John1

Working on an MER /TER decal set?

Fantastic summary, thanks Chris!

Looks like the guy on Britmodeler had a good source. ICM has confirmed that a 35th AH-1G is due next year. Given that I've got a crapload of unbuilt models on hand, I think I might hold off on the current kit and wait for the 35th one. I have to wonder if ICM heard some of the complaints about 32nd scale and decided to release all new helos (which hopefully will include a Huey) in 35th? Would seem a bit odd to have two series of helo kits, 32nd and 35th competing against each other for sales.

I thought so, just never knew the D's had this fitted. Thought it was only installed on the EF-4C early Weasel.

Good catch, thank you! It’s an easy fix, can’t believe I missed that.

Cool picture Finn. Anyone know what those triangular antennas are on the nose?

I'm back! Sorry for the month and a half delay in updates, I made the mistake of going down the F-4C / Operation Bolo wormhole. Finally decided to take a break from sanding bogus panels off the Tamiya F-4C fuselage and do a bit of work on Little Bunny. Unlike the Mosquito I just built, the Hase kit is amazingly simple with very few parts. That being said, the detail is pretty nice, especially given the age of the kit. All I've added to the fuselage was to thin out the engine cooling doors under the nose and the opening in the tailplane for the elevator linkage. After that, it was simply a matter of popping in the cockpit and gluing the fuselage together. Not sure if there are some fit issues or I botched the installation of the resin cockpit but I did have some gaps that needed to be sanded and puttied. After that, I bit of re-scribing and replaced a few rivets. One mod I did make was to saw off and lower the engine mounting stub a few mm's. From other builds, it appears that if you don't do this, your cowling will be sitting a bit too high. Next up - the engine. I used the Quickboost R2800. It's a nice replica and cheap as well. I thought about getting the Vector engine but it's pricey and honestly, for this application, all you are going to see is the front. If I was planning on leaving some cowling panels off, I would have spent much more time here but given that's not the case, all I added were the pushrods and ignition leads. Neither of these items is my best work but again, from the viewing angle, they don't have to be perfect. One last modification - the version of the R2800 used in these aircraft have some very unique magneto housings. Hasegawa missed this entirely, as did Quickboost. See below (picture graciously provided by LSP's own "Juggernut". To get something close to these magnetos, I took the ones that came in the QB kit, reversed them and added some styrene details. Being positioned as they are, a lot of the crude details I added really won't be very visible through the cowl opening. Here's my take on this engine: For weathering I did a black wash on the cylinders and then used Flory's "Grime" wash on the crankcase and between the cylinders. I plan on going back and cleaning off a bit of the Flory wash in the pic directly above. Here's the engine press-fitted in place, looks like I need to touch up the black around a few of those bolt-heads. Remember - you'll never see the tops of those cylinders once the cowling is glued on. Last item will be a Pratt & Whitney logo on the front of the crankcase. Unlike the picture of the real thing above, engines in combat service got filthy very quickly. Between the dust, oil leaks, maintenance being done outdoors in all weather, it didn't take long for the engines to develop a nice crusty patina. Along similar lines, the cowling interior was NMF but this wouldn't stay clean for very long either. I mucked up the inside with more Flory wash, I plan on going back to add some oil spillage later. It looks horrible below but when viewed with engine in place, from the front, I think it will look pretty decent. I checked, the knockout pin impressions on the interior won't be visible once the engine is in place! So that's it for now. Gotta get back to sanding my F-4 fuselage, thanks for looking and have a good weekend!

Are they all early B models? Doesn’t look like any are fitted with the Shoehorn gear. I so wish T would supersize this kit to 32nd. It would be amazing.

Take it for what it’s worth - over on Britmodeler, a gent posted that he was told by someone connected to ICM that they’ll be releasing a 1/35th scale AH-1G next year. Interesting……

Amazing. I especially like how you replicate the glass on the instruments. Very realistic. How are you guys making out with the F-4C set? I'm getting close to having to make a purchase and I'd love to see what you have to offer before I send my money to Red Fox.

Yikes, the magneto is much different from the Hase part. I'm using the Quickboost engine, it's got a different style of "tapered" housing. I think the best I'll be able to do is to add some bits to the QB parts and get it close as possible. Still won't be a very good replication though.

Hasegawa instructions call out either interior green or YZC. Any idea which color would be appropriate and would this also include the interior of the air intake on the bottom? While on the subject - does anyone have a good picture of the unique magneto housings that were present on the R2800's installed on these aircraft? Thank you all in advance. John

Can't speak for Pete but I just ordered a UH-60 M240 set from them. Took approx 3 weeks for delivery, which considering it shipped from Moscow is pretty decent.

You are doing awesome work. I'm just in the planning stages for my F-4C build and am following this one intently. How'd you make out with removing all those BDA patches on the fuselage? Just curious what you used for scribing and riveting. Also, I can't tell from the pics but would your F-4B have another door for the internal countermeasure dispensers on the aft fuselage? Not sure when they were introduced, if it was the same time as the RHAW equip or later on. Good luck with the college thing, my oldest just graduated. On time, on budget (no loans), with honors. She's coming up from Virginia Beach this weekend for the ceremony. Don't miss the college selection process one bit!

Mike, those are great images, had no idea there was an unrestored late war 109 cockpit out there (aside from the Australian example). Any other pics available to share?