Airfix 1/72 Apache Longbow

[ShaunW]

Does anyone know if the -D version is wider in real life, or did Italeri just get it wrong on their -A version?

I reckon you could be right. I've had a scan on good old Google and apparently the front fuselage of the -D model was expanded to improve strength in a crash amongst other things. Looking at photos of the -A and -D models, the -D does look more hefty around the front. Bit like myself

[AndrewR]

Looking at photos of the -A and -D models, the -D does look more hefty around the front. Bit like myself

At least you don't have a millimetre radar dome on your head...

Or do you?

[ShaunW]

The only thing on the top of my head Andrew is rapidly thinning hair, not helped by pulling most of it out in frustration at trying to fathom these blasted sponsons.

I tried and rejected one or two ideas and seem to have spent most of the latter half of this week staring at images of Apaches on Google Images and cutting up bits of plastic card to no avail. In the end, I settled on a kind of part laminated, part box section approach. OK OK yes, if you insist...a bodge!

At the back I used a mixture of square and round section plastic and added the first side plate to help with judging the initial shaping. I also added the stub wings to the fuselage again with a view to taking out some of the guesswork with designing and shaping the replacement rear parts to the sponsons. The stub wings BTW were a rubbish fit, being slack and requiring careful alignment. The rear shape of the sponsons is a quite complex curve and will take a fair bit of work.



I then began the job of initial shaping using warding files of various shapes and sizes and I've used quite thick plastic card to withstand the rigours of the filing - warding files are not subtle!





Of course, there's plenty of work yet to do - the other sponson for a start - with the overall shaping to be finalised with filler and more sanding. Yes, it looks a bodge at the moment but it's a case of keeping the faith and sanding on! If it all goes belly up I'll simply put the blame on Andrew and Jim for leading me astray. Hopefully I'll get more time at the bench tomorrow.

Thanks for looking.

[Jagewa]

Oh yes, bodge tastic stuff. I like that way of building the outward curve up, I completely missed that curve. Seems to be obvious in some pics I looked at, and not in others.

The more I see those wire grab handles, the more I know I'm going to have to succumb...

Great stuff.

Cheers
Jim

[AndrewR]

Reasonably accurate...

Not Italeri's finest helicopter kit. A bit of a disappointment. I expect Airfix were pleased to get it to replace their previous dire reboxing.

[ShaunW]

Thanks for your comments boys. I'm currently up to my eyeballs in plastic card and filler building up the sponson on the other side. Once I've got them both to the same stage I'll begin the final shaping with a view to completing my reasonably accurate replica Joking aside, it's a bit of a PITA and something Italeri and/or Airfix should've got right in the first place.

[AndrewR]

Nice work on the sponsons. I'll try that use of the tubes to get rounded edges next time. If there is a next time. This build has put me off Italeri helicopters for a while.

Joking aside, it's a bit of a PITA and something Italeri and/or Airfix should've got right in the first place.

Quite right. Although Italeri based it on the demonstrator, which had the AH-64A sponsons. So it's an accurate rendition of a helicopter that isn't an AH-64D... I wonder if that comes under the Trades Descriptions Act... If it did, one or two other model companies might just be in trouble too.

At least Airfix had the decency to put new decals in your offering. Half of my decal sheet has "US Army" stencils for the Hellfire rounds, which is a bit odd considering all the other decals are for British and Dutch machines.

cheers

Andrew

[ShaunW]

At least Airfix had the decency to put new decals in your offering.

They charged me £2.00 more for the privilege though - have I mentioned that before? who's a tightwad?... me!? In fairness to Airfix, yes, the decals are a bonus and I found the instrument side panel ones to be particularly useful as there is no way I could have hand painted anything that looked remotely realistic.

Thanks for the comments re the sponsons. I've used round rod like that before in the past to help make a curve. It can take some of the effort out of the sanding process.

[ShaunW]

Just to prove that I haven't been totally slacking whilst others are finishing model helicopters like there's no tomorrow, here's the current state of play with my sponson surgery.





I'm not fully happy with the shape of either yet and more filler is required. The plastic is starting to get thin so I'd better be careful that I don't wear through. Mumble mumble.....bloody sponsons...mumble mumble......

Hopefully I can sort these out before the weekend and then I can bung on some of the airframe lumps and bumps before priming. This GB is nearly half way through you know and I'm not half way finished....although I am half way mad....

Thanks for looking.

[Jagewa]

It's not the finishing that counts but the amount of entertainment value, and I think you've achieved that already

Looking good though Shaun, I'm still sorting out grab handles, the Saraf's one by the cockpit on the right is quite different...

Cheers
Jim

[ShaunW]

I try to please Jim

On the subject of grab handles, there are at least a couple more to go on the actual cockpit canopy. Fortunately the handles fit where there is paint for the framing and so therefore I hope any slight fogging which might be caused by the epoxy glue will be hidden. If not, then everyone gets a good laugh - except me of course

[Jagewa]

So epoxy fogs clear parts, I've never tried it on clear parts. Good to know.

Cheers
Jim

[DavidWomby]

Wow - great work. Especially on those sponsons! Is there no AH-64 kit that comes with those on the mould or are they all the earlier sponson design?

David

[SARowl]

Shaun,

Thanks for the tip on the grab handles. Those sponsons look like hard work, so I'm following this build with interest.

John

[ShaunW]

Thanks to all for your interest in my efforts to bash this thing into shape

Jim - I don't know for certain that epoxy will fog the clear parts, I'm just working on that assumption.

David - I don't think that 1/72 scale is served with an accurate British Army version, I believe that 1/48th is however.

John - it's a pleasure, I'm very much a trial and error modeller though and don't always get the same results twice