Airfix 1/72 Lockheed AC-130H Gunship

[81-er]

Digging deep into the stash for this one, I came up with this venerable Airfix AC-130H Hercules:

 

 

This is a kit I’ve started in the past, a very, very long way in the past! I can remember working on this while I was still at secondary school, so I’d guess I’d have been around 15 or 16 when I first messed with it. I’ll be 41 next month, which means it’s been 25 years in the making so far. I’ve run this past Col and he’s happy that this is below the 25% mark:

 

 

Unusually, I’ll be starting this build by stripping the existing Humbrol enamel paint off. While some of it looks alright, some of it really isn’t:

 

 

 

Interestingly, I appear to have two sets of decals for this. I think the better condition one is the set from this kit and the other is probably one that a model-making friend of my grandparents gave me:

 

 

While I’m trying to not go overboard on accuracy on this one (it’s most likely going to end up hung from the ceiling in my son’s room) the kit is definitely going to need some work. As you can see the line for the edge of the cockpit glazing is going to need refining. The starboard side is correct, the port side has a large amount of flash extending into the glazing area. Also, this is genuinely as close as the two halves of the nose will come to each other, which means more work there as well. Let’s not even go there with the raised panel lines, I think I’m just going to live with them or I’ll spend the entire GB just rescribing!

 

 

 

Until next time

 

James

[desert falcon]

Oh yes please James, a Gunship was indeed missing 👍 

[81-er]

I realise there's still a way to go, but I'm genuinely surprised there's not another gunship entrant - yet!

 

One area that is going to need some thought is the colour scheme. The schemes offered by the kit are 568 in all-over gunship grey, or 574 in all-over black. I can’t say I’ve overly thrilled by either of those and the decal sheet is missing some quite important decals, such as the nose code that sits between the radome and the cockpit glazing, a lot of the stencils, as well as the quite distinctive “Spectre” nose art that accompanies the aircraft’s name (also missing) on the side of the cockpit. I’m not entirely sure I agree with the colours for the aircraft identifications for the listed schemes either. Having said that, grey aircraft fade quite dramatically, which could add some visual interest:

 

 

The Spectre Association has pages listing all of the aircraft by model, with the page for the E/H model here.  That’s thrown up some further ideas, as 570 & 571 are both pictured in the three-tone camo over black scheme more often associated with the earlier AC-130A models in Vietnam, while 567 & 576 are pictured in a green-based scheme. From a bit more hunting on the association website, that’s a two-tone green camo on the sides which then becomes a three-tone camo on the upper surfaces & vertical stabiliser with the addition of gunship grey, while the underside of the aircraft is light grey. That would appear to tie up with the scheme shown on the Starfighter in this set from AK, with the tan earth swapped for the gunship grey on the Thunderchief. That one could be a winner.

 

I’m going to have a hunt for some better decal sheets for the missing stencils. There’s plenty of them for the run of the mill C-130’s, so I’m confident I can find one that works for the miscellaneous stuff that’s common to all C-130 variants. I’m mulling over trying to purchase the Italeri AC-130H decal sheet too. While two of the aircraft offered are actually AC-130A’s, 573 was an AC-130H and there’s the correct nose code decal for that as well as the Spectre nose art. Annoyingly the name for 573 isn’t included, doubly so as that particular aircraft was dubbed “Heavy Metal” and that’s my favourite type of music!

 

Until next time

 

James

[arfa1983]

It looks like you really have your work cut out for you with this one! Getting thst windscreen and the other front windows to fit looks like a fun job!

 

But certainly this is going to be one of the must follow builds for me and probably many others. 

[Col.]

We needed a gunship in this GB James  This kit needs finishing after all these years and I'm glad to see the crew will be changing out of their shiny black gimp suits  

[81-er]

3 hours ago, arfa1983 said:

It looks like you really have your work cut out for you with this one! Getting thst windscreen and the other front windows to fit looks like a fun job!

 

But certainly this is going to be one of the must follow builds for me and probably many others. 

No pressure then... 🤣

 

1 hour ago, Col. said:

We needed a gunship in this GB James  This kit needs finishing after all these years and I'm glad to see the crew will be changing out of their shiny black gimp suits  

It really does, it's been abandoned for far too long. And yes, the flight crew will be getting a makeover. Gold sequined jump suits with cyan and fuchsia accessories? 

 

James

[psdavidson]

23 minutes ago, 81-er said:

Gold sequined jump suits with cyan and fuchsia accessories? 

They've already been tarred, just get the feathers on 'em to complete the job

/p

 

[81-er]

Digging deeper into the colours used, I’ve managed to identify the 3-colour scheme mentioned in my last post. That’s Euro-1 camouflage and was used on both 69-6567 Ghostrider and 69-6576 Predator during Desert Storm, with the respective photos of both aircraft below:

 

 

 

Both aircraft started life as C-130E’s before being converted to AC-130E’s in the early 70’s and then to AC-130H specification in the late 70’s. Handily, from those photos neither have the unit badge (as it would be in black rather than the colour decal I have) and only 576 has the Spectre nose art. That helps dramatically, as I think I can get away with using one of the Print Scale decal sets for Europe-based Hercules that deployed for Desert Storm for the walkway and stencils, then I can make my own decals for the serials. Which means I think I have a winner on the scheme.

 

One thing I do still need to do is work out what the underwing pods between the engines are, as these aren’t in my kit. They’re not refuelling pods, but I’m not sure what they are. External tanks or some kind of sensor pod? If anyone can shed some light on that I’d be very grateful. There’s a good shot of them in this photo:

 

 

Until next time

 

James

[Chrisj2003]

59 minutes ago, 81-er said:

One thing I do still need to do is work out what the underwing pods between the engines are, as these aren’t in my kit. They’re not refuelling pods, but I’m not sure what they are. External tanks or some kind of sensor pod? If anyone can shed some light on that I’d be very grateful. There’s a good shot of them in this photo

 

I'd say normal fuel tanks; before the J most Hercs seem to have then as a constant fit. 100% certain of that on the Dutch example; with its interesting outboard ECM pods

 

Chris

[janneman36]

I can assure you that these are fuel tanks, nothing more nothing less.

The old C130 is a thirsty fellow.

 

cheer, Jan

[81-er]

Thanks chaps. Now all I need to do is work out where to get a set

 

James

[modelling minion]

5 hours ago, 81-er said:

Thanks chaps. Now all I need to do is work out where to get a set

 

James

https://www.blackbirdmodels.co.uk/c-130-hercules-fuel-tanks-72-898-p.asp

 

There you go.

 

On 1/17/2022 at 7:34 PM, Col. said:

We needed a gunship in this GB

Gunships are allowed you say, interesting............

[Col.]

22 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

Gunships are allowed you say, interesting............

Yes sir! Fixed wing or rotary or, indeed, gun ships  

[janneman36]

1 hour ago, modelling minion said:

https://www.blackbirdmodels.co.uk/c-130-hercules-fuel-tanks-72-898-p.asp

 

There you go.

 

Gunships are allowed you say, interesting............

These tanks you are mentioning are the smaller C-130A tanks these go on the outer wing hard points.

Blackbirdmodels page doesn’t mention it but on the old site they were advertised as such.

So these are not correct for the H version.

@81-er

 

 

http://umm-usa.com/onlinestore/popup_image.php?pID=899&osCsid=f8aa1937ea648e02a5570ecfd63a53ff
 

And the same on the real thing!

 

 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lockheed_C-130A_Hercules_(L-182),_USA_-_Air_Force_AN1569917.jpg

 

cheers, Jan

 

[81-er]

Thanks for the ideas/corrections chaps. In the meantime, stripping has started

 

 

James

[81-er]

I’m pleased to announce that Operation Strip-o-gram was a success. Other than a few small bits hanging on here and there (which will likely disappear with some sanding) all of the dark grey enamel has left the outside and all of the light grey has departed from the interior:

 

 

 

 

The hazing on the port fuselage and one of the wings is down to me getting impatient at the several days it took to soak off all the paint using oven cleaner (especially on the fuselage); however, I did learn the error of my ways there and went back to Mr Muscle. And how did I learn my lesson, did you ask? That would be on the Black Crow radar dish, which fragmented due to me trying to use white spirit on that:

 

 

Lesson very much learnt there! I guess it gives me an excuse to replace the overly-thick plastic with either thin plasticard or sheet brass. The only other fail I had with the stripping process was losing one half of a front wheel down the sink as I washed the oven cleaner off. I’d been trying to avoid buying AM for this build aside from the decals, but I’ve now ordered a set of resin wheels so she’ll have a full set to sit on.

 

With the paint off, it gave me a chance to inspect a few things. I can foresee me altering the existing seats or making new ones:

 

 

I’m also going to look at making an IP and at least a token effort of a navigator’s station as well, as both are missing from the kit. Likewise I’ll be adding some basic details to the gear bays as they’re currently just blank boxes (other than the massive ejector pin marks):

 

 

I’m considering grabbing a Zvezda C-130H kit to use as a reference for those, as well as the external fuel tanks. I’ll be copying those rather than taking the pieces as it seems insane to rob a kit as good as that to fix one as bad as this, as well as I have plans to build the Zvezda in the very attractive JASDF colours that are one of the kit options. I did find out that Arma made a conversion set to turn the Zvezda C-130H into an AC-130H but unfortunately that appears to have been a limited production item that was only available if you pre-ordered the Zvezda kit through Arma.

 

I did manage some actual build time last night, starting with the starboard fuselage. First task was to go around the edges and remove the flash. As bad as I thought the Fw-190 I’m building was for flash, this is another level. Every single part has lots of flash around all of the edges. including any opening through that part. The mating edges of the two fuselage halves are particularly bad as they have a curved lip where the two meet which will require some serious sanding to deal with. It’s almost like they were placed on a flat surface while still soft and slight squished outwards, if that makes sense? There are also sink marks everywhere. Nothing a little filler won’t sort, but still an annoyance.

 

After dealing with the flash, I moved on to starting on the re-scribing mission. Just as well I bought a multi-pack of Dymo tape! I’ve managed to do a large chunk of the area under the starboard wing and down the sponson. There’s a couple of mistakes that I’ll need to rectify but it is undeniably much better than the raised panel lines Airfix supplied. Unlike the kit lines, mine won’t randomly disappear as some of the kit originals do. Progress can be seen in the two photos below (taken from slightly different angles to show all of my work). There’s still a couple of places where I haven’t completely sanded off the original lines as they abut areas I’ve not started yet:

 

 

 

The two small holes are pilot holes for the missing portholes that Airfix portrayed as quite thick outlines. They’ll be drilled out to the correct size later. My modelling toolbox only has bits up to 1.6mm and the rest are in the garage, I just couldn’t be bothered to go out there at 10pm.

 

Until next time

 

James

[Col.]

Nice progress James

[Toryu]

On 19/01/2022 at 09:31, 81-er said:

stripping has started

 

Great how clean it looks after stripping. Was that acryl or enamel, and what kind of solvent did you use?

[81-er]

Thanks Toryu. It was Humbrol enamel that I laid down 20-odd years ago and I used Mr Muscle oven cleaner. I've used this a few times now to strip either enamel paint or chrome plating after seeing a few recommendations online. What I've discovered works best (at least for me) is to place the parts in a lidded plastic box, given them a good spray with the oven cleaner until you get a nice thick foam coating, then put the lid back on. If you don't have a lid or the parts are too large to fit into the box, sticking them on a plastic tray and covering with foil works too. Covering them reduces escape of the volatile elements and speeds up the stripping process. It also has the added benefit of keeping pets or kids out of it, as it's really nasty stuff. Give it a few hours to work, then rinse off in water. I've found that agitating the surface with a brush just before you start the rinse process helps with the stubborn bits, and I also use the brush to help wash the residue off. I use an old household paint brush or a nail brush. Repeat if necessary. As mentioned already, it’s nasty stuff that can cause skin damage, so always wear gloves and work in a well-ventilated area

 

James

[Bertie McBoatface]

This is a good read as well as an interesting build. Great stuff!

[Wings unlevel]

Yes, definitely some of the best stripping I have seen.

[81-er]

Small update on this as some of the aftermarket goodies have arrived. First up are the Armoury resin wheels, which are a massive improvement over the kit offerings and now give me a full set of wheels again after I dropped a nose wheel down the sink:

 

 

Then there’s a nice stack of paint. Forest Green, Dark Green, and Medium Gunship Grey for the camouflage, Light Ghost Grey and Bronze Green for the interior (although looking at the references I have and the swatch test I’ve just done, the Bronze Green might not have enough yellow in it). The Zinc Chromate is just adding to the general stocks:

 

 

This will be my first time using the AK paints and I’m looking forward to seeing how they perform.

 

The final arrival is the Print Scale decal set. Although it’s actually for the transports it does give me all of the correct stencils for a Hercules in Euro One camo deployed for Desert Storm, whereas the Airfix set has almost no decals at all. It also gives me a nice painting guide for the camo:

 

 

 

I’m leaning towards building 69-6567 as the photo I have of her deployed for Desert Storm doesn’t have the Spectre nose art or her name (which was Ghostrider) whereas 69-6576 has both.

 

Not that it’ll delay work for now, but I’m waiting on some replacement gun barrels. Like everything on this kit those were covered in flash and (especially the Vulcans) looked like far more effort to clean up that they’re worth. I’ve got Master replacement Vulcan’s and the Bofors on the way and I’ll make a new barrel for the M105 myself as I’ve got tubes of the correct diameter in stock.

 

Until next time

 

James

[Col.]

Nice upgrades James

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

A friend sent me these yesterday, maybe they’ll help or give you some inspiration. 

https://youtu.be/7wj6kCxT0mM

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecIMnnxAPpU

 

Dennis

[81-er]

Thanks for those Dennis, I'll have a good watch of them over lunch

 

James