This is
an old kit from the 1990, kit number 2501. I wanted to make the model
with landing lights deployed as is depicted on the box cover. That's all
I wanted to do but then I noticed inaccuracies and started modifying things.
The most obvious was the large grab handles- they were way too big and
out of place. Then the support rod for the stabilizer looked big, so I
decided to replace that and it just snowballed from there.
The
weapons needed work, the radio compass was the wrong shape, the pylons were
sticking out, the exhaust were too thick and before I knew it I was deep in
it.
The
progress and some of the finish pictures can be
viewed on the ARC Helicopter forums here.
Click on
images below to see larger images
I wanted to depict asymmetrical armament this way I could "load" more variety of
weapons. Note the bomb swing racks that I scratch built with the help of my friend from the local Hobby Shop who gave me his spare Panther photo-etched set. Thanks, Clarence!
Some of the other additions included scratch building the IR lens, grab handles, after market fuel tanks and rocket pod.
I completely rebuilt the rotor head and the tail rotor to bring them to more realistic levels. The navigation lights were made by what I learned from ARC's "Tools 'n'
Tps" section. I painted the nav lights with Tamiya White then Humbrol transparent red and green respectively.
After that I applied Future coating with a small brush. The clear anti-collision light, as well as the landing lights and the IR lens were made by stretching clear sprue then quickly "dipping" the end into the heat source (takes practice to get it right).
What you have is an
abundance of different sizes of clear round lenses for nothing! Well, the trade off is some burnt fingers if you are not careful.
The stencil decals are custom made in Photoshop and inkjet printer on a decal paper. The aim is to give a "busy" appearance to otherwise bare pylons.
Hope you enjoy the photos!
Borislav Delov
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images below to see larger images
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