JASDF Mitsubishi UH-60J Blackhawk

[bdthoresen]

Howdy again, LSP friends.....

Well, I have been lacking the motivational "mojo" to hack plastic recently, and I have not really touched any styrene in months. I have had the Academy "DAP" Blackhawk sitting around for a year or so, and after reading through Shark's and Elboogie's 'Hawk threads, I started to think about building my mine. The problem I had, however, was that almost everyone who has this issue of Academy;s kit builds the DAP, and I have grown quite bored of models of the 160th SOAR birds....So I began to look for something different. After numerous searches for inspiration, I stumbled across a great walkaround of a JASDF Blackhawk.....and I was hooked. (Picture scarfed from the interweb and posted under "fair use" and all that).....Here is an example of what I am looking to build.....



So upon further inspection of the kit, I plan on building all of the relevant modifications to model a Mitsubishi license-built UH-60J. I plan on detailing up the interior, and scratch building the relevant parts. Decals and stencils will be a challenge, but I will cross that bridge when I come to it. I do not plan on going as crazy on the kit as Oliver's build, but I will be detailing what I feel is relevant. I should have some in-progress shots over this coming weekend, so be sure to stay-tuned.

So far, some of the mods will include;
-Modified cabin to reflect the Japanese outfitting of their SAR aircraft...I plan to detail most of the kit parts......
-Modified ESS wings to reflect the Japanese configuration
-Reshaping of the cockpit door windows
-Detailing of both rotor heads
-Kitbashing IR sensor array on aircraft's nose
-Two-tone blue paint scheme (decals will be a pain in the arse, as well, there are none!)

I have been hunting interior photos of these birds for awhile, and there is nothing quite definitive on the net. However, I believe that I have cobbled enough information to piece together a fairly accurate representation.....

I am excited to build this thing. I hope this will fuel the fires to finish some of my outstanding projects, like the CAC Boomerang, and my Hayate.

More soon- Thanks for stopping by-
 
THOR   

 

[NavyF4s]

Great choice!

I am loving these chopper builds and this looks to be very promising.

[kike_gt]

Great choice! did you find that walk aroud on the net? I'd love to take a look at it since JASDF is one of my favorite subjects! definetly going to follow your build, cause I've been looking for a "diferent" paint job for a blackhawk, I know I couldn't make a decent job with a black one, not yet at least!  I do love the warhawk too but if I'd have to choose I'd do what you did!!

[Aluxe]

sophisticated, some work, yes, but worth experiencing .... luck with your project

[LSP_Kevin]

Good to see you back Thor, and with such an interesting project, too!

 

Kev

[shark64]

will be watching this one. A lot of hawks are being built on so many various sites lately..thats pretty cool.

Oliver