INTERMEDIATE BUILD
AS565 PANTHER
INTERMEDIATE BUILD
AS565 PANTHERhttp://www.airfi xmodelworld.com 33“The engine/rotor-hub sub-assembly
was a miniature kit in itself”
MODELSPEC
AS565 Panther Helicopter
By: Trumpeter
Stock Code: 05108
Scale: 1/35
Price: £ 74 .9 9
Available from: Bachmann
Europe, http://www.pocketbond.co.ukFrench Navy, where they will
operate from small vessels in
the utility role.Start sequence
As is common with Trumpeter
aircraft kits, the general fit ofparts was excellent, but this
was offset by strange design
decisions – superbly moulded
and constructed detail was often
covered by panels and not easy to
display. Coupled with this were the
often-confusing instructions andlimited paint colour identification- careful planning and good
reference material is a must.
The cabin was built upon a
single floor pan, which included
impressive floor-rail detail.
Assembly started with cockpit
seating, and the photo-etched
(PE) seat belts provided greater
interest to the neatly moulded
padded sections. Harnesses were
hand painted with a blue/black/
white mix of Mr. Hobby paints
(www.albionhobbies.com); a 1mm
Molotow Chrome pen (www.
molotow.com) was employed for
the buckles. The seats received
Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black (www.
hobbyco.net), which was then dry-
brushed with Mr. Color C317 Gray
FS 36231 (www.albionhobbies.
com) and AMMO-MIG’s A.MIG-
1601 Panel Line Wash Medium
Grey (www.migjimenez.com). This
was repeated for the integrally
moulded rear cabin seating on
the bulkhead.
Both the forward and central
instrument panels comprised
several components, which
fitted together well; just a hint of
Mr. Surfacer 500 was required
to conceal the seams. A coat
of Mr. Paint’s MRP-84 Fine
Surface Primer (www.mrpaint.
sk) was applied first, followed
by a base tone of C317 Gray FS
36231, with XF-69 NATO Black
providing the panel background.
Instrument detail was provided
by decals and, due to the panel’s
moulded features, it was decided
to carefully remove individual
dials and apply them separately,
with the smaller switches being
hand painted. Multi-function
display screens were coloured
with a Humbrol 2 Emerald
Gloss/33 Black Matt mix (www.
humbrol.com), which gave a good
‘powered down’ representation.
Scratch-built rotor brake levers
were then crafted from scrap
pieces of PE and attached to the
overhead panel for a more“The engine/rotor-hub sub-assembly
was a miniature kit in itself”
MODELSPEC
AS565 Panther Helicopter
By: Trumpeter
Stock Code: 05108
Scale: 1/35
Price: £ 74 .9 9
Available from: Bachmann
Europe, http://www.pocketbond.co.ukFrench Navy, where they will
operate from small vessels in
the utility role.Start sequence
As is common with Trumpeter
aircraft kits, the general fit ofparts was excellent, but this
was offset by strange design
decisions – superbly moulded
and constructed detail was often
covered by panels and not easy to
display. Coupled with this were the
often-confusing instructions andlimited paint colour identification- careful planning and good
reference material is a must.
The cabin was built upon a
single floor pan, which included
impressive floor-rail detail.
Assembly started with cockpit
seating, and the photo-etched
(PE) seat belts provided greater
interest to the neatly moulded
padded sections. Harnesses were
hand painted with a blue/black/
white mix of Mr. Hobby paints
(www.albionhobbies.com); a 1mm
Molotow Chrome pen (www.
molotow.com) was employed for
the buckles. The seats received
Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black (www.
hobbyco.net), which was then dry-
brushed with Mr. Color C317 Gray
FS 36231 (www.albionhobbies.
com) and AMMO-MIG’s A.MIG-
1601 Panel Line Wash Medium
Grey (www.migjimenez.com). This
was repeated for the integrally
moulded rear cabin seating on
the bulkhead.
Both the forward and central
instrument panels comprised
several components, which
fitted together well; just a hint of
Mr. Surfacer 500 was required
to conceal the seams. A coat
of Mr. Paint’s MRP-84 Fine
Surface Primer (www.mrpaint.
sk) was applied first, followed
by a base tone of C317 Gray FS
36231, with XF-69 NATO Black
providing the panel background.
Instrument detail was provided
by decals and, due to the panel’s
moulded features, it was decided
to carefully remove individual
dials and apply them separately,
with the smaller switches being
hand painted. Multi-function
display screens were coloured
with a Humbrol 2 Emerald
Gloss/33 Black Matt mix (www.
humbrol.com), which gave a good
‘powered down’ representation.
Scratch-built rotor brake levers
were then crafted from scrap
pieces of PE and attached to the
overhead panel for a moreOnce painted, the
seats looked superb,
and captured the look
of the real items.Extra styrene bracing for the window/windscreen apertures limited the risk of warpage,
but meant there were many attachment points to remove and neaten.