Subject: Re: arc submission
From: "Submissions for ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "Terry Chan" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:14:01 -0700

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know your article went on ARC today.  Thanks again for sending it in.

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com

Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Terry Chan 
  To: [email-masked] 
  Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 11:17 AM
  Subject: arc submission

    
  "Academy 1/48 CH-53E" 

  by "Terry Chan"
  --------------------

        Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 01.jpg here  

  This is my Academy 1/48 CH-53E helicopter model.  It was built out of the box with MAW decals used.

  Out of the box, this kit provides a very good level of detail inside and outside.  The cockpit has exquisite raised detail on the instrument panel and the bulk heads; the interior cabin is fully detailed with the molded-on wall details, floor details, ceiling details and passenger benches; the main rotor head is a model unto itself.  The only detail missing was some harnesses for the pilot seats.  Overall, the fit was pretty good.  I used some putty when joining the fuselage halves and around the canopy, but otherwise there were no major headaches during construction.
  Click on images below to see larger images

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 03.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 03.jpg 
       Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 04.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 04.jpg 
       Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 05.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 05.jpg 
       Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 06.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 06.jpg 

  Most of the the CH-53E in service today wear a three tone grey camouflage, and that is the scheme I chose to do.  I wanted to finish this model as if it's been used heavily under the sun with the weathering focused on sun-bleachedness rather than dirt.  So I went to work using my trusty Eclipse airbrush.

  First I used Eduard paint mask (highly recommended when building a model with so many windows) to mask all the clear parts.  All the parts that will be covered by the grey camouflage was given a layer of flat white.  Then pre-shading of flat black over the panel lines was done.  Then another layer of flat white to tone down the black.

  The three main camouflage colours were NOT used straight out of the bottle.  Each of them were diluted heavily with flat clear, flat gloss and thinner to make a translucent mixture (all Gunze acrylics).  When this mixture was sprayed on the whitened airframe, the underlying white and pre-shading would still show through, hence giving it a sun-bleached look.

  Some random patches of white and greys were sprayed on various spots of the model, then blended in again with the camouflage colour.  This gave the model a weathered look yet still look natural with the paint job.

  When the camouflage was done, I used Tamiya smoke to post-shade the panel lines again.  The engine exhaust tubes were painted with Alclad jet exhaust.

  The rotor blades were painted Gunze tire black, which is sort of an off black.  Then a very thin layer of flat white was randomly sprayed across them.  Then I used Tamiya smoke to blend in the white with the overall tire black.  This process gave the black rotor blades a sun-bleached look.

  After a gloss coat was applied, I started applying the decals.  The MAW decals were very thin and reacted very well to Solvaset.  The MAW decals set came with black walkway decals as well, but I chose to use the kit walkways instead.  In hindsight I should have used the MAW walkways because they were thinner and wrinkled less.  The walkways were given the same sun bleaching treatment as the rotor blades via flat white and Tamiya smoke.

          
        Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 02.jpg here 

  Another gloss coat to seal in the decals, then the model was given a panel line wash.  Finally a coat was applied.

  When I removed the paint mask, I was very happy to see the effort I put into painting yielded very good results.  The light, sun faded colours were exactly the look I was aiming for, and all the weathering was part of the paint job (no pastel chalk was used).

  Overall, this is a very good model.  It's a complex build but the model was engineered superbly by Academy.  Highly recommended.
  Click on images below to see larger images

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 07.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 07.jpg 
       Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 08.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 08.jpg 
       Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 09.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 09.jpg 

  Photos and text © by "Terry Chan"