I usually don't do much by the way of aircraft models but a few months ago at a local craft store I spied a 1/48 Revell-Monagram AH-64 apache on sale for $1.00 so naturally I couldn’t resist buying it. Recently I dug it out of the stash figuring it would be a nice easy build compared to the usual complex armor kits. It was one of those kits aimed at people less serious about modeling and included 3 paint colors and the things necessary to construct the kit and the main body and most other pieces would remain unpainted. I decided to Make the most of the kit and give it a nice paint job in the usual US army OD green and everything went well until I came upon the cockpit glass section. It molded both the frame and glass as one piece of clear plastic and I decided to paint the fame parts as the rest of the helo was painted. I masked off the windows and gave it multiple coats until the surface layer looked satisfactory but when I removed the tape it did not look as good as I had hoped and various attempts improve the appearance only make things worse due to the tricky nature of clear parts. What I hope to do is construct some sort of tarp of other cover that would appear on the cockpit area of the aircraft as if being stored on the ground. The kit is already made up to be like it is at rest on the ground with clear weapons racks and the rocket pods drilled out with the fuses removed from the back. Along with any cover for the cockpit area what are some other usual covers/ tie downs applied to the apache when it is on the ground. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Daniel

Hello Daniel and welcome to Armorama I've never seen a cover made to go over any heilcopters, thats not say that they don't have them. I could be wrong. But I did go through all of my helicopter books and have'nt seen a one. Why not try striping the paint of the canopy. You can buy a product called "Simple Green" at any auto parts store, pour it into a bowl and soak the canopy in it a day or so. Also if you have other model kits you may want to re-paint, this stuff works great. The cost is around $5.00 for a gallon. Oh, the Simple Green will just about strip any paint out there, I know as I use this stuff all the time.

Again a BIG welcome and enjoy your stay

Yes, they do make canopy covers for all helos actually. They are coverd to keep them from being scratched while on the pad from wind blown sand/dust, and during transport. Here is and Apache all covered up.


And a website showing all sorts of styles for sale.
AH-64 Canopy Covers
Click on Aviation.

Joe's idea is the best if you want to give it another try. Oven cleaner works well too. Also, if you painted it OD Green, that is too light. The actual color is US Army Helo Drab green. It is much darker (almost black) and Testor's Model Master paint has the exact color, named US Army Helo Drab.

Well there it is, I to just learned something. Thanks Gino. Daniel Gino's right about the color of your Apache. The correct color is Model Masters Hello Drab #2024 Good luck on the Heli and looking forward on seeing you bird.

Thanks guys for your responses. I think i am going to go for the cover from that link and make it out of tissue the way i have previously made tarps and bedrolls. It gives the model somthing unique and interesting not to mention covers my mistakes. I also think i am going to do the rocket pod covers and repaint the model the color you mentioned. I have seen in previous photos various tie off and lines tied to the rotors and other parts while the helo is on the ground. Can anyone supply some specifics as to these additions? Now that i think i have solved tis problemi feel i can relax and enjoy a simple build once again and once i get a digital camera I will post some pics.

Thanks again

I was unable to locate a on-line pic, so I made one up. There are two in the front and sometimes a third. I got them (pics) from AH-64 Apache in action. A Squadron/Signal publication. Hope this helps



It slides over the blade, and the line is located in the center of the blade and is facing the ground, then tied to the wheel landing struts.

Thanks for the diagram it does help. I think i am going to go for it and put on th etie dows.