AH-64D Longbow 1/48 Academy (WIP)

[GIACOMER]

Here in Rome is very cold at the moment, so I can't airbrush anything and I decided to build something fast and not too difficult.
This Apache I had in my stash seemed a nice choice to me, not many parts and I'll do it completely OOB, the level of detail is not high so maybe I'll try some scratch-building but it would be my first try, so I don't assure you nothing











The last photo shows the real helicopter I'll inspire to, nothing particular or difficult for this project.

[chief5437]

Nice! Some good weathering ideas in that last pic

[GIACOMER]

Nice! Some good weathering ideas in that last pic

Yeah, and it doesn't seem too difficult, a bit of modulation, some oil fading and some pigments will make the figure

I hope...

[GIACOMER]

Started work, the kit shows is age, the problem is not the lack of details itself, but the worn-out moulds, so a lot of flash and moulding seams, this kit was in production for a long time (and the AH-64D kit share all the sprues except one with the even older AH-64A kit) so it's a quite understandable problem.

I had to get rid of some injector pin marks (10!!!!!) that would have been visible too (and as you can notice from the photos some have not been sanded yet)







Probably the worst part are the seats, that are completely un-shaped, they are really awful, I'm trying desperately to enhance their look, I hope to show them on the next update.

[Hillbilly]

Looks like a good start so far

[amsvkng]

Hiya this cockpit assembly looks much easier than the italeri kit I am currently building, on my kit the rotor base and the cockpit tub are seperate parts and I have to say it is making dry fitting the italeri kit in the fuselage is rather tricky, please report how you get along with fitting this inside the acadamy kit? Good Luck!

Thanks
/Karim

[amsvkng]

Hiya, thanks for the referance photos

[GIACOMER]

Hiya this cockpit assembly looks much easier than the italeri kit I am currently building, on my kit the rotor base and the cockpit tub are seperate parts and I have to say it is making dry fitting the italeri kit in the fuselage is rather tricky, please report how you get along with fitting this inside the acadamy kit? Good Luck!

Thanks
/Karim

The rotor base was assembled by me.


The cockpit is really awful and the detail is scarce, but I'll make it closed so I don't care too much, probably the only way to make a good Apache is to take the Hasegawa kit with a lot of after-market.
I'll post an update when I'll finish the assembly of the cockpit, (my new PS4 is literally eating my free-time at the moment ). A good thing is that the color of the inside is full black so the painting will not be so difficult.

About the pictures, you can find everything you need simply doing a research in english on google

[amsvkng]

Hiya
Thanks for the update, seems a bit easier than the one I am currently building, a italeri ah64 and so far I am making a few modifications as a test for another updated version of the same kit, but I was not aware which of the brands had the best kit, but I guess it is Hasegawa

[GIACOMER]

A little update, I'm not dead, but the school is trying to kill me in my last year, so I had to set apart all my time-waster hobbies. With the Easter holiday i took cutter and plastic again. I missed it, trust me...

In few hours I prepared the cockpit for painting (a week point for me), it will be closed so I don't think I'll do difficult things, but I want to do a good job anyway.








Then I assembled some parts of the tail rotor, these are the only parts you have to assemble before closing the two halves.




Then to have some fun I assembled that beautiful nose.




The pink stuff is Maskol, for the clear parts. I want to primer the nose with the cockpit because is complicated part, and if some problems pop out will be easier to fix them when the part is non glued to the helicopter.

[jackals54]

Helo, i'm new here.
What color would you use to the main body??