Zulu Up! - 1/48 Kitty Hawk AH-1Z Viper - FINISHED 4/15

[coro69]

these low-viz markings are always a great look on these grey helicopters...

[elco]

That is some impressive painting my friend!

[Wes]

That is on seriously sexy dangerous looking helicopter. WOW

[Deleted]

Wow.... just wow!

[sabre]

Jeez that's come up nice, great work as always Doogsatx.

[doogsatx/]

And...decals are sorted. Overall, definitely happy with how they've come out.





Next up, sealing the decals and seeing to a bunch of small bits, then moving into weathering. The replacement Hellfires should be here today or tomorrow, too, so work on those will begin once I have them in hand.

The Sidewinders also got their forward fins and seeker heads painted last night. Pictures show that they are definitely NOT the straight black called for in the instructions, but more of a dark metal, so I went with Alclad Steel, which seems to do the job well.

[TRM]

She's looking awesome Doogs! Excellent work on the decs!! Hellfires look pretty sweet as well!!

[wbill76]

Got to love how well those markings tie-in with the paint work. Very nice!

[doogsatx/]

Yay! Replacement Hellfires showed up last night. The Hasegawa missiles aren't really any better than the KH ones save one regard - clear seeker heads.



The launch racks are similar - not better, not worse. Though I had to drill out holes for the AH-1Z pylons to mount to.



I've also ordered some Fireball missile markings for these bad boys...will certainly slow down the build, but will give the ordnance a lot more personality.

[doogsatx/]

Got the Hellfires and M299 racks painted up last night. The racks are 70/30 Black and OD - the ratio recommended by Hasegawa for US helo green or CARC green or whatever that dark drab that Apaches/Blackhawks/etc wear is called these days. In the grand scheme, these are just small adds so I'm not sweating color accuracy.

The Hellfires are black with a dash of RLM 70 added. They still look black, but with a little something going on.



Still a ways to go - have some Fireball missile stencils on order. After those and weathering, I'm hoping to end up with something in line with this:

[wing_nut]

Have not checked in for a bit and wow or lolooks great. The missile is something special.

[TRM]

Some nice work on the ordinance Doogs!! You seem to be heading into he homestretch soon!! Fantastic work!!

[doogsatx/]

Panel lines washed...not too much longer before I can strip off the cockpit masking and start mucking with the internals again.

[doogsatx/]

Last night's fun - decal work on the Hellfires. Stencils courtesy of Fireball Decals. Good sheet, but frustrating that the entire sheet is carrier film, so each stupid decal has to be tightly trimmed.



Got the worst of the lot - the circumference stripes - knocked out last night. Still have to finish off the aft "between the fins" stripes as well as the stencils and placards, but the hard stuff is behind me now at least.

[doogsatx/]

Having to trim every single decal really slows down the process - got through all of the tail stripes and about half of the stenciling on the Hellfires last night. Tonight it'll be the other side, as well as the K stencils on the seekers.

[doogsatx/]

Hellfire stenciling DONE. Just in time for like five days of forecasted thunderstorms.

[wbill76]

Well worth the tedium of cutting out and applying them Doogs. Glad to hear you're getting rain especially after the last few drought years even if it does mess with your ability to keep the assembly line humming.

[doogsatx/]

Some light weathering and flat coat are now down - and lots of tedious canopy unmasking is in my rear-view mirror

[JimD]

Mar 30, 2015 9:25:10 GMT -5 doogsatx/ said:

Mar 29, 2015 12:02:10 GMT -5 JimD said:

Matt, I saw you were looking for Hellfires with clear noses and mentioned the Hasegawa Apache. I have that kit. Because I started it years ago, I won't be finishing it I don't believe since I'm not keen on what I did in the cockpit. Anyway, the kit has 8...you're welcome to them. Just shoot me a PM if you like.

Thanks for the offer - looks like someone else in the same situation is already sending some my way, but I'll let you know if they flake out!

Seems like unfinished Hasegawa Apaches are relatively common...

Completely missed that, though I did see you got your hands on some. Good deal. Clear heads make a difference for sure. And yeah that Apache Kit was a little beyond where i was when I started it many year ago. Totally amateur hour-Ed the interior painting.

Just ordered this One so hopefully the next chopper build faires better.

Very killer looking as usual

[doogsatx/]

Days of rain are a lot easier to take when you're past the airbrushing phases!

Got the "reach out and touch someone" elements of the Viper got sorted last night - "wings", Hellfires + launchers, Hydras, Sidewinders, rotary canon...





Also got the exhaust elements installed.



Next focus shifts to getting the cockpit sorted (and figuring out a way to glue the canopy in the opened position!)

[TRM]

Nice seeing the armament go on Doogs!! Things are looking sweet!! I don't envy trying o get the canopy where you want, but sue you have a plan!!

[deafpanzer]

Back from week long vacation I am really loving your Viper!!!

[Wes]

Looking beautiful.

That coat of light weathering is really bringing her to life.

[elco]

This is realy something, great stuff mate. Real eye candy!

[doogsatx/]

RAGE.

I spent most of last night mucking about with the canopy. If you're not familiar with the way the AH-1 works, the canopy "doors" hinge to the upper canopy and open out on opposite sides for the pilot and gunner. This leaves a very precarious gluing situation.

Using white glue, I got it...for a bit.





Until I took the canopy back off, and the door lost its purchase and fell off.

Here's the difficulty. You have two tabs to work with, and two depressions for them to mount to. There's not really a positive, lock-in type of fit. More of a "hold this here, hold that there" kinda thing.

I can't use solvent because everything's been painted. I can't use super glue because everything's been painted, and the canopy isn't Futured. I can't use Gators Grip because the weight of the canopy door and the elasticity of the GG would see the door droop over time.

In my stock of glues, that leaves straight-up Elmers. Which kinda works, but which I don't think has the strength to really work with such small attachment points.

Anybody have any ideas of an alternative? Ideally fast-ish curing (you can't jig this, you just have to go all zen-like and hold the pieces) and not elastic and not prone to ruining clear parts.

[JimD]

I'm at a loss on glue suggestion since you can't got the CA route. Good to know, so one can Future though...have you by chance tried mocking up the canopy in a closed position? More out of curiosity about than suggesting you close it.

[doogsatx/]

I'd have to cut off the tabs to even mock it up...so that's a no-go unless I want to commit 100%...

[dupes]

Looks great, man! But wow...stenciling a pile of Hellfires with a full-film decal sheet. Yikes.

Bummer about the canopies. Could you pin them with tiny bits of brass rod?

[doogsatx/]

Apr 13, 2015 10:44:05 GMT -5 dupes said:

Looks great, man! But wow...stenciling a pile of Hellfires with a full-film decal sheet. Yikes.

Bummer about the canopies. Could you pin them with tiny bits of brass rod?

Not enough material to work with - too afraid I'd end up drilling through the canopy!

Currently considering trying either tacky glue, which is supposed to dry faster and stronger than Elmers, or resort to epoxy.

[JimD]

Ahh. Ok. That's a conundrum. I'd hate to whack the tabs off and find they don't fit closed well...

I thought of Epoxy but I'm not sure how it would effect the clear plaaric...?