New to the 1:18th Game

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Castroww

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Apr 23, 2011
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Hello everyone, I've been an admirer of modern 1:18 militaria for a while now and started collecting because of how realistic some of the figures, vehicles, and helicopters look. It wasn't until recently when I was Googleing for new helicopters that may have or have not been built. I personally wish someone would make either a Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion or a CH-47 Chinook for the 1:18. I've got some great ideas for those two. :( Anyways I have been sitting back in the shadows admiring all of your customs amazed at the level of skill and attention detail put into each piece. Now I would like to contribute some of the ideas brewing in my head but I have a few questions.

First is, which is something I'll wait till I know what I'm doing. But my main goal is to make dioramas, the very first I got the idea from the movie, "The Green Zone" and the scene is when the SF soldiers are about to raid the building where Matt Damon is being held. I want to make it just before the shooting start when everyone is in position. Where can I get reading material on how to make such dioramas, and if someone knows what kind of material I would need would be greatly appreciated.

Second is, I picked up a while back, an Ultimate Soldiers Huey Helicopter for $5 at a garage sale. The reason why it was $5 was because it had no Main rotor or shaft, no tail rotor, and no rocket pods. Anyone know where I can get those or how to make em from scratch, the body itself is in great shape. When and if I can get that done I saw someone put two .50 cal machine guns on a Pavehawk and I would love to do that to the Huey. If that goes well I'm going to do the same thing to a Little Bird I have but it will be 2 M249's with an Operator behind the triggers.

Third and final request is slings, I'm looking for slings for my figures weapons. Any advice on that?

Thanks again for any help anyone can give, or direction someone points me into. Here's to me being able to give the same advice when I reach some of your level of skill.
 
Y

YT1

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Welcome to the suck. Probably best to just throw away that Huey, or you could just send it to me....:D
 
NSA

NSA

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Welcome aboard!

First.. there's a thread around here somewhere where Mandingo Rex made some awesome looking walls out of some foam crap. Alternatively there is the PTE Bombed out Building which works as a nice backdrop.. or generally just get creative. As for the look a feel, use real photos as inspiration. It's going to suck at first, but each successive one gets better.. trust me I know.

Second, no idea. Maybe find another broken one on ebay and used parts to fix one of them? I imagine you could get the mini-guns in there. One of our members, Pickelhaube makes a kit you can buy, but you'd need to adapt it from the UH-60.

Thirdly.. something called.. called.. flexrex? Styrene? Not sure, I never mastered slings. String looks cheesy and other stuff doesn't look right. GI Edwardo used hockey tape I believe (cut in little slats) and it looked good as webbing.

Anyway, maybe someone else can be better help, I'm old and cranky. Okay, just cranky.

Welcome :)
 
M

MAJOR BLOOD

Size matters
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The diorama stuff you can find at different places but you may have to make some items yourself depending on the scene. I would suggest checking out Mandingo Rex's wall tutorial (one of the best you'll find) and look at SIC DETH's work. They both make really nice items. Rex uses tools (because he is one :D) and SD free hands. I have gotten some of his work and it is really nice and he uses stuff that places throw away I think.

Check this link for some ideas on places to get stuff:
http://forums.fighting118th.com/showthread.php?t=627

You may want to refer to RED and Rick's dioramas also for ideas. They are the reason I even got so into them. Rick is usually the winner of the monthly banner contest which you can see above.

As for the slings, GI Eddie did them I think and K Tiger makes nice ones so maybe he can help out on that one.

As for the bird, it's worthless so it would be wise just to junk it and send it to the staff. ;) Seriously though, I guess you might have to look on e bay for parts but I never see parted out items like that. You may possibly want to try styrene and build parts for it. It would be a pain but is feasible. Pickelhaube makes awesome kits for some of the birds and wildbill all but completely worked over two GI Joe stingers with it.

Welcome aboard and hopefully some other folks will be more useful than myself on the other things. I'm a diorama person.
 
pcsguy88

pcsguy88

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Welcome!

Still a good price on the huey and blades would be fairly easy with styrene or balsa, but the shaft is going to take some creativity and a day wandering the hardware store. I don't think you will find them on ebay since those are the parts that would be missing/broken on most.
 
C

Castroww

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Apr 23, 2011
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@YT1 thanks for the welcome, but you would have a better chance seeing god, no offense. I think I'll try NSA's advice.
Just that ebay prices suck. I have two .50 cal I'm looking for the mounts. I'll pm him and get a few if he'll let me. And I agree, the string approach is def tacky, didn't like it when I tried it.
 
Wild weasel

Wild weasel

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blinds(for windows) cut to the shape needed could be used for the blades. For the slings, use the thinest tamiya masking tape you can get a hold of(take 2 pieces an stick the sticky sides together) and paint it olive drab(or any other color needed) and then use super glue and glue the ends to the gun. Check out armorama.com for tips and how-tps and build a longs etc. that are being made. Just keep in mind most of that is 1/35th scale, not 1/18.
 
K-Tiger

K-Tiger

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I'll buy the Huey off of you. Pickelhaube made Sagami mounts for .50s, even though that application isn't very historically accurate it looks pretty cool. He also did replacement tail rotors.

You're shit out of luck on the rotor assembly and blades, though. It's gonna take a fair bit of scratch building.

Rockets aren't so bad, as they used a variety of pod styles on those universal mounts.

For slings i use a combination of thread and blue painters tape. I know some people like to use metal rings and plastic ...i can't recall the correct name for the stuff, but it looks like dick, personally.




249 door guns on a Little Bird. That's gonna be cramped.
 
Obi-Shinobi

Obi-Shinobi

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Apr 6, 2011
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Welcome to a whole new world of fun... with a touch of stress every once in awhile.

Weapon slings? There are several people who make them from different materials, some good and some not so good - depending on how "real" you want them in 1/18 scale.

Here are some shots of what I do for slings to maybe give you some ideas, but you have other options too -









 
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C

Castroww

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Apr 23, 2011
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@ K-Tiger - Pickelhaube makes custom pieces including the rear rotor so I'm not going to sell especially since there between $200-$400 on eBay, I'm trying to see if he can make me some. I'm personally not going for.accuracy within limits of.course but I try to go for a wow factor Nd what I like to see.

@Obi Shinobi - do you sell slings, that detail is absolutly amazing. I'd def be willing to pay for.that.
 
Obi-Shinobi

Obi-Shinobi

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Castroww said:
@Obi Shinobi - do you sell slings, that detail is absolutly amazing. I'd def be willing to pay for.that.
Click to expand...

That's the kicker. I'd love to be able to provide "ready made kits" for this stuff, but it would be VERY time consuming. The straps are no problem, but all the tiny fixtures hand-made from styrene and wire... very tedious work. I can at least give you a basic tutorial, then you can take it from there (these tutorials are kinda "down and dirty", so nothing really fancy). You'll see a few different styles, so make sure you look around the page!
http://threads.rebelscum.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB7&Number=3950666

G.I.*EDDIE said:
i know you've said it before Obi, but what is the material?...the Lego microo fiber?
Click to expand...

Yes - Lego "micro-canvas", as in ship sails, etc. It's the closest thing I have found to represent nylon and/or canvas strapping material for 1/18th. I've looked at several other materials, but this stuff is paper thin AND has a really good texture. You can get real nylon material, but you'll be hard-pressed to get it small/thin enough to be closer to scale.
 
G.I.*EDDIE

G.I.*EDDIE

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the material is so nice and thin like you said...where the heck do you get it?

this is what i've been using, but it's kinda thick...hockey tape...somes in black/white/clear...its got a nice texture...

http://forums.fighting118th.com/showthread.php?t=14

used as a sling, but it was a REALLY fast quick and dirty job that was an after thought after i started taking pics of the tank...



 
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Obi-Shinobi

Obi-Shinobi

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That looks pretty good, actually. I'd have to play with some before I passed any judgement though. You know... how it holds up and works with stuff.

There's a link in the Rebelscum thread on where to get the Lego stuff. Check it!
 
C

Castroww

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Apr 23, 2011
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Wow, new guy comes on and ask for help on something that seems to be a bigger issue than I thought. Thanks Obi, I'll look at that link tonight.
 
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