Virtual Museum of the Vietnam War

Hughes OH-6A "Cayuse"

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Part 2 - Painting and outfit

After assembling the skids and the lower vertical stabilizers I started painting my Loaches. On the „1/9 Cav” chopper I started with a layer of white Tamiya spray primer (preparation for the tail boom stripe), then, after masking the doors and windows I have sprayed a layer of Humbrol 155 olive green paint:

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

When that layer dried really good I have applied black gloss wash on top of it. The purpose of this was to accentuate the details but also to darken the overall color. More glossy surface provides better base for the decals, by the way. The decals come from the Fireball Models set FMD-26:

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

After putting one more coat of clear gloss on the decals to seal them and then one more layer of clear flat I could finally remove the masking from the windows:

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

And also on the „Darkhorse” chopper:

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

Next step could be putting on the remaining stabilizers on the tail, but in order to do that the tail rotor gearbox had to be installed. Regretfully, this part wasn't treated right in any of the model kits that I was working with. In real life this part looks like this:

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

The part from the AZ Model kit is visible on the left on the photo below. The transmission that I have built are in the middle and on the right. I have built the tail rotor pitch linkage out of thin copper wire:

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

I have built the ADF antenna fairing out of a broken brake light lens. This part is absent from the Italeri kit and in the AZ Model kit it is wrong shape and made out of opaque plastic. In real life this part was extruded out of red plexiglass:

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

Using the same translucent red plastic I have made the anti-collision light lenses, that I have put on top of the fuselage:

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

I have also scratchbuilt one more important detail - the fire extinguishers. I have built three, to be able to choose two best out of them, but I'm glad to say they came out very close to one another. The bottle was turned out of sprue, the hose and the lever were made out of thin wire. The data plate looks very nice - it is a decal I have custom-made just for this application:

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

I also had to work on the XM27E1 armament system. The Italeri kit parts leave a lot to be desired (they are shown on top of the photo below). To address that I have scratchbuilt the ammo box and I took the Minigun from the Mini World kit:

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

To be able to put the crew chief/machine gunner in the rear cabin I had to build the seats for them. I did it using styrene sheet an rod made out of sprue stretched to a diameter of approximately 0,5mm:

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

I have put a wire antenna under the fuselage of the „Darkhorse” chopper. Such antenna could be seen under helicopters having the new lightweight, transistor radios installed (ARC-51,ARC-114, ARC-115). Under the tail boom there's a whip antenna AR-1703/AR with a CU-942 base:

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

In the photo below the rear cabin seat can also be seen:

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

A serious problem in both of the kit is a complete lack of the control system levers under the main rotor. In real life this area of the helicopter looks like on the photo below:

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

I have replicated the outline of those levers using thin styrene sheet and copper wire:

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

At this point of the build both models looked like this:

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

Also, the main rotors are not very complete out-of-the box. In addition to that the AZ Model kit contains parts (rotor blades) that show a later version of the main rotor, with different vibration dampers. Worse still, the Italeri instructions have you install the blades in a way that would make the main rotor turn in the wrong direction. Luckily turning them around isn't difficult. Looking at the rotor from above we should see it turning left (counterclockwise). In the end I have come up with a second set of Italeri blades and I have built both rotors using those. The blades still needed additional vibration dampers linkage and vibration canceling weights, and under the rotor head itself I have installed a scissor link connecting the rotor head to the moving part of the swashplate:

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

The color of the rotor blades is subject to discussion - some say they were black, others say they were olive-drab. I have painted my rotor blades with a dark grey paint - Humbrol 32. The rotor head and control system parts are painted olive green. I have painted yellow stripes on the top surfaces of the „1/9 Cav” chopper blades. Those stripes were supposed to make the helicopter more visible from above. After shooting the photo below I was informed, that the „Darkhorse” chopper also could have had stripes on top of its rotor blades - but white and closer to the blade tip, and so finally I have also painted stripes on the second rotor too:

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

A model of a used „Loach” wouldn't be complete without its rear cabin appropriately stuffed with equipment. It was the rear cabin where the crew chief kept various objects, from pretty common, like smoke grenades to unusual, like "bombs" he made himself by padding a concussion grenade with C4 explosive blocks. I started equipping my model by building scale ammo boxes to keep the stuff in. Those boxes were made out of thin styrene sheet painted to look like raw wood. I have also made scale M16 clips out of thin styrene sheet and diverse grenades - smoke, WP and frags - out of 0,8mm styrene rod:

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

The equipment for the rear cabin of the „Darkhorse” chopper can be seen on the photo below. The ammo belt for the M60 comes from the same Mini World kit as the Minigun:

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

On the other hand the equipment for the rear cabin of the „1/9 Cav” chopper was inspired by the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whAJRnvuo0w

While it probably doesn't show the same machine I'm building the setup is very interesting and the unit is the same, so I decided to show it in my model. The additional seat armor is made out of sheet styrene and the rope is made out of stretched sprue and the tarp is tissue:

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

Also in the „1/9 Cav” chopper the crew chief finally has occupied his place:

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

On the tail boom of the same chopper I have installed the wire antenna of the earlier type, as seen on machines having older type tube radios (ARC-51,ARC-54, ARC-111):

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

At the very end of the build I have managed to remind myself, that I still haven't installed the engine exhausts - that's because how long this project is taking. Luckily I was able to find the kit parts for both models. It's worth mentioning here, for people who would also like to build a model like this, that the exhaust in both kits is meant to be installed before closing up the fuselage. Because of this, if you try to do it after the fuselage has been assembled the exhausts have to be slightly filed down so that instead of the conical shape they originally have they get to be more cylindrical. Otherwise they won't fit, because the cone base is bigger than the opening in the fuselage. Also, in the AZ Model kit there is no attachment point for the exhaust inside the fuselage. Adding such attachment point is a good thing to do early in the build, otherwise the fit of the exhaust is very iffy and if the brace is not there it could happen that you drop the exhaust inside the fuselage from where it might be very hard to get out again.

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

On the complete model of the „1/9 Cav” chopper there's an M60 machine gun on the front seat. This is to show that there would normally be one more crew member flying on the front seat. If I was to build this model again, I would probably put another crew figure there:

1:72 OH-6A Cayuse/Loach x2

Part 1 - Basic construction

Part 2 - Painting and outfit

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image gallery - OH-6A "Darkhorse"

image gallery - OH-6A "1/9 Cav"

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