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Hi all!

I am building a UH1-Huey (Vietnam in the 60's). Does anyone one know what color the rotor blades should be? I have done some research and have seen where they say that the tops of the rotors were olive Drab and the bottom black. Others say both sides were olive drab, while others say both sides were black.

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks!

Scott

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Scott,

Vietnam era Hueys should have main blades painted in Olive Drab upper surface and Flat Black lower surface and a yellow tip, the tail rotor blades should be either black with red-white-red stripes (early birds), or Olive Drab with yellow tip.

Rod.

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Scott,

It actually depends on which time frame and unit you are modeling. Some early birds especially had large white bands on the top of the main rotor. I believe some may have even had multiple colors like the early Flatiron Hueys at Ft. Rucker. However, barring any definitive info on your bird, I'd agree with Rod and paint it OD on top and black on bottom with a 6 inch yellow tip. The one rule about Vietnam Hueys is there are no definitive rules and almost anything you can think of was tried at least once!

Ray

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Ray,

Thanks for the information! The kit is the older 1/24 Revell kit which I purchased from Youngtiger1 in the forums. I will probably model it as a 1st Air Cav helo from 1966 but I am trying to make it into a slick. The kit is not as detailed as some of the other kits, but I thought it would be nice to work on a larger helo for display. Also, the 1/24 scale does not offer any decal choices other than what is there.

Thanks!

Scott

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Ray,

Thanks for the information! The kit is the older 1/24 Revell kit which I purchased from Youngtiger1 in the forums. I will probably model it as a 1st Air Cav helo from 1966 but I am trying to make it into a slick. The kit is not as detailed as some of the other kits, but I thought it would be nice to work on a larger helo for display. Also, the 1/24 scale does not offer any decal choices other than what is there.

Thanks!

Scott

Scott,

You could very easily make a 118th AHC slick from the 64-65 time frame. They used UH-1Bs in both high vis and subdued markings. The following ones are fro the Reese collection at the US Army Aviation Museum at Ft. Rucker. All you really need is the tail number and the Thunderbird for the nose. Joseph at Fireball Modelworks could certainly do those if he has time. The other markings are on the kit sheet. As you can see these have OD on the blade tops with yellow tips. HTH

Ray

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016.jpg

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Ray,

That is awesome! I didn't know Fireball would do a custom print of the decals. I checked and it appeared that they only had the Navy Seawolves. I will drop them an email and check. I like 12918 # 7 on the blue background in your first pic! I will check out the Ft. Rucker site for other pictures as well!

I'm in the process of puttying the ammo feed chutes on the fuselage (both sides) as well as the larger feed chutes in the floor. I didn't want to attempt to remove the ammo containers under the back seat...seemed like a lot of work cutting, scratch building,etc. so I am puttying the feed chutes on the ammo cans and will be satisfied that they are just "storage containers". I believe a true "Slick" had an empty space under the seat. (Not sure how good I would be with the Dremel to cut that out).

I will try and post some pics.

Thanks again for all of the feedback and help!

Scott

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Ray,

That is awesome! I didn't know Fireball would do a custom print of the decals. I checked and it appeared that they only had the Navy Seawolves. I will drop them an email and check. I like 12918 # 7 on the blue background in your first pic! I will check out the Ft. Rucker site for other pictures as well!

I'm in the process of puttying the ammo feed chutes on the fuselage (both sides) as well as the larger feed chutes in the floor. I didn't want to attempt to remove the ammo containers under the back seat...seemed like a lot of work cutting, scratch building,etc. so I am puttying the feed chutes on the ammo cans and will be satisfied that they are just "storage containers". I believe a true "Slick" had an empty space under the seat. (Not sure how good I would be with the Dremel to cut that out).

I will try and post some pics.

Thanks again for all of the feedback and help!

Scott

Scott,

no worries, happy to help. Unfortunately, you won't find a "Ft. Rucker site" with these images. I am a volunteer archivist for the Museum so I have access to the digital collection. I have also scanned most of the Museums prints and slides. What I gave you is all I have at the moment on 118th UH-1B slicks. No the ammo trays should not be under the seat, but I understand why you wouldn't want to remove them. The seats should also have red cushions and webbing in these early birds. Joseph can certainly do custom decals, whether his schedule will allow him to do them is another story.

Ray

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