IanHx Posted May 6, 2019 Share Posted May 6, 2019 (edited) Here's a kit that may well be as old as I am - the Aurora 1/72 Lockheed AH-56A Cheyenne. Don't see too many of these knocking around According to Scalemates, the square boxing was produced 1969-1972. Two motivations for building this one : 1) because i wanted to 2) because it freed up most space on stash shelf while the finished article takes up the least space on the finished shelf ( the other contenders were C-141B and U-2 so you can see why that might be an issue ! ) The box : The contents : Warning bells started sounding when I saw how many pieces were off the runners when removed from the plastic back. Sure enough, i came up a landing gear strut short.... Time to break out the modelling clay and see if i can mold a milliput replacement..... Obviously I'll need to modify the piece to be left side instead of right side, but we'll cross that bridge after the molds have hardened. TO BE CONTINUED...…. Edited June 9, 2019 by IanHx change title 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeyboy76 Posted May 6, 2019 Share Posted May 6, 2019 Ooh, good luck with your build. I haven’t seen one of these before, looks like a Bronco mixed with a Hind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beazer Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 Great choice! Hope the strut works out okay. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 Ha, I brought one of these to the gift exchange in 6th grade, and was disappointed when I didn't get to go home with it, too! This may be the first time that I've seen inside the box, and perhaps you've helped give me closure on a childhood trauma. It might be a new record in "plastic to box volume" ratio! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHx Posted May 8, 2019 Author Share Posted May 8, 2019 19 hours ago, gingerbob said: Ha, I brought one of these to the gift exchange in 6th grade, and was disappointed when I didn't get to go home with it, too! This may be the first time that I've seen inside the box, and perhaps you've helped give me closure on a childhood trauma. It might be a new record in "plastic to box volume" ratio! Yep, there sure is a lot of box for not much plastic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 Very nice and is a great addition to the GB 👍 Don't see many built and looking forward to it. D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHx Posted May 11, 2019 Author Share Posted May 11, 2019 (edited) "Ambitious, but rubbish" is probably the best description of the scratcbuilt strut.... on the other hand the original was probably built by the lowest bidder, so I'm not going to lose too much sleep over it. Edited May 11, 2019 by IanHx 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHx Posted May 12, 2019 Author Share Posted May 12, 2019 (edited) Another day, another piece missing.... this time the nose gun barrel. Thinking some AM bit for a Cobra might be in order..... Edit : or perhaps not. Reviewing a few videos on YouTube indicates that the later prototypes had a belly mounted canon, whereas the earlier prototypes had a much shorter single barelled weapon in the nose. This kit for an earlier prototype. Thinking the metal nozzle on liquid glue bottle would be about the right size if I cut a bit off.... Also thinking that more care needs to be exercised when buying kits at shows where the pieces aren't on the runners. Edited May 12, 2019 by IanHx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHx Posted May 12, 2019 Author Share Posted May 12, 2019 (edited) Today's progress... of sorts... Modelling rule #1 : The more time you spend carefully scratch building a part, the more likely it is to be snaffled by the Carpet Monster necessitating the building again of said part. Just like the axle sticking out of the landing strut.... Modelling rule #2 : If you try to build a replacement part, it will be the wrong size / shape. Couldn't get the landing strut to sit in the sponson so that the lid would go on , so had to chop out the bridging arches, trim a few mm off the the base, and glue them back in. As you can see in the piece lower right. Modelling rule #3 : If it's a second hand kit in a stapled bag, then there's bits missing. Browsing the internet to see what I can use for the nose gun barrel..... On the plus side, did find loads of cool videos of the Cheyenne on the firing range. Never knew that the gunner's seat could rotate round so that he's always looking forward at the target... even when it's off to the side. Very neat. Just like the turret on one of those tracked target thingies in the Armour section Edited May 12, 2019 by IanHx 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 This is like the modeling version of hearing a B-side from some obscure Kajikistan-only released live album by the bass player from your favorite band's first band. i.e.. Cool!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 Great video thank you for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHx Posted May 18, 2019 Author Share Posted May 18, 2019 Progress picture Lots of humbrol 155. The little pin right of the 3 blade propeller I had to hand make by sanding down a piece of sprue. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHx Posted May 26, 2019 Author Share Posted May 26, 2019 Rotors on. Painting canopy. Going to need some Tamiya tape. Lots and lots of it..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHx Posted June 2, 2019 Author Share Posted June 2, 2019 (edited) Ready for decals next. Fortunately this kit comes from an age before stencils.... Edited June 2, 2019 by IanHx 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 (edited) I gave the sad face emoji due to no photo's the link doesn't work ? Edit: Photo is working now, very good looking. Edited June 2, 2019 by Corsairfoxfouruncle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHx Posted June 2, 2019 Author Share Posted June 2, 2019 22 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: I gave the sad face emoji due to no photo's the link doesn't work ? No idea what was going on there. Went back and pasted in exactly the same link from my tablet rather than Microsoft Edge, and picture appears. Go figure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 Nice work! Just finished watching the full video, fascinating aircraft. The gunnery accuracy is pretty impressive! Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 Great project and work so far!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHx Posted June 9, 2019 Author Share Posted June 9, 2019 (edited) Weekly Lockheed chopper pic Got a few panels to paint and the rotor tips. And the wing decals, which aren't on as they're far to convenient to hold model by Getting closer to done...... Edited June 9, 2019 by IanHx 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHx Posted June 9, 2019 Author Share Posted June 9, 2019 … and we're done :) 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted June 9, 2019 Share Posted June 9, 2019 Good looking Cheyenne, to bad they never made it into production. They do look like they would have been good. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHx Posted June 9, 2019 Author Share Posted June 9, 2019 27 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: to bad they never made it into production. They do look like they would have been good. Too bad in some ways.... but on the other hand we ended up with the Apache and Warthog instead , so not all bad I'm surprised at the relative obscurity of this helicopter, given the extent of what-if debate that the Northrop YF-23 and GD F-16 XL seem to enjoy. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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