Moments of Zen

[DogfighterZen]

Well, i wanted to buy some of their canopies from the Squadron site but 50$ to send a single canopy from the US to Portugal made me laugh...
But i was lucky enough to find them on ebay for 50$ less. 

I'm glad you could see the humorous side, would have made me cry 

I just try to follow Monty Python's rule...    EDIT: For those who've never seen it... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2Wx230gYJw

Well, i laughed cause i was like  "What the... They have to be high on some bad bad stuff..." but quickly became very disappointed thinking i'd have to find another solution. I could try to transplant another canopy on to it but that would involve PSR i don't want to do on this kit because of the raised panel lines.
But the kit will have a canopy, although this one cost as much as the kit, 8€ on an ebay seller from Italy. Still beats buying a complete kit just for the canopy cause i can't find another Airfix Banshee for less than 30£. And i was very lucky cause i bought the last 1/72 Banshee canopy that this seller had.

[DogfighterZen]

I've spent quite a bit trying to solve the issues concerning the idea i had for the F4D but it would need too much work to put a 4 poster tail configuration on the Skyray's fuselage... but it did give me some other ideas... which were put back in the box with the rest of the kit. 
I've decided to go back to work on the Banshee now that the canopy is on it's way.
This is how the cockpit is looking...



So, i have to finish painting the pilot and the arresting hook so i can close up the fuselage. Will also be painting the engines and intakes to mask and glue the wing halves together. If all goes well, i'll even try to glue the wings on today.

[DogfighterZen]

After a few days of slow work, the Banshee is looking like an airplane now...
I've painted the pilot and the arresting hook, then painted the engines and closed up the wings and fuselage, with a good measure of weight in the nose.









And after the air intake splitter plates, wings and tails were glued on, a quick test with the gear fixed in place with Patafix reveals that the nose weight was adequate and it won't be sitting on it's tail.



So, i guess that, apart from assembling drop tanks and scratching an antenna for the tail, i'll have to wait for the canopy to be delivered to proceed with work on this bird.

Now, regarding a different issue, i've been thinking of gathering all of my finished builds into one topic only. All the pics from my first builds on this forum were on Photobucket and since they're no longer available on the original topics, i'll pile them all into one place. It also makes it easier to find instead of several separate topics.
I'll be using this topic here as a build update topic and the finished builds topic for final pics and backstories, unless it's a build that's part of a GB.

After having to put the F4D back in the box for not being able to work out the requirements need for the 4 poster tail configuration i'd originally imagined, i've been working on other ideas for it that will retain the delta wing design but with a few mods to it's shape. I''d like it to have twin tails but i haven't been able to figure out what to do with the spine that runs all the way from the Skyray's cockpit to the tail...
I guess i'll eventually come up with something to do to it... But i've also been thinking of starting something a bit different, another simple build... instead of fixed wings, how about some rotary wings for a change? 

[PR19_Kit]

You think you ran into noseweight issues with the Banshee? 

Wait till you try building the Gazelle! Even though it has a skid undercarriage it needs some substantial nose-weight to stop it tipping over on the back of the skids, and there's nowhere to put it!

When I did mine I took it all apart again afterward (NO fun....) and slid some lead sheet under the cockpit floor, which was just about enough to keep it nose down.

[zenrat]

1/72 Hueys have the same problem.  They have room for coins under the cockpit floor.

If you want a challenge with the Gazelle then there is a template for a paper model of Blue Thunder available here which could be used with the kit to scratchbuild a plastic replica...

[DogfighterZen]

You think you ran into noseweight issues with the Banshee? 

Wait till you try building the Gazelle! Even though it has a skid undercarriage it needs some substantial nose-weight to stop it tipping over on the back of the skids, and there's nowhere to put it!

When I did mine I took it all apart again afterward (NO fun....) and slid some lead sheet under the cockpit floor, which was just about enough to keep it nose down.

First of all, thank you for the warning, Kit!  That will save me a lot of work cause i wasn't thinking of that for this kit, exactly because it has skids and i thought it would be much more balanced.
Did a quick test with the heavier parts in place and it seems like a bit of Patafix squashed under the cockpit floor will do, but i will probably have to use both pilots provided in the kit to add a bit more, along with the rest of the clear bits. I know that there are a few parts that i didn't have there that will be aft of the CoG but i believe that the weight of the parts that will be forward of it, should be the same or more that the ones going aft.



I think that more weight can be added behind the interior wall and if it sits with two blades oriented forward of the CoG, it should be good. 

1/72 Hueys have the same problem.  They have room for coins under the cockpit floor.

If you want a challenge with the Gazelle then there is a template for a paper model of Blue Thunder available here which could be used with the kit to scratchbuild a plastic replica...

This is the first chopper i'm building and i had no idea that any models of choppers with skids would need nose weight, but that's why i wanted to build something different. I've only built planes so i guess a chopper is different enough for me.
I also wanna build a Huey and a few others that i haven't bought yet but it seems like good fun but it's funny that you mention the Blue Thunder. I originally bought this kit thinking of trying the conversion like an Irish modeller was trying to do back in 2012, over on the Britmodeller forum.

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234913914-172-blue-thunder-from-airfix-gazelle/

It is a challenge indeed, too big for me to undertake, i'm afraid. There's just too much detail that will be very hard for me to replicate... I guess it is possible but i don't think i'm skilled enough for a satisfactory result... maybe i could do it on a 1/48 kit but not on a 1/72 one.
That's why i bought a kit of the thing, the Monogram 1/32 kit was kindly sold to me at a bargain price by our colleague Bungle. I am a fan of Blue Thunder so i had to have a proper kit to build.
Because of this talk, i googled 1/72 Blue Thunder just a bit ago and a new link came up which led me to this... https://www.shapeways.com/product/GL395E52V/1-72-blue-thunder-conversion-kit
That will make it much easier to pull off the conversion but that price is a bit too high for me for what it is, 44€ with shipping...
I'll just build this one as a PoAF Gazelle, but what i was thinking is that i'd like to have some weapons on it. That would be nice and also add a few sensors/cameras like the modernized variants use... guess i'll have to do some research.

[PR19_Kit]

I think that more weight can be added behind the interior wall and if it sits with two blades oriented forward of the CoG, it should be good. 

Now that you mention it, I think I positioned my Gazelle's rotors like that too!

I don't think the fenestron tail rotor helps too much in the weight stakes, it's just LOTS of structure where you don't need it.

[DogfighterZen]

I think that more weight can be added behind the interior wall and if it sits with two blades oriented forward of the CoG, it should be good. 

Now that you mention it, I think I positioned my Gazelle's rotors like that too!

I don't think the fenestron tail rotor helps too much in the weight stakes, it's just LOTS of structure where you don't need it.

Having the baldes like that can only help, right? 
Regarding the fenestron, yes, i agree. But i did include that part when i did the test. I knew that bit of plastic would make a difference. Still, i am going to put a bit of metal and Patafix glued to the back of interior's wall. I'm sure that with that on, it will safely remain standing on the skids.

So, guess what? My car broke down this morning when i was leaving for work and that means i'm not going to work today. Took the day off to sort the car's trip to the mechanic and other things but later i'll have some time to work on models...

[zenrat]

Conversion kit looks good but that's a lot of money.

I have white metal chopper pilots which help keeping the noses down.
If you want a 1/72 Huey then the Italeri/Tamiya version isn't bad.

[DogfighterZen]

Conversion kit looks good but that's a lot of money.

I have white metal chopper pilots which help keeping the noses down.
If you want a 1/72 Huey then the Italeri/Tamiya version isn't bad.

Yup, i agree, it looks great but come on, 44€? That's more than what i paid for the Monogram 1/32 kit! And not to mention that you still have to scratch-build some details and the clear parts...
Who makes those white metal pilots? Those would really help with the nose weight issue on 1/72 choppers.
And yes, i've been looking around for UH-1D and other kits of the Huey and i'm leaning towards either Revell or Italeri. Hasegawa also has a nice D kit but it's too expensive on ebay.
I've also been looking for Cayuses and Kiowas... i would love to have the 1/72 Blue Thunder and Cayuse duo from the movie but i guess i'll have to live without it.
Also been looking for weapons to hang on the Gazelle's sides, i think that a couple of miniguns would look great... I guess i could buy a couple of resin sets but i'm going to have a look at scratch building such tiny things...

[zenrat]

I got my metal chopper pilots from Elhiem Figures.  They are not perfectly mastered and cast but have a certain charm and you get six for just over 5 quid.
They also do door gunners and more modern pilots and other interesting & usefull figures like a milkmaid,  Scooby Gang and a dominatrix.  Best thing about them though is that unusually for wargaming figures they are 1/72 scale.

The Italeri/Tamiya UH-1B comes with a nose mounted camera (or is it a gun?) and a pair of square rocket packs on each side.
The other 1/72 Huey i've had my hands on was a Monogram snap-tite.  I wouldn't bother with one of these unless it was really really cheap.  And even then it's prolly only really good for kit bashing.

[DogfighterZen]

I got my metal chopper pilots from Elhiem Figures.  They are not perfectly mastered and cast but have a certain charm and you get six for just over 5 quid.
They also do door gunners and more modern pilots and other interesting & usefull figures like a milkmaid,  Scooby Gang and a dominatrix.  Best thing about them though is that unusually for wargaming figures they are 1/72 scale.

The Italeri/Tamiya UH-1B comes with a nose mounted camera (or is it a gun?) and a pair of square rocket packs on each side.
The other 1/72 Huey i've had my hands on was a Monogram snap-tite.  I wouldn't bother with one of these unless it was really really cheap.  And even then it's prolly only really good for kit bashing.

Thank you, Fred!
The figures might not be perfect but in 1/72, that's not a requirement for me. Not many plastic figures are perfect so it doesn't really matter. Besides, i like the look of them and their weight would sure be useful. And the Dominatrix is surely interesting... 
The more modern figures look like Apache or Cobra pilots and will be perfect for what i have in mind.
Concerning the Huey kit, i'll go for the D version because of the MGs and miniguns. The Italeri kit comes with M134 miniguns and the Revell kit comes with a pair of MGs for each side. The kits are cheap so i may end up buying one of each for both options.

EDIT: I believe the thing mounted on the B's nose is the M-5 40mm grenade launcher 

[DogfighterZen]

What do you guys think of these? I've cut a few bits of an F-16's main landing gear i had in the spares bag and tried to glue them in a way that they'd resemble the M134 Minigun. I think they'll do the job on this scale, they're far from perfect but i don't care, as long as they'll pass an idea of the guns, i can live with it.



I'll also have to scratch up the struts that hold the gun to the fuselage's side and the ammo belts. Should be fun...

[TheChronicOne]

Look good to me, look like guns. That's what I thought when I first saw them. Guns. Look sort of like the ones on a Klingon Bird of Prey.   

[DogfighterZen]

Look good to me, look like guns. That's what I thought when I first saw them. Guns. Look sort of like the ones on a Klingon Bird of Prey.   

Thanks for the feedback, Brad! I know that the barrels should be separate and visible but i'm no master modeller so if you thought they were guns, that's good enough for me.
But now you got me intrigued, i'll have to go check out the Bird of prey's guns...