Attached
are a few pictures and construction notes on the not-so-often seen but recently
reissued OH-6 Loach from Italeri in 1:72. Mine was an older release, however the
current boxing and decals are identical. This is a really tiny kit (the
whole cabin area is no more than 4cm long and 2cm wide!) with less than
brilliant detail, raised lines and rivets and not very good fit. Decals, though
a bit oversized, are excellent: very glossy, thin and flexible. Drawback is that
for the famous Hugh Mills' "Miss Clawd IV" Vietnam War machine there
should be markings on both sides of the helicopter, not only on the port side as
supplied - so you need an extra decal sheet or imaginative decal copying skills
if you want a more accurate version.
As
(hopefully) you can appreciate, I put a lot of work into detailing the very
visible front / rear cockpit areas and main rotor mechanism. Lots of improvement
and scratchbuilding went everywhere: doors were cut and discarded (as was common
practice in the real thing), rear bulkhead, Minigun details, ammo box and
internal supporting structures, smoke grenades, gunner seat, instrument panel
cabling, fire extinguisher, position lights, intercom cabling, antennas etc.
were all scratchbuilt. There are a couple of old, hard-to-find photoetch sets
from Airwaves and Eduard from where I took the seat armor panels, seatbelts, the
instrument panel face and other minor bits and pieces. Instrument dial faces
come from the spare decals box, colored position lights from a Czech Masters
generic set.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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A
lot of effort was needed to ensure a good fit between the main cabin body and
the big frontal clear area: delicate but substantial gluing and lots of
polishing with Tamiya Polishing Compound went there to achieve an acceptable
finish. Holes were cut in the frontal area for the air conditioning scoop and
the landing light. Careful masking of the open and clear areas followed before
airbrushing with Gunze Olive Drab acrylics. Artist's oils were used to accent
panel lines etc, followed by the standard gloss varnish + decal application
process. As mentioned, decals were excellent: a bit of Microsol helped them
conform the curved surfaces. Only extra care needs to be put on the big teethed
mouth that goes on the underside: a couple of strategic cuts here and there
helped it go smooth. Red & White colored triangle marking on the sides and
the serial number on the main rotor "doghouse" are definitely
oversize: I just replaced the numbers with individual pieces cut from white and
yellow numbering sheets from Tally-Ho, and let go with the triangles. A matt
varnish application sealed everything. A nice Tamiya Clear Green shade was
applied on top of the clear parts to simulate green antiglare panels.
For
that final, realistic touch I added two ammo boxes from a 1:72 tank stowage
resin set, the rear gunners' M-60 machine gun from a sister OH-58 kit and a heap
of ammo from Eduard.
Hope
you like it.
Pedro
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