Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper

[zenrat]

Well its technology time and a bit of revit counting .
Building your beast with a GAU8 wouldnt work ..the size of this gun with its ammo drum and feed system would mean that there would be no crew area at all so your idea of the 50's and 20's is a much more appropriate idea and would also make the craft much lighter and faster and we all know faster is better ..even tho i love rotary weapons and you should see what im going to be doing with one in the future ..this makes much more sense..so Kerick ol mate im with ya on this idea 
I wonder if that ol line less is more applys here   

Less might be more, but more is always better.

[kerick]

I bought another AH-64 kit to build the original idea again. Now I'll have two of those guns from the Apache so at least the gun barrels might get into the next attempt.

I made some radial engine pods from of all things the A-10 engine! I glued one A-10 engine together and cut it in half then glued the front and tail cone to each half. Makes a nice little barrel shaped pod. I then added the fan to the front barely recessed into the opening. I'll add a larger "spinner" to make it look like a cooling fan and hide the fact there's no engine in there.

I also noticed that the price of models seems to have gone up. Supply chain issues or just inflation? At least this one was from Hobby Lobby at 40% off so much more reasonable. The Bandai Mandalorian model with plated parts was $69.99!!!! That stayed on the shelf.

[Wardukw]

Yes Fred i do agree ..more is much better  and since Kerick now has 2 30mm cannon to play with those would be a nice upgrade to 20mm cannon for sure .

Kerick mate its not you bud..prices for kits have gone mental and man do we feel it here..if you looked at our prices very wide eyes would be the frist thing and then quite likely a religious word would be said .followed by a swear word beause thats exactly what I do.
The problem is the cost of shipping now..it's basically trippled .
In Thames we have a shop owned by a lovely Korean couple and i buy alot of crap there..its like a $2 shop ..he told me that before he'd pay $1500NZ for a 20ft container..now its ..get this..$7000NZ  and its the same everywhere.
The 3 planes I've ordered will take months I'll bet to get here too..so everything is super slow and much more expensive.

[kerick]

I'm not ordering anything from Japan or Hong Kong these days. Just from companies in the US when they have stuff in stock. I know you may not have much choice in NZ. Even on E bay a decal sheet is $20!
I'll be posting some progress pics tomorrow.

[Wardukw]

Oh trust me alot of us aint buying from Asia either here..its not really the prices its the possibility it never showing up.
The biggest auction site we have here is called Trade me..quite a few Asian sellers there..pretty much all Chinese and they state the item is coming from China abd the length of time for the item to get here..alot of them have feed backs about ppl waiting months and still nothing..not a risk i can afford to take.
If anything we buy from our neighbours in Aussie..still takes like 3 weeks now but ive always gotten what ive ordered.
And yes...cant wait to see these pics..ive gotta wait till next week to post pics..freakin laptop is having problems with wifi again after a update.

[kerick]

So here are the promised progress pics.
Just some three view of the A-10/Blackhawk combo. This is going to be the British companion to the retro Apache. If I were doing it properly I would be using the front of a Beaufighter or Mosquito. Maybe next time.







And a couple views of the engine pods. They are made from A-10 parts but I hope they look reasonably believable.





I'll be using the wings from an Airfix Typhoon Mk1A that I have separate plans for the engine anyway. The 20mm guns just don't look right so I may alter them somehow. Or not. Maybe a big round rudder on the tail too. The Typhoon decals should work fine. For the Apache I need some P-38 decals to fit the national insignia on the skinnier tail boom.
Now I'm going to have to get some RAF color paints. Just found out about a hobby store about an hour away that I'll need to check out anyway.
The whole family is going on a vacation to Hawaii to meet up with some old squadron buddies from the Air Force Reserve days. You may not hear much from me for awhile.

[Tophe]

 

[Wardukw]

I like where thia is going and man for a single seater shes gonna be a build bird..sweet 
Have ya thought of side mounted gun pods for the 20's ? ..might make the guns look better ..like the B25 used sort of thing.
The engine pods ...im wondering something..is ya going to mount them under the wings and have the wing's pointed downwards at a sharp angle? .
Like mounting the wings at the top near the rotor head and have at like a 45 degrees ..might look mean with that coming at you.
Either way this is looking very cool Kerick and im lovin it 

[Old Wombat]

Cool!

Engine pods need a bunch of exhaust stubs poking out the back, to give the impression that there are radials hidden inside them.

[kerick]

Working on some thin wall tubing for exhaust stubs. Maybe those plastic straws that come in Mai Ti's.

[DogfighterZen]

Looking good! 

Working on some thin wall tubing for exhaust stubs. Maybe those plastic straws that come in Mai Ti's.

Great idea, that should be easy to work with.

[kerick]

Almost back from vacation in Hawaii. Back to cold and snow. (Sob) back to work soon.

[Wardukw]

I would sell my sisters soul for snow and cold but apparently you cant sell it twice so im stuck with sticky hot humid crap..bring on what this country calls winter.

[kerick]

I would sell my sisters soul for snow and cold but apparently you cant sell it twice so im stuck with sticky hot humid crap..bring on what this country calls winter.

Amazingly Hawaii is not very humid at all. Sounds like you live in the down under version of Florida!

[Wardukw]

Yeah Kerick..we do..ita called New Zealand and its humid central here..is going to be over 28c here today with something like 300% humidity..its bloody hard trying to work on anything right now.