G’Day Charlie,
The Iroquois is looking great so far! I’m about to kick off the Academy UH-1 soon as an RAAF Bravo model with the Cobra Co conversion and am keen to get my hands on the PE you have used Do you have a set number for it at all?
Thanks very much
Cairnsy
G’Day to you Cairnsy
Thank you for the nice comment. I used the Eduard kits. There was an interior, exterior and armament kit. The part numbers are 32 086, 32 092 and 32 093. Hope this helps and good luck.
Charlie
Cairnsy,
You could also get the Big ED set BIG 3209 that includes all three sets RBF tags and masks as well.
Ray
Well I finally finished up the right side and sprayed the model with Future. I guess now I have to wait 24 hours before I can do anything else on the fuselage. I sure hope when I’m done that a flat clear will dull out this shine. In the meantime, I’ll work on the rotor system and get it ready for mounting.
Thanks for viewing
Charlie
Well she is finally almost done. A little weathering, not much on this build, spray dull cote over the model and install the rotor system. The Decals appear to be settling in okay for all the complaints I read in the decal forum on Academy Decals. I only had to used Micro SOL on the US ARMY decals on the tailboom to soften them up. All the rest I just used the Micro Set which appears to have worked fine. I’m not going to use the nose art or unit specific paint schemes. This will just be 509 shortly after it arrives in country before the unit artists gets their hands on it. Does anyone know whether there is a rule of thumb for decals to cure before spraying a clear coat?
Thanks
Charlie
Charlie,
She’s a beauty! I think I’m goint to do mine as an early Charlie with Rucker trainer colors. she’ll have the bell mouth intake and no weapons. Should be good for a first crack at this kit. Next one will be dad’s bird with all the bells and whistles. You have me itching to get mine moving along.
Ray
Hi Charlie,
I just discovered your thread and have really enjoyed it. Let me say that you have a done a great job building this one! I did an H model this summer and afterwards I told myself that I was all set with Hueys. I’m starting to get the urge to build this one though.
Don’t know if you’ve seen the Dragon H model, but if you have, I’m wondering how the Academy kit measures up in detail and finess of molding compared to Dragon?
Anyway, keep up the good work. I can’t wait to see this completed.
Regards,
John
John,
I can’t speak to fit, but as far as finesse of molding, the Academy kit is AWESOME compared to the Panda/Dragon kit. I am building the UH-1C right now and as Charlie says the cabin needs some sanding to fit properly. I haven’t built the Dragon kit, but the UH-1H that I just finished is the same kit in 1/48 and I’d say the fit of the cabin was much better with that kit than the Academy one. However, the Academy/MRC has so many details and extra parts like machine guns and fire extinguishers and such that I think it is the best Huey kit out there hands down in any scale. Just my two cents. We’ll see what Charlie thinks.
Ray
Here’s a comparison of the Dragon and MRC Hueys tailbooms to make my point about finesse of moulding (Dragon top MRC bottom):
I agree the MRC does have nice detail and in the right hands (Not me yet) this can be a great model with a little more skill than I have. Here is my latest image. I sprayed two coats of Flat Cote tonight and took off the masking tape. The windshield fit issue on the pilot side cover up pretty good. On the real disappointment side my decals are showing silvering. They look a lot worst in the image than in real life. Under normal lighting it is hardly noticeable. I should have listen and ordered custom decals. This is the first and last time I use Academy decals, they just stink for the quality of detail in the aircraft model. While this was drying I laminated my base airfield laminate to the base board and will add a little molding around the base to make it look better. I still have the doors and installation of the rotors. I also want to do a little more inside work. But she ought to be done by this weekend.
Thanks for viewing
Charlie
Hey John and thanks for the comments. I have not built the Dragon kit and what Ray said in the post earlier about the two variants is propably fairly accurate. As to the MRC kit, DO NOT USE the Decals. Buy custom decals from a good aftermarket company. I really messed up by not taking all the comments about MRC decals in the decal forum that seriously. As to fit issues, my big areas that did not fit well was the cargo section left rear wall. You can see it in the pictures. It will be hidden though because I will partially close that cargo door. The windshield did not fit very good on the pilot side and the transmission sits to far forward causeing the large push-pull tube to be slightly bent on the forward cowling. Other than that a good modeler can easily fix these issues. Other than those issues I found the model to be fun and interesting to build. I plan on rebuilding this model in a year or so after I build other helicopters. I learned a lot and I think the next time I can do a much better job than I did on this one. I think I pretty much covered everything I had issues with in this thread if I left out anything in this post.
Anyway, thanks again and I would recommend the MRC over the Dragon on the C model.
Charlie
WARNING WILL ROBINSON!!! For those building the Academy C model make sure you have photos of the rotor head assembly. Mel was 100% correct. They have push-pull tubes hooking up to the wrong surfaces and they have pitch horns made upside down. I used some copper wire to correct some of these tube connections and cut out the bottom of the pitch horn so the tube can connect properly. I really needed to cut off the ends of the pitch horns and just reglue them but I’m past tired on this model and just want to call it done. Anyway, I hoping to finalize the gluing tonight and hopefully get a picture posted tonight. If the rotor system doesn’t cause me too many more issues.
Thanks MEL for the heads up. I would not have caught it until it was too late.
Charlie
Well I’m calling this bird DONE! I 'll give myself a B- for overall quality of work, only because this is the first model I built in twenty-years, but like I have said numerous times I learned a lot. This aircraft really challenged my skills and if it were not for many of you all giving me advice she would have turned out a lot worse. Thanks everyone for your kind comments and assistance. It is time to donate this model to my office and start work on something else. My last advise for building this bird, plan ahead as much as possible and do not get impatient.
Again, thanks everyone
Charlie
Charlie, i can’t wait top see her finished! FYI to anyone else building this kit, here is the link to Mel’s thread on fixing MRC’s screwed up rotor shaft and rotorhead:
/forums/785871/ShowPost.aspx
Ray
Ray, you must have posted while I was postingthe final pictures.[:D]
Charlie
Charlie, as a matter of fact I was. Great job! I really like how she turned out. The blade tiedown is a nice touch. What’s next?
ray
Here are a few more semi-professional images. I hid all the kitchen clutter and it shows off a little more detail.
Ray I will probably be build the H-13. Granted there is more I could do on this bird, but I’m just tired of it and need to set it aside and move on.
Again, thanks everyone for all the comments and assistance.
Charlie[party]
Charlie,
She looks good! We all know we could have done something better after we finished but don’t be too hard on yourself. Fine example of a UH-1C gunship!
Thanks Mel, your advise and photos were a great asset in the building of this model. They both made a big difference in how she turned out. I do plan on building another in the future.
Charlie
Hi Charlie,
Wow, That is one fine looking Huey! Your build really captures the look of an in service machine quite well. Not too abused, but used enough to show some wear. [tup]
Cheers,
Alby
Thanks Alby, I did not mean for the tail boom to be covered in near as much exhaust soot as it ended up with. As I stated in many of my posts do not get impatient, I was the biggest violator of patience. When I was ready to weather the exterior I could not find my pastels and like all good husbands and wife’s, we blamed each other for not being able to find something. To make a long story short I decided to airbrush the black on and got it much darker than my original wishes. I use to be fairly good with an airbrush but my skills greatly deteriorated over the years I was out of model building.
Again, thanks for the kind comments
Charlie