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Playing in the Sandbox Group Build Sept 1, 2024 - Jn 1, 2025

Academy UH-60L, just getting back to started projects


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Well, I had planned on starting my F-117, but I actually am building a pair of Blackhawks for some pilots, and since they are going on deployment in a couple months, I’m moving these in front of the Nighthawk. 
 

I'm doing a OOB build without any PE, although I need to figure something out with seatbelts. I started dry fitting one bird, to see what needs fixing, and the passenger cabin is a terrible fit so far, I have had to attack it in anger with a 150 grit sanding stick already. 
 

 

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Nice work on the cabin floor. 
 

10 hours ago, 1to1scale said:

I also learned that 30 ml or MRP paint does not go as far as a bottle of a 10 ml Tamiya jar

Never used MRP, but experienced the same using Alclads. These very liquid Colours seem to rush through the airbrush on the other hand they spray well and trouble free.

Cheers Rob

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5 hours ago, Bomber_County said:

Must do a helo one day :popcorn:

Do yourself a favor, don’t build an academy one. Fit was so bad, I kept rereading the instructions to understand what was wrong. The cabin does not fit the fuselage, parts protrude that interfere, yet they serve a purpose, and you still have gaps all around in the doorways. Then things just don’t line up when you do get it together, and you need to sand 2mm off some parts just to get it close. (This is even in the Eduard PE instructions).

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7 hours ago, 1to1scale said:

Do yourself a favor, don’t build an academy one. Fit was so bad, I kept rereading the instructions to understand what was wrong. The cabin does not fit the fuselage, parts protrude that interfere, yet they serve a purpose, and you still have gaps all around in the doorways. Then things just don’t line up when you do get it together, and you need to sand 2mm off some parts just to get it close. (This is even in the Eduard PE instructions).

yes a lot to fix but it is possible to turn out a decent model.

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8 hours ago, shark64 said:

yes a lot to fix but it is possible to turn out a decent model.

True, I turned down an opportunity to get a KH Blakhawk, now I wish I had one to compare.  

I don't build many Academy kits at all, so this is a first for me.  But to be honest, not many manufacturers deliver Tamiya quality, so, you just have to deal with it, and do your best. 

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This was a commission build, but the people backed out, so I am building it for myself. 
 

After finishing the A-7E, I decided to start working on this again. I collected a few bits and bobs like PE, a resin transmission, and a mask set. 
 

Back to it...

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Thanks guys, since everything is 4 shades of black and dark gray, I had to use the flash....and it greatly exaggerated the pigment dust. I’m probably going to have to add detail to the collectives, as they look terrible as-is. 

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Looks like I need to do some touch ups still.

 

 

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I also got the rotor head assembled, not super accurate, but I tried to get the colors right...and the new resin transmission helps a lot. I researched the colors to make sure, but I have a few pictures that show the components are painted Helo Drab. Still need to weather it up.

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17 hours ago, Martinnfb said:

Fantastic work. :notworthy:

Thanks, this kit is a nightmare, poor fit and major misalignment everywhere. To top it off, academy has chosen to to as few alignment pins and tabs as possible. I have had to add quite a few extra alignment tabs myself. I almost feel like this is a vac kit. The gunner station support walls don’t come close to the fuselage in the rear, but butt up to it in the front, so I hade to make fabricated plastic sheet ends to mate it up. The seats are a study in fragile assembly. They could have made them 100% better by including pins instead of butt joints everywhere. And then, when you finally get the interior floor and ceiling glued together, you have hang the seats from little hooks in the ceiling and attach the fragile legs to the floor, to imaginary locating holes that don’t exist...at least not even close to where they should be. 
 

There is no way this will ever be a show entry, there is so much wrong that you have to cut your losses and just get it finished so the SOD has one less casualty. This kit has gone from fun to a challenge, the only thing keeping me going is that it will end up in the hands of a TN Guard pilot.  
 

ok, I’m done with my Saturday morning rant. :rtfm: :raincloud:

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