Elboogie

In the mail, I got what I was looking for to create my diorama:
And in the background, NUTTER BUTTER's.  They are the business!!!
 
 

 
 
 
So while I was waiting to add my decals, I decided to paint the road on the diorama.
I used Black, Earth Red, Nato Black, Light Ghost Grey and Buff to create the road.
 
 

 
 
 
Now back to the Helicopter.
First i used Werner Wings decals for the markings,  Then I used Cobra Company MH-60L Subdued Stencil Data set for the other things that are included with Academy Decals but they are the wrong color.
Now the first thing that I wanted to say about Cobra Decals, they are great.  But the experience that I had was you don't have to put them in water for a long time at all.  If you do, you will end up like me, with the decal going off of the decal paper and almost impossible to recover.  But they are great.
 
I did not add every decal with the bird.  I dont know about you guys but when I start to decal a airplane or a helicopter, I am very excited to do so.  But after a hour of handling small decals and struggling to get them in the right position, it gets a little old.  LOL
 
The first picture that I have included, I wanted to include this picture because the decal was a PITA to put on.  lol
And in the picture it is still has not set in yet with Micro Sol.
 
 

 
 
 
The rest of the Black Hawk:
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
The next thing I will do is washes and pigments for the Black Hawk.
 
 
Richard
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thank you guys.
 
 
So I started to add gloss coat to the model.
And yes I use gloss coat from a can, I should be using Future thru my airbrush but I am still too scared of getting future in my one and only airbrush.  lol
I know the techniques of putting windex in your airbrush to take out the future, but like I said, too scared.
 
I use Mr. Hobby Mr. super clear.  And I will tell you that it leaves a gloss coat like no other that I have seen from a can.
 
 
I use Testors gloss coat on stuff that I have to gloss outside of the aircraft, like seats and other sub assemblies.  But when I do the colors for the final painting of the aircraft or helicopter, Mr. Hobby is my choice.
NOW IT IS EXPENSIVE.  It is about $14 bucks a can.  And I can usually do 3 1/32 scale aircraft with it, but it depends on how much coat that you want.  On 1/48 scale or 1/72 scale, a single can will go a long way.
 
 
 
Now that I used Gloss coat on the model, now it looks like a black color.  Really cool.
 
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
And on the top of the roof, you can see the extra fading that I applied to it and everything else that is always in the sun.
 
 
 

 
 
 
So now I will work on the decals.  Then I will start the weathering process.
And just like I said earlier, I talk too much so that is the way that I type.  I am just trying to explain what goes thru my head during the process of every step of the build.  
 
 
 
Richard 
 
 
 
 

Thanks guys.
 
 
Painting stage:
 
So I finally added the last touches that I am going to do with a airbrush.
The first thing I did after pre shading the panel lines last night, I applied the overall color to the aircraft which is Nato Black.
Now the first thing I did with the Nato Black was applied the color to the inside of the pre shaded panel lines.
I was hoping that it gave me a blotchy look for the color and it did.  I wanted the colors that i pre shaded the panel lines with to show through.
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
On the roof, you can see I left it looking more faded.
 
 

 
 
 
The next step that I did was I mixed Nato Black with a little white and then painted in between the nato black that I just did, but slightly.
Now I do not have the lights in my loft area to take great pictures so I am hoping that the colors show through the pictures.
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Then I used the same mixture of Nato Black and a little of white and I put more white in the mixture to make a even lighter color of Nato Black.
Then I airbrushed the top of the roof and everywhere else there should be more fading.
 
 

 
 
 
Richard
 
 
 
 

Thanks Sgtepi.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  I have never done a figure before except for japanese figure I did for My Tamiya Zero.  And I did that using Tamiya bottles and a little thinner.  lol
 
 

 
 
Like I said, I have been watching a lot of youtube on painting 1/35 scale figures so I hope that it is getting into this head of mine.  But we will see.
I will let you know when I get the paints, it should be the earlier part of the week, so you can give me the colors for the 3 color DCU's.
 
 
Richard

I have a PE bender and it almost looks like the one in the picture.  It not the bending, it is the gluing.  I always add too little or too much and or I place the right amount of CA and I put it in the wrong position.  Stuff like that.  lol   
But they are their worth in gold.
 
 
Richard

You are absolutely correct, the PE parts add detail to a model.  But I am still learning putting on PE parts with glue to where the PE parts won't have glue on them and all over the aircraft.
But I am getting a liitle bit better with PE parts, I just have to get use to them.  But thanks for looking in on my build.  I hope I am doing the DAP justice because it is my first helicopter.
 
 
Richard

Then I started on the pilots section:
 
I first painted the avionic dept below the pilots seat the appropriate color.
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
Then I started the pilots section.  In the pictures I did not leave the pilot section this way.  Since the picture I have dry coated the pilot seciton, in the picture the gloss coat is still on the section.
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
The Middle console and IP:
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
-Richard
 

I glued the tail to the helo:
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
I don't know what order you guys put your helicopter together  ( the cabin first, then glue the cabin to the fuselage, then you insert the windows etc) but I am doing this helicopter  this way.
Now I don't know if gluing this part before another part will increase the risk of me breaking something off while I handle the helicopter, but we will see.
I have a order of completing a airplane, but not a helicopter.
 
 
-Richard

Alright here we go.
To catch  you guys up with more that 4 months of work, I will take the pictures in stages.
 
First my kit and work area:
 
 

 
 

 
 
Two Items from Live Resin:
The second picture of the minigun in the cabin entrance, I found out that the DAP doesn't use a mingun in the cabin entrance area.  So I bought the Cobra M230 Chain Gun.
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
My work area:
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
And all the pictures that you see hanging on the walls were all done by me.  I love sketching comic book characters.  Something I took from my childhood.
 
 
 
-Richard
 
 
 
 

Good Afternoon Gentlemen.
 
This is my first WIP on LSP and I have done some work on the Model before I put up this post but I did so in ARC forums and I want to transfer the info over to LSP.
 
My subject is the Academy UH-60L DAP Black Hawk.
 
I have never done a helicopter before and my WIP is not a accurate representation of the model ( I took some artistic licensing on the bird) but most of the helicopter represent the real deal.
I have gotten a lot of help with the helicopter on ARC and their members that know a little something about helicopters because when I put the model together, I did not know ANYTHING about helicopters.
I found myself naming things on the helicopter without knowing the name of the part that I was adding.  Now when it comes to airplanes, that is usually my forte.  
My father was a fighter pilot in the Air Force and he use to drive F15C-Eagles and F16 Falcons.  So naturally I know the round abouts on a fighter jet.
But helicopters, I did not know a thing.
After starting  this build, I really started to get into helicopters.  The main reason why is because I started to like helicopters is because of the dioramas that you can build when you do a helicopter.  I am tired of painting flight decks.   
 
 
But when you do a helicopter, because they have the chance of landing everywhere, and even on a flightdeck, that leaves you a lot of dioramas that you can build in whatever environment.
Since December I have gotten the Academy MH-60s kit and accessories and the 0H-58D Kiowa Warrior and Floyds update set and Zactomans update for the Kiowa.  And I ordered the Dragon MD-530 Gunship.  
The only problem that I can see is that there isn't a lot of kits in 1/35 scale.  Being that I am older, anything smaller that 1/35 scale or 1/32 scale, does not work out for me.  I have seen some people on 1/48 scale subjects take their detailing to amazing heights, but I cannot.  I would rather do 1/35 scale because to detail the kit is much easier for me and my eyes.  Go big or go home!!
 
Now I started working on the helicopter last December and I will post a lot of pictures without explanation to catch the WIP up to date.  Then I will comment when I get to what I am currently working on.
So please be patient with me and I hope you guys find the WIP interseting.
 
 

Following up the overall cockpit gray with black for the consoles and instrument surrounds - I used Liquitex acrylic black ink for this task as it is thin, doesn't leave brush marks, and has a tendency to stay where you put it and not go flowing off and making a mess of everything. 
 

 
Also got the GRU-7 seat cushions painted with some Gunze RAF Dark Green - seemed the best match for the reference photos. These were painted freehand with my Iwata Custom Micron - HUGE testament to the thing's ability to spray small.
 

Alright here we go.
To catch  you guys up with more that 4 months of work, I will take the pictures in stages.
 
First my kit and work area:
 
 

 
 

 
 
Two Items from Live Resin:
The second picture of the minigun in the cabin entrance, I found out that the DAP doesn't use a mingun in the cabin entrance area.  So I bought the Cobra M230 Chain Gun.
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
My work area:
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
And all the pictures that you see hanging on the walls were all done by me.  I love sketching comic book characters.  Something I took from my childhood.
 
 
 
-Richard
 
 
 
 

Now comes the first of a lot of dry fitting.
I dry fitted everything that I have done so far and put it in the fuselage to see if everything fitted correctly.
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
Then I started on the pilots seats and frames:
 
 
 

 
 
 
The pilots seat was something that I took from Rotorman (aka Oliver) that he did on his MH-60s build:
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
I wanted to do sheepskin on the seat covers but I decided not to.  I applied a trick that I always apply to the F-14 tomcat seats to represent the fabric found on the seats.  I used a band aid.
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
I know I am posting a lot of pictures but I am trying to catch this Forum up with 4 months of work, so I do apologize.  If you guys have any questions or comments please post them and I will reply.
 
 
-Richard

Middle console with the PE parts attached.
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
I took out the space below the pilots seat to add the avionic boxes.
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
-Richard
 
 
 
 
 

I always had a problem with cutting a kit to replace the part that I just took out with another part.
In this case, the FLIR housing for the Black Hawk.  Now in the directions, they told me (and everybody else) to cut the helicopter on the lines inscribed into the fuselage.  I followed the lines in the fuselage to make the cut.
 
 
 
Now the bottom of the FLIR housing looks ok, nothing that a little filler wouldn't solve:
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
But the front.   WHAT the hell?       
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
I guess you shouldn't drink beer before making a cut into your model.    
I tried to solve the problem, but shark64 (aka Oliver) gave me a goodd suggestion.  He told me to cut a couple pieces of styrene strips, and fill the hole,  and follow it up with CA glue and file the part to shape.  
That is the reason why I love posting my work in forums because of the people that are watching your build, and whenever you run into a problem, they always give good suggestions on how they would handle the problem.  Thank you guys for all your suggestions, believe me, I will need a lot more before I get done with this DAP.
 
 
So filling that hole is my next project.
 
 
 
 
-Richard

The black Hawk has never been designated as a AH (Attack Helicopter) so on the box that academy sells, it should not say AH-60L it should say UH or MH.  I got the knowledge when I first put the kit together.  The people in the forum was kind enough to let me know that.  Just like I said, I do not know ANYTHING about helicopters.     lol  
 
 
-Richard

Thanks Danny.
 
And please forgive me for my language.  I used UH-60 instead of MH-60 DAP.   I told you, I am still learning.  Man I thought fighter planes have different varaints but nothing compares to helicopter variants.   
 
 
And no I couldn't attend last week show because I was out of town for work.   I have limited scratch building skills but thank you for the compliment.  When you have the chance to look at Rotormans build, then you will see true scratch building skills.  Thank yo for welcoming me to the forum, I hope I can represent.
 
-Richard

Middle console with the PE parts attached.
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
I took out the space below the pilots seat to add the avionic boxes.
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
-Richard
 
 
 
 
 

The first thing that I did was some artistic licensing.  Working on the cabin floor.  
First thing I ABSOLUTELY HATE PE!!  I cannot express that enough.  
The reason why I hate PE parts are my own problems.  No matter how many WIP I see about PE parts and gluing them, I always get too much glue, not enough glue, or I misplace the part on the helicopter because the glue took too fast or whatever.  PE parts to add details to your build that is absolutely fantastic, but I have never had a tack for them.  
 
But I still use them.  On the cabin floor I didn't like the pe parts to simulate tie downs so I created my floor with styrene.  Now if you guys ever view a current build on WIP from Rotorman MH-60s build, I took a lot of steps from his built to create mine.  Rotorman is on the most creative person that I know and I started doing helicopters because of a build of a HUEY that  he did that  was amazing to me.  
 
The Floor:
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
The rear cabin wall:
 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
-Richard

I can't wait to see what you do with the pit Mark it should be great. Yeah, I have been watching the Zactomodel thread and I know that he is almost complete with the intakes, and I have time because I have so much plane to deal with, yeah but I am waiting to get two pairs from him.
 
Now, back to the legs:
 
Here are the pictures of the legs and how far I have gotten so far:
 

 
the seams are terrible and in ackward places to sand.
 
But I used Mr. Dissolved putty.
 

 

 
Then the legs came out good.
 
 
I applied Alclad Gloss Black to the oleo's of the landing gear.
 

 
 
Then last night I applied Alclad Chrome to the oleo's
 

 
When I look at the oleo's, I remember a fellow member telling me to make sure that I sand the part completely and with different grades of sandpaper, to make sure that the scratches are out before I applied any type of Alclad to it because Alclad tends to show all mistakes. I didn't remember to do that completely but the oleo's turned out very good. But I will remember his advice in the future.
 

I always try dry brushing but sometimes it don't work out for me. I tried my best and dry brushed the tires with a light grey.
 

 
 
Then these pictures are the final result for the Tomcat wheels.

 

 
Now I would say that I added something to the tire on the left and dented the rim to show usage....but that would be a lie.
I think I grabbed the rim wrong when I removed the resin block.

Thank for the info Kagemusha, I will look those up.