Here you go USMC6094. Ask and ye shall receive…
Enjoy!
-O
O, was this a proposed variant, or something that you dreamed up on your own? In either case its a very good looking build.
I received a ford Trimotor from my wife and kids for Christmas, and the other day I was watching Indiana jones and the temple of doom, and right after the Chinese night club scene, Harrison Ford jumps into a ford Trimotor to escape the henchman, without realizing that the aircraft is owned by the henchman himself…so now I am planning a “Lao Che Air Transport” variant…
That Apache looks sweet.
Stik, I believe the idea of a Sea Apache for the Navy and Marines was looked into in the 80’s. But I am not sure why it didn’t proceed.
I have to bug you for more information on the Seapache, like parts, mods and all that, that is the best what if I’ve seen in a very long time
Here’s another 1/48 Monogram F-20 painted as a Navy aggressor:
Thanks for the high praise USMC6094! Much appreciated!
Now, the details…
It started out as Academy’s 1/48 AH-46D Longbow. I’ve read that it’s not the most accurate representation of the Apache out there, but I don’t really care for that kind of stuff. I’m not a rivet counter. As long as it looks like its 1:1 inspiration, I’m cool with it. Besides, I got this kit for super-cheap, so I was fine with sacrificing it to the WIF gods.
Anyway, lets talk about the fuselage first. The cockpit is OOB. I didn’t change anything there. The mods I made to other parts of the fuselage include moving the tail wheel forward to the middle of the boom, instead of on the end. I capped off the boom’s end with the front end of a drop tank. (I think it was a 1/48 F-4’s tank.) I cut a hole in the bottom of the boom and slid in a portion of that same tank into it. The tank was capped off with a blank that I drilled a hole in to accept the tail wheel. Then I built up that “fairing” with some white Milliput. Once everything was dried, the putty was sanded to shape and the tail wheel tube was sanded flush. A spare F-4 nose wheel assembly was glued into the new tail wheel well. I used some square plastic stock, capped off on one end, to make the countermeasure’s boxes in the boom. A small piece of wire with some plastic one end was added to each box to represent some connectors.
The only mod I made to the sponsons was to cut a hole in the starboard one to accept my refueling probe. That was made using two pieces of an old telescoping antenna, capped off with a refueling probe from the spares box.
The nose was built up using the kit’s parts, but the sensors were not attached. Instead I used a blob of Milliput and shaped it to look the way it does now. The sensor on the underside of the nose was “imagineered” using an old 500 lb bomb from my spares box and a piece of trimmed tape to add some structure.
On the engines, I left off the gearbox fairing leaving the fan blades exposed. On the back side, I opened up the end of the exhaust and filled in the baffles with more Milliput. I sanded everything flush before I installed the caps from some dried out, fine pointed Sharpie brand permanent pens that I found.
I pretty much used the weapons that came with the kit. I left off the cage for the gun, but added the training Stinger pod, training Sidewinder, training Hellfire, and rocket pod from the box. The TOW rack came from Cobra Company resin. (Sweet little accessory!)
The folded rotor was the hardest part. I actually started with that assembly. Once I had that done, there was no going back! Basically, I cut the blades off the rotor head parts and used wire to “pin” everything back together. The whole thing is surprisingly sturdy. Some slices of styrene tube added detail and structure to the blades and rotor head.
I finished off my Seapache using MM enamels and some spare decals from a Two Bobs AH-1W sheet. Then the whole airframe was given a wash using Flory’s washes.
While I was “researching” my Seapache, I found this website (click me!) that talks about some of McDonnell Douglas’ proposals to the Navy and USMC for navalized Apaches. In the end, I just went with my imagination.
Anyway, glad you like her. She was a lot of fun to build. I think the Apache really looks good in Marines camo, but I gotta say, I like their new AH-1Zs.
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask!
Cheers,
-O
I don’t think I’ve built a single “real-life” aircraft in about a year–except for a 1/144th Betty bomber.
I don’t know why, but What-if builds are always more fun for me (although I stray within the lines–no kitbashing for me, just a crazy paint job and fictional markings).
Klik
EDIT:
pics for y’all;
As you can see, I mostly do 1/144th Aircraft (less nitpicky seams, fit issues, etc.). Mostly all of these pics come from within the last 5 years, and there are plenty more where these come from.
Don’t think that all this is limited to Aircraft, though. I’ve done tanks and starships in fictional schemes as well.
ooritz10 youre a true gentleman and I appreciate the link and the pictures of your Seapache, I think I might get my hands on a 48th kit to see about one to put next to my newly acquired Stingbat LHX…
Yes I vaguely recall reading about it somewhere back then. That was why I asked. If my fuzzy memory serves, it did not happen due to budgetary issues. But the mods that he made remind me of the differences between the Army and Navy UH/SH-60 series 'hawks.
Thanks again for the responses to this thread. These were exactly the kinds of images I was hoping for (and difficult to google). Much inspiration here.
You’re very welcome! Glad you enjoyed it! Anytime I can help, just shout.
Cheers,
-O
Thanks for the compliments everyone!
-O
I don’t think I have ever done a fictional makeover, as the interest in history is what gravitates me to this hobby. If I were to though, I’d pick something really out there and more colourful, such as these depictions of military aircraft in race car livery:
There’s a few more here:
http://ws-clave.deviantart.com/gallery/26849511
regards,
Jack
Now those are some interesting schemes Jack. An Me 262 would be nice done up in race colours.