ekvo_RSD71iICbnWq

IMAG7020

 

Therefore, additional work was done to improve these joints: a lot of scraping, sanding and more PPP. I also sealed the opening for the main rotor shaft and the exhaust with blu-tack, to protect them from the main painting phase:

y4mk6yn7YnqQ0u44bmVF8lT7WWj3Qp2srcfhX0Io

IMAG7021

 

y4mZE6tEo9HsQDzv6fGkvpxATRFq6QUryDTSUBeb 

IMAG7022

 

Another task before starting the main painting phase was drilling a hole on the nose for later installation of the pitot tube:

y4mlK9cMf8VCO5pzZhHySIEb_-oGS0kYkB1prbku

IMAG7023

 

Another re-spraying of the canopy with the cockpit's interior colour was done to ensure the joints were now good enough. After that I applied a coat of Alclad's Black Primer and Microfiller. This revealed several seams that still needed improvement. After a lot more work, the final black primer coat was applied:

y4m1CSx-LYC633Bk6gyUeVupsmamNRrORZXKwy4_

IMAG7024

 

The primer on the nose area was masked to make the black anti-glare area of the nose.

 

For providing tonal variance, I applied a layer of "marbling" using two shades of green, both lighter than the Field Green of the colour scheme: first Gunze's H312 Green (the shade used as "interior green" by British Aircraft of WWII) was mottled inside the panels, followed by Sky.

y4mHZb0S68K_exoBti5ilkzySD62YCZ--mQqBsDt

IMAG7025

 

y4mz7CH3Eu9RRNp-kkvInodgFq8XO9FwxQIITJ9U

IMAG7026

 

The same "marbling" was applied to the small parts:

y4mG3o_7rcxRY_8RYGVg3eoFGYr4hglWEsH5phyJ

IMAG7027

 

y4m6rBhW73VYqXPBDNr4IQ4Y5_6NcY7DFXrwVrHB

IMAG7028

 

y4mdRuGVkaw-bkzzW88_urogNWGvduE9TLakicEL

IMAG7029

 

The main colour was applied in thin layers, panel by panel:

y4mCETzU2HLz1GZtW7_-yOfd8xtzokJM2gJbJ5HN

IMAG7030

 

y4m5COriMJymwOJHfzKIjYZJnWCH7X0-Cvu8cn0j

IMAG7031

 

y4mIryBwr0MUPeL3An1MMqHhtbT0amKj1yJyMOid

IMAG7032

 

Thin layers of the main colour were also applied to the small parts:

y4m7qdrPAgqbE-LGaQdrgVKJFVtmKkejoo2HM8Ek

IMAG7034

 

y4mtaYDx2Gcr3XMsvZZqTVQ3spyHhsamdJF1Eqmy

IMAG7035

 

y4mYTXt2xViKywbA72GeOcjAfeITnrSEF4t3i3bB

IMAG7033

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

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1 hour ago, Serkan Sen said:

Very nice build with great skill Jaime.

Serkan

 

40 minutes ago, Heart Failure said:

Enjoying the progress on your build. Absolutely stunning work. Keep us posted.

 

 

@Serkan Sen @Heart Failure Thank you very much for your interest and kind words, much appreciated!

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

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Hi again,

 

With the main colour applied, the next step was painting the yellow tail band. I delimited the area using masking tape:

y4m4bhL2qJZAMMxIvx9_QMDvEqO6Cx6c1vq5Wjl4

IMAG7036

 

The rest of the fuselage was protected using kitchen cling-film:

y4mJWYn3TTKGOLrORzJZvTSfoX2DSnn9UTIFZ3kE

IMAG7037

 

The tail band was first painted flat white, as a base for the yellow:

y4mGivNnW9Pmauh2Gdp3wBXV6wWHvFWNG4qc0NDd

IMAG7038

 

The tips of the rotors are also yellow, so they were painted white first as well

y4m-Q9Cze4cK6eQBFtc4qyQ5v_LO4gm5SkeOnWHV

IMAG7039

 

Here's the end result for the tail band:

y4mrL5J1ENoJSiRUqXaV4cVz7MQVNwia7cRzB_K3

IMAG7040

 

and for the rotors:

y4m1YI1wHeGRZWJkaEkJ7A1fi4Bdi96x8GMi7hEg

IMAG7041

 

There's also a tail probe, which was painted yellow with red stripes:

y4mZTpAbrYQS3IHYhM0Lm4yxQS7wNkeKerZ9iJRQ

IMAG7044

 

The fuselage and all the small parts were sealed with a microgloss coat, in preparation for decaling. Here's the set-up for decal application:

y4mq84uSy5BJnR9fUkgJlKcmnnszSxu_b8qlUsXe

IMAG7045

 

There aren't many decals and they behaved very well. The decals were sealed with another coat of microgloss. The final result can be seen in the next pictures:

y4m5yZ0GJ8SflZ9GkleKnXsY9ofbikcv8sPSMyGJ

IMAG7048

 

y4mBLauCpNxQX0NhvRNXafW_GPXtXXduPmmv6iKe

IMAG7049

 

The next step was applying a dark wash to the fuselage and all small parts. This was done using Vallejo's acrylic "Oiled Earth" wash. Here's the operation under way:

y4mJCG6kDYF1W3vGBqO-lgZHQJvTW2K9cTjbl2uU

IMAG7050

 

Next, the fuselage and small parts received a coat of Alclad Flat, to give them the final finish. There were several small task to conclude however.

 

First, the exhaust ring and PE guards were glued in place. I also brush-painted the intake grids with Gunze's H18 Steel. The presence light on top of the engine tower was first painted Tamiya's Chrome Silver. It will later receive a coat of transparent red:

y4mb4_EfnSP1X06fmM4xO3PYMRNcWE0nLJQDjoLL

IMAG7051

 

The PE parts for the armament were applied:

y4mp3OEaV_2_DCBRPbtAcVcpvFOmdJtV0dE9fiYZ

IMAG7052

 

Here we can see the armament by the fuselage:

y4m0u_oU1d6O3K4qfVXuHkX3hCOXIZyrITKGhbqr

IMAG7054

 

Before glueing the armament in place there were a few smallish PE parts to install on the wings: parts 32, 33 and 34 on the picture below

y4m__QvmDeX5w2IxJQeycQyh3QpLzyTX9o6m_BIU

IMAG7056

 

These parts make up a mechanism to be installed between the centre pylon and the lower surface of the wing. Here are the the parts for one of the mechanisms glued together, before installation on the wing:

y4mXXHpCPOcPGAko0Ps0K3kLQVLNCYjMeSMU8E0H

IMAG7057

 

The following pictures show how these look installed in place:

y4mHjT2lgLFhDl5XTujdr1boUqkz5hDRqi3cS4FV

IMAG7058

 

y4mOAU74dRtLzFWWLX62NetL5QbgDNbjHb-46z0B

IMAG7059

 

y4mY7h4cMXDATSFb7_XV77_4CbKOaQLeuLfCfAuJ

IMAG7060

 

Finally, the armament was installed:

y4mNxzbPnNkABmEVnbzAl13qjb34_3Jkzu5_q0EQ

IMAG7061

 

y4m_XZRT1COQinyaHd4K0TQAAyTBu1OM6_kWRwm0

IMAG7062

 

y4mUgO3-doSy9TXnbx5QieaRAs8OmcQDfPvzYss6

IMAG7063

 

y4m7SZqqMcqwGqjW-dB3zQKmD6vIpfUW-u-MQgUn

IMAG7065

 

That's all for now. Hopefully, the next post will be the last.

 

Thanks for looking

 

Jaime

 

 

 

 

 

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Hi again,

 

Next step of the build was installing the gun turret under the nose. The turret had a rotating cannon and grenade launcher installed. Since there are openings on the underside of the turret, allowing the inside to be visible, I decided to add pieces of painted sprue to simulate the ends of the guns inside the turret. The following picture shows all the parts:

y4mlKqtJWOoxoDjXgWZ13-mW9UKfQdFT63dKN8Ln

IMAG7066

 

The guns were installed. The painted side of the pieces of sprue was installed facing the openings on the underside of the turret:

y4mumL3mHd5mu2n_t5GCT5JyKZO5qmwzyU6B63ZY

IMAG7067

 

y4m_IBb-tYMy4NvJYPwc-kfnPX3qm3J18r9RsMlB

IMAG7068

 

When seen from the underside, the sprue pieces can be seen:

y4mkIDezJlrfNWdQQani6gjI7l5TUws67HYsoQ94

IMAG7069

 

Next, the turret was glued in place:

y4mTg5QtQ6A11_8FxfJx9sxuG-gjD2bKvHfb3PYx

 

IMAG7070

 

y4mqdgSRoEnFWWQZUMYRM36Zd-YUQOaSlDLBNbuZ

IMAG7071

 

The remaining small parts were glued in place: the pitot tube on the nose:

y4mW5CcDYBAfymhnx3MZv78vRM-6DHcFKXua9wQo

IMAG7072

 

the blade antenna under the fuselage (the joint was improved by filling with CA glue and painting with matte black):

y4mwIYLdHzmOA836VkjkLWpvShvNaqYXYQIKMzAR

IMAG7073

 

and the tail probe:

y4m7VnhAfjXXcnY3qQzguR2KuEd-ysp6dM7zrwV2

IMAG7074

 

The canopy masking was removed, revealing that some dust and pieces of PPP had managed to find their way into the cockpit. The dark wash also spread under the masking near the front frames of the canopy but that was easily removed with the damp tip of a toothpick:

y4mlL3ZIHdcgxBaHvsRxaotah3pMFCly95muh8j4

IMAG7075

 

Here's an overview of the current state of the build:

y4mdRakWNn3CSGafJJgmLdEqGdAbZC3HKmdRb55B

IMAG7076

 

Detailed view of the top presence light, already painted with transparent red over a base of chrome silver:

y4mzpgZHqy68yvKANlNx30sQLkzjc4NrmFv8Tcst

IMAG7077

 

I still had to glue the skids in place. In order to allow enough time to position the skids correctly, I decided to use 5 min Araldite. This epoxy glue allows 5 min working time, hardens in 20 min and provides maximum strength after 2 hours.

 

I used a LEGO rig to align the skids properly:

y4mQKcdxEkCF-M5EEkwe_q3M46pGuVdNJKHnUUBQ

IMAG7078

 

y4msj6hcCuhi3DVbR0H2dwzEZWAH5HyuLzwwtT7S

IMAG7079

 

y4mMX8onPCE-qm-qGrj78acR5-IMpU04IKBByeLT

IMAG7080

 

After 2 hours of curing time, the Araldite-glued skids still didn't stand the weight of the model (the Araldite tube I used is a couple of years old), so I left the model on the rig for at least half a day more and, then, reinforced the joints between the skids and fuselage with CA. Very diluted brush-applied paint was applied to repair the paint job around the joints.

 

Next, the main rotor was glued in place:

y4m18rI8DhvYUiPm__9WtnhV6zKkmefpjw-yaFiV

IMAG7081

 

The last PE parts were installed, closing the opening around the main rotor shaft:

y4mH8s5ROMA3P14wZbOntJ5tQ_ZX0nJdvNrm3n0p

IMAG7083

 

To finish with, I glued the tail rotor in place.

 

Here are two pictures of the completed model. More will follow in a RFI post.

y4meSaS56XJK_lB4JMgX11fjXDXNBEMP3p4LGg-K

IMAG7084

 

y4ml6qXrU4kI2hDeuyoqZ6ky472L2HXQb6-LP2cM

IMAG7085

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Jaime

 

EDIT: the RFI post with better final pictures is here.

 

 

Edited by jrlx
link to RFI post added
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