1/35 UH-1H Huey By lmagna

[Canute]

Lou, nice work on those cabin supports. Welcome to the Kitbashers Klub.

 

Manufacturers pick and choose their projects. Guess the good old Huey wasn't sexy enough for them.

[lmagna]

Thanks Ken

Does membership come with a little hammer?

[Old Collingwood]

Thats the beauty  with builds like this  - we keep adding bits and pieces as we move forward through the build - almost like a  boost in confidence.

 

OC.

[lmagna]

59 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

almost like a  boost in confidence.

Maybe for you OC

I'm pretty much terrified with almost everything I try that is new. There are SO MANY new aspects to this build that I have never done before, foremost being the fact that I am doing it in public! It has been something like 25 years since I even built a plastic model outside of a car or two, let alone detail it out like you guys do. Most of my experience since childhood has been in building RC ships that look pretty good................ when running twenty feet off shore or more!

[Canute]

Lou, you gotta build up confidence. You start small and simple. Do those a few times and confidence grows. Move up a step and repeat. It's like public speaking or learning to drive. The more you do it, the better you feel. 👍

[Jack12477]

Lou, I'm still trying to figure out the super detailing too. 

Edited February 19, 2020 by Jack12477

[Old Collingwood]

3 minutes ago, Canute said:

Lou, you gotta build up confidence. You start small and simple. Do those a few times and confidence grows. Move up a step and repeat. It's like public speaking or learning to drive. The more you do it, the better you feel. 👍

I got vet good at Public speaking in my car  - problem was I had no audience.

 

OC.

[lmagna]

29 minutes ago, Canute said:

You start small and simple. Do those a few times and confidence grows.

Or you start out small and simple and the results look like C**P. Oh well in for a penny in for a dime, plugging on.

28 minutes ago, Jack12477 said:

Lou, I'm still trying to figure out the super detailing too. 

I'm not even into the super detailing yet! So far it has pretty much trying to pick the most accurate stuff and glue it in, and trying to learn how top use an airbrush. A few mods here and there and wondering how a important structural part was left out of not only the kit but the aftermarket stuff!

 

I haven't even begin with the PE stuff! Some of that looks microscopic! 

[CapnMac82]

18 hours ago, lmagna said:

I still think it is a shame that much of this is not already present

There are days when I suspect they pantograph 1/72 masters and ignore the problem of how sacling things up tends to magnify missing detail rather than minimize it.

But, that might be my jaded 2¢ on the topic.

 

Or, perhaps a flashback to the day I was building a Revell 1/96 Constitution and peering in through the gunports (musing on the eternal "gunport" question) and realizing what was bothering me most was that the sides were about 0.015 thick and not the 1/8 - 3/16" they ought to be in scale..  Which also brought to mind the two foot tall foc's'l deck of the Revell Cutty Sark.

 

Or, perhaps it was just a serving of less-good mushrooms.

[lmagna]

I suspect that neither of us is trying to make a living at selling these kits and still making a profit.

 

I have to hand it to Dragon in a way I suppose. They took the only 1/35th scale Huey molds available from the old Panda Models release when Panda went out of business. The panda kit was considered OK but definitely a step up from the old Revell 1/32nd rendition. They could have just released it as is but they did add a considerable amount of PE. I am picking and choosing kit and aftermarket and even after all these years I think I have some insight about the D and H model Huey's that not everyone has, but like I said in the beginning, one could do worse than building this model right out of the box. 

 

As I understand there is a new kit coming out by Kitty Hawk models in 1/35th also. By reputation their 1/48th D model is to kill for. The question will be whether they just take a pantograph, or its computer equivalent and scale it up, or if as some are saying it is going to the dream come true for larger builders. If it is the latter then my build done perfectly will just be so much painted plastic. In fact, I just looked at the instructions for the 1/48th scale Kitty Hawk Huey and even in that scale it blows this kit, (And my personal abilities) away, ( https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/1/3/5/1069135-88-instructions.pdf ) both in detail and in the way I remember how things were in real life. 

Edited February 19, 2020 by lmagna

[mtaylor]

7 hours ago, lmagna said:

Maybe for you OC

I'm pretty much terrified with almost everything I try that is new. There are SO MANY new aspects to this build that I have never done before, foremost being the fact that I am doing it in public! It has been something like 25 years since I even built a plastic model outside of a car or two, let alone detail it out like you guys do. Most of my experience since childhood has been in building RC ships that look pretty good................ when running twenty feet off shore or more!

You're a better man than I, Gunga Din...   Out of 6 .50 cal.s, I have 2. They ended up looking better than the other 4.   Once they dry I'll up date my log.   I think part of problem, Lou, is that we've lost our touch or maybe it's just  our confidence.   Haven't done this stuff in decades and we're beating ourselves up because "it didn't used to be this hard".   Personally, I'll be glad to go back to wood at a lot larger scale so I can actually see what I'm doing.      Hmm.... hang on... "maybe it's just our eyes?" he says reaching for a good excuse.

[Old Collingwood]

Keys  are  -  Good light  - Good vision  = glasses  +  magnifier,    patience  - tackling small stages at a time  and believe it or not  breathing control, I often find I cant speak as I kind of hold my breath while I am concentrating.

I also  some time do little  diagrams of my stage of what I want to do  and where parts should go.

 

OC.

[lmagna]

32 minutes ago, mtaylor said:

Out of 6 .50 cal.s, I have 2.

I haven't even begin to tackle the M23 mounting system and M-60s and mine are a much larger scale than yours!

 

After realizing that the cockpit pillars were missing and making the parts from scratch using not much more than memory, I spent the day today doing what I should have done in the first place, some research! SOOOO I think the parts I made will be removed and another step back and another do-over. Strangely enough the kit instructions for the smaller 1/48th Kitty Hawk kit had the best view of the design.

[mtaylor]

Yeah, there's a difference in kit manufacturer's products.  It was happening way back when as kits doing the model cars.  Every manufacturer had their own ideas on how the models should look and what was important and and what wasn't.    The more things change, the less they really do.

[lmagna]

21 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

Keys  are  -  Good light  - Good vision  = glasses  +  magnifier,    patience

Let's see....... I have average lighting, a Dining room 16 light Crystal chandelier and a somewhat small robot arm style work light stuck into a drawer. (I have been allowed to work in the dining area not modify it). OK vision considering my age and other infirmities, glasses out of necessity, but no real magnifier, except when I post close up pictures that show all of the stuff I thought looked OK. I have already demonstrated my patience by building first and doing research later and cutting out doors that did not need cutting out. Kind of like my typing. My brain is moving at one speed and my fingers not so fast, so things get a little out of whack now and then.

 

I will get it done. It  may not end up as the masterpiece I see in my mind or as good as you others are able to do, but it will get done.

[Old Collingwood]

Lou it  isnt a problem   as  long as you enjoy it and  have an idea  what you want  - Nothing else matters.

 

OC.

[Canute]

Bulls eye, OC.  Have fun, Lou. You're building one of your memories. That's good for you, mate.

[lmagna]

I have come to the irrevocable conclusion that I officially HATE PHOTO ETCH!😈 It is evil stuff invented by sadistic perfectionist rivet counters to scalp us normal humans of our hard earned cash while humiliating us at the same time!

 

There, I got that off my chest! I have spent the last few days trying to follow pretty much non existent instructions to attach mostly almost invisible little gold colored parts so that when the time comes they can be buried within the fuselage never to be seen again! It started with the cabin support columns that were missing from the kit altogether and in my typical OCD manner could not stand! The more I saw that they were not there the more it bothered me. SOOOOOOOOOOOO out came the wallet and another purchase went out over the Ethernet and the mailman found me stalking him yet again waiting for the package to arrive. The only answer to the problem was to buy a photo etch set that was not designed for this kit but for the Huey C model in 1/35th scale. As the D and H models were pretty much just stretched Cs I figured I could make it work.

 

When the sheets arrived I was truly shocked! Along with the few parts I needed there were other parts that could be used to assemble all kinds of other parts of the cabin as well! A great many of these parts are microscopic in size. Try a seat belt buckle in 1/35th scale! Or better yet the buttons located not only on the pilot's collective stick but the even smaller panel on the co-pilot's collective. We are talking about stuff that in real life is smaller than a pack of cigarettes! They expect you to assemble the foot pedals from 12 micro sized pieces that not only would have to be assembled to each other, but in some cases formed into the proper shape! I will gladly send the parts to anyone who wishes to to perform an act of masochism in their spare time!

 

So I started out with the eight pieces that were supplied to make up EACH column. The first little piece of course went flying from my tweezers never to be found again! My VERY FIRST SMALL PIECE. No fear though, this was going to become one of the modeling practices I was going to become proficient in over the next few days. In fact if it didn't fly, it broke, or just dropped while the glue was drying. In fact just about any modeling torture the demonic piece could think of tended to happen. And if I did get it glued in place properly then it would just get knocked off when I was trying to install the next part.

 

Eventually I was able not only to get the columns installed but finally the armor for the pilots seats and the foot rests and cabin floor extension in the main cockpit, along with a few small knobs and things that I just installed because by that time I was beginning to enjoy the pain! 

 

So here are my meager efforts. I know it looks pretty much like pure rubbish, but I am hoping the next step of painting and of course the eventual fact that almost all of this will be encased with a helicopter body will cover much of my learning efforts!

 

First off the cabin support columns. They were not exactly like the columns I remembered as all I remember are round holes but after altering them to fit they were vastly superior to anything I could have made and I was happy. 

    

Then there was the torture test of the cockpit. AFTER MANY hours of work this is what I have come up with. As I used the after market center console I did not need to apply the other fifteen or sixteen pieces if detailing that had been intended for the less detailed kit console. I had to finally invent my own method of installing the armor plates but the result even though a little more banged up than when I started is still better and more accurate than what was supplied in the kit. It would have been a snap if the designers had not insisted on a design that required a half dozen small parts with minimal gluing surface!

   

So now that I have shown the crappy "before" pictures I wail be painting over all of my efforts and hopefully convert the sows ear into at least a canvas purse if not a silk purse. At least I hope so. Then I will at least have to install the pilot's bodies to properly position the seats and peddles. When that is done then I will probably have to remove the foot rests and place them in the proper location for the pilots feet. Then it will be back into second class, the padded cell area, and all of the seating there.

 

Thanks for looking in. Hopefully the next update will not take so long.  

Edited February 28, 2020 by lmagna

[Jack12477]

Lou, be glad it was only 1:35 scale PE and  not 1:350 scale !    

 

Lookin good ! 

[Canute]

Next time (if you do this again, Lou),  get a very large, clear plastic bag and cut your PE and small plastic parts off inside the bag.

 

I heard the tip at some modelers gathering. I decided that launching brake gear and grab irons into Never-Never Land had to cease forthwith. I got tired of buying those little bags of aftermarket detail parts to replace the MIA (Missing in action) kit parts.

 

Now I need to perfect attaching said parts to the main model with my fine tip tweezers.I can still launch kit parts into Low earth Orbit. Ain't kit building fun?

[lmagna]

2 hours ago, Jack12477 said:

Lou, be glad it was only 1:35 scale PE and  not 1:350 scale !

I keep thinking of that every time I work with the stuff. One of the reasons I am going with so much PE on this build is to get some experience. At some point I have my 1/350 Houston build that has a fair amount of PE and some of it like the 1.1" guns, makes this stuff look huge!

 

2 hours ago, Canute said:

Now I need to perfect attaching said parts to the main model with my fine tip tweezers.

That is where I loose most of my parts. One second I am heading to where the part is to attach and the next second the tweezers are empty and the part has shifted into the next dimension! No cure for that unless I build a Waldo cage like Heinlein described in Waldo and Magic Incorporated and handle the parts that way! Another way I discovered was is to have the part successfully installed and then have it broken off in the process of getting the next part positioned!  Very frustrating stuff.

[popeye the sailor]

glad to see your making progress Lou    I remember when I hung a cloth from the edge of my table,  and draped it over my legs,  to catch falling / flying parts.  it wasn't practical......I'd never get into the habit of doing it every time I sat at the table.   is there a fool proof method.......I doubt it, but we keep looking for new ways to thwart it   

[mtaylor]

You are still a better man than I, sir.  I gave up on the fiddly photo etch I had.  Wasn't much but still....  The only think I learned is that for the small fiddly bits is take a small dowel or toothpick and dip the end in melted candle wax. When cool, use it to pick up the fiddly bits.  

[Old Collingwood]

Tell you what would be useful  -  a magnetic  fine tool with a small round flat end, with just enough strength to hold the piece of pe  till it was placed on the small dot of  ca, then able to release it.

 

OC.

[mtaylor]

PE is magnetic?   I didn't know as I thought it was brass.

[Old Collingwood]

7 minutes ago, mtaylor said:

PE is magnetic?   I didn't know as I thought it was brass.

Or perhaps something that could work by static  or even part sticky like low tack tape  on the end of a tool.

 

OC.

[Old Collingwood]

Here's  an idea that might help all of us  who try to pick up  flat tiny PE, with tweezers  -

 

Get a  narrow section of dowel  - perhaps  2mm  thick,   cut a small piece of  low tack tape like  tamiya tape or poss  painters  low tack tape,   use strong  super glue to attach the none sticky side to the end of the dowel  (that needs to have a flat end)   when fully set  trim the tape to match the round end of the dowel.

We should now have a useful  PE pick up tool  - small enough to  see what we are doing.

 

OC.

[lmagna]

Thanks for all of the suggestions everyone. I think now that you bring it up, that I remember the discussion about using a bib attached to the table to catch small parts Denis. Not sure it would be all that easy with my antique wooden dining table but I suppose I could try something like a table cloth that hangs all of the way to the floor and gather it up as a bib when I need it. I was thinking of getting a sacrificial tablecloth anyway. Right now I am using a giant sheet of white cardboard that I have had laying around for years. (A Pack Rat never throws anything away!

 

I think I am getting slightly............ and I mean slightly, better at getting the PE to the required spot #1 and then #2, getting it attached in some way or another. No one tool seems to be the final answer. I have three types of tweezers, two curved needle point, and one straight with a very tiny set of baby teeth at the very tip that interlock but are almost too small to see. I read about the method Mark talked about, wax on a stick and was going to try that when I realized that my wife had something that might be even better. So one night after she went to bed I snuck into her stuff and stole one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Rhinestones-Picker-Pencil-Pickup-Crystal/dp/B074FW6C33/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=10+pcs+Wax+Rhinestone+Picker+Pencil&qid=1582951000&s=arts-crafts&sr=1-5

 

Or if you like to spend more money: https://www.ebay.com/itm/RB-Productions-Photo-Etch-Pick-Up-Pencil-RB-PP/192294233093?hash=item2cc5a12405:g:NR8AAOSw6GJaKuJC

 

We bought them a while ago for one of her projects and ten of them are more than she, or I will ever use. They have gone up, (What hasn't) a little but still are pretty affordable. They are in many cases much safer to use than tweezers for the teleportation issue but like all tools are not a cure all.

 

A while back when I inquired from another forum member, he recommended these as his go-to tweezers, but at this point I have not bought a set. That may be changing.

 https://www.scalemates.com/kits/ustar-ua-90190-ultra-precision-etching-pliers-tweezers--1087931

 

As a side note. While doing some painting I was clearing a little used portion of my work area I found the very first piece of photo etch I lost. I have it safely contained in a screw top bottle for now and possibly I will get time tomorrow to modify it to fit easier and glue it and it's companion piece into place.

Edited February 29, 2020 by lmagna

[John Allen]

Lou,

 

Looking good. I need you to ship me some Halibut, or I'll tell Laurie your raiding her stash and you told me your replacing the display areas for her dolls with your models. Second thought add some King Crab to the order.

Edited March 3, 2020 by John Allen
speling

[lmagna]

Today is "Go out and buy her expensive jewelry day". Otherwise known as her birthday. Within a few hours of my writing this I will be a thousand dollars poorer and immune for a couple of days from your petty efforts of blackmail John. In fact I should be good until Mother's Day, or is Anniversary next? Better get that straightened out or this build will never get done and you can forward my mail to the camping trailer in the back yard that we bought last year before I broke my ankle.

 

As for display room in this house? The dolls themselves would probably rise up in the night if there was even a rumor that they were getting displaced by mere models! The only one that would stand a chance is the Titanic! In fact she asked about that build just yesterday. 

Edited March 3, 2020 by lmagna