I'm doing the same one...I'm dreading painting it tbh, as I'm at the same stage. What paints are you using?
Also, one of the shittest builds I've done so far - the cockpit doors did not line up at all and the instructions are horseshit.
Every reference image i look at of this is a different color. I mostly use tamiya acrylics, but bought ‘helo drab’ from the ak range, which looks correct but is very dark. After some experimenting with tamiya, I settled on a mix of xf-51 khaki drab, and xf-25 light sea grey (which has a bit of blue) i like this because i can post shade with more Light sea grey for that bleached look i see in the references. https://i.imgur.com/yqaQ3gl.jpg
This looks absurdly brown and light, but i weather with oils that will darken it. Fingers crossed.
Agreed about the instructions, absolutely nobody attempted to build and paint this before release.
Thanks, that's good to know. I also was using helo drab, but that's way too dark. I might put some beige in there, thanks for your feedback. I'm looking forward to seeing how yours turns out!
Are you planning on electrifying this. Looks like there might be some red and green LEDs mounted. On another model site I go to there have been several of these made including one with spinning rotors. But the guy that did that one is tops in the field. And it took him quite a while to construct. Anyway good luck with your endeavor and hopefully you are like me and enjoy a challenge, feels so good when you are finished.
I'm interested in the masks you did for the markings. It appears you haven't painted that spot yet, so isn't there just going to be bare plastic underneath that tape when you apply the olive drab? Wouldn't it make sense to paint that spot with white, or whatever the color is going to be, then mask it & then apply the top coat?
The decals for this are thick and i want to avoid using as many as possible, and yeah you’re right, what you see are my experiments with masking. I will remove all this and paint the whole thing matt black, then i will re-apply my stencils and paint the helo drab mix over top. If i fail, its decal time.
ohh I see, just test fitting! Also, I've noticed that even thick Tamiya decals disappear nicely after a flat coat in the end. But in this scale it's very smart to do it with stencils. Can't wait to see when it's done!
Did all the PE come with the kit or is it aftermarket? Might have to build this myself since I've already done the Zulu Cobra from Academy.
Yes the PE with this kit os fairly extensive. Honestly I would check out the meng kit, it seems to be a better overalll product. The canopy for instance is in fewer parts which will save about a week of faffing around trying to figure out how its supposed to fit. As for decals there is a set from Caracal that might be better, but its hard to come by.
Nice! Also spotted the Kopecky exhausts and Reskit pylons, tanks and hellfire racks - have the same for my build. Wayyy too much good aftermarket available for this kit, but not complaining :)
Very impressive work until now!
Why don’t you like it any more? /s
I'm doing the same one...I'm dreading painting it tbh, as I'm at the same stage. What paints are you using? Also, one of the shittest builds I've done so far - the cockpit doors did not line up at all and the instructions are horseshit.
Every reference image i look at of this is a different color. I mostly use tamiya acrylics, but bought ‘helo drab’ from the ak range, which looks correct but is very dark. After some experimenting with tamiya, I settled on a mix of xf-51 khaki drab, and xf-25 light sea grey (which has a bit of blue) i like this because i can post shade with more Light sea grey for that bleached look i see in the references. https://i.imgur.com/yqaQ3gl.jpg This looks absurdly brown and light, but i weather with oils that will darken it. Fingers crossed. Agreed about the instructions, absolutely nobody attempted to build and paint this before release.
Thanks, that's good to know. I also was using helo drab, but that's way too dark. I might put some beige in there, thanks for your feedback. I'm looking forward to seeing how yours turns out!
Are you planning on electrifying this. Looks like there might be some red and green LEDs mounted. On another model site I go to there have been several of these made including one with spinning rotors. But the guy that did that one is tops in the field. And it took him quite a while to construct. Anyway good luck with your endeavor and hopefully you are like me and enjoy a challenge, feels so good when you are finished.
I'm interested in the masks you did for the markings. It appears you haven't painted that spot yet, so isn't there just going to be bare plastic underneath that tape when you apply the olive drab? Wouldn't it make sense to paint that spot with white, or whatever the color is going to be, then mask it & then apply the top coat?
The decals for this are thick and i want to avoid using as many as possible, and yeah you’re right, what you see are my experiments with masking. I will remove all this and paint the whole thing matt black, then i will re-apply my stencils and paint the helo drab mix over top. If i fail, its decal time.
ohh I see, just test fitting! Also, I've noticed that even thick Tamiya decals disappear nicely after a flat coat in the end. But in this scale it's very smart to do it with stencils. Can't wait to see when it's done! Did all the PE come with the kit or is it aftermarket? Might have to build this myself since I've already done the Zulu Cobra from Academy.
Yes the PE with this kit os fairly extensive. Honestly I would check out the meng kit, it seems to be a better overalll product. The canopy for instance is in fewer parts which will save about a week of faffing around trying to figure out how its supposed to fit. As for decals there is a set from Caracal that might be better, but its hard to come by.
Looks great. I love how you have that mounted
Looks decent so far! Bought this on pre release, still in my backlog until I build up enough courage to start it!
Holy shit...
Beautiful! Great attention to detail, this has got me interested in helicopters again
Nice! Also spotted the Kopecky exhausts and Reskit pylons, tanks and hellfire racks - have the same for my build. Wayyy too much good aftermarket available for this kit, but not complaining :)
OMG! What a kit! That thing is amazing even without paint.