Dukie99

As I just finished my Swiss F/A-18 for the Air Superiority GB, I will try my hand at building KH MH-60S. This will be built OOB with the exception of resin wheels from Reskit and paint masks from Eduard. There are some stellar builds of the KH Blackhawk on this site (Pete and Hawkwrench) and my ambitions are much more modest: a clean build and a decent paint job. I have the other iterations of this kit in the stash and with quality aftermarket appearing (reskit rotors and hopefully some more weapons in the future), there will be more detailed build in my future. Speaking of aftermarket, there was one bit of KH aftermarket in the box: a resin and metal M197, which looks absolutely great. Box shot and aftermarket: Cheers, David

I call this one done. Very happy with how it turned out. I have one more F/A-18 in the stash (a D) but will wait a bit before tackling it. I will go for the MH-60S Knighthawk for the Navy GB. Here are the RFI pictures, sorry for the quality of the pictures, I am not much of a photographer. Cheers, David

Whoa! impressive start, love the canvas / seatbelt holder behind the seat, very realistic. Cheers, David

I could not help myself, I had to start it right away. Since I need to wait for the Quinta cockpit detail to show up, I started with the bomb bay and cleaning up as many pieces as possible and dryfitting the various components. I have to say I am impressed by the quality of the molding and the fit. The last time I built a Zvezda kit was almost ten years ago (a tank) and the molding and fit were best described as "agricultural". If the Su-57 is any indication, they have made some serious improvement in quality. I wish they would enter the 1:32 market and serve us the full line-up of modern Russian jets. Why do we have to rely on a Chinese company to provide 1/32 scale models of the best that Russian engineering can produce. We need some Russian pride here, Vladimir are you listening?

This bad boy landed this morning on my doorstep direct from Russia. I have Quinta decals for the cockpit and resin cans on the way, then I will start a build log on the non LSP section. Cheers, David

Here is the other side

Thank you Brian. Finished the loadout. Can't say enough good thing about the Zacto missiles. My only nitpick is that you need to source decals from elsewhere (which is not easy for the Aim-9x. Cheers, David

Maru and Gazzas thank you for leaving a comment. A quick update but an exciting one for me. The centerpiece of this build and its make or break moment is the tailart: two different photo-realistic tigers on the outside face of the tails and a detail close-up of a tiger eye in the inside face of the tails. Decals are from Syhart and they are are huge, covering the entire tail, with thankfully a separate decal for the moving part. Given the shape of the tails and the number of details molded there, I was very concerned about the decals conforming well to the plastic. As soon as I finished the general painting and gloss coat on the bird, I decided to apply these decals first. Although it was a nerve racking process over several nights, the Syhart decals (printed by Cartograf) reacted beautifully to micro Sol and gentle persuasion (and a lot of patience) and I am very pleased with the result. It is not perfect but in real life it looks amazing. See for yourself (the moving part of the tail is just dry fitted and will be glued with PVA later on). Only one of the tails, the other tail is also done, but the moving part would not remain in place when dry fitted, so no picture yet) More update soon. Cheers, David

I don't know about Quinta doing a E but Red Fox Studio has two sets for an E (one with MFD on and one with MFD off), but I don't know how this company compares to Quinta as I have not yet purchased from them but the quality looks comparable. They also do several sets for Phantoms. https://www.rfstudio.hu/termekek?kategoria=quick-set-termekek&szuro=&kereses=

I am really hoping that Quinta gets us a set for the two seater Super Bug. I just got their set for thee Mig-29 SMT and it is spectacular.

That last scheme is indeed very appealing. I have built two Hasegawa Hellcat (one when I was a kid and one upon returning to the hobby almost ten years ago), I will be interested to see how the Trumpy kit compare. Cheers, David

Beautiful start. I am sure the final result will be gorgeous as per your usual. Your Aeromarine is for me the coolest build I have seen so far on LSP. Cheers, David

How time flies, a month has passed since the last update. I have been working steadily on this kit but I have to admit I prefer spending time building than documenting every step, many much more talented modellers here who do that wonderfully. Anyway, this is a great kit and a pleasure to build. I have used the Reskit exhaust and the quality is top notch even though the instructions could be a bit clearer. I have also used the Reskit resin wheel and the quality is excellent and well worth the cost. G-factor leg just prepped. You need a good metal saw and good diamond files to clean the casting seams, but once this is done, they look great and fit really well in respective fuselage slots. Glueing detail pieces to the metal is a bit tricky with superglue but it works. With added detail kit parts and painted with a gloss coat, waiting for decals and a wash Reskit cans, also waiting for a wash Zactoman's Aim-9 and Aim-120 Painted and in the process of being decaled. The quality of the casting and the details are just phenomenal. More update soon. Cheers, David

Stupendous painting and weathering and great photography. This is also a great scheme. Cheers, David

In the last five years, I have built two cobras, a Hip, a Hind, MH-6, a CH-47G, a Frelon and the old Revell Apache. Except for the Revell Apache, all these helos are 1/35th and I think I would have preferred the new ICM cobras to be in 1/35 so I could display them next to my two other cobras. That being said, 1/32 or 1/35, I will get the ICM cobras. Now if somebody could come up with a Havoc or a Hokum, that would make my day.

Just amazing, I am drooling... Cheers, David

More progress. Finishing the cockpit before closing the forward portion of the fuselage. As far as Aires resin cockpit goes, this one fits very well within the two sides. the only difficulty is to match the step on top of the front landing gear, so careful cutting and sanding is required but once this is done the fit is snug and everything align. This is where it stands, I was bit heavy on the drybrushing but in the naked eye it does look better than on the close-up pictures. The lifted pain at the bottom of the tub will be covered by the bangseat. More progress soon. Cheers, David

Some progress to show. I built and painted the front landing gear bay and painted the main bays. The first picture is paint under gloss coat and the second after a Tamya brown wash. Cheers, David

I will join this GB with another Academy F/A-18C. The F/A-18+ I built for the Training Day GB was a very enjoyable experience, so I thought I would build another one. I have decals for Swiss Air Force J-5011 in a 2014 Tigermeet marking. I have a fair amount of aftermarket for this one as well: Aires cockpit, Res-kit exhausts, 4dable model chaff/flare launchers, rhino seamless intakes and g-factor brass legs. I will load this bird with two sidewinders and two Amraams from Zactomodels which are their way. I have another F/A-18D in the stash and I may tackle it for the upcoming Navy GB, we'll see. Box shot and AM I have cut and prepped the resin and gave it a thorough cleaning More progress soon. Cheers, David

This is spectacular. If I was the soldier drinking water I would be gripping my gun. As I was told in my army days, you can break everything but losing anything (especially your gun) is a big no no. you could motorize the rotors and add a brownout generator to the dio it would be awesome (but your wife may disagree) cheers, David

Neo, thanks for the kind words. I used tamiya clear gloss mixed with gunze leveling thinner (40% clear gloss 60% thinner. I did really a pin wash removing the excess just after it gets dry, going slowly section by section. For the camo, I blown up the decal placement instruction to 1/32 scale and cut the shape and then reported them on kabuki tape. Works well for the flat surface of the wings, not so much for the round surface. I use massive amount of masking tape on this project. cheers, David

And I call this one done. Overall a very fine kit and a very enjoyable experience. I am actually thinking a building a C for the air superiority GB (in Swiss markings). We'll see. Here are the pictures of the finished bird. Cheers, David

I have no solution for your aircraft, but your landscapes are amazing and the clouds and sky are just spectacular (the painting on the right on the floor especially). Do you exhibit in galleries? You should change your handle from Mozart to Turner (but maybe you play the violin like no other... Cheers, David

Getting there slowly but surely. Trying not to break or screw anything at this late stage. Painted the resin wheels Glued the flaps and ailerons and after a gloss coat applied the decals which needed to be aligned with the camouflage, which required first some additional masking and repainting but overall it works well. I am applying Tamiya dark brown wash on the panel line and on some of the prominent rivets. On pictures this bird looks fairly pristine so I did not want to overdo it The cockpit which still needs some work Bottom of the aircraft and details of the wheel wells Getting there. More progress soon. Cheers, David

Mi-28 Su-34 Su-24