Revell 1/48 AH-64 Apache

[handiabled]

Great job getting all of the flash out of some pretty tight areas

[Tojo72]

I really like those figures and the cockpit

[tcoat]

Feb 24, 2024 4:25:42 GMT -5 handiabled said:

Great job getting all of the flash out of some pretty tight areas

Luckily the plastic was reasonably soft and not brittle or it could have been a rough go. As it was it only took an hour with the trusty #11 blade.

Feb 24, 2024 7:42:50 GMT -5 Tojo72 said:

I really like those figures and the cockpit

They are truly nice moldings for the time and came out very well. It is great that they are not both exactly the same like they frequently were back then. Even have the proper helmet which I believe was unique to the Apache. The cockpit detail is pretty good for what can be seen once it is closed up.


Pretty much every seam and locating hole (for grab handles etc)  needed putty or clear parts cement to fill the voids but I managed to save most of the raised detail and it is ready for paint.

[keavdog]

Great job cleaning up that rotor head. Awesome progress.
The figures look great - is that Tommy Lee Jones and Nick Cage in there?

[tcoat]

Feb 24, 2024 12:45:10 GMT -5 keavdog said:

Great job cleaning up that rotor head. Awesome progress.
The figures look great - is that Tommy Lee Jones and Nick Cage in there?

Well I call them Frank and Joe (I read a lot of Hardy boys as a kid) but now that you say that the gunner does sort of look like Jones.

[Medicman71]

[tcoat]

Feb 24, 2024 15:48:08 GMT -5 Medicman71 said:

Had to image search the first picture to see what this even was from.

[kyledehart5]

That’s looking really good now. Those figures are great!

[handiabled]

Feb 24, 2024 18:14:07 GMT -5 tcoat said:

Feb 24, 2024 15:48:08 GMT -5 Medicman71 said:

Had to image search the first picture to see what this even was from.

The movie is called Firebirds. I remember seeing it many years ago.

[stuart]

WOW! That's a very nice bit of clean up.

It's funny how much this kit looks like the old Airfix kit from the same period - I keep meaning to get another of those one day and do what your doing.

[tcoat]

Another very odd design aspect is the horizontal stabilizer. They have you trap a "hinge" post between the top and bottom with a "do not glue" instruction as if it should be movable.





Then glue it to the fixed actuator arm so it can't move anyway.




The Hellfires are nicely molded but need a fair bit of clean up.




The rocket tubes have a raised part on the bottom. I was not looking forward to trying to clean that up and then realized "hey there are rivets molded on this".




Took some searching but but it seems that at least some of the very early tubes did indeed have a riveted seam on the bottom. Not as heavy as the mold of course but I decided to leave it.

[stuart]

Leaving it sounds like a plan, it's on the bottom afterall. Looks like you're making good progress, you're really making me want to go and pick up the old Airfix kit.

[tcoat]

Had to trim about 3/16 of an inch off the rear of the overhead breaker panel or it interferes with the partition between the cockpits. Could be I had something placed wrong but now it fits fine.

[Medicman71]

Feb 24, 2024 18:14:07 GMT -5 tcoat said:

Feb 24, 2024 15:48:08 GMT -5 Medicman71 said:

Had to image search the first picture to see what this even was from.

How have you not seen Firebirds. Yeah it's a dumb movie but.....well, APACHES!!

[keavdog]

All sorts of choppers and this guy that is fully acrobatic md-500 in a gunfight with two apaches (it's a pretty bad movie.... but ya still)

[tcoat]

Feb 26, 2024 12:23:18 GMT -5 Medicman71 said:

Feb 24, 2024 18:14:07 GMT -5 tcoat said:

Had to image search the first picture to see what this even was from.

How have you not seen Firebirds. Yeah it's a dumb movie but.....well, APACHES!!

[tcoat]

Some random splotches of dark and light grey as well as some green plastic left bare to preshade the helo drab to come. Canopy received all dark grey to start with.

[kyledehart5]

That looks excellent!! Nice random variations.

[TJ]

Much better. No longer looks like a glob of plastic

[stuart]

Very nice indeed!

[stuart]

Feb 26, 2024 12:36:37 GMT -5 tcoat said:

Feb 26, 2024 12:23:18 GMT -5 Medicman71 said:

How have you not seen Firebirds. Yeah it's a dumb movie but.....well, APACHES!!

Youtube is your friend...

I mean yeah, it's a crap film, but APACHES!!!! (actually I perfer the Cobras at the start, but that's just me :-D )

[tcoat]

Feb 26, 2024 21:04:09 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

That looks excellent!! Nice random variations.

Feb 27, 2024 5:06:25 GMT -5 TJ said:

Much better. No longer looks like a glob of plastic

Feb 27, 2024 6:24:15 GMT -5 stuart said:

Very nice indeed!

Thanks guys. Most of that will be barely visible or disappear completely under the main coat but I am after the blotchy but not really dirty look that many pictures show. 

[TJ]

Umm the passenger in the last pic has a really noisy window seat

[tcoat]

Feb 27, 2024 8:09:38 GMT -5 TJ said:

Umm the passenger in the last pic has a really noisy window seat

[Medicman71]

[stikpusher]

Feb 27, 2024 8:09:38 GMT -5 TJ said:

Umm the passenger in the last pic has a really noisy window seat

flying economy class sucks... 

I watched Firebirds once when it came out on video... I won't get that rental fee or those hours back... never again... 

[tcoat]

Base coat of Model Master enamel helo drab down. Very thin to let the preshading show through. Nice and blotchy. It is not grey as it appears here but more the greenish tone. Can't get the colour right in the pics since flash washes them out and no flash is way to dark to see. Going to need a bigger light box at this rate.




Can see the real colour better on the rotor hub.

[oortiz10]

tcoat, I really like your rotor head. I took a look at mine, and I can see that I have my work cut out for me. I hope mine looks as good as yours when I'm done with it.

I also like the splotchy look of the paint. I want to do one of mine with some old, worn paint, and the other with a nicer, newer paint job. I'll be following along to see how you do things and how it all turns out.

-O

[tcoat]

Steps 2 and 3 done on rotor head. Dry bush subtle wear on bolt heads and some raised sections. Silver painted on hydraulic shafts. Light brown painted on whatever those things I had to separate are. The whole works given a "dirt" wash with Rejuvenate floor finish with globs of burnet umber and charcoal grey craft paint mixed into in. This is a different mix than my usual black tinted floor finish that I use on everything.




One more step to go.

[keavdog]

You worked some real magic on that rotor head!