Last post on these choppers, I showed the incomplete Kiowa Warrior #2. It had fell apart thanks to trying to glue a magnet on the bottom. Well, I did my best to patch it up but I am not 100% happy with it:
Issues:
1. The rotor had broken off. I had to insert a thicker base to the rotor to hold it on. I used a styrene tube. It's a little taller than originally, but it is not too obvious.
2. The rocket launcher is way too large. It should be the LAU-68 launcher that fits only seven rockets. I planned to use a styrene dowel rod, but all the ones I had were either too thick or too thin in diameter. The closest hobby shop where I can get a better matching rod is almost an hour away. I punted and used my old standby toothpick technique. The toothpick-sized launcher looks good on fixed wing aircraft; not so much on a helicopter.
3. The 50 cal machine gun looks kind of smallish even though it's a spare from a GHQ model. Maybe the rocket launcher makes it look smaller than it is. Also, there was no way I was going to try to model the ammo box that sits on the side of the fuselage nor the ammo belt between the two.
4. Finally, and my biggest gripe, is the canopy and windows. I got a lot of feedback on Warrior #1 from the FB 6mm groups. Several said to paint them silver and then apply some Tamyia clear green on it. I did this, but I don't really like how it turned out. For one thing, I couldn't get the silver paint smooth, so there's little chunkies in it that made the green puddle around them. Second, I felt I didn't have much control over the green paint. It reminds me of the elytra of a metallic green beetle:
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| Source: www.bugguide.net |
Here is #2 next to his brother:
I will repaint the canopy and windows with my light blue. The light blue looks sort of fakey, but it looks aesthetically pleasing to me.
