SPA Modeler

Man, a Hind ain't as Hind until it has those red stars on it! They really make this helicopter look bad to the bone. Nice work Borg, this is most impressive!

Working on the final touches. The Hind has gotten a wash (thinned artist oils) and a flat coat. I am doing the detail painting (lights, hatches, small exhaust) and adding some staining. I have seen the Hind at airshows and it can be a pretty dirty bird. The left and right side get dirty in a different way due to the rotation direction of the main rotor. I studied several pictures of different birds and left and right sides to see a typical pattern in the exhaust staining.

Here is how I do it (quick and easy)

The starting point:



Step 1: using an artist charcoal pencil I add the saints in the direction of the airflow. It looks a bit stripey but that it dealt with in step two. Near the exhaust the stripes are more dense the further away.




Step 2: using a qtip/cotton ball I wipe over the stripes to make it one patch of staining. To much:remove with water. To little: repeat step 1. All in all this only takes a minute but I think it really adds some realism to the final model.

Very nice! I like the weathering effects.

Very nice - I like the idea of using a charcoal pencil.

I sat in the cockpit of a Hind-D on Saturday - blooming massive aircraft!

Cool! How did that come about?
And yes, the Hind is huge, it can carry troops and fight. A true multi role helicopter.

that staining looks fantastic! That is one of the best jobs of the exhaust staining on a chopper that I’ve seen! Most realistic! Excellent work and thank you for explaining your technique.

BorgR3mc0 wrote:

portman wrote:Very nice - I like the idea of using a charcoal pencil.

I sat in the cockpit of a Hind-D on Saturday - blooming massive aircraft!

Cool! How did that come about?
And yes, the Hind is huge, it can carry troops and fight. A true multi role helicopter.

The one that was bought by BAE Systems is at my local aviation museum. It just happened to be open on Saturday so I had a nose about. It's a superb beast their Hind - I just wish they'd get rid of the awful BAE systems paint job.

One of the few times you can call something dirty and it means a good thing! Nice trick with the ol’ charcoal

Cool photos Stuart! Interesting to see the panel lines on a real one. Some people always say you cannot see panellines in real life or at a distance. But in these pictures they can be seen clearly. I agree that a nice Soviet scheme would look better.

Where is that museum located?

I'm wondering if that is the Midland Air Museum—those are great photos, Stuart! Borg—thank you for the tip, your work is magnificent!