(DONE, pics pg. 2) NATO reporting name Harbinger. Bo-64 attack helo.

[TheChronicOne]

Hello there!!

I'll refine this opening post at some point to add more information.  I figure I should at least ~try~ to come up with a halfway decent and coherent back story, but for now, I just want to let it be known that I'm throwing my hat into the ring for the GB and spit out whatever comes across my mind.

I have a 1/72 Revell Snap Tite Ah-64 kit that I would like to build.

In my world, that I will create, the U.S. (and whomever allies and friends)  and the Soviet Russians and associated states are all good friends. Sort of like in WWII, in that we have lend lease going on, but with less of the "keep my enemy closer" vibe. This time we're actually pretty GOOD buddies and aren't secretly out to "get" each other or are secretly worried that the other is "up to no good."

In this nutty world I would like to create, there's a very good reason for the "buddy buddy" and good relations. Some very alarming things occurred toward the end and directly after the close of WWII that made the decision to be friends the most logical one. In fact, nearly the entire planet was "scared straight" and considering what was at stake, an unprecedented movement of unity and friendship swept the Earth.

Work done so far has been trimming a few pieces from the sprues and getting them filed down. I still have some to go, however.. I didn't even take full advantage of the "pre prep" stage so I have a bit of "catching up" to do. Still, I'm under way and I think the first stuff I need to do beyond trimming is to paint the pilot and weapons guy and the cockpit.

I've never done a helo before, this could/should be interesting..



So far, there has been an annoying amount of flash. From what I've gathered this was initially struck in '98 (someone please correct me if wrong, I did research a few days ago and that's long enough for me to forget half of it  ).  For not being a very old mold I wouldn't expect this amount of flash. Especilly troublesome is the flash in tight and flimsy areas like the landing gear.  Still, on the whole, it's manageable.

For a lil snap kit I think it has pretty good detail and a good number of individual parts!  I'm no expert, but I like it. 

Plans are for a simple two tone wrap around white/brown camo paint job.

I will take some pictures of the plastic pretty soon and try to make the story more enjoyable. For now, however, it's damn good to be building me a bird for this new group build and let's have some fun!



Cheers
Brad

[Weaver]

If you transport your models, see what you can do to make the rotors detachable. They're MUCH more secure in transit removed and packed separately than they are flapping about on top of the fuselage.

[TheChronicOne]

Hey that's good thinkin! Thanks.  I can definitely set up the tail rotor that way and I'll look in to doing the main rotor in that fashion as well. Heck, it'll make it easier to clean them, too! 


Progress on the helo being made. I finished the first phase of trimming the parts. The only thing left on the trees are smaller bits and the stuff that won't require putty or anything. It's easier to paint them this way and then glue them on already painted.

I also primed the cockpit tub and the the two pilot Lil Buddies (TM) and managed to glue the engine housing compartment together. I also glued the little stubby wings together.

[Weaver]

One thing you can do to make the tail rotor secure but detachable is get some tiny neodium magnets from ebay. shorten the shaft and stick one there, then drill the hole deeper and put the other one there (make sure you get the poles the right way around!)

[TheChronicOne]

Proper pole position is always key!!  Thanks! That's handy as pockets on shirts. 


In other news. Most of the main fuselage and stuff is all glued together. I had a very frustrating time with the canopy bit, though. I dry fitted and did multiple "test runs" to make sure I wouldn't have any problems once I applied my glue. Well, naturally, once I went in for the actual placement the damn thing wouldn't sit right and was cocked well to one side.. Not even remotely lined up. I guess the glue on there somehow magically made the thing want to sit to one side.. I don't get it. Oh well, it took 4 tries I think it was by time the thing sat right and of course every time it got settled into the wrong position it took a lot of extra force to get the thing pulled back out and by time It was finally where I wanted it I had smeared glue on the windows.  Go figure.

I'll try to do something with it. Not sure how much I can clean off if any. It's not TERRIBLE from a few feet away. But closer than about 4 feet and it's quite noticeable. I might have a plastic turd on my hands.   

ANYWAY, rather than wallow in sorrow I'm going to press on. Not much I can do about these sorts of things but I think if I can get the rest of the thing to cooperate and can get my paint job looking good she'll still be a worthy model! 

Pictures... uhh...  sorry, not been taking too many of those.  Here's one, however. What a mess... I have a couple seams to clean up but other than that and the windows the rest is going pretty well.



Right now I'm pissed at it  so I'll let it sit for a day or two then I want to get the seam around the clear piece cleaned up then I'll finish masking it. I tried to free hand it with brush but that's no bueno on this one.  After that, two more seams to address then I may be able to prime this bad boy!

[RAFF-35]

Coming together nice and quick, thank god it's not just me who's had the issue of dry fitting fine and when gluing, everything that can go wrong does 

[TheChronicOne]

Thanks!  Yeah... that's ol' Murphy's Law at work I think. Here I was thinking, "yeah, this is how it's supposed to work right here!! I go in for a few dry runs and practice and make sure nothing goes wrong!  Ahhh yes, this is perfect and worked 4 times straight flawlessly! Now, let's add the glue. . . .. . .  ::::::disaster::::::::::::  "   I guess glue alters the space time continuum and tears holes in the fabric of space or something I dunno. lol   

[Old Wombat]

I have that problem all the time.

Happens when I'm scratch building, too. Measure! Measure! Cut! ... Bugger! ... Measure! Measure! Cut! ... You've got be kidding! ... Measure! Measure! Measure! Cut! ... Oh for f____ sake!

[PR19_Kit]

I have that problem all the time.

Happens when I'm scratch building, too. Measure! Measure! Cut! ... Bugger! ... Measure! Measure! Cut! ... You've got be kidding! ... Measure! Measure! Measure! Cut! ... Oh for f____ sake!

That sounds familiar......

For the scratchbuilt radiator intake on my MB5 Monsoon I needed nine parts. I think I had to cut 20 or more before I had a set that actually fitted each other. 

[Rheged]

I have that problem all the time.

Happens when I'm scratch building, too. Measure! Measure! Cut! ... Bugger! ... Measure! Measure! Cut! ... You've got be kidding! ... Measure! Measure! Measure! Cut! ... Oh for f____ sake!

Yup, we've all been there, done that, got the mental scars........   

[TheChronicOne]

This thing was really starting to get me down. I decided today, however, to just START on working on it and at least TRY to get it rolling and it worked! I was really worried about the butchered canopy, the nasty seam around same, and the nasty seam around the top piece of the fuselage. Also, the painting and masking of the canopy was looking like a nightmare.  BUT, like I said, I decided to just jump on in there and go for it and after not too long some of the problems seemed to almost solve themselves.

While far from perfect, I manage to contort some sanding films and get in and do a decent clean up job on the seams. They could be done a lot better but they are at the point now where I'm happy with it for now. I still need to prime, which may show some more problems, but right now... we're good! 

The thing really bothering me was getting the canopy masked. I came up with a plan of action, however, harkening back to my days doing construction type crap, namely, floorcovering. There was a lot of looking at shapes and spaces and making cuts using Mk. I Eyeball. As time went on, I got pretty good at it. So, I decided to try it on this. Rather than trying to cut lil pieces of tape and try them and do this and that (and I've yet to try to master using hobby knives and cutting mats and all that..) I simply looked at the canopy then drew the shape onto a piece of paper and cut it out. Lo and behold it was almost dead on!!! Now, it was just a matter of making minor trims and what would normally take like half an hour took 5-10 minutes.  Before I knew it, I had good templates for every pain of glass. Now, all the remains, is to trace the shape onto masking tape and cut it out!  In my world, this was a huge score. I was contemplating shelving this thing indefinitely but now I will priming and painting within the next couple of days!!!  Glorious!!!   

No pics for now, sorry.. but I wanted to give an update and report that I'm happily progressing with this. 

[TheChronicOne]

Got the canopy masked. Time for the coat of black primer. Next step I suppose could be to put together the hellfire missiles and the rest of the milarkey that hangs from the  wing stub thingies (what's the proper name???  I don't supposed it's just "wing" like normal? ).




I'm thinking, since this thing is so "boxy" and has such tight angles that I'll spray white from a rattle can then brush the brown on after that instead of trying to fight with tape and all that. 

I've decided to run with some transfers that have kills marks and even the Guard Units' wreath thing.  She's a WARRIOR!   

[TheChronicOne]

Proceeding rapidly now! 

Painted the black primer on the whole thing and let it dry up for about an hour while I worked on my Enterprise model. Next, I sprayed a series of coats on the belly. I'll it dry a tad bit then flip it over and do the top and sides.





Look how ugly the belly is. Especially the seam on the nose that "splits" apart. YIKES!  Unlike the top and sides, I'm not going to bother filling it. I'm perfectly happy with it because 99.99999% of the time it will be facing straight down and no one will see it..   All the seams on the top and sides, however, with the exception of some of the stuff around the canopy, is all very nice and smoot!! She'll look alright on the shelf, I'm sure of it.   

[TheChronicOne]

Glued on the wings and the things in front of the engine intakes.

I decided to mock up the rotor blades to see how it looks. I have half a mind to go ahead and just make this thing white!



I'll be putting another coat of white on this later and I need to paint the main rotor blades then I'll paint the ordinance. I'm struggling with the mind game of trying to have this be somewhat realistic yet not trying TOO hard because of the lack of detail and feature on this kit. For instance... do I want to take the time to paint the hellfires correctly and somehow put the lens and stuff on and front or do I just paint them green and call it good? I've already decided to have the rocket pods this came with actually be some type of "barrel" weapon because I don't want to go through the trouble of making them look anything like what they're supposed to be. They SORT of are the right shape and stuff but they really just look like elongated 55 gallon drums instead of rocket pods. 

On the other hand, it sure is nice not having to fiddle with all the tedious stuff for a change and just breeze through. 

[Weaver]

Since it's in Soviet service, couldn't you nick some Soviet weapons off some other helo kit, or even get aftermarket ones? UV-80 pods and AT-6 Spirals would make people look twice...