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1/72 Hobby Boss CH-46E/F SeaKnight in a Japanese Scheme


Nigel Heath

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Before I close off the side door let's have a look what can be seen in there:

 

 

P1020114_zpsy452ol0t.jpg

 

The seat, as expected is just a barely glimpsed thing:

 

P1020115_zpstmtkncvq.jpg

 

But well worth the effort I think.

 

The winch and cabling is there but difficult to photograph, in reality it is a little more obvious:

 

P1020116_zpskjddlhuc.jpg

 

I was quite pleased with how the first rib treatment came out but again difficult to get a good photo:

 

P1020117_zpswwbog4be.jpg

 

And at least we have decent ceiling in there, not a gaping hole up into the front pylon.

 

For the masking round the side door I made use of the cardboard template from earlier:

 

P1020118_zpsxo1pysdu.jpg

 

With the aperture masked off a couple of foam blocks then filled the opening:

 

P1020119_zps2fnci6um.jpg

 

Right, now I can start to sand all the filled seams. (But maybe that's a job for the morning).

 

Bye for now,

 

Nigel

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More excellent work Nigel.

Really glad that the canopy has gone on without any issues and it looks like a good fit.

Also really glad that your work on the interior of the cabin is visible through the doorway as it would have been a shame if it could not be seen after you have put so much work into it.

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Time for today's tea time update. With the fuselage together and canopy fitted a host of jobs require attention. The first was to colour some PPP grey with black pastel chalk and then fill some gaps around the canopy:

 

P1020120_zpsqzvh9gfn.jpg

 

There was some left over so I used that round the sponson joints and some of the seams around the transmission and engine covers.

 

I have been around all the filled fuselage seams once and have identified a few areas requiring further work. To give some contrast I like to use Squadron White on top of the green:

 

P1020121_zpsi9fwf4xb.jpg

 

Next the flanges require removing from the front undercarriage leg and second main rotor shaft:

 

P1020122_zpst7ksv5o5.jpg

 

Hobby Boss would have you mount the leg before fuselage close up, presumably to give a steerable front undercarriage but I think it is much better to leave off such things until much later in the build, plus it's a different colour and needs painting separately. I don't mind having a fixed, unsteerable set of front wheels.

 

I then discovered this moulded in hole is not required on this model so initially filled it with some stretched sprue:

 

P1020123_zpsr7qjqb2v.jpg

 

Back to the front undercarriage, there aren't many parts left on the frames now but the wheels are still there. I like to sand a flat on the tyres where the gate was and then indent the middle of the flat area with a pin point as it makes location that much easier:

 

P1020124_zpsju6wgvuf.jpg

 

I have also reprofiled the antirotation struts to more of a angular shape as per the reality:

 

ch-46e_hmm-764_029_of_110.jpg

 

Adding the triangular holes to them would have been nice but I judged a step too far.

 

Here is the front leg and wheels all cleaned up and ready for mounting for paint. The wheels are a very snug fit on the axles, it's probably worth masking them:

 

P1020125_zpsctoygtfv.jpg

 

Next the main legs, here also cleaned up and copper wire brake lines added along with corresponding 0.4mm holes drilled in the fuselage:

 

P1020126_zpsgy0zash9.jpg

 

The brake lines are quite a prominent feature and definitely worth adding:

 

 

ch-46e_hmm-764_031_of_110.jpg

 

There then followed more grunt modelling work on further sorting out the seams, once that was done I reinstated the scribe lines, most done freehand but a Dymo tape guide was required for the one at the base of the tail door:

 

P1020127_zpsclrajrj8.jpg

 

On removing the tape I was surprised to find that it had pulled out some of the filler so a third application was applied:

 

P1020128_zpsausfkoj4.jpg

 

There are a few more jobs to do before I can apply some primer but not too many.

 

Bye for now,

 

Nigel

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Nice detailing work on the wheels Nigel, I even added the brake lines to my build!

It's a pain when gaps reappear or when scribing pulls some out of a previously filled gap but you are dealing with them nicely and as you say hopefully the primer will be on soon.

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Glad that you have got the fuselage together, and that the few dramas that you had with this have now been resolved. I am still amazed at the amount of detail that you have added and that can still be seen with the model almost fully built. I look forward to seeing it with paint applied.

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Here is the late night update, again shamelessly copying from the work of @modelling minion I started to make the fairings for the front aerials by shaping some 1.25mm rod: 

 

P1020130_zpswaahgxed.jpg

 

I'm sure MM won't mind but here is his photo I am mainly using for this:

40690671153_1a41ef0003_o_d.jpg&key=2899a

 

With a second one created this is how they looked attached:

 

P1020131_zpsyanaowmx.jpg

 

I have drilled them with 0.4mm holes which you can just about make out.

 

P1020132_zpsnfaed2r4.jpg

 

Next another MM tribute, I drilled out some slots and holes for the aerial wire as indicated with the arrows here:

 

P1020133_zpsiprgael1.jpg

 

For reference, here are MMs photos:

 

40690669743_d98a3b79a6_o_d.jpg&key=d6f09

 

40690670423_3aa80a5d60_o_d.jpg&key=3685c

 

My thinking is that aerodynamic oval Strutz would give the best representation of the aerial posts so I shaped some accordingly: 

 

P1020137_zpsyufowzpu.jpg

 

Next the navigation lights, moulded in solid plastic on the kit but of course better made from some coloured clear material:

 

P1020134_zpsavjwgztq.jpg

 

The kit also has them quite overscale as is often the case:

 

ch-46e_hmm-764_018_of_110.jpg

 

Boeing-Vertol_CH-46_Sea_Knight_154803_US

 

Before knifing and sanding them off I did make a dimensioned sketch but as I say these are far too big and smaller replacements will be required later:

 

P1020135_zpshqg7o8js.jpg

 

Here it is gone:

 

P1020136_zps9m8xt04x.jpg

 

The other side has also been sorted. Well that's about as far as I've got tonight. Still quite a bit more to do before any primer gets applied but I am hopeful that will happen in the light of morning and then get the first of the exterior top coats applied.

 

Bye for now,

 

Nigel

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14 hours ago, Nigel Heath said:

I'm sure MM won't mind

I don't mind at all Nigel, feel free to use any of my pics which you think are useful.

Looks like you're on top of all the little additions and alterations needed on the outside of the fuselage.Those molded on nav lights were way too big and definitely needed sorting.

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Despite my hopes of getting some primer applied today that sadly didn't happen - I've just been working more on the added details. I felt the aerial mast would look better with a more tapered profile so sanded it down accordingly:

 

P1020138_zpsgavhzjbp.jpg

 

Next for the red light on the rear pylon I added a base punched out at 2mm with a 1.2mm hole:

 

P1020139_zpskyp9xs1a.jpg

 

Here is a picture of what I was aiming at:

 

ch-46e_hmm-764_066_of_110.jpg

 

Next the tie down loops on the sponsons which look like this:

 

boeing_vertol_ch-46_sea_knight_walkaroun

 

I made this out of 0.4mm brass rod soldered on to a loop like this:

 

P1020140_zpsr90ggfyn.jpg

 

It's a bit overscale but I frankly couldn't make it any smaller with the tools to hand:

 

P1020142_zpso5piikym.jpg

 

In making the second loop I demonstrate what happens when too much solder is applied:

 

P1020143_zpspj5xvhag.jpg

 

I sorted that out by using some twisted tinned wire to wick out the excess solder:

 

P1020144_zpsrbslszfj.jpg

 

A tricky masking job around the engine intakes was tackled using a combination of 4.8mm punched discs of tape and Microscale liquid masking:

 

P1020145_zps5yxttcgb.jpg

 

In my experience a couple of more coats on that is probably a good idea. Next I think I'll mask up the cabin windows, hopefully the AM set will be up to the job.

 

Bye for now,

 

Nigel

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Next when trying to apply the first bit of cabin masking disaster strikes and this glazing pops out:

 

P1020146_zpsos92awco.jpg

 

Rats, double rats and mega rats, a most unwelcome development.

 

I searched out my window replacement tool, slightly modified it and did what I probably should have done in the first place and roughened up the joining surfaces then mounted it up with a small blob of Blu Tack:

 

P1020147_zps1nwvvhow.jpg

 

Well the first attempt was a failure, it was a race against time of course but I managed to remove the 2k epoxy from the glazing before it completely cured. It was like a gynecological exercise I could have done without: 

 

P1020148_zpsgpqic8eg.jpg

 

Luckily after a second mix of epoxy I got a successful result:

 

P1020149_zpss0i1crgd.jpg

 

There was a little bit of glue on the window which I managed to remove with a Tamiya cotton bud and IPA. What a complete pain.

 

Anyway continuing with the cabin window masking the folks at E-Z Masks reckon their rectangular strips of slightly intractable plastic masking can be used for the bubble windows. I don't  know what kind of substances those guys have been smoking but this would never work in a million years - honestly can you imagine?

 

P1020150_zpsaqcjweii.jpg

 

I then had a bit of a worktop clear up, removing the long past its use by date masking tape and generally sorting things out, it was not a deep clean but good enough:

 

P1020151_zps8zgjsvx6.jpg

 

My initial thoughts on masking the bubble windows was that some thin masking strips would get the job done, cut with my compass cutter:

 

P1020152_zpsn2ctebut.jpg

 

It turned out that they were way too big in diameter, something more like this looked much better: 

 

P1020155_zpsy7atacha.jpg

 

The windows are 6mm in diameter so times Pie equals about 19mm:

 

P1020153_zpsrkvsanl9.jpg

 

At that point I ordered some clear coloured plastic cocktail sticks for the navigationation lights, liffe can be quite random at times don't you think:

 

P1020154_zpsrkyisbb2.jpg

 

I was just looking for clear plain coloured cocktail sticks but they seem to belong to a lost age, shame that.

 

My revised tape masking for the bubble windows worked a treat:

 

P1020156_zpsjmphek0h.jpg

 

I then went to retrieve the wide blade aerial for the roof but was dismayed to find it had vanished, hmmm not sure what's going on here, I did have a look over the carpet and remarkably did find the long lost foot rest: 

 

P1020157_zps7iueewr4.jpg

 

It's all bit annoying as I felt I had done a good job on making that.

 

Anyway, I can always (wearily) make another one.

 

The last job for today was to mask off the finely meshed off apertures, I only want a top coat on the mesh as past experience has shown that even the most finely applied coat of paint can lead to bridging over of the mesh: 

 

P1020158_zpskpqvj3i3.jpg

 

I will now have another look for that missing aerial and if not found make another one. Now I'm going to watch the new Brian Cox programme on the planets, it looks most interesting.

 

Bye for now,

 

Nigel

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I really hope you find your missing aerial Nigel, it's a real pain when we build extra bits and do a good job on them only to have them mysteriously disappear.

Good job that you managed to get that errant window back in place, that could have been a real problem.

I agree with you entirely about the masking for the bubble windows, goodness knows what they were thinking as those strips would never have worked.

I like those plastic swords, they just need cubes of cheese and pineapple on the end of them!

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Just the last few bits to add before primer. The grill I made has also gone missing so I had to cut out another and then glued it in place with Humbrol liquid poly. I also drilled out a 0.5mm hole for the formation light, just below the APU exhaust:

 

P1020160_zps3hypaadj.jpg

 

Here is the remade blade aerial, although technically a sticky-out bit I thought it was squat and robust enough to be added now:

 

P1020161_zpsfebn1pge.jpg

 

I was just about to apply some white primer and in the nick of time remembered to airbrush the grey interior colour on all the glazing:

 

P1020162_zps8x19knqn.jpg

 

That was soon dry and after an inspection, light bit of sanding here and there plus picking off the odd bit of fluff I applied the primer to the upper surfaces:

 

P1020163_zpst3ri9s62.jpg

 

Wet primer always looks terrible doesn't it?

 

While that was drying I applied Alclad grey primer to the undercarriage parts and then when that was dry went in with AK polished aluminium, I also applied metal primer to the aerial posts followed by more white primer:

 

P1020164_zpsns8dchuu.jpg

 

It was the first time I had used the AK paint was highly impressed with it.

 

By now the first application of primer was dry so I then primed the under surfaces:

 

P1020165_zpseojxffjp.jpg

 

That revealed a glaringly obvious fault in the seem even while the primer was still wet. Ah well that is one of the main ideas of priming - to highlight any issues that need attention. I should be able to get some white top coat on later today and maybe mask for the Insignia Yellow and maybe get the dayglo orange-red applied to the sponsons. It's all getting quite exciting.

 

Bye for now,

 

Nigel

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Good catch on the grey primer Nigel, that would have been difficult to correct.

I must say she looks very good in the white primer, would that have a good enough finish to apply decals to?

The AK metal looks like it has worked very nicely too, will have to keep an eye out for some of that.

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would that have a good enough finish to apply decals to?

I'm pretty sure it would, possibly better with a gloss coat on first. I have often relied on white primer (mainly Alclad) as a final white finishing coat. Take my Gotha P60 for example:

 

 

I am pleased to report a productive day today where all targets were met or exceeded. With the polished aluminum dry I masked all the wheels with 4.2mm discs of punched out tape:

 

P1020166_zpsnzemaee9.jpg

 

I would have used 4.0mm discs but the UMM punch set I have for that turns out to be rubbish. I returned one set before and I think I really ought to give them a call and try to get a better replacement. From past experience their customer care is quite good.

 

The glaringly bad seem on the underside was on its way to being sorted with an application of Squadron White filler:

 

P1020167_zpsx0oybkye.jpg

 

Most of the rest of the seems were actually pretty good although the one at the front of the front pylon also needed some attention.

 

The primer nicely highlighted these "solvent boil" pores which were sorted with an application of PPP:

 

P1020168_zpsegebrgw8.jpg

 

Before tea time the primer was dry so I applied a coat of matt white to all the white areas and then a coat of tyre black to the err... tyres:

 

P1020170_zpsvbww3tl5.jpg

 

That was all left to dry while I made dinner.

 

Dinner consisted of one of my favourite meals, a tuna, basil and sun dried tomato pizza (the tuna has to be the good stuff from a glass jar not from a tin) and I do like to add anchovies:

 

P1020169_zpsgidlz84y.jpg

 

I have been quite a busy boy today, before I mixed up the pizza dough in my bread maker I also made a new loaf of bread and a roll for lunch time tomorrow (well technically today at the time of writing):

 

P1020178_zpscyvapxlp.jpg

 

Next I made preparations for the so called Fluorescent Red Orange (FS 28913). I have the Mr Color Fluorescent Red and Orange but they don't seem to quite fit the bill so thought of mixing them, an empty jar was cleaned up in readiness and the lid sprayed with white primer:

 

P1020171_zpseqbdpiks.jpg

 

I first tried a 50 / 50 mix but that still looked too orange so I tried an experimental mix using some Tamiya clear red, I had no idea if they were compatible - it turns out they are not: 

 

P1020172_zpsx8jirb4r.jpg

 

The next experiment was to try some red food colouring, again not compatible:

 

P1020173_zps22yzxtef.jpg

 

P1020174_zps7nheq5qe.jpg

 

I did try adding some IPA thinking that might emulsify them together but it still didn't work.

 

Then I had another one of those (occasional) Nigey brainwaves - why not just add some red paint? The Red Madder I used seemed to work a treat:

 

P1020175_zpsbgoclhn5.jpg

 

Did you know that red madder was originally a red pigment extracted from the Common Madder plant? I'm pretty sure the Mr Hobby paints have never been near a Common Madder plant.

 

Anyway, moving on, I then masked up the outer sides of the sponsons ready for the red / orange / madder (or just mad?) / dayglo / fluorescent concoction:

 

P1020176_zpsauve71vc.jpg

 

Here is how that looked when applied

 

P1020177_zps4udieank.jpg

 

Not forgetting the lid of my newly created jar of Nigey red / orange dayglo paint:

 

P1020179_zpsfsbxocuh.jpg

 

I think after all that waffling the dayglo might be dry enough to unmask and then start on masking off the matt white.

 

Bye for now,

 

Nigel

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Here's how it looked with the masking removed:

 

P1020180_zpslzqwmwnr.jpg

 

The few bumps in the white paint were very gingerly sanded off and then the masking for the Insignia Yellow was applied:

 

P1020181_zpsppkohgbn.jpg

 

I don't think that I have mentioned that I have to get this build finished on Friday. It is my mum and dad's Diamond wedding anniversary on the second of June and it will occupy my entire weekend (hopefully in a good way).

 

P1020182_zpsc1me5yhw.jpg

 

Feeling a bit under the cosh to get this completed would it be possible to have a one or two day extension to getting my finished photos in the gallery? With kindest and humblest request to @modelling minion and @Enzo Matrix.

 

Thanks,

 

Nigel

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Nice little science experiment getting the dayglo/orange colour mixed, looks like you have cracked it to me though.

She really is coming together nicely Nigel and I don't think it would be right to have the gallery without your KV-107 in it as it has been by far the most watched and commented on of all of our builds and we have all learnt a lot from it, so unless either @Enzo Matrix or any of our other GB members feel otherwise then I am fine with you having a couple of extra days to get her across the line, especially considering where you will be spending the weekend. This would of course mean that the extension would apply to anyone else who thinks they could get their build done in that time.

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Today I started my masking the dayglo red orange on the sponsons, the chunky Blu Tack sausages are there to avoid a hard edge / step in the subsequent paint coats:

 

P1020183_zpsuzs23mow.jpg

 

I was then able to apply the Mr Color Orange Yellow No 58:

 

P1020184_zpstopnupfc.jpg

 

Then after deciding on what to have for dinner tonight I popped out for an hour or two to get the necessary shopping. By that time the yellow was nicely dried so I started on masking for the dark green underside. A special piece of custom masking was required round the tail doors, after a few attempts I got a shape that looked right:

 

P1020185_zpspx2luonh.jpg

 

To ensure complete symmetry that was folded at the halfway point round some grease proof paper and scissored out:

 

P1020186_zpsdk2iy8jl.jpg

 

Here it is in place:

 

P1020187_zpsrvlw7joq.jpg

 

 

So here is the finished masking for the green:

 

P1020188_zpsjehjlnqd.jpg

 

The Blu tack blobs at the front are again to give a diffuse edge.

 

Here is the green after application:

 

P1020189_zpsdfita35n.jpg

 

Mr Color paints really are forgiving and lovely to work with. Within less than an hour it was dry enough to unmask, so let's see what I got:

 

P1020190_zps1axr5ezl.jpg

 

There don't appear to be any major disasters, a little of the green got past the masking here though:

 

P1020191_zpsapbvsfq8.jpg

 

I cleaned the worst of that off the IPA and a cotton bud but it will require further retouching.

 

I didn't think I'd get this far today but pleasingly was able to start on the masking for the black areas:

 

P1020192_zpsopyowljm.jpg

 

So if I crack on with finishing that masking and get the black applied (also to the rotors which still need a bit of work) I should get a coat of gloss varnish on in the morning and then its decal time!!

Bye for now,

 

Nigel

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Whoa!!! This is coming together so fast!! Wonderful work, Nigel :clap:

 

Hope you have a cracking weekend - That's certainly something to celebrate in a large way!!

 

 

I have to ask; What's going on with your photos? They flicker and take ages to load (or is it just me!!)

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it really is an attractive scheme isn't it.

It certainly is which is one reason do have a penchant for Japanese helicopters.

 

Quote

 What's going on with your photos? They flicker and take ages to load (or is it just me!!)

No, it's not just you, I have also noticed that effect - I have no idea why it's happening. I am still using Photobucket for most of my photo hosting, maybe it's something to do with that.

 

Continuing with the masking for the black areas around the engine exhausts I took my rough sketching on the tape and then stuck it on yet more grease proof paper, flipping it over I applied some 19mm tape as appropriate:

 

P1020193_zpskmfe125a.jpg

 

Flipping it over again I peeled of the sketching then applied tapes matching the ones on the underside and then reapplied my sketching:

 

P1020194_zpsjbyy6qki.jpg

 

The tight radii in the forward corner was best done with one of my punch sets:

 

P1020195_zps7qqus8l3.jpg

 

Then using a combination of scalpel and scissors cut out the rest of the mask:

 

P1020196_zpsfjxmwyju.jpg

 

I hope you can see the logic in all of that.

 

With that applied and all the other masking required for the black areas, I turned my attention to the rotors, the only thing I wanted to add to them was some fuse wire cabling which seams to be pretty random on  the real machine:

 

P1020198_zpspzyozvgt.jpg

 

Here is good photo of what I was trying to achieve:

 

ch-46e_hmm-764_014_of_110.jpg

 

With that done I first applied some grey Alclad to the rotors and after an inspection finding no issues applied some matt black:

 

P1020200_zpswhojzirm.jpg

 

Unusually the rotors do appear to be just a monolithic black with the occasional stencil or label which I will try to add.

 

Obviously I also applied the black to the main craft as well:

 

P1020199_zpse7qhxs2n.jpg

 

With the masking removed this is how that looked:

 

P1020201_zpshnkityyq.jpg

 

P1020202_zpsbjv8ep4e.jpg

 

Looks a bit dead doesn't it? But that's where a panel line wash and some weathering should come to the rescue (hopefully). There are a few areas requiring brush touching up but a coat of Aqua Gloss and the decals should go on tomorrow.

 

Bye for now,

 

Nigel

 

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