CH-47 Desert Storm

Donald Dickson II
I hate when I find a picture that makes me go OOOOOOOOOOO, I have to do this. And then i am forced to find a kit and the proper decals. Have to order decals from Germany because cant find them anywhere else. And I am not sure when I will get to it. But I already have in mind how I will accomplish it.

Choppa Nutta
I believe in you m'dude !!
I want to see this one come to life !! 😄

Donald Dickson II
Choppa, its gonna be a while. I forgot that Germany is one of the countries mail is not being allowed from. Spain, OK. Cyprus, OK. Germany, NOPE. unreal. But it wouldn't be up right away anyway. When I finish the SU-35 and Yellow Submarine, Im going right into the F-14 build for here and an F-16 for another group build.

Ben M
Whaat? We can't get mail from Germany? I just got mail from the Netherlands.

Donald Dickson II
Ben, this is the email I received from the company I bought the decals from:

Dear Sir,
Thank you very much for your order!

Please accept the current notice by DHL Group: Due to the increased spreading of the Corona virus and the associated delivery limitations, shipping from Germany to the United States is currently not possible.

We have no influence on this restriction and apology for any inconviencience this matter has caused.

Shall we keep your order and ship it after normalization or do you prefer a cancellation and refund of your payment, please?

Ben M
That's amazing. I've only had this problem with trying to get mail to Cuba before.

Choppa Nutta
Donald ask them if they can ship to the UK because if they can then I can ship it to you 🙂
not ideal I know but it might be a work around ?
worth asking them at least .... perhaps ?

Donald Dickson II
Thank you my friend. I will shoot them an email and ask.

Donald Dickson II
OK, so I now have the Italeri kit for this project. I am guessing that is the standard gray/green Brit camo under that mess.

Donald Dickson II
And the decals thanks to the ever helpful Mr Choppa.

Steven Van Dyck
Seems like you will almost have to sandblast the camo to do that! Good that you got the decals, I can say that many American sellers don't ship to Belgium and we're right next to Germany...

Slavo Hazucha
No way I´m missing this when it happens😉

Donald Dickson II
Steven, my plan is this. The gray/green will go on in enamels. My much preferred paint. The desert pink I have is acrylic. I will put that over the enamel. Put on decals. Then take rubbing alcohol and remove the pink in a manner to (hopefully) replicate that picture.

Slavo, I may get into this one fairly soon. The RF101s on the diorama build are testing my patience. I may have to walk away from them. LOL

Donald Dickson II
Alrighty. Started on this one. Building the seats from PE. Have to build the frames. Tedious but look good IMO. This is a big kit.

Nathan Dempsey
Ooh I don't want to miss this build 🙂

Clifford Keesler
Count me in.

Donald Dickson II
Alrighty. Cockpit mostly done. Interior walls on and a couple troop seats finished up. Only like 7 more to do.

David Taylor
May I have a seat.

James C
Off to a nice start 👍

Maciej Bellos
Following!

Gary Kitchen
Love the Chinook and great concept. Lots to learn for me here. Taking a seat.

Donald Dickson II
Gentlemen, welcome! Hope you enjoy. Hope I dont fall on my face with this on. LOL

Clifford Keesler
Looking good there sir.

Villiers de Vos
Amazing attention to detail

Donald Dickson II
Thank you Clifford and Villiers. Did a couple more seats tonight. Right side almost done.

Donald Dickson II
OK, so the seats are done. Didnt take a pic overhead before I put the top on, but got a halfway decent one from the back. Now...

It was pointed out to me that the rotors in the kit are wrong for any Brit bird after like 84. They were evidently all chaged over to composites and look different. This is a bit irksome as this is a new tool from like 2011, so Italeri SHOULD have included the correct blades. It would NOT have been that difficult. So I am modifying them. Kit blade on the left, my attempt to make it look at least somewhat correct on the right. Its not perfect, but its close enough I think.

Patrick Hagelstein
This is a very cool subject weathering wise. Looking forward to see how you can distress that paint job. However, wouldn't it be easier/safer to add a layer of hairspray between the enamels and acrylic? That way you can rub away the pink using a damp brush without the risk of damaging the enamels underneath.

Donald Dickson II
My plan is to remove it using alcohol. That wont do anything to the enamels underneath. Its along the lines of what I did to do the winter camo on the IL-2 I did. IL 2 | Album by smokeriderdon (1:32)

Patrick Hagelstein
Learned something new here! 😄

Guillaume Blanchet
That's going to be a nice show. Watching 🙂

Clifford Keesler
I would say you got them pretty darn close. Yes they went to composite blades starting with the "D" models, I think they may have also retro fitted some of the Later model "C" with them also, but not 100% sure on that. You sure did a beautiful job on the seats.

Donald Dickson II
Clifford, thank you sir! 🙂

I got the interior set with the belts for the pilots seats. So thats done. May be doing the body tonight, not sure.

Clifford Keesler
Looking forward to it sir.

Donald Dickson II
So, I studied the pic of the actual chopper and realized that the kit is WAY wrong with the antennae down the side. Like REALLY wrong. I sanded off the raised areas marked in black. Double checked and have to do that last one on the end. Then drill hole for the second row. They wont have the raised area, but there is only so much I can do.

Clifford Keesler
That stinks. But sure you will work it out.

Donald Dickson II
Body halves on. You can see the dark gray plugs where I filled in the wrong holes and the second row of holes I drilled.

Dominik Weitzer
Now I'm interested about the paint job. If that looks like the teazer, that will be awesome.

Donald Dickson II
Dominik, thats what I am gonna go for. We will see if it happens. LOL

So, I HAVE been working on it. Fuselage is all together. Gotta do some seam work on the bottom. Ramp is on. Glas iss almost ready to glue in. Painted the armored portion and need to let that dry before I mask it. Then I will glue it in.

So, I bought a Bondic pen a while ago. Figured this would be as good a time to try it as any. I LIKE it! Glued the nose piece into the glas with it. Works great and is absolutely clear. I will be using it to attach the glass to the fuselage.

Donald Dickson II
OK, git it all buttoned up and put the camo on. Now this is just there to show through the Desert Pink, so I wasnt worried about perfection. Just getting the colors down.

Once it has dried and I make a few fixes, that will go on and then the fun starts.

Clifford Keesler
Looking forward to it.

Donald Dickson II
OK, pink on and removed. Not EXACTLY the same, but I think it came out really well. Now I need to add the staining and dirt and the like. And paint the bottom. LOL

Donald Dickson II
Yeah, its been like that from the get go. No clue why.

Ben M
I agree - definitely captured the flavor of the peeling paint

Clifford Keesler
I would say you nailed it.

Nathan Dempsey
Oh yeah, I like that Donald.

Dominik Weitzer
Oh! Well made do far! Like it.

Donald Dickson II
Thank you gentlemen. So its mostly done. Just gotta do the whirly thins on top and tires and antennae. Also, I managed to knock the canopy loose while unmasking it. Once you knock a part loose, it will NEVER EVER fit as perfectly as it originally did. Damn it!

David Taylor
Weathering looks fantastic.

Nathan Dempsey
Those bleeping canopies!

Clifford Keesler
Yea agree, darn canopies. Looks great by the way.

Donald Dickson II
Alrighty, good bad or indifferent, she is done. 🙂

Gary Kitchen
Great build, great subject. 👍

James C
Nice work Donald 👍

Clifford Keesler
I think it looks great, well done sir.

Patrick Hagelstein
Nice work on the distressed paint effects Donald! 👍