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Bladeslap. Adventures in Chinookery


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A bit more effort and it's looking a bit better. At the tail... (Still needs some tidying)

 

IMG_20191003_220114

 

And at the front (also needs another coat of primer to check the finish)

 

IMG_20191003_220747

 

When that lot is finished, i'll start on the holes atop the front rotor pylon.

 

At that point, hopefully I'll have finished cutting, chiseling and general modifying, so I can start sticking on the gubbins without so much fear of knocking them off almost immediately. 

 

Cheers!

 

Edited by chrislowe
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On 10/5/2019 at 3:34 PM, limeypilot said:

Looks like a frog with a very big nose!

Much like myself, Ian :D

 

They say that pets and their owners often look alike, maybe that's true of models too!

 

Bit of a round up of all the chiseling, filling and filing that's been going on. 

Hopefully now removal has come to an end, and I can start to add bits, instead.

 

The US / Japan antenna locations removed and rescribed.

 

IMG_20191005_194800

 

The front of the front rotor pylon reprofiled and the mesh grille at the top in place

IMG_20191005_194836

 

A vent on the rear that appears in exactly none of the photos filled

IMG_20191005_194908

 

And finally the join between the rear rotor pylon and the fuselage filled and sanded.

IMG_20191005_194854

 

Looking forward to the next stage now, but I'm off to the Ireland IPMS show in Dublin tomorrow, so I'll have no time for progress.

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Edited by chrislowe
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A little bit more of Eduard's finest added.

 

I wanted to represent the brackets for the winch, but that's not a thing that comes in the Chinook set, so I had to get as close as I could from leftovers...

 

2 brackets either side of the door, and one further up on a triangular plate

IMG_20191006_221053

 

After that I cracked on with the regular PE which needed more chiseling to sit flush and still need a tidy up around the edges.

 

IMG_20191006_221023

 

Still lots of bits to add, bit I'm really looking forward to the time I can show you some pictures that aren't just grey plastic.

 

Onwards!

 

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On 10/2/2019 at 10:18 PM, Beefy said:

This might help, it is a mesh cover 

ch%2006.jpg

Gah! Anyone half awake looking at that picture can see there's 4 mounting points for the winch, not 3. 

 

Pay attention Lowe!

 

Edited by chrislowe
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On 10/7/2019 at 7:18 PM, Beefy said:

If you wanted to mount a winch, it is the same one that is fitted to a Sea King, also they are standard fit on a 7 Squadron Chinook. 

 

23 hours ago, andyf117 said:

The internal mechanism may be the same, but externally they look quite different...

 

Cheers chaps!

 

There are parts in the kit for a winch, the body of it at least, but I want to have the minigun fitted in the doorway and although I've seen both fitted to the aircraft I'm modelling, I've not seen them both fitted at the same time!

 

Of course, now I've said that, I can't find the picture of ZA712 with the minigun fitted and I'm starting to doubt myself... Gah!

 

Edit: found it! The first pic on this link shows ZA712 (albeit in anniversary colours) with the minigun fitted. 

 

https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/registration/ZA712

 

Which raises another question... The very matt black plate that is presumably extra protection for the minigun operator - is that always fitted when the minigun is fitted?

Edited by chrislowe
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A bit more work last night.

 

IMG_20191008_223124

 

I added an extra mounting point for the winch, but I'm not that happy with either of the upper two. I'll try to improve them next time I'm at the table. I also added the very obvious exhaust which is presumably connected on the inside to the heat exchanger. It's entirely absent from the kit and the PE, so I had to scratch build it. You can see from the picture is too long, so I'll fix that too.

 

Also added the resin sensor on the front of the rotor pylon and on the same pylon further back, what looks to me like an AOA probe made out of stretched runner.

 

Still a long way from getting any paint on it!

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You may be forgiven for thinking this is very similar to the previous update

 

IMG_20191009_211313

 

But there are 2 small differences. Firstly the exposed pipe is shorter, and secondly the upper mounts for the winch now sit atop two triangular plates. 

 

Definitely happier with that but looking at the photo the pipe could be shorter still. 

 

Isn't it funny how the photo shows up problems that don't seem to be a problem with the naked eye.

 

 

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21 hours ago, limeypilot said:

Very true, but never forget that you/we won't be looking at it via photos!

 

Ian

That's very true, but it's also true that you will probably only ever look at it via photos, and as I want to get better and make better models, I need you lot because of your feedback, advice and inspiration.

 

I wouldn't be doing this, if this forum hadn't inspired me to start modelling again, and I wouldn't be half as confident making changes, scratch building little bits and generally "having a go", if I hadn't seen all of you do that and more in your own threads.

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Touch more progress from last night

 

I don't know what the structures do that are near the door, but I added them on and hopefully finished reducing that exposed pipe

 

IMG_20191010_225600

 

Gubbins on the top of the fuselage

IMG_20191010_225635

 

And I added this slight bulge under the engine nacelle that is visible in all the photos, but was invisible to Italeri.

 

IMG_20191010_225709

 

Next job is the mounts for the IR defences and the strakes on the fuselage ahead of the engines. Hopefully then I'll be finished with the starboard side

 

My plan is to paint the top side before sticking all the dangly bits to the underside, and painting that.

 

Once that's done, I'll fit the undercarriage, rotors and then move on to decals. 

 

Which reminds me, does anyone have a good reference for the colour of the u/c bays?

 

Thanks

 

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On ‎09‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 10:22, chrislowe said:

 

 

Cheers chaps!

 

There are parts in the kit for a winch, the body of it at least, but I want to have the minigun fitted in the doorway and although I've seen both fitted to the aircraft I'm modelling, I've not seen them both fitted at the same time!

 

Of course, now I've said that, I can't find the picture of ZA712 with the minigun fitted and I'm starting to doubt myself... Gah!

 

Edit: found it! The first pic on this link shows ZA712 (albeit in anniversary colours) with the minigun fitted. 

 

https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/registration/ZA712

 

Which raises another question... The very matt black plate that is presumably extra protection for the minigun operator - is that always fitted when the minigun is fitted?

When working on Chinooks in Croatia we had both the winch and the mini-gun fitted at the same time. The plate that you are talking about is protection fitted to a door plug which is fitted instead of the normal door step. There are also metal plates(or were) to the area where the Fwd loadies works, plus wing armour fitted to the seats and extra protection armour fitted to the lower windows of the cockpit doors. If a mini-gun is fitted then the ammo tubes are also fitted to the side of the door.

Edited by Jabba
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These bits, which I made from I-section evergreen.

 

IMG_20191011_222726

 

But also these bits

 

IMG_20191011_222734

 

That's it for tonight, and unless I've forgotten anything, that's it for the starboard side too. 

 

Port side tomorrow then which has more bits but fewer bobs, or is it the other way around?

 

Thanks for looking

Edited by chrislowe
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I moved on to the other side. Most of this was straightforward.

 

IMG_20191015_211638

 

I'm not sure what the the vents on the side are for, ventilation of the area  perhaps, but the plastic on them was very thick and there's nothing for them in the Eduard PE, so I drilled them out.

 

IMG_20191015_211722

 

In this pic, the one on the right is drilled to make the wall of the vent thinner. The one on the left is how it is in the kit. It's a small difference probably, and ideally I'd have a very-slightly larger drill bit, but I think it was worth it.

 

Thanks for looking

 

Edited by chrislowe
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Pushing forward. Hopefully ready for paint soon. 

 

This is a satisfying bit of PE

IMG_20191020_114254

 

Trying out some techniques from the Mig encyclopedia. Shane you won't really be able to see much of it, but there you go. 

 

IMG-20191020-WA0031

 

And with the antenna added to the underside and the nose, I'm getting closer to the end of the build stage.

 

This side

IMG_20191021_100017

 

That side

IMG_20191021_100153

 

At this point I just had the strakes to add on the underside and some tidying to do around the front of the rear rotor pylon. 

 

I managed to get the rotor pylon filled and sanded and the forward pair of strakes on. I'm hoping to get those last bits tackled and by the end of tomorrow get a coat of primer on it.

 

Thanks for looking

 

 

Edited by chrislowe
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Well, I've only gone and done it. I put a coat of grey primer on it. 

 

The first thing that happened was that it showed up a couple of issues around the front of the rear rotor pylon. The shape and fit of those pieces really leaves a lot to be desired. So another hour spent correcting the shape and filing the gaps, and another light coat of primer suggests that it's somewhere useful now.

 

There were other bits that needed a little work, but nothing as serious. 

 

Even if there were no benefits in terms of the other layers of paint, I would still put a coat of primer on just because it highlights all the issues and you get a second chance to get it looking the way you want.

 

I'm not going for pre-shading of the panel lines, they're well marked and will get a pin wash. None of the reference pictures show any kind of weathering around the panel lines although some show a colour variation at the rear, oddly. Instead I'm going to try something I've never tried before, a black and white pre-shading to try to emphasise the shape and give a lit-from-above effect. Of course it'll be lost if my top coat is to heavy, which is a problem I might have had (once or twice) in the past.

 

More pictures soon!

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There's no shading applied in these pictures yet, but with the direct light source you can see the sections that are going to be light / dark.

 

IMG_20191023_094019

 

IMG_20191023_094100_01

 

I'll use those pictures for reference while I'm painting. The tricky part, I think, is not only going to be getting a smooth transition but also getting it in the right place. 

 

 

Edited by chrislowe
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Experiment time...

 

I've read countless threads about correct colours for the modern RAF helicopters. Xtracolor do an enamel that's the right colour, but after breathing that stuff in for years during my youth, I really would prefer to use something easier on the lungs.

 

One of the threads I read mentioned that the Chinooks were delivered with a black undercoat, I had a feeling that the "right" green has a slightly brown hint to it, and I've used a light grey primer, so using an old phantom, I decided to try each of the 3 greens that I thought were "possibles" over a black brown and grey base.

 

IMG_20191026_103845

 

The black is Tamiya flat black, the brown is Mig "rust" primer and the grey is Tamiya rattle-can. 

 

Over each base coat, I painted a stripe of each green...

 

IMG_20191026_112706

 

 

Left to right... Tamiya xf-58, Mr color 320 and Humbrol 102.

 

And the winner is... After comparison in natural light with lots of shots from the walk-around section...Mr Color over a black base coat.

 

 

Edited by chrislowe
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