International Scale Modeller

Bonjour everyone,

Here's my entry for the SiG!


I'm going to be starting with the Huey as I'm still waiting on some AM pieces for the Cobra.
For this diorama, it will be Vietnam themed and the two helo's will be stationed in a US landing field/dust patch and the Huey will be in the process of lifting-off to make a drop off (waiting on figures) while the Cobra will be undergoing maintenance (also waiting on figures)... More will come as time goes on.

The first combat operation of the UH-1 was in the service of the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. The original designation of HU-1 led to the helicopter's nickname of Huey.[2] In September 1962, the designation was changed to UH-1, but "Huey" remained in common use. Approximately 7,000 UH-1 aircraft saw service in Vietnam.




In 1962, the United States Marines Corps held a competition to choose an assault support helicopter to replace the Cessna O-1 fixed-wing aircraft and the Kaman OH-43D helicopter. The winner was the UH-1B, which was already in service with the Army. The helicopter was designated the UH-1E and modified to meet Marine requirements. The major changes included the use of all-aluminum construction for corrosion resistance,[N 3] radios compatible with Marine Corps ground frequencies, a rotor brake for shipboard use to stop the rotor quickly on shutdown and a roof-mounted rescue hoist.

All the pieces bagged and accounted for




The detailing is great!





There's a lot of flash marks though... nothing a little sanding can't handle


Here are the decals


Here is a photo of a Huey and a Cobra - the Huey is making a pick-up while the Cobra provides cover


And some photo's behind my growing diorama idea



Hope you enjoy these builds as much as I'm going to have building them!

Good luck with your build. Watch out for fit issues with the roof especially where it meets the engine compartment and the fit of the front glass to the rest of the fuselage is quite tricky to get right.

5Craven wrote:Good luck with your build. Watch out for fit issues with the roof especially where it meets the engine compartment and the fit of the front glass to the rest of the fuselage is quite tricky to get right.

Thanks! ... the pieces do look a bit 'wonky' and old... this one is definitely going to be a lot of fun to get to cooperate

Here's a little update for those interested...
5Craven... if those were the only fit issues, I would be a very happy camper...sadly, this model is in quite terrible condition. The plastic is quite old and brittle and I need to be very careful when sanding.

I found this today while closer inspecting the model... it explains EVERYTHING!!


The pieces felt slippery and 'filmy' so I gave them a nice little bath in some luke-warm water and some CLEAR dish soap...
The water came out green...


After the bath, the pieces were much easier to work with and cooperated a lot better.



The amount of detail given the quality (or lack there-of) of this model is quite excellent, we'll see what happens with a little prime... here's a fresh coat, I'm going to leave it to dry for the next 24 hours or so, I'll check it tomorrow, but as the plastic is so crummy, I want to make sure it sticks right.



I also sprayed some primer on the inside of the copper as well as my little pilots, I love watching the details pop



After reading Coen's post about the future and the clear (and with his help) I'm going to be dunking my canopy and window pieces which will hopefully strengthen the plastic and help with the finished product.

That's all for now

Oh, a vintage model kit! Don't let the date on the copyright let you down. With a lot of TLC, you can make any model shine. Seriously, the older kits are great teachers. Looking forward to seeing you put this project together. Good luck!

Russell.

Yes, this kit is quite challenging but it is possible to get a half decent finish. I wouldn't count myself as a particularly good modeller but I was quite pleased with the outcome of my build of this kit earlier this year. Finished pictures can be found here; http://www.intscalemodeller.com/viewtop ... f=45&t=250

older kits are often a challenge, good luck with the rest of the build

Love the way you tackle this old kit!
Lot of filler and sanding I think

Good luck mate!

Time for another update

So far, I've pretty much completed the cockpit and insides minus a light, dark wash. I'm thinking maybe a light dry-brushing with some Tamiya Gunmetal along the silver panelling on the floor and behind the curtain to give it a darker 'pop'.. we'll see again tomorrow.

So, since the priming there have been a few stages. Although I've looked at countless Huey photos, I decided to go with the colour scheme suggested by the instructions, at least to start with. It asked for a coat of silver... I ended up using Tamiya Chome Silver... should have used a grey or tan, but I'm actually liking the look so far.
Then I added some masking for the details.



After that dried, I decided to tackle the back curtain first. I mixed some Tamiya Flat Black and some Flat Red to create a darker undercoat for the curtain to show some depth. Figured I'd also get a coat of Olive Drab onto the bench also.


Then I painted the console and some more detailing. I then added a lighter coat of Flat Red when the paint was almost dry and got some great lighter highlights to blend quite nicely


Figured since I'm treating ALL my models as lessons learned and chances to experiment and practice, I figured, even if you won't be able to see this when it's done, I WANTED A WOODEN ROD FOR THE CURTAIN!!! So... I did it! Super pleased!
Et Voila without masking...



After it dried I went back to it the next day and realized that I had painted the ammo compartment under the bench in silver with black straps... That sounds very Vietnam, doesn't it?
So back to masking I go, with a teeny brush and at the moment leave you with my almost finished cockpit (maybe gunmetal dry-brush) before a wash.







I was going to paint the seatbelts, however the pilots will be covering the front ones, and the plan is to pick up this kit, and have them inside of it, in the process of taking off.

I still 'need' to order this one...


But I DID order this one today!


till next time!

Awesome progress!
Very nice paintjob
Looking forward to see more!

Fantastic project. I like the look of the figures too.

Charlie don't surf

Well, it looks like the interior of a Huey to me I love your attitude and approach to model building. I love those figures! I hope you get them, if not, I'm sure you'll find something. Take care,

Russell

hey thats looking great mike! looking forward to the progress

greghatt wrote:hey thats looking great mike! looking forward to the progress

So Greg suggested to try this trick out when using putty around detail-heavy parts so I figured I'd give it a shot, can't believe I didn't think of this before?! Thanks man!!





Tried out Perfect Plastic Putty for the first time with this, thanks to Coen!

Just a short update this time, more tomorrow when the wash in the cockpit dries, it's looking good.

Cheers.

That is a good looking build you are doing and a great idea for a diorama. In 1969 I was flying as a crew chief in HMM-362 out of Phu Bai Vietnam. The gunship squadron ghat flew gun cover for us was HML-367, call sign Scarface. They flew the smaller model Hueys such as you are building. While some had the tat unit on the nose such as the one you are building, others had a twin M60 machine gun. Both tats were controled by the left seater, who in Marine Corps helicopters, is the copilot. The control system was a gunsight mounted on a cable and metal arm arrangment which controlled the movement and fired the weapon. On the nose of their gunships was painted two black vultures sitting ona limb looking at each other, with the words underneath, patience my ass I'm gonna kill something. When 367 was converted to Cobras in 1969, I was at Marble Mountain Air Facility. They kept one mike model huey tbat was called Double Nuts do to the two big zeros painted on each side. It was what we called a dirty slick. It had two m60 machine guns mounted on each side on fold in mounts. They would fly around with the doors closed and when they took fire, slide the doors open and return fire with two m60s. If you go to the website HMM-364.org, they is a picture of a huey with bomb racks on it. Some ideas for different builds for the future.
Yours
TMC

Pir8hnter wrote:That is a good looking build you are doing and a great idea for a diorama. In 1969 I was flying as a crew chief in HMM-362 out of Phu Bai Vietnam. The gunship squadron ghat flew gun cover for us was HML-367, call sign Scarface. They flew the smaller model Hueys such as you are building. While some had the tat unit on the nose such as the one you are building, others had a twin M60 machine gun. Both tats were controled by the left seater, who in Marine Corps helicopters, is the copilot. The control system was a gunsight mounted on a cable and metal arm arrangment which controlled the movement and fired the weapon. On the nose of their gunships was painted two black vultures sitting ona limb looking at each other, with the words underneath, patience my ass I'm gonna kill something. When 367 was converted to Cobras in 1969, I was at Marble Mountain Air Facility. They kept one mike model huey tbat was called Double Nuts do to the two big zeros painted on each side. It was what we called a dirty slick. It had two m60 machine guns mounted on each side on fold in mounts. They would fly around with the doors closed and when they took fire, slide the doors open and return fire with two m60s. If you go to the website HMM-364.org, they is a picture of a huey with bomb racks on it. Some ideas for different builds for the future.
Yours
TMC

Wow! Thank you for all that info!! If I had more experience making my own decals, those 2 vultures and all the wording would look GREAT on this model. I'll definitely take a look at the site. Thank you!

looks great! masking off the little sections works a treat.

Nice entries dude, I'm of 1977 vintage so it's a good year

So here's the finished cockpit. SUPER happy how it came out!




Did a little test run to see how everything fits...it's really not that horrible! ... gonna need a little TLC though.




I'm super excited!!! ....this is gonna be a b&%^h to mask this baby

The canopy just had a Future bath... it's not Chinese delivery...anymore



Cheers!

Turned out great Mike!

Great cockpit there Mike, turned out really nice!!

The cockpit turned out great! Look forward to the rest of the build

really nice job on that interior dude.

Looks good. Can hardly wait to see the finished product anmmd the diorama.

looks great mate

Omg that cockpit is amazing! Looks amazing live how you've done it!

A long overdue update due to life...

So it was time to put the two halves together... not awful per say, but having to hold it for 20 minutes until it was hard was a pain in the a$$...




Lookin' good




Seem lines are barely noticeable


Time for some putty! Perfect Plastic Putty really is quite perfectly amazing!
(with all the raised detailing, I decided to mask off the surrounding areas to prevent the putty from spreading)



At least on most of it


After priming, some of the injection marks still showed through... I covered the holes in putty (not shown - will show again after sanding)


After the putty dried, I sanded her down pretty damn well There was a lot to cover up..




Look what I found in the process of putting the flaps on, what a STUPID place to put a raised tag?! Morons.


Just when I thought all the pieces were fitting TOO well together...





I went to my LHS and picked up a piece of styrene, due to the incredibly small size I needed, the awesome guys there just gave me a small strip, and then I cut it


Here's the dry-run


After some Tamiya Super Thin


Added some Tamiya Putty this time, and I'm now letting it dry so I can sand it down


I'm pretty happy with the fix, and so are these guys!




That's all for now!

Oh! And these little guys showed up for the dio!

Heroic efforts! Looking good though

Great update Mikey, hope your life problems get sorted dude

Love how you are attacking those seams and gaps.

Russ

I don't know if it would work in your case but lately I have been using CA and accelerator to fill in seams and gaps. I use a toothpick and some gap filling CA and put it where it needs to be then hit it will the accelerator, no waiting around for glue or filler to dry. You can start filing or sanding immediately. Works great!

Your doing an awesome job on that huey so far Mike.

Sadly not a photo update at this time as I left the house in a hurry and couldn't upload photos... but I'm at the point with this Huey, where I'm putting it aside and starting on the AH-1F Cobra. The Revell Huey is HORRIBLY cast and is a real F*#$%*# PITA! Nothing fits (windows, roof, intake - the list goes on) - I've become so frustrated after spending so much time on the interior that instead of throwing it against a wall, I'll gently put it down and start fresh on the Cobra. When it comes time to prime that one, I'll do both and see how the Huey turns out.

I know exactly how you feel mikey. The tamiya corsair is going the same way just not the fit, but the paint. But I showed that thing whos who and its ready for decals haha.

Bummer . . . It happens. Sometimes it is just the model kit that is the problem. That's what happened with my Academy Avenger for the WWII GB. I almost chucked it out the window. Now it sits atop my display case as a gentle reminder that not every model gets built.

So I decided it was time to start the AH-1F Cobra, now that I'm putting the Huey aside.
I opened the box and took a look at the sprues. This looks like it's going to be a much easier kit to put together and the details are far better. Before starting I'm giving it a soak and rinse in. Here's a look at the kit.






Decals for different versions. very nice sheet.


The detail is quite excellent!




All raised panel lines, plus this little tag





Very little flash on the sprues, nothing too crazy. Unfortunately a little scratch along the canopy, it's two piece and looks to fit together nicely. If it doesn't go away after some Future, i'll just assume it comes pre-weathered


Instructions







More work tomorrow!

Looks awesome!!! The level of detail in that cockpit is class and you have brought it out very well!!
It's a bad thing about the fit though!
The other kit looks cool!

This should be a nice build.

Sweet! I hope the build is as good as the kit looks. I know it will.

For those still following... sorry it's taking so long - life and other projects keep getting in the way - however, I'm super happy with how this is turning out!

Decals on, and this is pre-second coat of Badger Gloss Coat




And the seats

Model Masters Interior Green for the seats, Tamia Khaki for the belts, and some dry-brush Tamiya Chrome Silver for the buckles..



I don't find that the photos do it justice, but I've also seen it with the 2nd coat of gloss on, and the seats installed.. you have not yet I'll show the 2nd gloss coat photo at the same time as the dried Flat coat (which will probably be the next update - hopefully with both halves attached as well!)

Seeing as you're carrying on moved to here for you mike

Lee wrote:Seeing as you're carrying on moved to here for you mike

Thanks!!

Loved the Huey, looking forward to the cobra finish.

I flew them in the Army,,,,,,good birds.

Thanks for this thread, I have had that Huey in my hands on no less than 10 occasions and keep putting it back on the shelf thinking it just looks like a PITA.

The Cobra is looking good

Here's a long overdue update!

Got the seats in, and added a nice shiny coat of Badger Gloss




I then added a Dark Grey Oil paint wash to the interior - it really made everything pop!



Going to give it a Model Masters Flat Coat later tonight to finish it off, then it'll be time to get the halves together!!!

Thanks for looking!

Time for an update!

Both sides painted and awaiting the cockpit


I didn't like the big empty holes where the engine intakes are, so I picked up some PE to help me out...



Trusty CA... and a glove... I really hate sticking my fingers together...


Voila!




Got the masking done.



Now, to finally put them together!!




Not an awful fit.




A little masking before putty application



More soon!

Looking great Mikey!

Been a long time since an update, so here goes!

After sanding it down, it was time to get the rest of the pieces together.
Starting with the machine guns and rockets.


I didn't think they looked very realistic, though. So I tried to do something about that.




Then I put together the front machine gun.



It was a strange fit, so i decided to glue a piece of spare sprue onto the opposite end in order to enable the turret to spin...and it works!


Here she is now, in almost all her glory. Almost ready for some paint!


It might look like there's a seem, but it's completely flush.








Closed her up tonight!!


I'll let it dry for a couple days and then get back to it mid-week for first coat of paint. If anyone knows what colour the interior of the cockpit is, please let me know.

Cheers!

mikey, im doing the huey as well i have reached the same point as you, the roof dos'nt fit the gaps are all over the place and nose is just well lets say out of place, i have put it to one side and i'm hoping that looking at it each day motivates me to tackle it again.
cobra looks good and is coming along nicley.
martin.