Ok i am or i was building a blackhawk but it looks like thrash because of the decals and the bad gloss coat and spot gloss paiting and now i am planning on stripping it in CSC and redoing it but now i need to find out if there is an aftermarket set of decals for use on 1/35 helis just generic decals IE: us army, no step, call numbers things like that no need for a sheet just for a blackhawk or what is a good CHEAP modern heli to get a sheet from that would have the decals needed?

And as far as color goes are there really "black" blackhawks or should it be heli drab green?

There are, in fact black blackhawks. They are MH-60's. Search that identification number under google and you should be able to get some images for starters. In fact, use the Aeroscale site quicklinked above (far left) and go to the Rotary Forum. There used to be a discussion and some pics of Gino's work in there.

As for the decal set, I dont have much reference but you should post this same question on the Forum for some quicker responses. In any case, Gino aka HeavyArty probably knows the answer to any question you may have regarding the MH-60 and UH-60.

One last thing, he is more then likely going to direct you to Cobra Company for the UH-60 resin kit to fix an issue with the Academy kit.

Good Luck,
Mike

Decals for any other kit won't work for the Black helos, with which I have a passing acquaintance. The tail numbers and writing are a very dark gray, and almost like gun metal. You could make a custom set cheaper than buying a new kit-you've already got the artwork made for you.

If i go for an all black paint job i won't have any markings it will be a "black ops" special as you may be able to tell i am not one for building real life in scale so being accurate isn't an issue for me. and if i go with helo drab green black decals will be ok and i don't mind buying some cheap modern heli kit for decals i can always use the left over heli as a crash victim in a dio.

And is cobracompany.com still in bussiness? i just found out they have a blackhawk decal sheet

Yes, they are, and their conversions are very nicely done.

Yes, there are overall black MH-60Ls; they belong to the160th SOAR (Spec. Ops Aviation Regiment), Nighthawks from Blackhawk Down fame. Cobra Compamy is still in business and they do carry the OD decals for an all-black MH-60L. As stated above, check out the Rotart Wing forum under Aeroscale and you can find a bunch of info on Blackhawks. Also, as mentioned above, the Cobra Company update sets are really needed to make an accurate UH/MH-60 of any variant. The Academy kits are nice, but missing lots of details.

Here is one I built. I made my own decals for it before CC had theirs on the market.
MH-60L DAP

Thank you very much guys. cobracompany here i come!

@Gino that is a nice looking blackhawk

I know this is an old thread but some folks may still find it useful. I did not have my walkarounds handy at the time, which are on my external hard drive.

For some reason, I had the little bird on my mind when I answered, which is indeed black, with the dark grey lettering that I mentioned:



The MH-60 is black, with OD, with a few exceptions which I'll explain later:



The MH-47 is similarly black, usually with OD lettering. I do have photos of at least one with grey lettering on the fuel sponson, yet with OD lettering on the tail. I had to take a closer look just to be sure. I'll have to post that one later as these are taking over 15 minutes apiece to upload and I'm running out of time right now. Here's the MH-47 tail:



Whether modeling a fictionaI bird or a prototypical one, I wouldn't sweat the paint scheme too much as far as evenness goes. These birds have notoriously bad paint jobs. If these photos don't show it I'll post more when time allows. Most touchups quickly turn a dark and even medium grey.

As for the grey lettering on the MH-60, while some exist, I don't have photographic evidence of it, which I know some folks have to have. It sure looked grey in the fleeting glance I had. There are times I really wish I had a camera handy but which would be highly impractical.
Whether it was painted that way, or faded (the OD will sometimes fade that way too) I don't know. Hopefully these photos will be helpful for now at least...

Finally had more time. MH-47 with grey lettering on sponson, OD on upper tail. Note the unevenness of the finish. The fuel sponsons are not integral to the fuselage and can be changed out, hence the new finish:

I guess it is how you look at it. The United States Army on the sponson looks like faded OD to me.

Well, as I said in the earlier post, how I looked at it was up close, just to be sure. I suppose I could've done a close up of just the lettering, but I was more interested in documenting the details for an eventual build. It was indeed grey. Exactly the same shade as on the little birds. Makes sense if you think about it. It was a brand new sponson, hence no fading on either the black or the lettering. Obviously it's an exception, which is why I always maintain there are no absolutes in modeling.

For comparison, here's a completely different bird, also wth new sponsons, and OD lettering, unfaded:

Wasn't doubting you. On Spec Ops birds, nothing is for sure. There are lots of variations out there.

Great pictures!


They will help out as soon as a iget a container big enought to fit the body into to strip it down to get ready for rebuilding and repainting.