mtaylor

It depends... what ship? By depends.. various navies had their own paint schemes which also changed. Commercial shipping was by the company rules. The paint was to protect the wood, usually black as it was cheap and abundant. Also red was used using iron oxide as the color. Some navies did white near the crosstrees and tops (some writers call them "crows nests".)

I don't think you'll find 1/93. Probably 1/96 should be close. Can you show a picture of the netting you're asking about? I'm thinking it's the stowage for the hammocks but not certain this is what you mean.

At that point in time, it might be a coin toss as the guns that Shotlocker showed were either breechloaders or small enough to man handle and may well have been used compared the smooth bore muzzle-loaders.

Ken, may I suggest you open a build log? It bet an excellent way for those interested to follow along and see how build her.

That sounds like a good plan, OC.

Have a quick memory that hit me this morning.... I wasn't on the bird or even flying that day, but was part of the team that was sent to inspect it after it got back. We had 4 birds doing an insertion of grunts into the bush with Huey gunships providing air cover. They dropped the grunts and the was light fire coming from the VC. One of the 53's took several hits and then got a call from one of the Huey's that the 53 was leaking fuel. Panic set in on the 53. The Huey insists it's seeing fuel. The pilot calls for an emergency at the base (the insertion took place about 15-20 miles from the base). The crew chief runs to the rear and sure enough, he's seeing a large mist coming out from underneath. He reports it to the pilot, who asks the Huey jockey where is the leak...? Huey reports back... "middle of the belly where the fuel tank is."... As I understand it, a lot cursing at that point took place along with an education for the Huey pilot. CH-53's have their fuel tanks int he sponsons, not the belly like many of other choppers. It was water. We had heavy rains for about a week, the two windows where the guns hang out weren't put back (normal... if we had a hot call, it's get the guns on and go). When I got out to the 53, they already had the deck up, and found the leak along with the slug from the AK. We searched for all the holes and traced the flight path but just sheet metal damage, No electronics, electrical, hydraulic, etc. was hit. As I understood it, the Huey pilot had to buy several rounds at the O-Club for that one.

Not sheer luck, Jack. The Fairy Godmother Department did it. (This particularly referenced in Heinlein's "Glory Road". The Fairy Godmother Department is an elderly GS-5 lady who's usually out on sick leave. When she does work it's only on Wednesdays for a half day. She does good things for military guys when she can.)

I guess I'm bashing this kit then with the guns and mods to accept them. Cool. I'm still cleaning up the fuselage exterior. Seems that are some things that would only apply the German version. So.. got to make them gone. I have to admit.. I'm as happy as a pig in a waller. My parts that I ordered yesterday were shipped out this morning. Excellent service is wonderful after that last batch of problems and all the excuses.

Off to a great start, OC. Looking good.

Yes!!!!! Put some light on that beautiful work so we can see the details!!!!!

Hi David. Welcome to MSW. I'm looking forward to your build log on the Hood.

There are places to do that. But I think the closest ones are in Nevada. And who wants to fly around desert?

You have the advantage with a bigger model scale and more open crew area. I've looked at this pretty thoroughly and at this moment, crew is not the picture. I'm really just happy to have the guns option. I've seen builds while doing my homework where the builder has basically scraped just about everything and scratch built it to add detail. I guess they're as fanatical about detail as we scratch ship builders are....

Now that I think about it.... While in my squadron stateside, we had to the Physical Condition Tests once a year. Run 3 miles in 25 minutes, push-ups, and chin-ups. Seems there was something else but I forget. First time I did it, I wasn't the fastest and the Sarge-Major came along side. Handed me his canteen and told me take a long sip. It was beer. Perked me right up... he took one of my canteens of water and dumped it, reached into his pack and pulled out can and pour the contents (beer) into my canteen. He did that all of us at rear and we picked up the pace.

True... never, ever, show up drunk. Hung over.... depends if you could get enough coffee in you before flying. But... if not on the flight schedule for the next day, all bets were off.

Looking forward to it, OC.

Living in hell.... bad water and food that left something to be desired. Beer was cheap and so alcohol. Weed was a big no-no. So.. we drank. The standard phrase was that "In Vietnam, what we called mild social drinking was called chronic alcoholism in the States.". Hmm.... I had to "requalify" on the rifle range and pistol range while I was there. I actually shot better at the targets with a few beers in me than I ever did Stateside with no beer.

I don't see a crew being done in this project, OC. They just won't be seen. I did look at all the aftermarket products and basically, they're not much better than what came with the kit. Now if I were to maybe do half a fuselage and then detail the interior..... I'm still working on the fuselage, sir. I just realized I need to remove the window framing from the port side and fiddle with a few things.

Lou, The guns are going to be a problem... Seems that the way they sell these things is in a two pack but one gun is for the door, the other goes on the ramp. Never happened back then. We experimented but still would have had both guns up front (door and left side window). So... after scratching my head, straining my eyes and and doing some faceplants while sorting out the bits and pieces... I'm rethinking the guns a bit. She will have them. What I'm going to do is I have ordered two guns per the below photo (now why I never found them over a month ago is beyond me). Then I'll do a combination of the kit parts from the first batch and scratch build the mount for the other side of the bird. You saw the quality of the Reskit parts and it's not great. But I'll use it for a starting point. My guns should be here by Saturday. Beats the hell out of waiting a month for them to come from France.

Wahka, Please open a build log for this instead of posting your work here. This is the Terror kit, correct? If so, open the log here: https://modelshipworld.com/forum/10-build-logs-for-ship-model-kits-members-only/ Read the pinned post at the top of the first page on how to name your log. If need help, PM an Admin.

Here's the state of the build. Many subassemblies built, exterior of the fuselage isn't not painted yet but holes have been filled. I probably won't paint the exterior until the deck and fuselage are assembled in case I need to fill some gaps. And those guns are tiny and will be a challenge. After re-looking at the after market, what would need to be scratch built on the interior, I"m sticking with the basic kit. I just don't think my skills are up too it.

Well said, Lou. I try not go there in my mind with the Dust Off flights we did. Saw too much stuff that one should not see.

Welcome to MSW, Wahka. Looks pretty good from here. I'd suggest you start a build log as it's the best way to get help when you need it.

You are right about making the ship "come alive", OC. I'm loving it.