Hey there! Thought I'd share some pix of my recently completed 1/32 UH-72 Lakota. It's the Revell of Germany EC145 MEDSTAR kit with Fireball Modelworks decals. Any comments are welcome. Enjoy!









Just realised I had still some masking tape on the lower windows... no gone.

It looks very nice. Good job on it. I was just thinking about starting one using the Fireball decals and Werner's Wings MedEvac conversion set.

Thanks, Gino. I can only recommend the Fireball decal set very much. There are so many variants depicted... I still haven't decided which one I will do with the other Revell kit in my stash.

Cheers,

I have used Fireball decals on other projects and also think they are great. All their products are top notch.

For another Lakota, I recommend the US Navy Test Pilot School bird off the Fireball sheet. It looks really nice and is pretty colorful; at least it is not Helo Drab Green.



One pointer on the above Hohenfels OC bird though, get rid of the figure. Firstly, these arircraft are flown by Observer Controllers (OCs) at a training center. The OCs are like umpires and trainers for the training unit. They do not carry weapons. Also, the figure looks like the woefully under-scaled Trumpeter 1/35 CH-47 crewman. He is even small for 1/35 and looks like a child next to the larger 1/32 Lakota. I would go sans figure.

You're indeed right, the figure is from the Trumpeter set... I thought I would add some life to the chopper. I'm also preparing two figures from Dragon's new-released/old SEAL Team Six set to sit in the crew compartment. Somewhere I read that these OC birds also do some aggressor work and these figures would depict "adversaries" being flown into or out of a training exercise. Modeller's freedom of thought .

Now to the decals options: I am also thinking about the Naval Test Pilot School version... or the one from the Reagan test site/Kwajalein Atoll, with it's distinctive orange "camo" .

You are correct, the OC birds do sometimes transport OPFOR (OPposing FORces) "enemies" into the training area. Those SEAL Team 6 guys should look good.

I like the orange Kwajalein birds too. Good luck and keep us posted.

Nice build! What was your inspiration for the camo scheme? I can't say that I've ever seen a bird like that before, but I really like it! Also, try giving the rotor blades some sag on your next build. It's a very easy way to add an extra touch of realism.

The JMRC (Joint Maneuver Readiness Center) Hohenfels, Germany bird is an option on the Fireball Modelworks decal sheet for the UH-72A Lakota.



Here is one of the actual birds.


Also, you will notice in the pic that the Lakota blades don't really droop much at all. The model looks pretty close to me.

Well then, I stand corrected...I'd say all is in order here. Daniel, nicely done, and Gino, thanks for the info!

Hey Robby! Thanks for your comments! I've indeed discovered the UH-72 as a modeling subject when I saw the Fireball decal sheet. I'm not really a Eurocopter fan, but as Gino already pointed out, there are some special paint jobs on some of these birds!

Regarding the rotor blades, I think they could be a little bit sagged, but I wanted the bird to be just descending to the ground, only some centimeters from touch-down.

Nowe some pix with two of the SEAL Team six guys added:




They've camouflaged their faces .

Looking pretty good. The figures make it come to life.

One thing you may want to add is blank adaptors to the rifles. All players at the JMRC have to have them on their weapons to show they do not have live ammo and to fire blanks. They are a red or yellow box-like structure that screws onto the muzzle of the rifle.



You could also add the MILES laser transmitter box above the barrel.



Also, the crew chief should not have a weapon, he would be an OC, who are not armed at all.