Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper

[kerick]

Cool! I need a paint job to go right for a change! 

[Wardukw]

Yup it should go sweet..make sure ya prime it good too..the Tamiya stuff is good but hell i just cheap automotive primer..still works .
Next week im gonna buy some Ammo primer to see how good that is..if its anything like the paint it will be good.

[Old Wombat]

Tamiya is my go-to for airbrushing (which is 95% of my painting) but a shortage of supply, here in Aus, had me trying out (& liking) local company SMS's paint line.

The SMS (Scale Modellers Supply) paints are acrylic lacquers & a bit expensive but I've found that, even though they're marketed as "ready-to-use" for airbrush, they're a bit better thinned to about 2:1 (paint:thinner). So far they seem to be very good paints & the range has grown exponentially over the last few years.

[zenrat]

Tamiya is my go-to for airbrushing (which is 95% of my painting) but a shortage of supply, here in Aus, had me trying out (& liking) local company SMS's paint line.

The SMS (Scale Modellers Supply) paints are acrylic lacquers & a bit expensive but I've found that, even though they're marketed as "ready-to-use" for airbrush, they're a bit better thinned to about 2:1 (paint:thinner). So far they seem to be very good paints & the range has grown exponentially over the last few years.

Made in Victoria as well.
I have used them for armour and cars.  Good stuff.  As well as individual colours they also do sets of paints such as ADF Auscam and Melbourne Trams.

[DogfighterZen]

That's looking very good, Ken!

[Wardukw]

Same issues here to Guy..Tamiya paints are getting like gold plated chicken teeth and whats annoying is the BS that my two fav LHSs keep getting told about when its showing up.
First it was end of January..then February and now its the end of April.
Im so glad that Hobby City has a good supply of Ammo paint.
Id be knackered without that .
Also the choice of paint here is well..bad and but what can ya do these days..i dont want to have to wait a month or more for orders from over seas to arrive.

[kerick]

I can still get Tamiya well enough and I still have plenty in my stock. I just keep wondering about painting acrylic or enamel one over the other. If I lay down an enamel primer can I paint acrylic over it? I've heard of some folks doing that to get a good "grip" on the plastic first.

[Wardukw]

Yeah primer seems to worry some flokes.
I use a enamel primer from a company called VHT..get it at a auto parts store here .
I use matt black or gray..what evers in stock ..i spray Tamiya on it hundreds of times and not had any problems .
My TP88 fighter was sprayed exactly that way.
If ya worried use Tamiya spray primers..then ya know your gonna be safe.
When ya read English model mags you quite often read that the builder used cheap primer and they have total success and they use Ammo..Tamiya and Vallejo and some brands ive never heard off so i am pretty sure your gonna be safe mate 

[kerick]

Ok thanks! Not sure when I'll get to it. I will build the second Apache and maybe get the Seahog ready and have a paint fest.

[Wardukw]

Oh im all to aware of a paint fest 
Spent damn near a 1.5 weeks painting my transporter and Huey ..now i gotta weather the thing..oh mama!!
Idea for ya Dan mate..have ya got a model you couldnt give 2 left monkey testicles about ? ..if so paint that first..much better to bugger a bad model than a good one .

[kerick]

I've started the second Apache version. Going well in the PSR stage.

[Wardukw]

Oh im looking forward to this matey 

[kerick]

I had quite a burst of activity the last couple of days. I got the retro Apache out and solved a few problems which allowed me to proceed quickly. It's been very rewarding to see the new version looking better than the first.

First of all I built the side sponsons out a little wider than the kit and much longer.



This left me with an issue dealing with the underside. It sat this way for a week plus before I tried some very thin polystyrene from a cookie container.



I had already decided to use the ring shaped sprue found in the middle of the tree the parts come on in several different manufactures kits. I found two alike and sanded down the outside and dremeled and filed and sanded out the middle to make a reasonable airfoil shape. This I cut apart to make two struts from each ring. I made them extra long on purpose and trimmed them once installed. Some Evergreen rod provided the skis with the front heated and bent to shape then cut to length. I drilled holes just big enough to fit the strut and with a little trimming I was able to slip them in far enough to give the right stance. On the pic above you can see how far they fit into the sponson in the rear position. This way they are unlikely to break off in the future.



I sanded the ends of the struts on some course sandpaper until they all touched the desktop at the same time. Adding the skis was a snap after this. I also added some CA glue to the holes as there were a couple gaps.



I added the wings and engines after all this had dried overnight. I also checked to see if the weapons setup would still work. I'll still add the four .50 cals in the nose and something heavier in the sponsons.



This is the tail rotor and P-40 horizontal stabilizers installed temporarily. I'm going to use the stabs from the second P-40 kit as these are messed up from the paint stripping. I've since rounded off the top of the vertical stabilizer to give it some more 1940's look. The rings are what I made the struts out of. Came out pretty nice if I say so myself. I've since added a tail skid made from the wire from a paper clip and CA'ed into a hole I drilled.



Just an overhead shot. The engines are the only thing saved from the first attempt as the paint stripping in brake fluid really didn't clean things up that well. And I had extras of everything else anyway.



I'm thinking of cutting the canopy sides open. I can practice on the first kits canopy as the paint striping made a mess of it anyway. Not much more to do and then I'll have to paint. Pray for me.



Here's what I'm talking about when it comes to painting. I painted the tips of the rotors zinc chromate yellow as I think it gives a little weathered and "scale" appearence. Then I masked them off and sprayed the rotors black. I was touching up the yellow rotor tips when the brush touched the mask line. The yellow "broke through" the mask line and spilled out onto the black in this little spiderweb line. It did it on another rotor blade too. Nothing strange about the paints, not old and both enamels so go figure. Just the kind of weird stuff that happens when I paint. I'll have to take an extra anxiety pill first.



So that's the latest on this project. With luck I may have these and the Seahog done in time for my club's show and contest in October!

[Tophe]

 

[Wardukw]

Mate..mate..mate..what can i say..epic..this is what this is ment to look like..the frist..the prototype..the problem child..from the frist ones dead this beauty is born ..absolutely looking like a attack gun ship is ment to look like..violent and fast.
Love this bird