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Loach Driver

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Everything posted by Loach Driver

  1. Sniper and Tornado, thanks for taking these photos and thanks for sharing them. LD.
  2. Anthony, your BK117 is amazing. It looks like it is progressing towards being one of those one-in-a-million builds. There have been some great builds on ARC this year. Floyd's TOW Cobra was amazing but I think this model will surpass even that model (sorry Floyd). Keep up the great work. Just out of curiosity, how many models have you built before starting the BK117? How long does it take to gain enough experience to build a model to this standard? Thanks. LD.
  3. Mason, well done on a fabulous 53. You got the weathering just right. LD.
  4. Yes. You can put me down for one in 1/35th scale. If you do a 1/72nd set as well, I'd take two of those. Thanks. LD.
  5. Hi Graham. Thanks for all the great info on the early history of the Little Bird. I have two more questions for you though. 1. Was MCAS Yuma and the Yuma Proving Grounds all part of the one military complex or were they two seperate military establishments located in the Yuma area? 2. Were all the Hughes 500Ds converted for use with the 160th bought from civilian owners on the second-hand market or were any bought factory-fresh from Hughes by the Army? Thanks. LD.
  6. Chris, as far as I know, the six-blade head was lifted straight from an MD600N and used on the MELB. According to the MD website, the rotor diameter for the MD600N is 27.5 FT (8.4m) versus 26.4 FT (8.1m) for the MD530F. I am doing some research for an H-6 magazine article and I might be able to get some info from Boeing. If I get any useful stuff that could help with a conversion set, I'll let you know. You could even go the whole hog and do a set for this; http://blog.flightstory.net/1380/boeing-ah...s-first-flight/ John, given how well your C is coming along, I doubt you would have too muc
  7. That is a gorgeous UH-1N. I wish I could build 'em like that. The only source for decals that I can think of might be from a 1/72 F/A18 Hornet or AV-8B Harrier kit. I bought a second-hand sheet from a Hornet kit for the USMC markings and they look like they would fit on Huey, Supercobra or Sea Stallion. LD.
  8. I think the fuselage extension mentioned in the list of needed modifications on the Aeroscale site is, strictly speaking, not a fuselage extension at all. The tail rotor gearbox, mounted on the end of the tailboom, incorporates an extension to move the tail rotor blades to the rear, ensuring clearance from the main rotor disc. I had a quick look at the Dragon AH-6J and I don't think they have included the modified part to move the tailrotor rearwards. It would be a fairly simple modification to scratchbuild in any of the major scales though. The MD530F was the first helicopter to get this gear
  9. John, Here is a link to a list of the early Little Birds. Hope it helps. The model is turning out very well. Keep up the good work. http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showt...123&page=16 LD. I did some quick research on the first six AH-6Cs on that list; 68-17249 is now N129SD and flies with the DeSoto County Sheriff's Department. I'm not 100% sure but I think it flies in an overall white scheme with a black tail, "SHERIFF" in black on the doghouse. 68-17258 is now N262SD and flies with the Dale County Sheriff's Office. It was previously registered N10532.
  10. Which kit are you talking about? The only Academy kit I know of is the 1/48 kit based on the Hughes 500D. This has the 5-blade main rotor system and the T-configuration tail plane. This should be a good starting point for the Little Bird which appears in Blackhawk Down (MH-6J). It will require a bit of conversion work but it would be a good project to start on to learn new skills. LD.
  11. The Aeroclub set has the pistol grip. The Italeri 1/72 OH-13S and H-34 kits also come with some nice M-60s. LD.
  12. The current issue of the UK magazine "Scale Aircraft Modelling" (Volume 31, Issue 8) has just gone on sale this weekend and it includes an "Aviation In Profile" article on the Hughes 500 MD Defender attack helicopter in Israeli service. It also features an article on building the Defender in 1/72 from the Italeri AH-6A kit. The Aviation In Profile article has many rare photos of the Defender in combat and it looks to me that quite a few have never been published before. Most of these photos certainly haven't made it onto the internet. Yoav Efrati is the author of this article and he has asse
  13. I was just looking through Wayne Mutza's book "Loach" and on page 85 there is a photo of three AH-6s hovering behind the landing pad of a ship. The pad is white with red markings. Given the similar layout of the landing pad in that photo (in the book) and the photo above, maybe they are of the same vessel? Graham, Doug and Ray; Thanks for all the great images and information in this thread. If there are more photos and stories in the vault, please keep 'em coming! LD.
  14. The "H-3 in Action" monograph from Squadron/Signal Publications has a fine three-view drawing of the HH-3E. No scale is given but it is approximately 1/144th, I'd say at a guess. LD.
  15. It's good to see that this kit is available again. This might give us some hope that the AW139 might eventually be kitted by Revell. LD.
  16. Fingers-crossed someone will produce a 1/72 kit of the AW139 soon. Italeri production of new 1/72 scale kits has slowed after all the good stuff they came up with in the late 1990's. Maybe Revell Germany will release a kit of the AW139 but it's not a helicopter with strong german connections so I'm not hopeful. I don't know what sales of their A109K kit was like but given that it is now deleted for a few years now, maybe that will scare Revell off touching another Agusta helicopter again. More and more operators will purchase the fullsize AW139 though, so sooner or later, a kit will come along
  17. Doug, thanks for sharing the photo of the AH-6s with the boat. Can you tell us the story behind it (if it isn't classified still)? Was it a ship used for training or was it an operational vessel. Thanks for anything you can share on this. LD.
  18. Those USAF guys are at it again! On the 26th of June this year, a pair of Pave Hawks took part in another marathon rescue mission off the Irish Atlantic coast. This time, a sailor was suffering with severe abdominal symptoms on the container ship "Pascha" 300 miles to the west of Ireland. He required hospital treatment and again the Pave Hawk was the only helicopter suitable for the job. The entire rescue team comprised of a pair of Pave Hawks, an MC-130P, a Boeing KC-135R and an RAF Nimrod. One of the Pave Hawks (89-26205) and the MC-130P had participated in the previous Atlantic rescue last
  19. Pete, thanks for posting those photos of a real Blackhawk! When are you going to post photos of your model????? (Only kidding) Well done on a brilliant build. :) LD.
  20. Doug, Welcome to the ARC Forum. It is amazing that there are now two founding members of the 160th contributing to this forum. Your two posts on this thread alone have added a lot of information about the AH-6C and are very welcome. If you have photos of the EH-6B, please post them and just sit back and see everyone's reaction. A lot of people will go nuts and will be lining up to buy you a beer in thanks! As far as I know, there are no photos of the EH-6B available on the net or in any publications so they will be very interesting. Graham, Doug and Ray, thanks for everything poste
  21. It's looking very good so far. The KY-58s look good and the transmission cover is excellent. LD.
  22. Have a look at the rotorhead section of the Pprune Forum. They have a thread on-going on Bristows with plenty of photos. There should be plenty of Puma/Tiger photos that might be useful. LD.
  23. Floyd, congratulations on a great model. The paint finish is very realistic. It is an inspiration to us all. LD.
  24. I think Finescale Modeller had an article on this subject a few years ago. I will find out what issue it was when I get a chance and let you know. LD.
  25. Well done on an excellent Cobra. It's good to see some out-of-the-ordinary markings too. LD.
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