UH-2A Build

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because this is meant to represent my Grandfather's seasprite aboard the USS America in 1966, getting the figured correct is very important to me. I'm not confident about this color of flight suit 

 

This step is very important to me as this is meant to represent my Grandfather's UH-2 flying off the USS America during its 1967 med tour. I asked my mother and my aunt, and they decided that the aviator on the left was my grandfather. I'm proud of you Gramps, and I miss you. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i started out believing that I would use toothpicks dipped in paint to individually color and highlight the switches and buttons, but that was... um... overly ambitious. I still dont really understand a lot of painting techniques so im not sure if theres something that would work better. (BTW, the three major insturment panels in the cockpit all come in pairs in this kit, one completely flat for adding decals and one raised with 3D details for painting. Very cool!) 

much to my chagrin, these 1/72 scale pilots dont fit perfectly with the model, so the pilot isnt actually holding the collective or cyclic, also, the beautiful PE 5-point harnesses wont fit around the pilots, so they're also being sacrificed :'( 

 

The aluminum metallic bits was the right call 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the pedals are a really good example of the problems with the two halves of the mold lining up on this kit. 

Honestly... Some of this tooling is... Not good. It's like the two haves of the pieces were not properly lined up when they were pressed together in the mold 

Um... Clear Prop? What the @$#& is with the fitment of these parts?? 

 

 

Any advice on fixing this panel gap is appreciated. 

 

 

added bracing bars to make the hull flex to the right shape 

looking way better 

 

 

that big gap above the 'b pillar' bulkhead is the result of very very slight errors in the assembly of the interior. this model requires really precise fits and does not tolerate errors well. I'll have to see how well the door assembly mounts before figuring out if i can just fill the gap with PSB and putty. 

note the small connector pin on this landing gear bay piece. The hull of the helicopter (shown in next picture) doesnt actually have a corresponding hole for this pin, and thus this needs to be cut off before assembly. Weird oversight. 

the location on the hull where the landing gear shroud is attached is right at the rear of the area in white (the bottom of the shroud goes into the recessed section. The square hole right at the rear of the white section is for attaching an upper spar of the landing gear, not for the mounting pin on the shroud) 

 

gorgeous details though 

 

 

 

 

Lot of putty required for this 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, she's starting to come together. 

 

 

 

Some beauty shots to mark the halfway point.