Atlantis 1/72nd scale, AH-56A Cheyenne attack helocopter.

[micahrogers]

Next model into the bench will be the new Atlantis 1/72nd scale AH-56A Cheyenne attack helicopter.


What's in the box,

2 sprues of a green plastic, I loose rear propeller, 1 loose clear canopy, instruction sheet, decals, and an advertisement for IPMS.

This is a repop by Atlantis of the ancient (early 70's) Aroura molds. Atlantis salvaged the molds, cleaned them up, and are reissuing the kits.
knowing this, the level of detail in the parts, and amount of flash present on the sprues is accepable.

 

[micahrogers]

Okay, quite a wait but it's on the bench again...
Parts washed in warm water with a mild soap added.

front page of instructions with a b&w copy of box art, and a brief history of the subject.

Instruction sheet folded out.

I will say that I am not a fan of these one page, exploded drawings as instructions... but I can understand, it's supposed to add to the period appeal of the kit.

The back of the instruction sheet is the decal placement guide, with pics of the finished model to show where they go.

 

[micahrogers]

First step is cleaning up the flash and ejector pin marks on the cockpit pieces.

 

[micahrogers]

Getting the pieces for the cockpit ready, floor painted, Instrument cluster painted, working on seats and crew.

 

[micahrogers]

Got he cockpit tub assembled,

working on painting the crew,

I've been splitting my time today between working on the Cheyenne, and getting the pool clean and ready to swim again. I had to drain, clean, and refill it. Sometimes I wonder why I have a pool.
first color (inner) on the canopy, it has 2 ejector pin marks, but I'm out of plastic polish, and no funds to buy more right now, so they stay.

You can see the flash on the rotor blades, but it can be easily trimmed off.

 

[zathros]

Very interesting subject. I don't know if you know that the Cheyenne was a powered auto-gyro, in reality. A neat craft, it nearly made production, but with too many moving parts to be effective for battle (moving blades), itdid lead the way for a better understanding of the newer "Pop" auto auto-gyro's that can take off vertically (and land) and then go along as a Gyro-copter.

The Hawk 4 is the best representative of the new vertical lift AutoGyro craft, IMHO. Some states are using them for their State Police. At 3:00 minutes into the video, they show a vertical take off. Carries 5 people! With the add on wings, it is a fantastic crop duster.

 

[Revell-Fan]

I once built a 1/72 Bell UH-1D SAR for the son of a workmate. Darn, that thing was so small. I would have loved to make a 1/48 version but I had to work with what I was given.

 

[micahrogers]

Very interesting subject. I don't know if you know that the Cheyenne was a powered auto-gyro, in reality. A neat craft, it nearly made production, but with too many moving parts to be effective for battle (moving blades),

I remember them doing some testing, mainly weapons fit and separation at Camp Bullis ( 40,000 acres), outside San Antonio back in the early 70's The Base gift shop (Lackland AFB) where I lived sold the model, and you could see them fly over. They were described as a "Compound" Helicopter.

 

[micahrogers]

I once built a 1/72 Bell UH-1D SAR for the son of a workmate. Darn, that thing was so small. I would have loved to make a 1/48 version but I had to work with what I was given.

I understand. I would love a modern 1/48th kit of the Cheyenne, but that will never happen.

 

[micahrogers]

I got the fuselage closed around the cockpit,

trapped the chin gun and belly turret ( The belly turret didn't have the 30 mm gun, so I added it.)

Crew figures coming along (I hate military pilots... too much green)

I Used blue painters tape to mask the canopy, I'm out of Tamiya tape, so I used what I had on hand.

Added the finished crew to the cockpit and started sanding seams.

The first sanding showed where filler is needed

just a couple spots on the belly to be filled.

 

[micahrogers]

In my research into markings I found something, this model is of prototype 1, and does not have the 30 mm belly turret. What I "assumed" was the belly turret, is actually the optics turret. The gun turret would be back almost amid ship, I will think on making the proper 30 mm gun turret out of Sculpy, but right now, I am working on seam filling, and rescribing.

You can see the configuration with the 30 mm turret in this pic here.

 

[zathros]

Nice!! The "Compound" part of a helicopters description is connected to the addition of wings to take a load off of the rotary wing. This wing also allows for more weapons to be added.

Piasceki (SP?) made a compound Blackhawk called the speed hawk which could do 230 mph. It has a pusher prop. I believe that Sikorsky's new Defiant and Raider helicopters will make this obsolete. IMHO.

 

[micahrogers]

The Blackhawk can already outrun the Apache. Cheyenne was tested up to 230 Knots, a tad over 250 mph!

 

[micahrogers]

Wings installed, overall primer sprayed, a few spots sanded again, next step will be color coats tomorrow.



Might be papercraft? I used a sheet of foamcore to make a couple new racks, one for my larger Pill Bottle storage for basing supplys, and a smaller one to extend my paint storage.

I used 91% Isopropyl Alcohol and a cottom bud to clean the lens of my Nikon Coolpix. The pictures taken by it look a little better now.

 

[zathros]

The Blackhawk can already outrun the Apache. Cheyenne was tested up to 230 Knots, a tad over 250 mph!

Empty, but Blackhawks are utility Heliocopters. With their "Pop-Up" capability, and the ability to carry 18 Hellfire missiles, the Apaches use the Blackhawks and actually target and fire their missiles from the Apache's control panels, and they can carry 14 troops, apples and oranges.. These Helicopters all work together. The Marines Corps "AH-1Z Viper" is a better comparison to the Cheyenne and Apache Longbow, and with it's recent addittion of "Sidewinder missiles, one on each wing tip stuf, makes this a very dangerous helicopter indeed. The Marine Corp refused the Apache, as it is maintenance demanding, and the Cheyenne was competing against the possible Cobra updates at the time. I don't think it ever had a chance. A pusher rotor and a tailer rotor made it very susceptible to ground fire. We had Blackhawks come in with 4, .50 caliber rounds through one main rotor blade, and multiple rounds through the tail rotor, and the pilot flew it home without incident. The materials at the time would explain a lot more. The rotors of the helicopters of that era were already obsolete, as the new composites changed everything.


Your Cheyenne is really coming out nice, it is so unique, a wonderful piece to have in your collection.

 

[micahrogers]

Too humid to airbrush acrylics today, so I did all the brush work on the rotor's and wheels. Main rotor assembled, and painted, anti torque rotor painted, pusher prop painted, and wheels painted.

The rotor safety stripes were patterned after prototype 1, which is one of the ones with no 30 mm turret. but I'm gonna due the three color camouflage, as shown in the instructions. Just to add some visual interest. The counter weight and harmonic balancer are out of scale, but acceptable.

 

[micahrogers]

Airbrushing colors today, the bottom light grey applied,
Coffee always helps, especially in my Darth Vader cup...

Bottom grey masked off and Tan applied.
The tan color is a mix of Cork Brown, and Panzer Dark Yellow. I am out of Desert Sand. The tan color is sprayed sloppily, the green will define the edges. Gonna try a trick I used to be good at, to make feathered edges, instead of hard edges for the camouflage pattern, You cut the pattern out of paper, then stick them too the model with a rolled piece of tape, or "Blue Tack". This will hold the mask just above the surface to be painted, and let a controlled amount of over-spray onto the 1st color.

And for any who may not know, you try to spray from light to dark, it's easier to cover a light color with a darker color.

 

[micahrogers]

Not a great result, but not too bad. The green bled under the mask in the hard 90 degree corners of the model, namely wing root and such. So there will be some touch up to do tomorrow.



The hard part will be mixing that tan color again... Ohh well.

 

[micahrogers]

Touch ups done, and a was applied to give the panel lines some definition, and dirty it up a bit.


Next out side to spray an enamel gloss coat in preparation for decals. Enamels can take 24 hours or more for full cure, so I'll be at a stopping point.

 

[Revell-Fan]

I have completely switched to Revell Aqua Colours because of the delicate nature of Bandai's plastic used with their Star Wars models. They cure pretty fast and look exactly like their enamel counterparts. They can be thinned with water and do not smell.