Airfix HC3 Merlin - FINISHED!

Re: Airfix HC3 Merlin

Thanks guys! I've got some base coats on the ramp now and it should be quick to finish. Another element to complete are these modular .50cal stations that go inside, one on the ramp and one on the starboard side. I will do them separately and then install them with tweezers as a final touch.

I suppose the REAL challenge will be assembling the exterior fuselage, which is 4 main parts plus the engine assemblage on top and lots of miscellaneous bits and details. Three engines on this beast, I can only imagine how complex of a machine this thing is IRL. Maybe the ultimate helicopter? I dunno, I've always wanted a Hind too.

Gotta mask off all the windows and interior to fully seal the joints and primer it and paint it. Maybe best to primer parts individually with a rattle can, then spot primer over the joints with airbrush after everything is sanded down.

Still not quite sure on the next phase. Definitely need to read the instructions verrrrry carefully with this guy. I will definitely post some pics of each step.

Now its time for more Mass Effect, been playing the entire series, onto the 2nd game now!
 
Re: Airfix HC3 Merlin

Did a bit more work on this baby. Finally completed the crew compartment and glued the inner fuselage together. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a 100% fit and had some "light leaks" around the seams. Hopefully the outer fuselage will be a bit forgiving and I won't have major fit issues.

At this point its all outer bits, sub-assemblies etc. Quite a few of them but it looks like most can be glued onto the outer fuselage with no worries about breaking fragile bits. The fragile stuff will have to wait for the final assembly phase.

Pics!!

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Here's the inner fuselage glued together. Note the light leaks, it was really hard to get it together actually, and forcing it could easily break something. I will say Airfix plastic seems kinda weak, slightly pliable and easily breakable.

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The decals look good, shame they'll never be seen lol.

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Test fit of the outer fuselage. Both sides were slightly warped out of box, but the plastic is flexible so I think (hope!) it will seal together nicely.

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Overhead control console, was broken out of box, so I cut some sheet styrene to fix it. Several of the more delicate pieces were unfortunately broken, but I can fix these issues. This piece will have to be completely painted before the outer fuselage goes on.

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Inner fuselage, all put together!

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Aaand a whole bunch of sub-assemblies primered up!

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Re: Airfix HC3 Merlin

Nice update, this is looking great!! Those bad seams on the inner body probably won't matter when you get her put together.
 
Re: Airfix HC3 Merlin

Coming together well.
Willing to bet that most of your light leaks on that interior will disappear with the body around them
 
Re: Airfix HC3 Merlin

Quaralane said:
Coming together well.
Willing to bet that most of your light leaks on that interior will disappear with the body around them

Yeah I think so Q.

Been slowly building up the rest of the sub-assemblies and now I need to glue in and mask off all the windows prior to gluing the body together. Still quite a bit of stuff to do, and at this rate, it could be close to reach the contest deadline.
 
Re: Airfix HC3 Merlin

Killer! some shots just look like the real thing...
 
Re: Airfix HC3 Merlin

Thanks guys, I've been working on it, albeit slowly. Actually have most of the fuselage together now and and the cockpit glued on, which I kind of screwed up by using too much glue :mad:

I'll post some pics this weekend, it's actually looking like a helicopter now!
 
Re: Airfix HC3 Merlin

Some work going on here! 3 weeks or so since an update, and we had a May blizzard come through here in Colorado.

The kit is definitely shaping up and I've gotten the full fuselage assembled and seams filled and sanded down, canopy glued in, and I'm hoping to primer this baby tomorrow! But I've encountered some significant challenges with this crappy plastic Airfix uses. This material is flexible and bends and breaks VERY easily. I am not a fan of this plastic, its garbage.

Virtually every other kit I've built in my life doesn't have this issue with this cheap plastic that snaps at the slightest touch. It also doesn't help that many of the parts in this kit are extremely fine, less than 1mm in diameter. How do you remove such a piece?

I'm kind of coming to the conclusion that you don't. You've got to scratchbuild a replacement part, and that's now where I'm at with some of the detail parts on this kit.

Anyone else got similar experiences with Airfix? I'll say the molding quality, detail, accuracy, all seem on point and very good, its just this crummy plastic they use...

Anyways, here's some of my latest progress pics! :)

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Despite my criticism of their plastic, the kit is exceptionally detailed, and offers variant pieces. Not exactly sure what the different pieces are for. I chose the top one.

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More variant pieces. I went with the bottom one.

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The overhead console, that will never again be seen by anyone! :p ;D

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Gluing the body together, took lots of rubber bands and it was kind of a moan to get this monster to hold together. I used testors cement, and this is my first experience using this vs CA glue. I've got mixed feelings and I dislike the fumes from the testors glue. But I wanted to be 100% sure there would be no frosting on the clear window pieces, which I know my CA glue can cause.

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Had a May blizzard here in Colorado last weekend. Definitely a different world at 8500ft +.

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Trying to hold the fuselage together tight so the seams are minimized.

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Gluing the overhead console in!

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Gluing the canopy together. This has definitely been a learning experience on how to do an aircraft. This canopy is a fairly complex assemblage, indeed the whole model is. But one misalignment here can cause problems, gaps are your enemy!

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Some nicer weather, and a pic of my workbench and setup.

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Closeup of the canopy, looks like a mess. I applied too much testors cement and it went inside, no way to correct that now, just gotta live with it. I used some Citadel liquid greenstuff to fill in some gaps. Still trying to find the perfect gap filler. I'd generally go with extra thick CA glue, as it sands down nicely and fills in any gap. I've tried out Mr. Surfacer, but it sucks, and is quite toxic. The liquid greenstuff is somewhere between the two, not great, but not super toxic and nasty either. And it wont frost your clear windows.

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Windas all taped up for paintin!

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Super-tiny pieces that broke in box. And how the hell do you remove such tiny, fragile parts to begin with? I've basically been slicing them off with a brand new xacto blade, and thats the only way I can see to do it without completely destroying it. Sprue clippers will instantly break such fragile detail parts. But the slicing isn't perfect and I've broken a lot of these delicate parts just trying to get them off the sprue.

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Lost one of these pieces, the one that should be on the left. It snapped out of my tweezers and flew across the room. After searching for it with a flashlight on hands and knees, I've called off the search. It's a goner, to be consumed by a vacuum cleaner years from now. ;D

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Ruler for scale on the tiny nature of some of these detail parts. Combined with the crappy Airfix plastic, getting these off the sprue without destroying them is nearly impossible.

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More tiny, super-delicate pieces that could easily break.

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Broken piece that I'm going to repair, got the helpers holding it in place, then tomorrow I'll fix it.

So that's where I'm at now with this kit. It's been quite a journey and one concern is that I could easily damage or break some of these fragile detail parts off while painting it. But I need them on there so they can get an even paint coat along with the main fuselage, as my research pics suggest this entire aircraft is basically painted olive drab.

I'm really hoping to be laying down paint on this Monday, as its a holiday and I don't have to work! ;D
 
Re: Airfix HC3 Merlin

Hey man, just a tip, PVA glue a.k.a. elmars glue works great for filling in gaps around clear parts. You can thin the glue with water or windex and it will fill the gap and is self leveling. It also dries clear and wont fog up your parts.
 
Re: Airfix HC3 Merlin

Looks like she's fighting you a bit, but it also looks like you're winning
 
Re: Airfix HC3 Merlin

adampolo13 said:
Hey man, just a tip, PVA glue a.k.a. elmars glue works great for filling in gaps around clear parts. You can thin the glue with water or windex and it will fill the gap and is self leveling. It also dries clear and wont fog up your parts.

That's a good idea, I've used pva glue to glue in canopies and stuff, will have to try it as a sealer next time.

I actually did paint this thing this weekend! Don't have pics uploaded yet, but the basecoat is laid down and next step is detail painting of small parts with a brush, decals, washes, maybe a oil filter and then I'll call it done.

Quite a tremendous bit of sub assemblies and prep work on this, then it all comes together very fast for the final build! Soooo close to being done.
 
Re: Airfix HC3 Merlin

Thanks Grendels, I'm in the home stretch now.

Here's the latest pics.

I decided to scratch build some replacement detail parts for the front antenna array (I think they're antennae, someone correct me if I'm wrong). The parts were far too frail, couldn't even get them off the sprue without breakage. What I did was solder some copper wires together, not as fine as the original parts but much more sturdy. Should add that trying to solder these together was a real pain in the ass, took so many tries, couldn't quite get that drop of solder on there perfectly, but they also won't break off in a strong gust of wind either.

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Also built a replacement part for the front that I lost. Incidentally, I later found the tiny little piece...after I built this and painted the whole copter! ;D ::)

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Airbrushing finally! :D I decided to use the very generous prize from Badger fully on this. Some minor pieces painted with vallejo and citadel paints, but the body is all done with Badger paints. Pretty decent paints, although I much prefer the vallejo dropper bottles.

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Did the basecoat with my patriot and highlight layers with my velocity. Highlight layer a step up in value with this paint:

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Peeling off the tape! She's looking nice!

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Painting the wheels.

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Wheels glued on, still need to apply some oily washes to the landing gears.

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All that tape work to preserve the interior paid off!

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Using this black for some, um, black parts.

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Close up of the canopy, still kinda dusty, hard to keep finger prints off of it.

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So latest phase is now applying decals, and there's a TON of them. They're setting in nicely with solvaset. Lots more decal work to go, and I need to paint metallic parts. Rotor blades aren't assembled yet and they need some additional masking and decal work as well, but I should finish this thing up this weekend!
 
Re: Airfix HC3 Merlin

She's looking really good.
Don't let the niggles get to you. It's the overall effect that makes the build work
 

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