After a good 8 hours yesterday, and another solid 10 hours today, the little Mi-28 is complete. I replaced the tail support rod on the back with a piece of wire as I broke the kit part. Other than that, its strictly OOB. I can call this one done........ "Q"

Looks good Matt. Good job.

Matt, great Mi-28.

Here's the troop compartment and wheel wells for the Hind... just a little touch up in spots and she'll be ready to seal up...

Steve,
Excellent build. Fantastic to see someone build an E Med helo. The colors are suppurb. See it wasn't that bad at all. Looks great, keep the HELO hangar full. Todd

Gino and Todd, thanks for the Kudos. "Q"

Hermon:
Fantastic finished project. Nice Photo affect. At the end who cares about the helo # used. The build turned out to be a great finished product, salute to those forrest fire fighters who do so much every year in the HOT fire season. The Huey turned out great, with an outstanding finished paint scheme.

Matt your Mi - 28 is looking cool, 18 hours solid building over 2 days is some dedication ... look forward to seeing the final pics in the finished Guardian Angel thread


Todd, (Tigerbait) your Hind internals look fantastic, posed out side they had me thinking the pics were of the prototype ! Fabulous
More please..........

Todd, (RotorHead67) thanks for the kind words on my Rega helo, much appreciated.

The Guardian Angel is a superb campaign , guys, keep those builds, coming !!

Cheers

Steve B

Hi Guys

Well, "My fire of enthusiasm" has been well and truly lit, thanks to Aeroscale

Following on from my Rega EC145 entry into the Guardian Angel Campaign, (and that I have a week or so to wait for my polishing gear to arrive for my Vietnam campaign Loach /Cayuse ,windscreen /bubble), I have been looking about for a second entry... into the Guardian Angel Campaign.

So here it is........ hot off the press..... Literally with the first being delivered to the US Army in December 2006...

My next #2 entry... into the Guardian Angel Campaign will be ...............

The US Army UH-72 A Lakota light utility helo.. based on the EC 145 , which happens to be one of my favourite helo's of the moment anyway.

I shall need to make my own decals.. and have downloaded most of the fantastic images from the uh 145.com website into my research folder.

Something new and a little different , which appeals to me... I shall see if I have honed a few skills since my Swiss Rega version

Here's a few images and details so far....
I shall of course, upload the progress, once she gets underway..

In 2006 it won the U.S. Army's Light Utility Helicopter Program, beating three other helicopters. This large order for a variant given the marketing name "UH-145" was placed by the United States Army. The deal involves the supply of 322 "light utility" helicopters with an option for 30 more. The total value (including service and maintenance) is approximately $3 billion.

The planned 322 helicopters have been designated UH-72A Lakota by the U.S. Department of Defense for the United States Army. The first UH-72A was delivered in December 2006.









I may even make the medevac version as seen at the official signing ceremony



Let the building commence

Stevie B

Matt, great MI-28. Very good job on the camouflage.

Very interesting subject for your second entry, Stevie! Looking forward to see more.

Thanks Jesper

I shan't bore everyone to death with a full update as most of the build of my EC145 Rega heli is the same.

So I shall update progress pics where I vary the build from the Swiss Civil version.

This one will be slightly different the rear crew cabin will be open and visible as will the rear "clam shell doors"

I have yet to decide on the internal fitment, I have a couple of pics I can base it on... one of the main reasons, why the UH145 / UH-72A won the US Army contract was because of its modular versatility in the rear crew department. It can be fitted with individual seats, or these + bench seats and/ or stretcher... almost endless options.

Really a case of what "I fancy "

Personnel carrier or medevac ? I am favouring the latter, so shall see.

WIth over 300+ of these to be delivered, its inevitable there will be many internal variations / combinations used to fit the specific helo's purpose.

Some cockpit work has already begun

Stevie B

Okay here we go

Having a little respite from the Cayuse build, (Vietnam Campaign) the fitting of the clear canopy has got me all of a tremble, while I summon up the courage to fit it !

So made a little progress on the Lakota.. have decided that I shall model a Medevac variant.. and am deciding on the internal fitment arrangement .
This model ,I propose to have the main sliding door open with clear viewing of the internals.

Here's the variations so far, all dry fitted to test





This is the variant I favour ( from the Securite Civile model) lot less clutterered , allows access from both main sliding doors and the equipment appears more "mobile"



At least I have now made a start

Stevie B

Steveie, I like the layout of the last pic (painted one) as well. It looks good. How is the EC-145 kit overall? The interior parts look pretty good.

Hi Gino,
yes I agree, I am leaning towards the last layout for the Lakota
Seems more ad hoc ready to act with easy all round access, features I guess every Medevac helo wants

I do like the Revell EC145 kits, (& the EC 135 with fenestron tail rotor)though they make /have made so many variants, the donor for this one is the bright yellow German ADAC version.

This one seems to have every conceiveable sprue they ever made for them !! Simply loads for the spares box...even more than the Swiss Rega !

However, some of the instructions /diagrams can be vague as they seem to just lift sections from other kits instructions and "merge them" (not very well. )That said, these Eurocopters are designed to be modular, so pretty well everything you want is in the box and a lot of spares too,

Most of the parts are very crisp,sharp and well detailed, then the pilot and co-pilot seats are not very good, the harness details just disappear, yet the passenger seats are beautifully sharp... some worn moulds I guess ?

Overall, I like the 1/32 scale, for my big fingers and failing eyesight.

Having returned to plastic after radio controlled modelling, I think these kits represent super value for money... this kit cost me around £13 GBP (around $25 US ?) and I am sure will make up into a nice model...

The main thing is, I am enjoying every minute of my modelling (enthused by being part of Aeroscale) !

Regards

Stevie B

Got to lay some paint down in the Lakota cabin. There's had to be a little "modellers licence" here, as I cannot locate any interior medevac pics of the real thing, as its so new !

Anyway, I like it

This is an overview, note the triple seats, and the oxygen cylinders in the distance.



Another view :



This is a side view , with the sub-cabin walls fitted in situ..



According to the information on the web, this helo will never see " real action", but essentially be used for medevac , search and rescue with the National Guard.. hence, in the absence of any other pics, I have had to use some "modellers licence".

Stevie B

Looks great so far. Sounds like a good kit with lots of extra details. I might have to pick one up and do a UH-72A Lakota as well.

Cheers Gino,
I am quite pleased with this so far

This is the "donor" kit I am using to build my Lakota.



Over here in the UK, they are discontinued, but there are a few stores that still have them listed.

This version has much more, in the way of internal detail sprues, as it can make up into the ADAC or Securite Civile version.

This has many more sprues than the Swiss Rega version I built earlier, so this is the one I'd hold out for, if I were you, with some left over for the spares box.

Cheers

Stevie B

Thanks Stevie. Fpound one on eBay for $25, its on its way to me now. Looks like a great kit.

Hi guys,

Below are some pictures of my just-completed AH-64D Apache Longbow modded to represent a Republic of Singapore Air Force attack chopper flown by 120 Squadron based at Sembawang AB. This is my first entry in my first Air Campaign over here at Aeroscale.

Sorry but I did not take any in-progress photos.

The kit was from Italeri. Fitting was alright but not up to Hasegawa standard (obviously).

The Helo Drab I used was sort of a hit-and-miss affair.

The RSAF-specific mods made were the HF antenna on the starboard side and laser countermeasure thingys on both sides of the tailboom.

Enjoy!







Regards,
Mark
Singapore

Hi Mark,

great work on the Apache

Stevie B

Meanwhile.... some preparation works going on in the Busybeas Helo Hangar

Here are the main fuselage components, prep and priming underway.


The internals dry fitted into the fuselage, the primer really brings out the rivet /panel detailing at this stage.



Ah, this is the effect I was after a close up of internals through the door opening. (still dry fitted)



Stevie B

Looking great Stevie. I can't wait for mine to arrive.

Here's my entry. I was going to do a Bell cobra but changed my mind to build a M.A.S.H Bell. The kit is OOB Revell. It's sold as a gunship version but had the spares for the medivac version without the instructions.
Unfortunately I got the kit from a show and didn't check it and got home to find nodecals with the kit. Therefore all the decals are from my spares. The only one I didn't have was ARMY in a vertical pattern so I tried to spray paint them and did a rubbish job. If any has 2 1/32 or 1/35 ARMY decals spare I would really appreciate it to finish the model.











Comments good and bad welcome

Hi Chris,
Your Bell 47 looks great
great job on that clear canopy... specially as its such a visible part of the model.

I find myself humming the Mash theme tune, just looking at this

Fingers crossed someone has some spare Army decals for you..h
ave you tried making your own decals on the pc ?

Cheers
Steve

More progress from the Lakota hangar

Be warned, if you are building this model, you will need a lot of clamps and elastic bands ( not to mention patience) when cementing the two halves of the fuselage together.The fit is not good !
( certainly a poorer fit, than my previous Swiss Rega moulding)

Despite my best efforts,, I still got left with a 3mm gap where the turbine housing will be..



That said the remaining body parts will cover this area.



Glazing fitted ( the side windows are all internal fit) and fuselage halves now joined, with turbine cover and tail boom dry fitted.



She is now starting to look like a helo , next, I need to tidy up those visible top seams, and more primer.

Stevie B

PS

At this stage the instructions will tell you to fit the skids... DON'T !!
I did on my Rega and broke them when handling the helo with the rest of the build,
LESSON LEARNED... fit them when almost completed !

very impressive and appreciated updates....I've got these euro choppers awaiting in my stash and will definitely use your advice...thanks guy!!