Author Topic: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper  (Read 10552 times)

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #25 on: March 06, 2022, 01:53:13 AM »
Looking good
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

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But you can make the Bastard work for it.

Offline Kerick

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #26 on: March 06, 2022, 03:57:26 AM »
I do love taking different things and mashing them together to see what comes out of it. Painting them is another matter!

Offline Old Wombat

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #27 on: March 06, 2022, 09:48:12 AM »
 :smiley:
"This is the Captain. We have a little problem with our engine sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and, ah, explode."

Offline LemonJello

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #28 on: March 07, 2022, 09:25:12 PM »
Very cool!

Offline apophenia

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #29 on: March 08, 2022, 11:06:08 AM »
Excellent! I love what you've done with the blades and stabilizers but those engine nacelles are really something  :smiley:
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

Offline Kerick

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #30 on: March 08, 2022, 12:36:59 PM »
Thanks everyone!

Offline Kerick

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #31 on: March 25, 2022, 12:33:20 PM »
Well, this one is just about ready for paint.





I moved a pair of 20mm guns to the fuselage sides. It would be impossible to load them under the engines. Not sure if I like the arraignment but I'll see if it grows on me. I might put some 50Cals in the nose yet. I also added carb intakes above the engines. Probably should be bigger.





I also shortened the tail rotor blades a bit to better clear the main rotor.



I used Perfect Plastic Putty to blend in around the engine to fuselage joint. I used a wet Q-tip to blend the putty instead of trying to sand in such a tight space. For the first time using this method it worked pretty darn well.





Now I should think of a name for it!

Offline Old Wombat

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #32 on: March 25, 2022, 02:29:01 PM »
Looking good! :D
"This is the Captain. We have a little problem with our engine sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and, ah, explode."

Offline Buzzbomb

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #33 on: March 25, 2022, 02:38:24 PM »
Nice transformation

Offline LemonJello

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #34 on: March 25, 2022, 08:26:29 PM »
Looking ready to shred some Panzers!

Offline robunos

  • Can't afford the top wing of his biplanes...
Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #35 on: March 25, 2022, 10:49:10 PM »
Verr' Nice . . .   :smiley:
but needs rockets . . .


cheers,
Robin.
By the pricking of my thumbs, Something Whiff-y this way comes . . .

Offline Kerick

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #36 on: March 26, 2022, 05:57:34 AM »
Oh the rockets will be there after painting! Plus a couple other little bits that will have to wait until after paint.

Offline robunos

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #37 on: March 26, 2022, 06:30:44 AM »
 :smiley:


cheers,
Robin.
By the pricking of my thumbs, Something Whiff-y this way comes . . .

Offline Kerick

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #38 on: April 22, 2022, 01:13:35 PM »
I had quite a burst of activity the last couple of days. I got the retro Apache out and solved a few problems which allowed me to proceed quickly. It's been very rewarding to see the new version looking better than the first.

First of all I built the side sponsons out a little wider than the kit and much longer.



This left me with an issue dealing with the underside. It sat this way for a week plus before I tried some very thin polystyrene from a cookie container.



I had already decided to use the ring shaped sprue found in the middle of the tree the parts come on in several different manufactures kits. I found two alike and sanded down the outside and dremeled and filed and sanded out the middle to make a reasonable airfoil shape. This I cut apart to make two struts from each ring. I made them extra long on purpose and trimmed them once installed. Some Evergreen rod provided the skis with the front heated and bent to shape then cut to length. I drilled holes just big enough to fit the strut and with a little trimming I was able to slip them in far enough to give the right stance. On the pic above you can see how far they fit into the sponson in the rear position. This way they are unlikely to break off in the future.



I sanded the ends of the struts on some course sandpaper until they all touched the desktop at the same time. Adding the skis was a snap after this. I also added some CA glue to the holes as there were a couple gaps.



I added the wings and engines after all this had dried overnight. I also checked to see if the weapons setup would still work. I'll still add the four .50 cals in the nose and something heavier in the sponsons.



This is the tail rotor and P-40 horizontal stabilizers installed temporarily. I'm going to use the stabs from the second P-40 kit as these are messed up from the paint stripping. I've since rounded off the top of the vertical stabilizer to give it some more 1940's look. The rings are what I made the struts out of. Came out pretty nice if I say so myself. I've since added a tail skid made from the wire from a paper clip and CA'ed into a hole I drilled.



Just an overhead shot. The engines are the only thing saved from the first attempt as the paint stripping in brake fluid really didn't clean things up that well. And I had extras of everything else anyway.



I'm thinking of cutting the canopy sides open. I can practice on the first kits canopy as the paint striping made a mess of it anyway. Not much more to do and then I'll have to paint. Pray for me.



Here's what I'm talking about when it comes to painting. I painted the tips of the rotors zinc chromate yellow as I think it gives a little weathered and "scale" appearence. Then I masked them off and sprayed the rotors black. I was touching up the yellow rotor tips when the brush touched the mask line. The yellow "broke through" the mask line and spilled out onto the black in this little spiderweb line. It did it on another rotor blade too. Nothing strange about the paints, not old and both enamels so go figure. Just the kind of weird stuff that happens when I paint. I'll have to take an extra anxiety pill first.



So that's the latest on this project. With luck I may have these and the Seahog done in time for my club's show and contest in October!

Offline Frank3k

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #39 on: April 22, 2022, 10:54:26 PM »
Paint some of the underlying paint on the edge of the mask. When it dries, it'll act as a seal and prevent leaks under the mask.

Offline Kerick

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #40 on: April 22, 2022, 11:29:29 PM »
The weird part was there was no tape on at the time. By mask line I meant the little ridge left after I pulled the tape off the yellow after spraying the black. The yellow just flowed over that ridge like a tiny river. So strange. Nothing I can’t touch up, just weird paint behavior I’ve never seen before. If it was flowing under tape I would get that as I have had that many times

Offline apophenia

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #41 on: April 23, 2022, 07:14:57 AM »
Very odd paint effect! She is lookin' good though  :smiley:

The canopy almost makes it look like a single-seater. But still two seats, right?
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

Offline Kerick

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #42 on: April 24, 2022, 12:05:01 AM »
The Apache version is still two seat and the A-10 version is single seat. Although the A-10 canopy is so big I might have been able to get two seats in there. Maybe one guy down in a “coal hole”.

Offline Kerick

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #43 on: April 24, 2022, 07:12:22 AM »
Still needs a back story. The choppers are going to be a little after D-Day pushing across Belgium and France. Maybe General Patton is so impressed by “this new fangled gadget” he takes them all into his Third Army when no one else wants them. Hmmmmm…  Maybe some more recognition markings on the rotor blades!

Offline Kerick

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #44 on: April 25, 2022, 12:39:47 PM »

Glued on a few small details like wire cutters and boarding steps.





I've been thinking about invasion stripes and if I wanted to do them on both aircraft. I measured out on the wings how much the stripes would cover. At 7.5' of stripes it would cover most of the wing on both aircraft. So I came up with this idea. How about invasion stripes on the rotor blades? I know they did this in Vietnam and I'm sure other places. The white stripes turn into white rings as the rotors spin much like the yellow tips on propellers.



It's either this or little narrow stripes to make room for national insignia.

Offline Old Wombat

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #45 on: April 25, 2022, 02:42:45 PM »
Rotor blade version is too cool! 8) :smiley:
"This is the Captain. We have a little problem with our engine sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and, ah, explode."

Offline finsrin

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #46 on: April 25, 2022, 03:37:51 PM »
 Cool, is its own genre of build.  8)

Offline Kerick

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #47 on: April 25, 2022, 10:36:18 PM »
If I had thought of it earlier I could have painted the white first but this worked out well. At least this time the Krylon from the hardware store worked right! It was a new can so I’m sure that made a difference!
Now I’ll do the other rotor, maybe a little inboard just to be different.

Offline Frank3k

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #48 on: April 25, 2022, 10:43:00 PM »
The white stripes look good.

Offline Kerick

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Re: Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper
« Reply #49 on: April 25, 2022, 11:41:07 PM »
Thanks!