X-45 A UCAV

Filling and sanding complete and both top and bottom halves are ready for vacuum forming.

X-45 A UCAV

Another scratch built drone, this time the X-45A from the early to mid 2000's. So far I've put together a simple set of working drawings and started with the profiles. Next will be lots of filling and sanding.

Huey Bushranger Gunship 1/35

With all the interior components painted they were squeezed into position and glued with Gator Glue. Thanks to numerous test fits everything got in there but it was very tight.

 Once the glue had dried on the roof I could then finish the riveting with even more Archer rivets. The non slip pattern was again from Archer, this time their woven fabric texture which looked close to the real thing.

 The smaller hole at the rear of the fuselage is for the display stand, this will be an in flight model so I can show the door gunners in action.

1/35 Guntruck Factory Iraq

In Iraq templates for cutting the armoured plate were cut from plywood and images show these scattered around the production area. Normally i would achieve this by applying oils over an acrylic layer and adding a streaky effect with a course brush, however this time i thought i would give the wood effect decal from Uschi.

First the parts were spray painted with a gloss light flesh colour before the decal was cut roughly to shape and applied.

 These decals are very good, they are quite fragile due to them being quite thin but once dry the final look is magnificent and looks just like a part cut from a sheet of plywood.

Huey Bushranger Gunship 1/35

The rotor head is a combination of Panda / Dragon main blades with Academy detail parts and a lot of scratch building in styrene. The mast is made overly long so it locks securely into the gearbox but remains removable for transport.

Huey Bushranger Gunship 1/35

Interior painted patchy X19 grey over an aluminium base coat. Emergency exit markings are from strips of yellow decal.  Raised details were painted a lighter grey while shadows were added with a 0.3mm LED pencil.

 Sound proof quilting was made from aluminium foil with the pattern embossed with a blunt needle. Lights in the roof are clear lenses from AK interactive.

 Worn effect applied to the cabin area by scratching away the grey to reveal the silver below.

1/35 Guntruck Factory Iraq

Weapons mount, in all there will be 4 of these, one mounted in the armoured box, the rest stockpiled on the edge of the diorama. In pictures these appear quite new so weathering was kept to a minimum. The corner of one mount was trimmed so it better fits the diorama, this will make sense once the scene is assembled.