Always like the Hughes 500D helicopter , just something about the look of her . She is a small craft and the Military took advantage of this and made her deadly .

This is Academy's 1/48 scale kit . Over all it really isn't that bad of a kit . Surface detail is good , but the cockpit is very basic so I added seat belts out of Tamiya tape far form looking pretty , but it does fill a void .

Here is what's done so far ...








Here is what I've gotten done so far . Cockpit is ready to closed up in the fuselage halves .










Terri

Ooh interesting ! Coming along nicely. I have never built a helo due to my experiences with old old airfix ones .
Looking forward to more.

J

Looking good. One correction though, the cockpit interior should be all flat black for NVG compatibility. The grey cockpit is too bright and washes out NVGs.

Also, the configuration that Academy has it in was not used by the US Army, so it is not really an MH-6, but a Hughes/MD 500 TOW Defender. Some may have been used by the S. Korean Army.

Kenyan (I think) MD 500 Defender


US Army AH-6J Little Bird (Attack Version)


US Army MH-6J MELB (Mission Enhanced Little Bird) personnel carrier with planks mounted for troops to sit on.

Thanks James , this is my second helo to attack . First was Monograms Cobra Gunship in 48 scale . This is very tiny compared to that one ! I would like to build this in 32 scale , but I don't think there is a kit of it in this scale .


Hi Gino ! Thanks for the info . Don't know very much about this bird . I have been peaking on the net at photo's and Academy has the builder mounting the missile pods off the doors . Photo's show that this is mounted further back . So this I will correct . Little late on the pit though . It's already enclosed in the fuselage halves . I will do this on the next one , have another in the stash




Terri

The Supergrape! Always nice to see one of those.

Revell did a basic OH-6 in 1/32 way back in the 1970s, and DML did a series in 1/35 for the tank modellers around 1999/2000 time frame. You may still find them available.

The Revell kit was the early configuration OH-6A with the 4 blade main rotor which is very different from the one you're doing. The DML could be had in that configuration, but it was also available in later variants like the one you're doing. Of the two, the DML kit is the more detailed.

Thanks Jessica for the info . Will have a look into the DML kits .

She is ready for paint ! I was impressed on the how the glass parts fitted on this one . No filler need so far , knocks on wood ....









Terri

Looking great so far. What colors/markings do you plan to paint it in?

As to the 1/35 DML OH/AH-6s, MD-500s, etc. they are great kits. I have built quite a few and am always happy with them. Here are a couple:

MH-6J MELB Little Bird



Blackwater MD-530E

Hi Gino , going to what the kit marking are . The only decals that come with the kit is for the instrument panel and since I don't have any in the spare box so I ran with what the call out was in the instruction sheet . Over all Flat Black , Black blades/red tips .
Nice builds as well Gino !










Terri

Nice little helicopter.

Looks like a perect subject for a weathering experimiment

Thanks Drabslab . Not sure on the weathering if I want to or not . We shall see in a few days .



Terri