Skii

final few shots for now - as you can see I've made a start on the weathering. I'm using the oil-dot method with Mig Abteilung 502 oils, the added bonus of Mig oils is the odourless thinner which is a godsend with a wife and 12 week old son around ;) This method works best over a matt base coat hence the weathering before decals, but I'm quite pleased with the results so far. Those of you more familiar with this helicopter will note that there are lumps and bumps still missing such as nav lights and HIDAS sensors - all to come shortly :)

Thanks guys :) Glad you like it Guy, I've been chatting to Gary a lot recently and he's been more than generous in supplying reference material and advice on the build. On the subject of weathering I'm going to be using the oil dot method which gives lots of lovely tonal variations - very apt for the dark paintwork on these helicopters, I'm hoping to tread that fine line between too clean and overdone, although I suspect overdone is not something that applies to Apaches! Cheers John

thanks guys :) Tail wheel on, much of the detailing on the radar mast done bar the wiring. Now waiting on some more decals by the very excellent Paul Parkes :)

one last bump - remember, the part will be cast and returned safely to you...with beer vouchers thanks John

Thanks Shawn, yep still sticking with it. Cheers mate, I can't wait for that first build together, might be a little while yet though...! The Su-27, well I might finish that one day. John

Thanks guys meanwhile after the birth of my son time has been a bit short, so this only update I can show you so far - I've given the model the Archer rivet decal treatment and a light primer / base coat of Modelmaster acrylic Helo drab (lovely paint by the way, better than all of the enamels I've tried so far ) The engine pods are yet to be painted - you can see the archer rivets clearly on them. On the downside I've managed to lose the PNVS turret so I'm still working out how to replace that

Bump - if anyone out there can help

AArghh. How typical is that! Thanks anyway Jon :)

Hi all I've gone and made a monumental *****-up by losing the PNVS turret for my 1/32 Revell Apache project. I appreciate this isn't a 'spare' part but I'm appealing to anyone who might have got the kit as a broken up old build or just happen to have the old boxing and already have some parts missing. I'll be happy to cover any shipping costs and will happily consider getting the part casted for my own personal use if they don't want to lose their kit part. thanks guys John

Looks like Gene Cernan from here ;) amazing work, following this closely.

Cheers Alby, it'll certainly be cool to have a 1/32 scale Longbow, I think Cobrahistorian built one a while ago too. Some more work on the gearboxes - the thin shim of plastic card around the perimeter is to give the two halves a natural panel line.

very interesting build - enjoying this immensley !

Thanks Anthony :) The hinge is very simple - just a length of .5mm styrene rod (you could use lead wire or stretched sprue) and make several cuts along it with a sharp blade, lay a thin strip of styrene card along side it for the bracket :) John

Thanks guys, glad you like it. I was considering casting these bits but it proved too much work on top of the already slow build progress which I'm hoping to get mostly done before our son is born in November. John

on with a further update. My good buddy Mr Williams was kind enough to vacform the 2 halves of my radome master which I made from milliput - he then poured in some resin to the two halves and hollowed them out to give them some strength - I'm very glad he did as this allowed me to be pretty harsh with the sanding block and after much sanding and scribing, I've arrived at what I feel is a fairly convincing replica of the fire control radar. So with this assembled and primed it needs a column to sit on - this took a while but with a couple of diameters of evergreen tubing and some more d

far too kind mate, thanks for the encouragement ;)

Work progressing...slowly... A quick dusting of primer on certain areas to check things are nice and smooth - the rivets are .5mm holes drilled and lead wire inserted, glued and gently filed down to the desired height Rear fuselage, all of the HIDAS mounts done, more rivets, not sure about the flare launchers, might need to shorten them... Tail section, fabricated a hinge to enable the rear wing to be clipped into position, circular chaff mount made from some spare kit parts :) Finally the radome,my good mate Mike vac-formed the two halves from the milliput mold and filled th

Thanks guys, glad you approve :) Just a quick update - starboard EFAB opened up and the 30mm ammo feed + 10 rounds, plus other details added - the boxes that look uncannily like dice will have lots of cabling added where the holes are.

Superb work Guy, incredible attention to detail as always matey :)

Moving forward a bit

Bump :D

Hi chaps long shot - but I'm after the radome from the Kangnam/Imex Longbow Apache If anyone has one I can happily cover costs via paypal thanks John

modelling perfection as usual Mike. Beautiful.

Thankyou guys :) A little more progress, I need to think about how the rotor assembly will fit together , especially as this is part of the cockpit section, the main objective here is to create a static shaft running through the hub assembly onto which I can mount the radome. firstly, the lower swashplate assembly - replaced the linkages with evergreen rod and improved on the swashplate detail Next, mount some evergreen tubing into the bellcrank assembly and secure in place, this will be the fixed axle onto which the rotor hub will pivot and the radar will be statically fixed. Onto th

Stunning work. Do you own a shrink-ray by any chance ?