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1/72 Academy AH-64A


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15 hours ago, KieranH said:

Good choice. I built this on my return to the hobby last year with no issues and it turned out nice. Will be watching how it goes.

 

G'day Kieran,

 

It is a pretty straightforward kit. I bought several of these at a deceased estate sale for only a few bucks each so I can afford to add a few extras to liven what is already a nicely detailed kit.

 

G'day people,

 

So I have made a simple start today. The kit seats include the side armour as well as a representation of the shoulder harnesses but oddly not the lap belts. I carefully scraped away the moulded seat belt details and added some PE belts as well as some torque pedals for both the Pilot and Co-Pilot Gunner (CPG) cockpits

 

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The pilot and CPG instrument panels were also treated to some PE. A quick blast of black followed by a drybrush popped out the lovely details

 

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Finally, the cockpit tub was also painted and drybrushed. A few small details were picked out with yellow and red according to reference pictures which added some nice accents to what would otherwise be is a black hole

 

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Pappy

 

 

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G'day people,

 

More cockpit goodness today,

 

The seats have been painted up

 

 

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The seats include the ballistic armour side shields but these are simplified as the right hand sides feature a hinged system which fold back to allow the crew to enter but then extend to provide additional protection. I added some pieces of plastic card to the right side to represent this feature. The left cockpit interior also received some wine bottle foil to represent the quilted material seen in refs

 

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Staying with the fuselage, I removed a section from the right sponson to install the right avionics bay

 

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The resin set includes both the left and right avionics bays as well as some fuselage stowage and equipment compartments. I personally don't like to portray my kit with 'everything open' as this does not seem realistic for a line bird  (okay for a maintenance setting though) and it can ruin the lines of an aircraft. It also means I can use the remaining resin parts on other builds too. I will also open the aft stowage compartment (the smaller door) on the left side as well

 

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cheers,

 

Pappy

Edited by Pappy
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9 hours ago, desert falcon said:

You are off to a very good start there 👍

 

G'day DF,

 

Thanks very much. This is a simple kit and like most helicopter kits, about 85% of this kit is the fuselage. The kit goes together very easily, I think that the main area of concern will be the underfuselage  piece. It is remarkable how similar the Hasegawa and Italeri kits are in their parts breakdown, I am not suggesting that anyone copied but that they all have a similar approach to the construction. if you wanted to build this kit completely OOB it would probably fall together over a couple of evenings but where is the fun in that!

 

Pappy

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G'day people,

 

The fuselage is now all buttoned up

 

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Before the two halves were joined I added the aft cargo compartment

 

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The upper fuselage didn't really need any filler except for some sink marks around the main rotor housing

 

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The lower fuselage however was a slightly different story as a few areas needed some filler, particularly the large flat section beneath the forward fuseleage

 

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cheers

 

Pappy

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Pappy
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G'day Jabba,


 Correct, the first mission of Desert Storm was carried out by Apaches. The AH-64A was also the type that accounted for the most vehicles destroyed or damaged. I also recall footage of an entire unit surrendering to a single Apache, admittedly they were  conscripts who didn't really feel the need to die for Saddam but still impressive.

 

G'day people,

 

The tail rotor has been cleaned up and painted although it lacks the complicated spider web look as Academy failed to include the pitch linkages. They did a better job on their later Apache kits

 

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More missing lumps and bumps have been added, this time to the engine nacelles as some of the details were lost during the seam clean-up

 

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I shot a quick coat of CARC Green over the bottom to see how the seams turned out

 

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The stb'd avionics bay contents have been installed and the door painted

 

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I have also started working of the weapons systems starting with the 25mm chain gun

 

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Pappy

 

 

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Just catching up with this one Pappy, some excellent work.

I am surprised that there aren't more Apaches in the GB considering the pivotal role they played in the conflict.

I built one of these many years ago ( an AH-64D ) and enjoyed the build, it certainly looks like an Apache when finished.

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On 3/31/2021 at 3:20 AM, modelling minion said:

Just catching up with this one Pappy, some excellent work.

I am surprised that there aren't more Apaches in the GB considering the pivotal role they played in the conflict.

I built one of these many years ago ( an AH-64D ) and enjoyed the build, it certainly looks like an Apache when finished.

 

G'day Craig,

 

I was a little surprised as well, but perhaps being BM, the audience is a little more partial to British subjects?

 

G'day people,

 

I spent today getting the sharpening the chopper's claws.........

 

First up, the rocket pods have been painted up and the AGM-114 racks assembled and painted

 

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Next up the 25mm chain gun had some more details added to make it it a little more interesting

 

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Finally, the TADS/PNVS was assembled and painted

 

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Somewhat annoyingly, Academy does not provide a lens for the TADS side (the PNVS is moulded solid) so I will have to make something

 

Just for fists and giggles, a quick dry fit

 

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Pappy

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