Hasegawa 1/72 Apache

[Deleted member 7181]

Picked this up for a fiver at the Nework show. I wasn't going to blog it but this corner of the forum doesn't see much action so I'll put together what I have.



Bit of an old kit, dating back to the 80's, so I was expecting some work, but it hasn't been bad at all so far. It's light on detail but I can't complain at the price.

Unsurprisingly assembly started with the cockpit. A bit barren but the decals behaved themselves and the fit was great. I chipped it up a bit and tried a brown wash but didn't like the look of it so cleaned it off later.





Next off was the missiles and rack. Both were called out in olive drab but I lightened it for the Hellfires to add a bit of variety. Molotow chrome pen emulated the glass. Later research showed many had a yellow band or two around them so might add that.



Got some colour on the rotors. Starting with the yellow tips to make life easier as the rest is black or OD. Mr Color was used so it covered easily over the white primer.



Then onto the thingummybobs at the front with lenses and sights (notice proper use of technical military terms )

They got primed in grey, painted silver, then the lens/sight whatsits were coloured in clear blue and gold, to be as similar to pictures as I could manage.



Then brushed with Vallejo OD.



Fuselage and engine took a bit of persuasion to come together but left only minor seams once dry. I had a go at scribing the panel lines back in after filling and sanding with varying success.





That's it for now. I don't have enough Mr Color OD left to do the whole thing so it'll probably get primed & pre shaded then shelved for a few days.

 

[adt70hk]

Man that's fast work!!! Love the work on the lens thingies. They've come out nicely.

ATB

Andrew

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Thanks Andrew.

Those pics are over two days and a bit out of sequence really. I clipped the fuselage together late last night and left it until this morning to dry before filling/sanding & adding the engines. Not many parts and not much detail so it flies together.

 

[boatman]

HI Andy yes that was fast work i'll be watchin as you say theres not much happening in the helo's section so your build can only be a boost for it
chris

 

[Steven000]

Interesting build, looking good

 

[Lee Drennen]

Andy
Like the box art and your off to a good start

 

[minitnkr]

Will follow along as I have a 1/87 Apache in the stash w/o much paint guidance. Your finishes are always enviable. PaulE

 

[yak face]

Nice work Andy , as you say not a lot going on in the helicopter or aircraft sections recently , might have to move my Hind nearer the top of the pile ! Cheers tony

 

[Jim R]

Hi Andy
Nice start. Smaller than I imagined.
Jim

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Thanks everyone. It'll not be a long build but thanks for coming along.

Paul - what a nice thing to say, thank you.

Tony - I've dropped a massive hint about the new Tamiya Lightning so hopefully Santa will be kind and that'll bolster the aircraft section for a while. Most years people struggle with present ideas for me so I can imagine I'll be getting models galore this year!

Jim - yes, tiny enough that I might just have enough paint if I blocked it in one colour, but mixing different highlight shades seems to eat it up. I have plenty of Vallejo OD but my airbrush results with it are up & down.

 

[boatman]

Nice work Andy , as you say not a lot going on in the helicopter or aircraft sections recently , might have to move my Hind nearer the top of the pile ! Cheers tony

YES do so Tony as more the meeryier
chris

 

[boatman]

Tony - I've dropped a massive hint about the new Tamiya Lightning so hopefully Santa will be kind and that'll bolster the aircraft section for a while.

Andy which lightning is it as it would be good if some one did a 1/48 or better still a 1/32 E/E lightning as ive only ever seen one built on here an I think it was Jakko
Chris

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Chris, it's the P-38 Lightning here. By all reports a very nicely engineered kit.

 

[boatman]

OH ok Andy well enjoy the build an as for the E/E LIGHTNING id love build one or to see one built in 1/32 scale an do all the wheathering an panels showing but im not as good at it as you guys an im up to my neck in the tiger build perhaps someone eles will give it a go
chris

 

[Jakko]

Bit of an old kit, dating back to the 80's, so I was expecting some work, but it hasn't been bad at all so far.

The plastic in Hasegawa kits can be a bit thick, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one with actual fit problems or more than light flash, even very old kits.

Then onto the thingummybobs at the front with lenses and sights (notice proper use of technical military terms )

PNVS/TADS — Pilot Night Vision System/Target Acquisition and Detection System (I think, I could have one or two words wrong). PNVS is the small one on top of the nose, TADS is the bigger one underneath; they can turn independently of each other, if you want to pose them other than straight ahead on your model.

That's it for now. I don't have enough Mr Color OD left to do the whole thing so it'll probably get primed & pre shaded then shelved for a few days.

Looking very nice so far

Andy which lightning is it as it would be good if some one did a 1/48 or better still a 1/32 E/E lightning as ive only ever seen one built on here an I think it was Jakko

Not me. My Lightning is posed on acrylic rod as if in a zoom climb, but it’s not lit up (though I did consider putting LEDs in to light up the exhaust, I decided not to).

 

[boatman]

The plastic in Hasegawa kits can be a bit thick, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one with actual fit problems or more than light flash, even very old kits.


PNVS/TADS — Pilot Night Vision System/Target Acquisition and Detection System (I think, I could have one or two words wrong). PNVS is the small one on top of the nose, TADS is the bigger one underneath; they can turn independently of each other, if you want to pose them other than straight ahead on your model.


Looking very nice so far


Not me. My Lightning is posed on acrylic rod as if in a zoom climb, but it’s not lit up (though I did consider putting LEDs in to light up the exhaust, I decided not to).

Jakko that was what I was on about a jet lightning like you did an a stunner not the prop job
chris

 

[Jakko]

Jakko that was what I was on about a jet lightning like you did an a stunner not the prop job

Sorry, misread — I read lighting, not lightning …

 

[boatman]

Sorry, misread — I read lighting, not lightning …

OK its easy to make a mistake
chris

 

[Deleted member 7181]

PNVS/TADS — Pilot Night Vision System/Target Acquisition and Detection System (I think, I could have one or two words wrong). PNVS is the small one on top of the nose, TADS is the bigger one underneath; they can turn independently of each other, if you want to pose them other than straight ahead on your model.

Cheers, sounds better than my term

Most of the images I've seen seem to have the lower one reversed in a kind of "parked" position. I assume that is to protect the lenses etc when it isn't in use?

 

[Jakko]

Cheers, sounds better than my term

Yours is less clinical than the Americans’ beloved wordy description-of-function And reading it back, I realise now I got the D wrong: Designation, not Detection. (My excuse is that I got most of my knowledge on the AH-64 (and the AH-1 Cobra) in the days when you had to get all that kind of information from books, and I dug the name up from my memory this morning )

Most of the images I've seen seem to have the lower one reversed in a kind of "parked" position. I assume that is to protect the lenses etc when it isn't in use?

Exactly right, they turn the lenses towards the aircraft so they won’t get hit by anything. Also, both the gun underneath the fuselage and the PNVS/TADS can be slaved to the gunner’s or pilot’s helmet, so they always turn where he’s looking. This isn’t much help to make your model more interesting, though, as the figures are looking dead ahead