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Hughes MD-500 N58243 1/72 (Italeri)


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Ok, maybe too late to finish in time, but I was so kindly invited I did't want to ignore it completely…

As I just finished my latest project I can start with some very tiny.

 

I'll try to convert this:

 

 

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into this:
 

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The famous MD 500 from the eighties TV series "Magnum, P.I."



 

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The kit is not really extensive and of course the decals are completely useless.

Main work is first of all to plot masks for the tiny windows. And then to cleanly apply this paintwork on the walnut-sized helicopter.

Research is already finished, now I have to determine the colours. 

 

The kit consists only of a few sparse mouldings

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

As I just discovered that there's a finished one in the gallery already my motivation to finish here in time is a little bit degraded… but anyway. I'll try my best.

 

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Here a first layer of primer, it should be white but the Revell rattlecan decided to be yellowish. And produced some strange bubbles… but nothing that cannot be fixed with a bit sanding. And the strange color doesn't bother me as it is only a base for the yellow, which would never work on the dark green plastic.

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In the meantime I worked on the rotors: everything was also primed white and with some grey, black and yellow it looks much much more like the original. And the first layer of yellow got on the fuselage halves.

 

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The inside is also on the way, but still needs some corrections… but not too much, because of the thick windows nobody will recognize any details inside. It's just to get a feel of the brown and brown-checkered upholstery of the original.

 

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Edited by nexus11
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Here one can see those ridiculous bubbles the Revell color did produce… so I have to say goodbye to the rivets, which are either way too strongly pronounced.

 

And I once violated all model building laws and now I actually assemble the fuselage without the cockpit. Because the paintwork is really something special, and then you have to mask the little windows? Let me try it like this. 

 

I hope that I will be able to push this in afterwards... I can still pluck them apart.

 

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19 hours ago, Dermo245 said:

Very nice work on this one!

Thanks Dermot, good reminder. I built this kit two years ago in another version and yes, now I remember, there was an issue with the windows. Maybe it's a good to replace them with self made ones.

 

Here the old kit in 5x magnification:

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

The famous colour combination is on it and of course it still needs some corrections, these will come after the final assembly. 

I'm still wondering who at Hughes came up with such a weird colour combination and got away with it with the management. You could actually order the MD500 from the catalogue like that.

 

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Some corrections made, but more important was the assembly of the super-tiny windows:

 

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You can mess it up quickly, that's why I tried to glue the windows with Pledge, it spreads well on the windows when it gets messy. And that worked pretty well, but I could only do one pane per hour, because I wanted it to dry out properly.

It even survived the subsequent installation of the cockpit...

 

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Yes, I know, the right pedals are missing, but no problem, they're not lost…

Now I have still to decide whether I'll install seatbelts or not, as I'm not sure about if one can see them at all.

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1 hour ago, Jinxman said:

the pictures are bigger than the real thing!

Thanks… and yes, that's right, the pictures are at least four times as big as the model itself... that doesn't make it look better. As I can see in your footer, you know how small it actually is.

Edited by nexus11
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The magnification makes it worse…

But as one can see here, I decided to go for seatbelts and some handlebars, but it seems like a window has moved. Grrr… more to correct, but when this is fixed, I can close it. 

 

And I have to search for some small decal letters to apply the registration. Usually i would mask and airbrush it, but this will be too small.

The model on the photo looks so miserable that I almost thought about cancelling the build report here... but it's just a tiny part in 1/72, I just have to get through it. And you too!

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

It's beginning to get annoying, but what one starts should be finished.

Unfortunately, the tail with the T-tail is much too heavy, Italeri only plans armed versions, there is of course much more weight in front than on the OH-6A with the V-tail.

To make it look more like a model and not a toy, I added the steps on the outriggers and the rear entry aids. As well as the 3 white antennas. 

The steps are made from punched sheet. I cut the punched parts to get the round shape with straight sides of the original. From the semicircular parts I could build the hinges of the left front door, which were unfortunately destroyed during the whole grinding process.

 

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And I forgot to mention that I also attached the registration. It's not exactly the right character set, but it's the closest one. At least of those I have in stock...

Edited by nexus11
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It's done. And it was no fun at all… But probably also because I didn't work on it all at once, but always did a little something. Here he is, the little bugger. From a distance he looks quite good, but please don't get too close! I can definitely do it better...

 

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