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1/35 Academy MH-60G PaveHawk

by Jeff Brundt

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This is my 1/35 Academy MH-60G PaveHawk Spec Ops helo.  There's just something menacing about the look of the Blackhawk fitted out with the ESSS pylons and fuel
 tanks that I had to have one. The kit was built almost OOB and the only mod I made was to the IFR probe. I opted to make the probe 'extendable' by using some telescoping aluminum tubing. 

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 I also added some external wiring to it as well. Since the Pavehawk kit does not come with the ESS pylons and tanks I had to buy another 1/35 Academy Blackhawk just to get these parts. It would be nice if Academy would furnish the tanks and pylons with the Pavehawk since this is an option the real machine would carry.

Finishing this model was rather easy since it's just one uniform color (or at least the scheme I chose). However, the real test of patience came when I had to
 remove the masking from the clear parts. Because of the intricate nature of the Blackhawk's windows I decided to use clear, Scotch magic tape. Big Mistake. This stuff is a pain in the A$$ to remove. It wouldn't lift off in one piece but hundred of little peices and it left all sorts of adhesive residue behind. I usually remove my window masks when I'm all done painting and the model is just about finished. At one point I was so frustrated I was going to chuck this thing into the trash can. I finally chanced to use Goo Gone, applied with a Q-tip, and it worked great at removing the sticky adhesive residue. The clear parts were badly scratched though from my tape removing
 attempts so I carefully brushed each pane with Future.  This helped quite a bit. It's still not perfect but I can live with it. 

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While not a bad kit it will probably be one of the last helis I do for a while. They are a bit fiddly and require more care in handling and finsihing out. I will say it does look impressive on the display shelf.
Jeff  

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Photos and text © by Jeff Brundt 

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