First let me explain why it’s a “test build”. I wasn’t really planning on taking this project this far, it was more of learning how to make vacuformed canopies, with an sf-260 in mind, but one thing led to another.
I have always wanted to build a defender in 1/72 but could not find the pointed “glasshouse” in any of the places that I have been or on the web. (In fact this was one of the first questions I have asked in the old forum before opus put in a modelers thread. There was a 1/32 (?) kit issued long ago I think.) seven years ago, I bought a tamiya ah-6 kit in japan but got nowhere till a few weeks back. I found an old hand held vacuum with a plastic hose attachment in the garage and realized it could be used for a homemade vacuform unit. I attached it to a wooden box with a screen mesh top (bought from “michael’s”) by drilling a hole on the side where the hose was plugged in. Next step was making a pattern to use. This was where I made my first of many mistakes. Instead of using hardwood, I went with balsa. While it was easy to work with, it left deep imperfections (orange peel effect) plus the pattern actually “shrinks” during the forming process. Tried using “future” to clear up the glasshouse but no joy. In desperation, I coated the balsa with krazy glue and then sanded it down. The formed glasshouse was a lot better but not as clear as i wanted it to be.
The pattern is sitting on top of the wooden box on the pic below. Squadron clear thermaform plastic proved to be better material since it does not cloud up when heated. The “glasshouse” is a bit complicated compared to fix wing canopies when using this process. Suggest making the glasshouse with the pattern mounted to the vacuum box pointy end up if you want to do this.
The helo itself was built straight out of the box. The windows were attached using krazy glue. I put a blob of it on scrap plastic and used a toothpick to get the glue between the window and the door. If you are using the same kit, do not drill the hole on the forward bottom side of the rear doors as called for in the instruction for the tow launcher pylons. The paf pylons are further back. I did not cut through the door (as it is on the actual defenders) since I have no place to mount the pylons on the model. Instead, holes were drilled for the locating pins and the pylons glued straight to the rear door. I will paint the door’s lower rear corner flat black to give the illusion of a cut out when I redo it. Best reference for this would be one of the pics on the paf female pilot thread. It’s the one were the pilot was strapping the helo on…
(sidenote: I find this detail intriguing since it affect the center of gravity of the real thing. I guess the modified profile made the nose a lot heavier or that the seats could have extra heavy armor. If the former was the case, then this helo was a good choice since you don’t have to switch pylons when switching ordies. On the egg shape version, the tow pylon was positioned forward and the rocket launcher at the rear. Not good when you have to do a really quick turnaround)
Also, before attaching the skids, make sure the left and right assemblies are equal in height. I had a really hard time aligning them since they were not of the same height. Highly suggested that you also attach the steps at this point (you have to make them). Made mine from heated, then stretched sprue. Cut to desired length and glue.
After a lot of test fitting and trimming, the glasshouse was attached. It was about 2 mm narrower than the fuselage. I tacked it on with dabs of krazy glue applied with a toothpick. Krazy glue was used only on strategic areas and sparingly at that. The installation was completed by applying testor clear parts cement all over the edges. There was a big gap in the green house where I trimmed a little too much but this was also taken care of by the clear parts cement. The helo was then hand painted using testor acrylic paint (field drab, olive drab and us army helo drab). The best reference in my opinion where the pictures on “air forces monthly” magazine and this was what I followed. Based on my experience, their colors are true when compared to the real thing. You can compare the clarity of the clear parts between the home made glasshouse and an “out of box” canopy (japanese t-3 backdated into a t-34/hasegawa) on the pic below.
Assembly of the rotor was easy but I suggest that you make a template prior to starting. All you have to do is to draw five equally spaced lines starting from a single common point (or divide 360 degrees by 5 if you are the math wiz kind). This will make it easier to space the blades correctly when you glue them to the hub by using the drawing as a guide. Again, the pic on the female pilot thread shows a white area on the rotor blades. I assumed this was also an anti collision measure so I added it in. this model actually took a bit of time to build and was not that easy since I was trying out new methods and materials. As I have said, this is not yet finished. I’m going to build a new glasshouse pattern using either resin or hardwood, then, redo and detail the helo. Afterwards, a coat of clear coat, then the homemade decals, followed by a flat coat. I am not a fan of weathering. i have always been proud of my plane captains on how they can get our planes looking good day after day, almost factory fresh. A filthy plane implies poor maintenance. Besides, I keep telling my guys that a dirty plane does not make a good flier so I build models looking like they have just gone through a 14 day wash.
I have not yet added the antenna under the tail boom either. This model is so delicately balanced that the tail will drag if I put it on now. i will add weights when I replace the glasshouse. My big question is ‘did they ever install wire cutters and/or a chin mounted ir dome on paf helicopters? Help in this area would be highly appreciated. Installing these will aid a lot with keeping the nose down too. As you can see, like the real thing, this is a small model so space is very limited.
For references, I used the ones pictured below. Big, big thanks also to opus, manokski, battwentyone and the official paf websites. (i believe ipms Philippines has walk around pics too). Its hard to find a formplan for this version and I had one heck of a time trying to figure out what the helo would look like viewed from the bottom. luckily, a law enforcement notar was spotted in a nearby county (of course, no camera with me). And the biggest thanks to my wife for her patience and not stomping on the darn thing when I stayed up too late.
(hhhmmmm….that S-76 on the “helicopter world” magazine cover is a tempting project…)
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