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1/48 Hasegawa AH-64D AZ National Guard


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My friend chuck540's triumphant return to ARC has prompted me to post images of my latest build.  

 

This one is a helicopter... a modern one at that...something that I don't usually do.  My recent trip to AZ prompted this to come out of the stash and a fellow ARCer Dutch was most generous with the decals! 

 

I'm doing this one with a few aftermarket goodies (Eduard's Colour PE Set & I have some bits from Master Details as well).  This one is going to be fun.  

 

So far the cockpit is done.  The instructions call for "black" but that would hide a lot of the detail.  I mixed a very dark grey from Tamiya's Nato Grey and RLM Grey (75-25).  This was followed by a gloss coat, Ammo wash and then light drybrushing.  

 

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I tried to figure a way to put a "glass" surface on the monitors but nothing I did looked very convincing.  I don't want to paint them with future.

 

The next thing I need to figure out is the colour of the Apache - its a weird grey-green.  I'd like to mix it with tamiya's stuff (its what is readily available here) and so far I have a mix of Black green with Nato black (75-25)... but it still doesn't look right.

 

More experimentation while I build!

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Looking good so far, I wouldn't worry about the screens as once the canopy is on you'll struggle to see them, although I painted mine Satin Black. 

 

The correct colour for the AH-64 is 34031 'US Army Helo Drab', which  as you say is a Black Green which fades to a Greyish appearance . The closest you'll get in Tamiya is XF51 but it will require some Black added to it. For weathering purposes lighten with Medium Grey rather than White. There are several manufacturers that do an exact match both in Enamel and Acrylic.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I am bouncing all over with this build - the instructions are a bit of a mess and the fact I am also trying to do the eduard PE in a logical sequence does not help!  That said - I am still making a lot of progress.  As you can see, the fit on the "nose" of the Apache is atrocious and I really REALLY tried to get this to align properly.  It is all very fixable but it doesn't look great right now.  The rivets on the bottom of the fuselage were mostly kept intact during the mating of the halves but I lost a lot down the centre.  The good thing is that there are a lot of add on details that cover up more than half of these spots.  I do not know a good way to replace raised rivets so I might just engrave some and call it a day.

 

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On 12/7/2018 at 4:09 PM, scotthldr said:

Looking good so far, I wouldn't worry about the screens as once the canopy is on you'll struggle to see them, although I painted mine Satin Black. 

 

The correct colour for the AH-64 is 34031 'US Army Helo Drab', which  as you say is a Black Green which fades to a Greyish appearance . The closest you'll get in Tamiya is XF51 but it will require some Black added to it. For weathering purposes lighten with Medium Grey rather than White. There are several manufacturers that do an exact match both in Enamel and Acrylic.

Yes - so far I am going with the Black green darkened 9:1 with flat black.  Any more black and it just becomes a new Nato black!  I am still not sure whether to go "museum finish" or weather it a little.

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WOW, great work Corsairman. Helo's are not my cup of tea but, I can really appreciate your building skills.

I'm assuming the rivets on the nose are raised ? You could try Archer Fine Transfers rivets, Chuck uses them and loves the results.

As for the screen faces, you can use a drop of Testors clear parts cement.

 

Steve

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Chris, beautiful work so far.  I wouldn't try to "gloss" the panels, because in real life, they are not gloss.  The MFDs on most modern military aircrafts have a slightly rough flat finish on them, much like a modern laptop screen, to cut down on reflections.  Yours look excellent "as is."  Glad to see the wonderful progress my friend.  Keep up the great work. R/ Dutch

Edited by Dutch
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Huh! See?  You learn something new every day!  Thanks again Dutch.

 

Tonight I sanded the putty spots and inserted some strip into some gaps. Tomorrow i’ll Probably end up installing the canopy and the 100 little bits.

 

Then It might actually be ready for prime and paint

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