11bee Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 (edited) NOTE - for those viewing this for the first time - If you aren't aware, Photobucket has eliminated viewing of pictures online. If you can't see the pics, go here: Firefox: https://addons.mozil...fix/?src=search Chrome: https://chrome.googl...nflicjjgj?hl=en It's an update to allow Photobucket pics to be viewed by folks using Chrome or Firefox. Works as of SEP 2017, no idea if it will work in the future. After procrastinating for months, I have finally decided to start work on an AH-6C. For those that don't follow the Littlebird series, this was the first version in a long line of modified H-6 / MD500 series of helicopters used by the US Army's 160th SOAR (also known originally as Task Force 160). As far as I can tell, the charlie model Littlebird was an upgraded OH-6A with a bunch of avionics for long distance navigation and low level flying at night. It was armed with a 7 shot rocket pod and a 7.62mm minigun. It also had a modified exhaust consisting of shielded exhaust ports on either side of the fuselage and the regular exhaust port plugged with a cone shaped fairing. It came into service in the early 80's and was used in combat during the invasion of Grenada (and probably a few other lesser known missions as well). After being replaced by more modern versions, it was used up until last year as a trainer for fledgling Littlebird pilots as the MH-6C. Anyway, enough of the history lesson. My starting point for the model is the Dragon OH-6A Loach kit. Also included is the Werner's Wings resin exposed minigun (a great little model by itself that is critical for this version), Eduard PE, a rocket pod from the MRC OH-58D kit (along with some great Fireball decals for it) and most importantly, the modified exhaust parts from a Dragon MD500 Israeli Defender kit. As an added bonus, the sprue that these parts came on also have some of the extra avionics lumps that are present on the tailboom of the Littlebird. I have to give a huge thank you to Austin "Arkhunter 2002" for so kindly sending me the extra exhaust parts from his kit. The only other thing I am lacking are decals. I am hoping that the upcoming Fireball Loach decal set may offer some generic Littlebird decals, if not, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. The biggest problem on this project are the lack of references. There are hardly any good pictures of this version available. Most that you can find are of the later trainer version which is significantly different than the AH-6C. I would not have been able to even think about making this kit until AH-6C SIP (an ex-Littlebird pilot) posted some great pictures of his helo on this forum. He was also so kind as to answer a couple of questions I had. That being said, I am still searching for more reference pictures, especially of the interior. While checking out the official US Army website of the 160th SOAR, I noted that they have a handy link for Freedom of Information Act requests. Having nothing to loose, I sent in a request for pictures. So far I have just received a response from Special Operations Command that my request is under review and they will be getting back to me. I figured at this time, there really can't be anything secret about this helo since it's been 25 years plus since it was in service. We'll see if the Army agrees with me.... I have just begun working on the interior and haven't made a great deal of progress yet, so I won't bother posting any detail pictures. Life is somewhat hectic, so my progress is going to be slower than my usual slow pace. This is the best I can offer at this point: As you can see, my photography skills are still lacking :huh:. That's it for now. I'll keep plugging away and will post updates as time permits. In the mean time, feel free to post all of those pictures of early model Littlebirds that you all have hidden away in your basements LOL. Regards, John Edited September 2, 2017 by 11bee Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arkhunter2002 Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 No pics on my end, but I'm quite excited to see how this one turns out. Good luck! Take care, Austin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shark 64 Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Hi. Looks like you got some great material. That Loach book is amazing. Post photos when you can. Oliver Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Avus Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 Missed the first post, but I'll be following with interest your work as I'm planning on building this very same model. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
11bee Posted August 25, 2009 Author Share Posted August 25, 2009 I can't believe it has been a month since my first post. Vacation and work have pretty much consumed my summer. Anyway, I have been making a bit of progress on my Littlebird build. As mentioned before, my biggest issue is the lack of detailed pictures to help figure out all the small bits and pieces that make the model. I guess I'm kind of spoiled having unlimited pix available on the net and the ever handy "Walk-Arounds" for my projects. This one is a bit different. However, since my first post, GT has released many more great pictures of early AH-6's which help immensely. In addition, Ray "Rotorwash" was kind enough to release the original JPG's which allow you to zoom in and see the pix in much greater detail. These helped quite a bit and finally got me in the mood to start work. As always, I started on the interior. Over the last month, I have done the following: - Thinned out the pilot's seats to represent nylon stretched over metal tubing. Also added sprue tubing at the bottom of the seats. - Fabricated the avionics box in the rear compartment from scrap plastic. After looking at some of the new pictures, I realized I was off on my dimensions so I popped the box off the floor of the compartment and added a section of plastic to increase the height. After looking at some more pictures, I realized I was still off. Again, the box was removed from the floor and this time, I added sheet plastic to lengthen it. I think I'm still off at bit but am thoroughly burned out on this particular component. It is pretty hard to gauge the proper dimensions of this box from the various pictures out there. Depending on the angle of the picture, it looks very different from picture to pictures. - Scratchbuilt two KY-58 crypto units for mounting on top of the avionics box from scrap resin, PE and stretched sprue (these aren't pictured here, I am still working on the final paint job). - Scratchbuilt an avionics rack for the right side of the avionics box (again not pictured below) - Scratchbuilt a control panel that is mounted on the upper cockpit bulkhead between the pilots' heads. This was from a chunk of resin, with scrap PE faceplates and sprue switches and dials. Added a smaller electrical box just below it. - Added some Eduard PE and plastic tubing to the rudder pedals. The Eduard set isn't the greatest and I think I'll only use maybe 30% of the parts that come with it. - Carved out the ground power connection socket underneath the pilots seat and added two electrical prongs from sprue. - Added the soundproofing blankets over the transmission housing in the rear bulkhead. GT's pictures show the housing without the covers but some later pictures show the blankets in place. I didn't have the interest to scratchbuild the transmission housing itself so I used plastic putty to simulate the blankets. - Added a few other bits of wiring and misc fittings. The entire interior was painted Model Master Acrylic Interior Black. I really like this color for US Army helo interiors. The transmission blankets were painted flat black and the seats dark gull gray with a bit of OD mixed in. I plan on going back and highlighting the transmission covers and weathering the interior. The paint job below is just the starting point. I also have a lot more work to do on the interior. I'm thinking about adding a pilot figure to the cockpit as well so I haven't added the seat-belts yet. I really don't do figures very well but I've got some leftover crew-members from my UH-1H build and the pictures that GT posted seem to show Vietnam era flight gear. So I'd just have to add some pockets for the survival vest and (if I can do it right), a set of scratchbuilt PVS-5 night vision goggles. We'll see how it goes. Anyway, that's it for now. Thanks for looking! John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rotorwash Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 John, Wow, you are certainly getting off to a great start. I went back through my e-mails and found this description and figure that GT sent me on the avionics box in the back. Perhaps a day late and a dollar short I'm afraid. Ray "In the back seat area we had a sheet metal rectangular box, riveted in, that held the ONS receiver and two KY58s. They were shock mounted. You can see them in this attached photos and my depiction of the avionics shelf in the back." Here's the illustration: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Anthony in NZ Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Fantastic start! I am most impressed at the work you have put into her so far! I am going to really enjoy reading this thread Thanks and cheers Anthony Quote Link to post Share on other sites
11bee Posted August 25, 2009 Author Share Posted August 25, 2009 John, Wow, you are certainly getting off to a great start. I went back through my e-mails and found this description and figure that GT sent me on the avionics box in the back. Perhaps a day late and a dollar short I'm afraid. Ray "In the back seat area we had a sheet metal rectangular box, riveted in, that held the ONS receiver and two KY58s. They were shock mounted. You can see them in this attached photos and my depiction of the avionics shelf in the back." Here's the illustration: Cool illustration... how did you do that? That is the configuration that I'm going to mount the KY-58s in. Again, it is hard to measure off the dimension of things from photos shot at an angle. I hope I get my final dimensions close to the real thing. In some pictures, those boxes appear to be just as long as the avionics box. In others, the KY-58's are much shorter. I'm going for the shorter option. I'm sure that as soon as I finish my model, someone will release pictures showing that everything I did was waaay off. John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BrittMac Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Dang John, I missed this one. I sent Joseph a CD with OH-6 pics from the Museum. I don't know if they helped him any, but If you want I can send you a CD of them. I can also try and go get some more this week if you want anything specific. Our Loach is the four seater, no minigun, former Guard bird. But, let me know via PM if you don't want your address posted here. Brandon Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Avus Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Looks great so far. I will be following with great interest. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rotorwash Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Cool illustration... how did you do that?That is the configuration that I'm going to mount the KY-58s in. Again, it is hard to measure off the dimension of things from photos shot at an angle. I hope I get my final dimensions close to the real thing. In some pictures, those boxes appear to be just as long as the avionics box. In others, the KY-58's are much shorter. I'm going for the shorter option. I'm sure that as soon as I finish my model, someone will release pictures showing that everything I did was waaay off. John John, That fine artwork is from GT. I wouldn't have had a clue that was exactly how they were set up. He was trying to educate me, so i thought I'd pass it along. Ray Quote Link to post Share on other sites
11bee Posted August 28, 2009 Author Share Posted August 28, 2009 Quick update on my Littlebird - Added a few bits to the cockpit area. They include a couple of scratchbuilt KY-58 Crypto units on the rear avionics shelf and the collectives up front. The KY-58's were from resin boxes that I cut to size, added scrap PE for the plates on front, stretch sprue handles and a plug and wire assembly on the backside. Also added four short pieces of thicker sprue for the shock mounts on the base of the units. They are not quite per the originals but I've done these over three times and just don't have the energy to make any other changes. In the pictures below, there is also an empty avionics rack on the right hand side. This was made from scrap sheet plastic. I didn't glue this in yet, it may or may not make the final cut. I'm not really happy with this, I think I will try making it out of scrap phototech instead of plastic. On another issue, I will also be working on the Eduard foot channels under the rudder pedals. These are almost impossible to get folded without warping the entire assembly. I'm hoping I can tweak them a bit more before final assembly. That is another reason why I am thinking about adding a pilot, so that they will be less obvious. I also added a larger section to the end of each collective stick and a couple of buttons. Aside from that, I painted some additional details and added a few small bits to the back compartment. I'm finding that with the overall black paint scheme, some of the details are lost. I'll work on my photo skills at some point and try to get some better pictures. That's it for now, comments or suggestions are always welcome. John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rotorwash Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 John, It's looking great from where I sit! If there is anything inaccurate about the cabin, only Graham and a handful of other guys will ever know. Keep up the great work. I can't wait to see this one come together. Ray Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Avus Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 (edited) It's looking great from where I sit! Same here and we don't share the seat! I love that scratch built detail ... I'm taking notes! Edited August 28, 2009 by Avus Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shark 64 Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 Very good start indeed. Please more photos......we cant wait. LOL Oliver Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Loach Driver Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 It's looking very good so far. The KY-58s look good and the transmission cover is excellent. LD. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
norbert Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 Hi John Nice start, one more great topic to follow. Norbert Quote Link to post Share on other sites
11bee Posted August 30, 2009 Author Share Posted August 30, 2009 (edited) Don't have much to show for this weekend's efforts. I removed and re-shaped the pilot's collective housing (the Dragon kit is wrong, there should be no flat portion, the entire top slopes downwards), I painted and installed the Werner's Wings mini-gun ammo can. have to admit I am a bit nervous about starting the minigun itself, so many small bits and pieces. I also removed the plastic avionics rack on the right side - as shown on the previous pictures. It just doesn't do it for me. I'll take a shot a replicating the thing with some scrap PE in the near future. Aside from that, I repainted the pilot's seats and added harnesses from the Eduard PE set. The top portion of the shoulder harness are shaped incorrectly so I cut off a portion of the photoetch and added some foil from a wine bottle. I also annealed the harness peices over a hot flame to get them to bend easier. Still have to do detail painting on the buckles but I won't get to that tonight, so I figured I'd post a few pics of my (limited) progress for the weekend: At this point, the interior is about 60% complete. I still need to add a some wiring and intercom leads, plus some gear for the back. Then I need to start on the instrument panel. This is going to take some work due to the exposed rear, with all the wiring and the fact that there are a few differences between the OH-6 parts and the Littlebird IP. Should be a great deal of fun! Regards, John Edited September 1, 2009 by 11bee Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Avus Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Veeery nice! Looking forward to see more progress, but no pressure from my side! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rotorwash Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Looking great, John! The rear compartment is really starting to look nice and busy. The Werner Wings minigun shouls really dress her up. Ray Quote Link to post Share on other sites
11bee Posted September 7, 2009 Author Share Posted September 7, 2009 Another week has passed and my progress has been even slower than anticipated. I did add a power cable and plug running from the mid-cabin bulkhead to the minigun assembly, also added an empty avionics bracket and wiring bundle on the left side of the avionics box at the rear of the cabin. After checking out the link that Doug (sixgun) posted, it provided a bunch of missing details on the KY-28 crypto boxes mounted at the rear of the cabin and the three remote control heads mounted in a row between the pilots. I had guessed on some of the details based on limited info. With the link Doug posted, I went back and added some switches and indicator lights to the remote control heads and also made a couple of changes to the KY-28 boxes themselves. Lastly, I added a first aid pouch made from putty. If you are interested in the real deal, here is the link: http://jproc.ca/crypto/ky28.html Let me know how mine came out. With regard to the instrument panel, I had a choice between the kit's panel which has some very nice raised detail and the Eduard PE panel which allows you to use some nice instrument gauge decals but is very two dimensional. I decided to merge the two panels. I used the PE panel but scraped off a bunch of the raised plastic detail from the Dragon panel and superglued it in place. Just note a few things on the pictures of the IP above - I am not done yet. I will be re-building the center console and still have a bunch of AH-6C specific details to add to the main panel. Also, the pictures are pretty crappy but when seen in real life, it looks pretty decent (IMHO). I'll also be cleaning up some of the detail on the panel. It's still very much a work in progress. That is it for now, hope everyone (at least here in the US) had a good labor day holiday. John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shark 64 Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 I really like your cockpit. Nice job on the wiring on the IP. Those seatbelts bring life to the cockpit.....me likey. OLiver Quote Link to post Share on other sites
petebuilt Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Really like the cockpit John. The seat belts look great, as does the IP front and back. Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
richter111 Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 Looking great there! Love the IP, looks really good, combining the two is a great idea Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rotorwash Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 John, You really used all the new info Doug provided to ramp this baby up to the next level. I love it! I can't wait to see more. Ray Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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