USCG HU-25 Guardian Completed

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
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Submitted for your viewing enjoyment, a plane, not of mind or body, but of a kit…

Okay, enough Rod Serling. The pics below are of my haunted and cursed attempt (ergo Mr. Serling) at building a 1/72 USCG Guardian. The kit is from Mach 2, and I must say, I should have heeded the warnings of members of this forum. The kit was not only expensive (I think about $36.00 if I remember right) but it suffered from: soft plastic; poorly engraved panel lines; poor fit of every seam; incorrect decals; thick, distorted glass; mishapen parts, especially the landing gear; and while supplying some of the needed parts to make a HU-25 although missing several key components, no USCG decals.

Here are pre-build pics:

In addition to the above, finish coat paint lifted, a major decal committed suicide and paint leaked under masking tape not once, not twice, yes, three times. To include fresh tape, well burnished. The same type of tape, old and fresh, and technique, have been used successfully several times before and after. Oy vey.

The bad decal I used was about a 20 year old USCG set from an old Revell 1/200 scale C-130 kit. It’s destruction forced to me to mask and paint the Coast Guard racing stripes, both orange and blue. Don’t look too close, their scary!

The one bright spot was the fresh decals I used, below, from Hawkeye Models out of Austraila. Purchased on eBay from ozmodels I think is his screen name. Good guy to deal with and the decals are very good.

Overall, not an enjoyable build. It ended up being a “grit my teeth and finish what I started build” but, I am pleased with the final project more then I thought I would be based on the experience.

The engine nacelles have Bare Metal Foil at the front and the little ball thing (sensor/camera assembly) you see under the front of the plane behind the front landing gear, was scratched from sprue.

In a nutshell, I recommend Hawkeye Models decals. - Thumbs Up!

I do not recommend Mach 2 kits - Thumbs Down. Several Thumbs Down.

I will be switching from Badger ModelFlex paint as I use it up. - Thumbs Sideways. (yes, you guys warned me on that too…sigh…)

Currently on the bench, an old Aurora Jolly Green being modified to USCG HH-3F Pelican standards and a RoG USCG HH-65 Dolphin.

Happy Modeling!

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I applaud your effort, and it is the best Falcon 20 model I have seen (OK, OK, it is the only one, and it is set up as an HU-25, which has a few differences). I second all the Oy Veys, I have a number of Mach 2 kits including this one (don’t ask why) and the clear parts in this kit may be the worst of a bad lot!

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jeaton01 - since you have one of these, assuming you ever wish to torture yourself and build it, yoiur choices are one of the following:

  1. Become a semi-crazed mad man while working on it.

  2. Become a Zen-Master as you go to your “Happy Place” so you do not become #1 above.

It’s too bad this kit is such a dog, as the overall shape is pretty fair and to the best of my knowledge, is the only Falcon 20/HU-25 out there. We’ve kibutzed over in the rotor-head forum on the lack of USCG specific subjects in the modeling world, especially as there is normally a pretty healthy interest in them among modelers. You can pretty much make most USCG equipment, but, you have to modify what you need and decals are the biggest challenge.

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Looks good to me [tup] That which does not kill us makes us stronger.

I was really, really wanting to do the Minicraft C-130 in the USCG scheme until I saw those awful decals … I can barely mask things in 1/72, so trying to do the same in 1/144 is wayyyyyyy beyond my skill zone.

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Rocky,

That Guardian looks good. Especially when you consider the condition of that kit, you did a great job. Nice masking on that paint scheme. (I am currently working on a USCG SA-16 Albatross so can envision where you might have wanted to throw the whole build in the trash and go sit on the back porch [:)])

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For all the trials & tribulations, it came out looking pretty darn good. Worth the effort I’d say.

Regards, Rick

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Looks good! I’ve seen the real thing “buzz” our platforms out in the Gulf of Mexico on “slick” patrol I imagine. They come by at about 150 to 200 ft and if you don’t see them coming they are gone in a flash. Our main decks are about 85 ft off the water and the helideck about 125 ft.

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Sounds like Mach 2 is about as bad as F.M. kits! I keep eyeballing the Mach 2 PBY -2 Coronado kit, but your experience has given me serious pause…[:-^]

Brian [C):-)]

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brain44: I would normally say not to judge an entire line by one kit, but, after ignoring several warnings on this board about Mach 2 kits, my guess is their whole line up must be like this.

It’s also likely someone who wants challenge, making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear as it were, will enjoy the Mach 2 kits. I personally don’t mind a couple of issues in a kit, but, when every step or part, requires sanding (extreme sanding, not just a little touch up), massive amounts of flash removal (look at the parts tree pictures), seam filling and filling and filling, all of which leads to lots of rescribing of panel lines, it takes the fun out of it for me. For others, that may be their “thing” and to them, I say have at it and have fun! (Along those lines, how guys who build vac-form kits survive I’ll never understand. Their patience must be legion. I wouldn’t think there is enough beer!!!)

Plus, I had the paint and decal issues to deal with, which up to a point, were not the cause of the kit. I do wonder what Mach 2 uses for mold release though, as my usual cleaning method, scubbing with Windex followed by a good washing in warm water with Dawn dish soap, was not successful in locking down the acrylic paint.

Thank you all for the kind words on the build!

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I say to myself, It’s easier than scratchbuilding, It is easier than scratchbuilding, It is easier than scratchbuilding…Is it easier than sratchbuilding…Oh Oh, my Zen slipped!

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LOL! Yes, I would say it is easier then scratchbuilding.

And like the Dalia Lama told Carl, “At least you got that going for you.”