Doug's 1/48 - KA27 Helix by Hobby Boss

[Waspie]

A day where rain stopped play - or at least the humidity.

I started off as planned with the rotor blades;

Pic 1
Primed, top coated and ready for masking prior to painting the leading edges!


Pic 2
Believe it or not - they took way longer than expected. Still, they are now ready to accept paint!!


Pic 3
With the blades masked it was the turn of the weapon compartment doors and chin radar to be masked off. How I never managed to knock some of the 'sticky out' bits I'll never know!! Still all done and ready to start applying top coats.


Sadly, by that stage it was over cast and threatening to rain - so time for a cuppa!!

Then it did!! Rain!!!! And it didn't stop. Looked at the barometer and humidity was up to low 80's so decided to knock it on the head for the day.
Problem is tomorrow looks like much of the same - suck it and see I guess!!!

Well - that's all folks.

All comments and stone throwing will be received with grace and decorum as is becoming a modelling novice!!

Cheers for looking in folks.

Doug

[Waspie]

Today's progress was pleasing.

Pic 1
Rotor blades nearly all done. Leading edge painted a darker grey as per instructions. Tips painted red and connection points to rotor head painted black. Only have a couple of minor scratches on the blades and I noticed a bit pf bleed from spraying the edges on one of the blades.


Pic 2
Fuselage spray completed. Couldn't get the exact Russian grey but from the. colour charts, USAF grey fitted the bill.


Pic 3
Port side shot!


That was it for the day. Much more than I expected looking at the sky before lunch.

C&C's all welcomed.

Forum change must be very imminent now, so fingers crossed it all goes smoothly.

Thanks for looking in.

Doug

[scottie3158]

Doug,
Looking very tasty mate.

[Stefee]

Neatly painted, this is going to be a great build.

[Waspie]

Thank you very much Paul and Stefan. I was quite pleased with the result. I did have a minor glitch using the H&S Ultra A/B. It coughed!! causing an overload of paint over the upper starboard fuselage. Had a cup of tea and when I looked agin it wasn't visible.
However, I did change A/B and used the pistol grip of the Gaahleri instead. Topped up the paint pot with a suitable amount of paint and gave the Helix another couple of coats. Faultless. I have to say, it is a very good airbrush, at the moment I would rate it higher than the more expensive Ultra.
Thanks again for your very kid words of encouragement, much appreciated. :thumb2:

[yak face]

Looking excellent doug , not far off now , cheers tony

[Waspie]

Looking excellent doug , not far off now , cheers tony

Oh I don't know Tony, lots of little fiddly stuff now. Plus several coats of varnish. Got to drag it out a bit to avoid SWMBO's list!!! :tears-of-joy:

[Waspie]

Fiddly stuff continued or is that commenced?

Loads done, still loads to do!

Pic 1
Lower rotor attached to lower rotor head and upper rotor blades attached to upper rotor head!!!


Pic 2
Wheels attached, and in the process dislodged the lower front aerial!! (Well - it had to happen!!) Also removed the masking from the weapons bay and chin radar. The contrast is better than I imagined, so very happy with how that turned out.


Pic 3
Rotors, rotor heads mated with fuselage.


Pic 4
Intakes and exhausts painted, Intakes - nato black!! Exhausts - gunmetal on the interior. Red lights painted red and coated in a transparent gloss. Aerials painted Gull Grey. Also painted the fescalised portions of the U/C Chrome. Finally, after studying pictures, I repainted the lower rotors dangly bits, (Some sort of weights I assume), Seaplane Grey, (same colour as the leading edges).


Pic 5
Finally, another size comparison shot of the Helix, (Russian ASW Helicopter) compared to the UK's Sea King, again, ASW helicopter of the same era.


That's all folks. (For today).

Any comments, adverse or otherwise gratefully received. It only makes me look deeper and try harder.

Thanks for popping by folks.

Doug

[scottie3158]

Doug,
No adverse comments from me mate, in fact al looking rather spiffing.

[Steve Ski]

You're getting there, excellent prgress!

[Waspie]

Doug,
No adverse comments from me mate, in fact al looking rather spiffing.

Thanks Paul, appreciated. The threat of SWMBO's 'list' doesn't half give you the incentive to stay at the bench!!!

You're getting there, excellent prgress!

Thank you Steve, don't want to make too much progress though!! (No Stash to fall back on).:sad:

Talking of SWMBO, she did say I must be getting fed up making helicopters. To which I replied I wasn't. At which point I could see she wasn't listening as she went straight on to say/order, ( I still haven't learned the difference - even after 50+ years together!!) Perhaps, and we know what that means, perhaps I should build a ship next!!! Her working theory was, I have built helicopters, built a tank, even built, (badly) a car. So by her logic - a boat should be next!!! (At which point I snuck into the rather one sided conversation; '[COLOR=rgb(250, 197, 28)]I need a new compressor[/COLOR]'.)
It was at this point the dinner menu came into play. So end of discussion!! Life - don't talk to me about life!!!
Confused of Dorset!

[yak face]

Nice work doug , the devilish rotor system looks great . As for going over to the dark side ( floaty things) I’d say SWMBOs list is looking a better option :smiling5:

[papa 695]

Just gone through this build Doug, and it’s looking very good indeed. Great work so far.

[Waspie]

Nice work doug , the devilish rotor system looks great . As for going over to the dark side ( floaty things) I’d say SWMBOs list is looking a better option :smiling5:

Rotor certainly looks complex but Hobby Boss have done a great job reproducing the parts so that everything fits nice and snug. I read up on the real thing, wowsers the Russians did make life hard for themselves. The need to control the rotors both mechanically and computers to match speeds and angles etc. I did read, there could be a situation if they get a mismatch when setting up, the pilot could pull power to achieve lift and just sit there going nowhere. Our single rotor system is relatively simple BUT does require a tail rotor which means more weight!!

You think I have a choice, floaty thing vs list. I wouldn't put money on who'll win!!!

Just gone through this build Doug, and it’s looking very good indeed. Great work so far.

Thanks Ian, appreciated.

[A_J_Rimmer]

Superb progress Doug - that's looking blooming awesome!

For your next project you could do a Helicopter on floats - it's technically a floaty thing...