Hasegawa 1/72 AH-64 Apache Longbow *** DONE ***

[desert falcon]

Morning all,

 

Despite the fact I had previously cancelled my attendance for this GB (due the unfortunate fact I was made redundant a couple of weeks ago and is in the middle of relocating back to Europe), I’ve decided to give it a go if ok with you guys. After ‘sorting things’ all day long, I’m in serious need of some “bench therapy” in the evenings 🙂 

 

I will likely not be able to finish this build before the deadline, as in a couple of week’s time tools, stash, bench and everything else will have to be packed and shipped by sea to the high north, but at least I’ll give it a try. In case I miss the deadline, I'll just show the final result in the RFI section at a later point. 

 

So here is the kit, as can be seen it’s the Hasegawa AH-64 Apache Longbow in scale 1/72.

 

 

 

It comes with decals for only one US Army version but with the choice of two different tail numbers.

 

 

 

Some more pictures of the sprues and instructions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As per the instructions; “The prototype Longbow was modified from two AH-64A Apache’s, of which this model is an accurate representation”.

 

Given the time constraints on my side it will be OBB not spending to much time on details like shading and weathering, as my main target will be to have it finished before leaving Dubai.

 

Colour wise the instructions are calling for a plain matt black in the cockpit and H52 olive drab for the externals. Olive drab might be a bit to green I think, will likely give it a green-black-grey'ish appearance, will have to see what I can source locally.

 

Wishing you all a safe and productive Sunday ahead 🚁 

 

Cheers 

 

Johnny b

[Hockeyboy76]

Good luck with your build. They are definitely green black in real life, and a rather unique paint finish that tape won’t stick too. 

[JOCKNEY]

Hi Johnny

 

Really great that you have joined us.

Good luck with both the kit and especially the relocation.

When you say high north, whereabouts on the planet are you moving back to ?

 

You could always make up a "travel pack" for the kit, I use an old ice cream container keep the kit a few tools paint glue etc in. This allows me to do some modelling if I am staying away from home up in sweltering Caithness.

 

Good luck on the job front too, and I hope that resolves itself quickly.

 

Cheers Pat

[Col.]

Best of good luck with this project and all that lies ahead of you - as with opening a kit box so life is always full of new opportunities  

[desert falcon]

9 hours ago, Hockeyboy76 said:

Good luck with your build. They are definitely green black in real life, and a rather unique paint finish that tape won’t stick too. 

 

Thank you @Hockeyboy76

 

Tomorrow I'll pass by the local crafts store to see if I can source some Testors model master acrylic 4723 - US Army Helo Drab FS 34031, or the model master enamel 2024 - US Army Helo Drab FS34031.

 

It's doubtful though, so any suggestions for alternatives to Testors FS34031 from the BM community would be greatly appreciated. With some luck I can source most Vallejo, Tamiya, Mr Hobby and AMMO MIG paints locally, but unfortunately not Humbrol or the like. 

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Johnny b 

[desert falcon]

9 hours ago, JOCKNEY said:

Hi Johnny

 

Really great that you have joined us.

Good luck with both the kit and especially the relocation.

When you say high north, whereabouts on the planet are you moving back to ?

 

You could always make up a "travel pack" for the kit, I use an old ice cream container keep the kit a few tools paint glue etc in. This allows me to do some modelling if I am staying away from home up in sweltering Caithness.

 

Good luck on the job front too, and I hope that resolves itself quickly.

 

Cheers Pat

 

Thanks a lot Pat!

 

To be honest high north was a bit of an exaggeration, as we are looking at moving to the southern part of Germany. I am from Denmark though, but after living more than 10 years in the sandbox, moving back to Scandinavia is a bit to cold for us.

 

Thanks for the tip with the travel pack, I'll make sure to bring the Apache with me in the hand luggage should I not finish it before. It's also the perfect excuse for making pancakes with ice cream before we are leaving   

 

[desert falcon]

8 hours ago, Col. said:

Best of good luck with this project and all that lies ahead of you - as with opening a kit box so life is always full of new opportunities  

Thank you @Col., life is indeed full of new opportunities !!

 

And to be honest, the thought of going back to long dark wet windy cold winters and paying taxes again doesn't worry me at all  🤥 🤥 🤥 

 

 

[desert falcon]

A slow beginning on the Apache. 
 

Hope to get around the cockpit decals and putting together the body halfs tomorrow. 
 

Managed to source some paint for the fuselage yesterday. The choice is between Tamiya’s XF-27 and Vallejo 71.018, both are called black green. 
 

 

 

 

On the samples I did the Tamiya came out slighty more green than the Vallejo one. But both should be fine I think. 
 

Cheers

 

Johnny b 

[Grandboof]

Good luck with your move and the job hunting neither much fun . Will be watching this . 

Martin H 

PS The MD will be done soon 

[desert falcon]

Thanks a lot Martin!

 

Very much looking forward to see your MD done.
 

Wouldn’t mind working on them again in real life, but not many around these days. 

[desert falcon]

Cockpit done - black in black

 

 

Fuselage half's went together fine, it will only need a bit of filling and sanding, but not too much really.

 

The canopy is okay only it looks a bit dull in the plastic.

 

 

Any tips on how to lightly polish it after painting / removing the masking tape would be greatly appreciated? (Please do not suggest Klear or Future floor wax as i can't get that around here)

 

Cheers

 

Johnny b 

[Hewy]

These look nice little kits, can you build an israeli saraph oob with this kit ?

[desert falcon]

Yes @Hewy, so far the kit has behaved very well. Think the tools used for this kit must be rather old though, as there is a lot of cleaning of the parts to be done before assembly. 
 

I am not an Apache expert at all, so without prior research I’m affraid I cant’t answer your question regarding the Saraph.

Maybe one of the resident Apache experts here on BM can help out?

[modelling minion]

1 hour ago, Hewy said:

can you build an israeli saraph oob with this kit ?

Not an Apache expert by any means but no you can't. There are quite a few additional lumps and bumps added by the Israelis most notably on the end on the stub wings which have a bulbous addition to them which is very noticeable in pictures.

[Hewy]

5 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

There are quite a few additional lumps and bumps added by the Israelis most notably on the end on the stub wings which have a bulbous addition to them which is very noticeable in pictures.

I do know you can get a resin aftermarket kit for 48th hasegawa ah-64 , i was maybe too hopefull of this one  being a smaller scale ,hasegawa may have included some bits for other versions even without decals, cheers craig

[modelling minion]

4 minutes ago, Hewy said:

I do know you can get a resin aftermarket kit for 48th hasegawa ah-64

You can get one in 1/72 too, Armycast do one;

 

https://www.armycast.cz/gb/172-resin-sets/47-ah-64d-i-iaf-saraf.html

 

Looks pretty good too.

[desert falcon]

50 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

There are quite a few additional lumps and bumps added by the Israelis most notably on the end on the stub wings which have a bulbous addition to them which is very noticeable in pictures.

 

40 minutes ago, Hewy said:

hasegawa may have included some bits for other versions even without decals, cheers craig

As per the instructions there are some unused parts in the kit. 
 

 

I checked the kit and the unused parts are included but if they would do for the Israeli version 

 

[modelling minion]

8 minutes ago, desert falcon said:

 

I checked the kit and the unused parts are included but if they would do for the Israeli version

Unfortunately not.

[Dermo245]

5 hours ago, desert falcon said:

 

Any tips on how to lightly polish it after painting / removing the masking tape would be greatly appreciated? (Please do not suggest Klear or Future floor wax as i can't get that around here)

 

Cheers

 

Johnny b 

I don't know about polishing but WD-40 is great for removing the adhesive residue from masking tape on a canopy...(assuming you can get it there)

Cheers,

Dermot

[Lifeline]

On 7/7/2020 at 12:41 AM, desert falcon said:

 

Managed to source some paint for the fuselage yesterday. The choice is between Tamiya’s XF-27 and Vallejo 71.018, both are called black green. 
 

 

On the samples I did the Tamiya came out slighty more green than the Vallejo one. But both should be fine I think. 
 

Cheers

 

Johnny b 

I feel your struggle to find the correct color for US Army Apaches (And most of Apache helicopter in most country I guess), I always got the same problem here.

The most recommended Testors model master acrylic US Helo Drab (The enamel version was deemed a bit "too grey") is almost impossible to get here in Indonesia.

But I got pretty good experience with Tamiya's Acrylic line which I used to touch ups my Apache build a while back. I used Tamiya JGSDF Olive Drab, plus few drops of Tamiya Nato Black.

 

Good luck with the build.. I have the kit in my stash back home, so I will be following this build.

 

Cheers,

Mario 

Edited July 10, 2020 by Lifeline

[desert falcon]

8 hours ago, Lifeline said:

I feel your struggle to find the correct color for US Army Apaches (And most of Apache helicopter in most country I guess), I always got the same problem here.

The most recommended Testors model master acrylic US Helo Drab (The enamel version was deemed a bit "too grey") is almost impossible to get here in Indonesia.

But I got pretty good experience with Tamiya's Acrylic line which I used to touch ups my Apache build a while back. I used Tamiya JGSDF Olive Drab, plus few drops of Tamiya Nato Black.

 

Good luck with the build.. I have the kit in my stash back home, so I will be following this build.

 

Cheers,

Mario 

Thanks for the tip on the color Mario 👍

 

Think I’ll be using either the Vallejo 71.018 or the Tamiya XF-27, possible mixed with some Nato Black to make it a little less green. The test I did for the XF-27 came out darker than the paint chip is showing. 
 

As always, it’s dufficult to know if it is indeed the right color before the paint hits the model. 
 

Anyway it’s a nice little kit, I’m sure you will enjoy doing yours as well. 
 

Cheers

 

Johnny b 

[desert falcon]

11 hours ago, Dermo245 said:

I don't know about polishing but WD-40 is great for removing the adhesive residue from masking tape on a canopy...(assuming you can get it there)

Cheers,

Dermot

Thanks a lot for tip Dermot 👍

 

The issue is the material they have used for the plastic I think. It’s not the clear and shiny type og canopy like you might see on a fighter canopy, but appears to be off “cheaper” quality. Maybe it just need some common mirror cleaner and it will be fine? 
 

Cheers

 

Johnny b 

[JOCKNEY]

Hi Johnny 

 

Have you started your move yet ?

Also have you had a chance to make any more progress with the build  ?

 

cheers Pat 

[desert falcon]

Hi Pat

 

Still soaking up the sun in Dubai, our move to Germany will likely not be before mid September.
 

But that is a good thing, as it will allow me to finish the Apache if I concentrate on the build. 
 

Almost ready for primer now. 
 

 

Cheers

 

Johnny b 

[Jabba]

Coming along in leaps and bounds. Good luck with all that is going on in your life at the moment.