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NAS FALLON UH-1N RESCUE

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Origonally the primer was going to be AK Micro Filler but it gets sticky after being handled so Tamiya's Surface Primer G was used instead. The allure of not having to mix primer and thinner fades real quick when fingers constantly weld themselves to a surface. Both Mr. Primer Surfacer 1000 and the Tamiya G are lacquer based and adhere to the plastic much better. At last it was time for some color.

Naturally the insignia white went down first with the other darker tones to follow. It took 4 coats of each main color to get the tone I needed and allowing 15 minutes between layers did chew up a decent amount of time. Thankfully the two secondary colors are Tamiya and dry much faster. Finding a place to hold the thing was a trick though. In the end I used the end since the tail was not attached and stuck in a wood skewer... no it wasn't pretty but it worked.

After fixing some minor paint lifting the decals stage began. I used a coffee mug warmer to keep my water at a nice temperature and the decals soft to conform better. Picked that trick up from a British modeler who builds a lot of auto racing subjects which as you know are plastered with decals. In my own testing have found that 5 stage filtered water works the best. Micro Scale Industries Micro SET and Micro SOL were the setting solutions. Follow the instructions and allow the solutions time to dry before putting down another coat of Micro SOL. Such was the plan, however, after the 6th coat out came the heavy weapons in the form of my solid tempered steel inscribing pens. The problem is the carrier film is far too thick in my view. Rivets had to be punched in many places and lines re-drawn. Shame really because they look terrific, Some fine sanding back was done after the protective clear coat was sprayed to knock them down. The good news for those who don't like this step is there aren't that many and the ones you'll use are pretty big... no stencil data surprisingly.

The panel line wash went on after a solid 24 hours went by. Mind you That's for lacquer clear coat products otherwise with acrylic it would have been a 48 hour wait. This clay type wash has several advantages in that it dries fairly quick within an hour and it can be modulated depending on how much moisture is on the paper towel or cloth you use to remove the excess. It does not, however, give you the freedom to soft fade or blend into the surface like oils. It's also messy yet cleans up easily with water. The color used was dark dirt so you have to wipe several times with a clean spot on the towel in order to remove the haze from the previous removal. Par for the course since what you get in return is a safe way to add a tremendous amount of detail with little effort at a reasonable price. Be advised that because it's clay the surface will get a mild polish and have plenty of sharp cotton swabs on hand to get at those hard to reach corners.

Before the masks came off a final mist coat of semi-gloss was sprayed to seal the wash and give the final look I was after. In many cases these aircraft had a very clean gloss appearance, yet in others they looked well used and in need of a thorough scrubbing. I really liked the downdraft exhaust soot on the tail boom so went with a more used look. Then the job of adding detail parts began. The only area that gave me trouble were the three shafts at lower rotor assembly. They are too long and needed a few attempts to get right. Before the front details went on the inside of the windshields needed to be wiped. Nothing special here, only some soapy water and a few wipes to remove the water spots, Funnily enough if the figures had have been put in there was zero chance of fully cleaning the windows. I did try very hard to get both in at this point but it was not meant to be. Instead a map and a few bits of gear were made. The map looks pretty good and the yellow case... well they can't all be gems. The doors are held in place with angled wire and the engine cover with a bit of painted guitar string.