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OH-58 Kiowa of the PoAF

Started by DogfighterZen, June 10, 2025, 11:29:44 AM

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DogfighterZen

#15
June 22, 2025, 06:48:34 PM
After several really small decals for the serials... ;D

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It's almost there, just have to finish the tail rotor by adding red and white stripes in form of a decal and attach the minigun...

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After the final clear coat and nav lights are painted, i'll remove the masks and also do a final detail, which should've been done earlier but i forgot, and that is to paint the top small windows with clear green.
I just hope i won't make a mess at this stage of the build so, if i'm lucky, i may be able to finish it tomorrow after work... that is, if nothing important comes up to ruin my plans... :rolleyes:
"Sticks and stones may break some bones but a 3.57's gonna blow your damn head off!!"

Wardukw

#16
June 23, 2025, 01:33:30 AM
A lovely little build Rui mate 👌 👍
I built this kit decades ago and yep ..mine looked like crap 💩 😆
If it aint broke ,,fix it until it is .
Over kill is often very understated .
I know the voices in my head ain't real but they do come up with some great ideas.
Theres few of lifes problems that can't be solved with the proper application of a high explosive projectile .

DogfighterZen

#17
June 29, 2025, 04:22:02 PM
Quote from: Wardukw on June 23, 2025, 01:33:30 AMA lovely little build Rui mate 👌 👍
I built this kit decades ago and yep ..mine looked like crap 💩 😆


Thanks, Phill! :thumbsup:
I'm pretty sure you'd make mine look like crap if you built one now. ;D  It's a small but fun kit to build OOB and has lots of room for improvement for those who want more detail. I'd probably buy a couple more of these for a few ideas i'd like to try. :thumbsup:
Well, as always. life got in the way and i still haven't finished this... :banghead:
But there has been some small progress, that being finishing the tail rotor with a red and white stripes decal after paint and glued it in place on the left rear door.
finishing the main rotor by spraying the stripes on the tips.
Also took the opportunity created by the gatling gun's attachment tab being broken off and added the Y -shaped mount with two bits of styrene, painted and attached that to the port rear door.all that's left to do now is to stretch a bit of sprue and cut a thin section to make a thinner antenna for the mast behind the top wire cutter.
After that is done and painted, a gloss coat to seal up the decals and the parts that hadn't been coated yet like the rotors and gun. After that dries, it'll be a final flat coat.
Then there's still the navigation lights and the bit i forgot to do when it should've been done, paint the small top windows with some very thinned clear green but i'll have to be very careful as this could really mess up the build when it's so close to the finish line.

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Will be having a few more hours free hours for the next few days because of the heat wave so, i may be able to get it finished this week... :rolleyes:
"Sticks and stones may break some bones but a 3.57's gonna blow your damn head off!!"

Wardukw

#18
June 29, 2025, 10:08:03 PM
That's looking bloody sweet bud and you my friend are sadly mistaken  ;D
If you think that I'm capable of building something that small today and making it look good ...that's a big fat nope 😆
If struggle with 48th scale now for a Jetranger in any form now ...just to fiddlely ..35th ? ..yep  :thumbsup:
Like the 1/35 Heller Super Frelon S.A.321 Et Son Helicopter I scored a smeg ago..dude I've wanted one for decades 😀
What I didn't realize is the size of it ..knew it was big but damn!! ...the box alone is 680mm long ..the fuselage is 580mm  :o
Still got one now ..figure out what I'll do with it later 😏  :wacko:
If it aint broke ,,fix it until it is .
Over kill is often very understated .
I know the voices in my head ain't real but they do come up with some great ideas.
Theres few of lifes problems that can't be solved with the proper application of a high explosive projectile .

DogfighterZen

#19
June 30, 2025, 10:53:47 AM
Quote from: Wardukw on June 29, 2025, 10:08:03 PMThat's looking bloody sweet bud and you my friend are sadly mistaken  ;D
If you think that I'm capable of building something that small today and making it look good ...that's a big fat nope 😆
If struggle with 48th scale now for a Jetranger in any form now ...just to fiddlely ..35th ? ..yep  :thumbsup:
Like the 1/35 Heller Super Frelon S.A.321 Et Son Helicopter I scored a smeg ago..dude I've wanted one for decades 😀
What I didn't realize is the size of it ..knew it was big but damn!! ...the box alone is 680mm long ..the fuselage is 580mm  :o
Still got one now ..figure out what I'll do with it later 😏  :wacko:

 :o I'd need a hangar if i started buying and building everything bigger than 1/48... ;D
But hey, i'm glad that there are kits in several scales to cater for everyone's preferences.  :thumbsup:
Can't say the bigger helos do much for me., though... i'll go as far as the SA 330 Puma in 1/72 and the biggest helo kit i own is probably the Revell 1/32 Jet Ranger.
I'd initially bought that kit for the Blue Thunder action trio build, which includes Colonel Cochrane's MD-500 and one of the LAPD's Jet Rangers that carry shooters to try to force Murphy to land before the pair of F-16s and the 30mm cannon-armed MD-500 gets called in.
The biggest obstacle for that trio to be complete is the fact that the 1/32 kit i own for the MD-500 is actually Hobbycraft's OH-6A Cayuse and the kit is old... I'd thought of scratchbuilding a 5 blade main rotor hub and a 5th blade for it but i'd also have to modify the skids to make the taller ones and the tail would also need work to convert into the MD-500's... and those are just the main changes...
Not that i think i couldn't do it but i'd prefer to have a better kit to save time and work so i've been waiting for someone to make a real 1/32 MD-500 kit or that Revell repop their Magnum P.I. kit.
The Revell Jet Ranger also needs the taller skids but there's a company selling those in 1/32 and they're on my watch list. ;)
Regarding this build, the heat has just gone down enough to allow for some airbrushing so a gloss coat will soon be sprayed to seal everything up and i'll wait an hour. With the temperatures in my studio being over 30ºC at the moment, it should be dry enough for a flat coat before nav light, pitot and window painting to finish...
"Sticks and stones may break some bones but a 3.57's gonna blow your damn head off!!"

Wardukw

#20
June 30, 2025, 12:44:45 PM
😆 🤣...yep a hanger would be a great idea for sure ....the main reason for the 35th scale choppers is ..well I do love aircraft where the earth rejects em and since all my armour is 35th and mods I want to do weapons wise is very easy .
Also I'm lucky that with some of the prices I've payed have been stupid low even compared to 48th .
That MD-500 might be doable dude..Academy do 48th T tail 500s with 4 bladed rotors and their damn cheap to ..building a 5 rotor head wouldn't be that hard at all ..ive built all of the versions Academy have ..they go together pretty damn nicely and scale out well .
If you really want a MD-500 which will do ya good..Kittyhawk does a Little bird in 35th ..which I have along with an original Dragon OH-6 which I got given to me ..am I going to do anything with that ?.. not anytime soon knowing how bad it is..hence why I got given to me  ;D
The Kittyhawk kit is very nice..comes with quite alot of goodies aswell and nicely molded ..there's also plenty of reviews on it out there too ...great for making up ones mind  ;)
Just did some hunting on the net cause my brain was thinking about the Academy MD-500 kits and yep the brain actually remembered something 😅
The 500 TOW Defender has a 5 bladed main rotor along with the  navel version, but that one has extended landing skids .
Things are looking up matey  :thumbsup:
If it aint broke ,,fix it until it is .
Over kill is often very understated .
I know the voices in my head ain't real but they do come up with some great ideas.
Theres few of lifes problems that can't be solved with the proper application of a high explosive projectile .

DogfighterZen

#21
June 30, 2025, 02:00:13 PM
Quote from: Wardukw on June 30, 2025, 12:44:45 PM😆 🤣...yep a hanger would be a great idea for sure ....the main reason for the 35th scale choppers is ..well I do love aircraft where the earth rejects em and since all my armour is 35th and mods I want to do weapons wise is very easy .
Also I'm lucky that with some of the prices I've payed have been stupid low even compared to 48th .
That MD-500 might be doable dude..Academy do 48th T tail 500s with 4 bladed rotors and their damn cheap to ..building a 5 rotor head wouldn't be that hard at all ..ive built all of the versions Academy have ..they go together pretty damn nicely and scale out well .
If you really want a MD-500 which will do ya good..Kittyhawk does a Little bird in 35th ..which I have along with an original Dragon OH-6 which I got given to me ..am I going to do anything with that ?.. not anytime soon knowing how bad it is..hence why I got given to me  ;D
The Kittyhawk kit is very nice..comes with quite alot of goodies aswell and nicely molded ..there's also plenty of reviews on it out there too ...great for making up ones mind  ;)
Just did some hunting on the net cause my brain was thinking about the Academy MD-500 kits and yep the brain actually remembered something 😅
The 500 TOW Defender has a 5 bladed main rotor along with the  navel version, but that one has extended landing skids .
Things are looking up matey  :thumbsup:


Guess i should've clarified... ;D  I have both Academy 48th kits you mentioned. I was only referring to 1/32 for the Blue Thunder helo builds. It's only because the Monogram Blue Thunder is 32nd scale so i wanted to build all 3 helos in the same scale.
In 1/48 it was easier to find both the Fujimi Jet Ranger and the Academy MD-500 but i never got a chance of buying the 1/48 Aoshima Blue Thunder kit so, if i ever try to convert the Fujimi 1/48 Gazelle i own into the Blue Thunder, the other two are already in my stash but, with a built 1/32 BT kit and another one in the stash, it's not very likely i'll change the project to 1/48.
BTW, i've just found that both the Jet Ranger's and MD-500's tall skids are available at reasonable prices from a German company. That means that i'll reduce the workload a bit with those two aftermarket parts.
I'll still need to make the 5 bladed rotor hub and the 5th blade, and modify the OH-6 kit's tail for the MD-500 and just a few mods to the Jet Ranger kit.
And then, either find aftermarket suitable figures or make my own like i did for Blue Thunder. :mellow:

Back to the Kiowa, gloss coat has been sprayed but it's so hot in my studio that i need the fan working to even be able to be in here and that sucks for airbrushing so, i will leave the flat coat for tomorrow and chill for the rest of the evening. Starting work at 6 a.m. during these hotter days does take a toll on the body, especially when i have to handle a lawn mower that weights almost as much as i do...   :rolleyes:
"Sticks and stones may break some bones but a 3.57's gonna blow your damn head off!!"
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