Peterpools

PW, nice checkerboard Jug cowl. ON one of my last few Jugs, I went with the same checkerboard (Tamiya) and the fit was near perfect.

PW, nice addition to the air brush collection, I've often wondered how different it would be using this type of AB as compared to the more conventional trigger system. After some use, would be very interested in your thoughts.

Thanks Paul very much appreciated. The Saraf is starting to come together and hopefully in a few weeks, I'll have the fuselage painted and decaled and then onto the other major subassemblies.

DETAILS, PROGRESS, & FRUSTRATIONS Slowly making some progress. I’ve reached the stage of the build where nearly all the fuselage subassemblies are done with some being glued onto the Saraf and others painted and stored away for later on in the build. None of the armament sub-assemblies, including the M230 Chain Gun have been even started yet. I haven’t yet even reached the main rotor or tail rotor assemblies – as there is just still so much work to do on the Saraf. I can now see the Saraf taking a good few more months to complete and maybe even a few more after that. When time has allowed working at the bench, the Saraf sometimes feels like a grind to keep moving forward. The TADS – Target Acquisition and Designation Sight daylight scanner and PNVS - Pilot Night Visual Sensor assembly has been built up and is being tested fitted at this stage. All the small glass windows need to be masked before painting and I didn’t see any on the precut mask sheet in the kit, so time needs to devoted to masking and then painting this assembly. Of course, the assembly won’t be added until after the Saraf is painted and decaled. Colors for this assembly should be Nato Black, Dark Oliver Drab and flat or rubber black. An incredible number of fuselage sensors, piping, antennas and assorted lumps and bumps still need to added. I’m trying to add all those before painting that stand a good chance of marring up the paint if added after painting and decaling. Knocking them off is a whole other matter. I’ve also discovered the seam on the top of the Saraf, which I filled and removed, should actually be there, so I had to scribe it back in – badly the first time and then after filling and sanding, a second attempted seemed to do the trick. At this point in the build, the instructions are becoming less friendly, with some of the small part drawings being vague in both location and orientation. I’ve needed to spend a lot more time studying dozens of photos in the IsraDecal Saraf book, trying to locate the parts in question and how they should be installed. Right now, I’m leaning towards having the canopy access doors in the open position (right side) and the canopy after some tweaking is starting to work nicely into place. One area the kit that is falling short, is the PE. There is none provided for the grills and mesh screens and Meng decided to represent them by just scribed plastic on the fuselage shell. Geeze for an expensive kit, these should have been PE. The PE provided is on the thick side and a bear to bend. I failed miserably with the stabilizer trim tabs, needing a tack hammer to actually bend them and then, I actually dropped and lost one. I scratched out a pair from thin sheet and off to the races. I searched for any available PE exterior detail sets for the AH-64D Sarah or Apache and there are none with the mesh screens needed or replacement parts for what I lost.

Kev Seems if needed, a bit of semi-gloss clear would bring down the shine if needed. Tough call for sure.

Mike Riveting - oh what fun but way better then scribing - my least enjoyable part of any build. I've read and seen videos where the model was first primed and then riveted and the conversation then centered around the do you just rivet in the primer or into the plastic as well. Not sure which would be the preferred way. Holy smokes, those Vector Engines look brilliant and seems there is going to be a lot of extra work in add a rear crankcase. I wonder why Vector didn't include them with the engines.

PM Nice looking front office - weathering is spot on the money.

Scott Right with Kev and looking mighty good.

Hubert Hard for me to absorb and understand all the work so necessary for 3D printing, as for someone of my age, the work involved needs to be so incredibility accurate and precise, I shudder even thinking about ever trying to do it. I still tip my hat for you learning the skills so necessary for the level of work.

Mike Amazing progress and in your capable hands, the delicate detailing work looks spot on. The dio Hs129 clipped wing ribs looks lie a perfect match to the photographs - so very nicely done.

Kev Some mighty nice detective work and your solutions seem to be spot on the money. Love how the front offcie looks and the NMF looks so good.

John Some mighty fine work and your conversion came out spot on the money and looks so good. Always a joy to follow your builds. 🏆

John Heading over to check out your finished Corsair. I've already seen the images and the conversion build; perfectly done. Awesome work.🏆

Carl Nice to see the Whirlwind back on the back and underway again

HI Rob Now that's awesome, your Dad having a large model railroad and you were hopefully able to enjoy operating it with him. Yup, model railroaders seem to fall into a few groups: Those with loads of track and operation as the primary focus, those who love to detail scenes and structures and those down the middle. When I was a model railroader, I was in the detail camp and just like to watch trains run through scenes. My brother is still a model railroader and operations are his favorite part of the hobby. The Yard Office I built, is in place on his railroad now. When I feel the urge to build Jimmy's Small Motor Repair Shop, it's O scale and will be done as a diorama - but that's down thew road a good way.

John Might nice work and the conversion looks perfect. Glad to see the juices are flowing and you're back at then bench.

Paul, Nice Keurig Supreme - it's the one I use every day and just finished doing the descaling maintenance last week. Enjoy. My favorite coffee for the Keurig McDonalds Premium.

Chris Nice buy from SB sale last week. I'm waiting for my ZM F4J I bought to arrive today or tomorrow.

Awesome haul - My SB order should arrive today or tomorrow and I also jumped on a ZM F4J. I have a good six F4's in the stash, always adding and planning on building a few this winter.

Carl WOW, looks simply amazing - sure wish I was that handy and skilled and unfortunately, I'm not and always have to hire a contractor.

Chris WOW, looking so good and can't wait to see the beauty shots. Awesome work my friend. 🏆

PW, rigging looks fantastic

Rob Right with you and the guys and even at my tender old age, I starting to look, learn and hoping to mix in a wider venue of new subjects and kits over the next few years. I had a ball when I built my HO Scale Railroad Yard Office and just might build another structure this year but in O scale: Bar Mills Jimmy's Small Engine Repair Shop:

Carl Holy smokes, always something to deal with.

John Glad to see you're back at the bench and looking for to your next update.