After I decided to use my Italeri MH-60G as the base for building my MH-60K
(this is the MH-60K boxing) I thought about just putting this kit back in the
closet or selling it. But I figured while I was building the MH-60K I might as
well bang this one out too.
That is not to say this was an easy build, I tried to
equalize as much of the detail as I could between the two kits. I used the
cockpit parts from Cobra Company as my start and modified the front panel to
represent the G using some Photo Etch CRTs (weather
radar) and some drilling for the dials.
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The kit pit is decals only and is pretty lame. I also used the same stuff
for the seats as I did with my K (scratchbuilt rear seats too). I cut up
and detailed the roof as well using a different pattern than with the K
based on photos in the squadron walk around book. I also added ribbing to
the inside near the rear doors as I did on the K as
well as the internal fuel tank. |
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I
detailed the inside of the pilots doors, using plastic card for the ribbing and
handles, and aluminum foil for the map pockets. The only thing I did not detail
was the mini guns.
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I
added a lot of scratchbuilt details to the outside as well, things like the
latches for the nose compartment or wirecutters and other lumps and bumps. You
can see the added things in the construction photos, look for the white
evergreen plastic.
As I did on my K I detailed both the main and tail rotors with some bits of wire
and such. I also had to add the wire that runs on the refueling probe, this was
already in place on the Italeri kit. I drilled out and detailed a few of the
vents and pipes on the dog house and even added the grill to the nose section. I also added a FLIR (Cobra
Co again) under the nose since a lot of the Gs carry this now. The kit fits
together well but I would suggest adding cross bracing to the main fuselage seam
on the belly, mine kept
cracking.
I
thought about painting it in Gunship Grey overall as the Gs are now adopting,
but considering I would have to add a lot of other updates (such as new chaff
dispensers and RWR equipment) I decided not to. Besides I like the subtle
green look of the Euro 1 scheme and I think it turned out well.
I used Testor Model
Master paints (they actually call the one green "Eruo Green") and
started with Gunship Grey, masked and painted the next two greens. After I
sealed with Future and did the decals (Italeri kit decals), I tried the same
weathering technique as I
did on the K. I mostly worked on the tail area following a few photos from World
Air Power Journal as a reference.
Added the antennas and such and it was done. Sometimes you just have to
build something because if you don't do it now you may never get around to it. I
was focusing on making the K as nice as I could building this as an after
thought. But now that I look at them all done, I actually like this one better,
it turned out well. These two probably won't be the last Blackhawks I build,
they weren't the first either. I would recommend the Minicraft kit over the
Italeri to be honest, it might not have the same surface detail but it builds up
much easier and cost about half. But I'll let the pictures tell the story, can
you tell the difference?
Happy modeling!
Everett
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