Loach Driver

Looking forward to this build. The Italeri H-13 is an intimidating little kit. LD.

Some interesting comments on this forum. https://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/634696-night-stalker-mh-47-modifications.html LD.

The only thing I can suggest is if you over-spray the decals with a thinned mix of clear and a hint of the black base colour. This will tone the brightness of the decals down. I don't own an airbrush so don't actually know if this will work or is possible. Maybe some of the more skilled here can confirm if this might work or not. Maybe try it on a spare decal on a painted piece of scrap plastic first. LD.

Great work on this so far. LD.

I'd say a mix of matt in some places and satin in others, probably around the fuselage area under the rotor and around the engine. The decals could also do with being toned-down as the lettering and numbers in kit decals are way too bright. They should be closer to Olive Drab or Helo Drab. It is still a great result for your build. LD.

There is also a resin fuselage upgrade for the Croatian Kiowas. Two fuselage halves with the later air intake and RWRs on nose and rear fuselage. From L&M models. I wish I’d seen your upgrade set first! I’ll report back on the fuselage set when it arrives. LD.

Thanks for the heads-up. I have a late-service OH-58D planned so might make a purchase. LD.

I think this Blackhawk did fly in that configuration and was deployed during the first Gulf War. The bolt-on kit proved to be a maintenance nightmare so was quickly removed. Very interesting aircraft and only one part of the overall Low RCS rotorcraft testing that has taken place over the last 40 plus years in the USA. LD.

Is that a pair of flare dispensers on the main wheel sponsons? Never noticed that before. LD.

Thanks for that detailed reply to my many questions. Yep, I’d be very happy to get a look at a high quality version of that cockpit panel! Thanks for that link. I had actually saved many of the “Army Flight Test” photos and I only pulled them out of an old computer yesterday. And the HH-60D photos from that link are there! It would be great to see more action in that thread. One of the best here on this forum. LD.

I am in the early stages of planning an HH-60D build of 23718 in its later configuration when fitted with the nose radar and FLIR. The 1/72 Hasegawa UH-60J kit has the FLIR mount as well as the fuel tanks and inflight refueling boom. I think the kit even has a boom fitted an air data boom head so it looks like a good starting point! I've googled the HH-60D for the last few days and most magazine articles and references for it were written prior to the flight-testing of the helicopter. One article in "The MAC Flyer" from October 1983 contains some good information on the planned specification for the HH-60D and even has a diagram of the cockpit panel layout with the four CRT displays (2 in front of each pilot). Clinstone, I see you mentioned that you have the IOT&E report for the Night Hawk. I wonder if you might be able to answer a few general questions about the configuration of 23718 during testing. I wonder if the radar and FLIR and indeed the avionics package was operational during the testing at Edwards AFB? Did the instrument panel feature functioning cathode ray tube displays as planned for the production HH-60D (or did the airframe retain the original UH-60A instrument panel)? What was the layout for the rear compartment during testing? Were there any seats fitted and was any test instrumentation bolted to the floor? Was 23718 fitted with a rear compartment that was close to what was planned for a production-HH-60D at any point during testing? I only have three photo of the HH-60D with radar and FLIR fitted and it looks like a limited amount of test equipment was fitted in the rear cabin. Only one photo shows it fitted with an air data boom head fitted to the air refueling boom. The slip ring and other instrumentation seems to have been removed from the main and tail rotor hubs. Thanks for any assistance you, or anyone else, can offer in my research of the HH-60D. LD.

Here is a link to my request for any 1/72 etched brass sheets for the MH-47E kit. Thanks if anyone can help! LD.

Hi. I am looking for the Eduard etched brass for the Italeri/Revell 1/72 MH-47E Chinook - Interior (73278) and Exterior (72455). Both sets are discontinued and probably won't appear again. I am looking for either or both etched brass sets and will even take the big ed set with the masks too! Thanks for any assistance anyone can offer! LD.

I thought that was where I posted it! The MH-6N in the previous post on the "Special" thread threw me when I was posting it. Posted in the AH-6C thread now. Thanks. LD.

I came across this photo yesterday. The aircraft configuration looks pretty clean so it could be a very early Task Force 158 photo. It looks like an MH-6B and might even be a photo from the training towards Honey Badger II before that operation was called off. If it is a pre-Honey Badger photo, it is pretty rare! There is a seat in the rear compartment and it looks like they are refuelling from a jerry can so they might be out on a long-range desert navigation exercise. The caption to this photo on the OPSEC forum says it was taken in "Iraq" but I think it might be somewhere in the Nevada Test Range. There is no Omega box on the tailboom but it does look like there is a radio altimeter system fitted to the belly. A serial number is visible on the doghouse but isn't legible. I believe the copyright to this pic is held by Greg Coker. He might have a book coming out soon detailing his time as a Little Bird pilot! LD,