• Pardon the dust while the boys rebuild the site.

    The board will be in a state of disarray as I get things sorted out, for a little while at least.

    The new incarnation is using Xenforo as the system software. It is much like what we are used to, with a few differences. I will see about making a FAQ to help point out the differences for the members.

     

    One IMPORTANT difference for all of us old timers is that the 'mail' system is replaced with what are called 'conversations'/

    There is no 'Inbox' or 'Out box' or 'Sent' folders anymore.

    Think of Conversations as private 'threads' or topics that don't exist in a forum, that you start with another member. NOTE: Conversations can include more than one member if you or someone else in the conversaion, likes.
    Takes a little getting used to but I am sure you all can get a hang of it.

     

    Only a slightly modified default default Xenforo style is available for now. Once the new SAG style is ready it will be available.

    All existing users should be able to login with their usernames and passwords once the site goes up.

     

    If anyone has difficulties logging in please contact me at sixthvanguard@gmail.com.

     

    Thank you for your support and patience. I know it has been a loooong road.

Black Hawk Down

D

DATBlaster

Rifleman
Oh cliché!!
So yes, while this build up is in fact inspired by the movie, the title has a much more literal meaning. The story is this:


Several years ago, when the Scale Store released their Black Hawk cabin section, I really wanted to get one. That was easier said than done, as they seemed to sell out really fast and were hard to find. I finally found one on an eBay store for a decent price and bought it.


When the package arrived, I knew right away something was wrong. This Black Hawk had crashed and burned. The box just did not look the way box should. When I reached down to pick it up, it moved in ways that a box shouldn't move. I opened it up, pretty much knowing what to expect.

I contacted the seller, and they gave me a full refund. I wish I could remember who the seller was, their customer service was outstanding. I hope they filed a claim with the USPS, who really dropped the ball on this one (literally, it would seem).
I decided that I would try to repair it, but not right away. So it ended up on a shelf in my garage for a couple years. Then late last year, I decided to see what I could do with it.
Ken.
 
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Examining the parts, I found that it was cast from some sort of resin material, that is hard, heavy, and somewhat brittle (polystone?). Because of the way the piece broke, nearly all of the repaired joints would be unsupported butt joints, some would be load bearing. Therefore, I couldn't just glue it together and expect it to hold.


I have a Super, super glue that I bought at the State Fair one year, that is my go-to adhesive for really tough projects. So far, it has not let me down. I got it all back together, and the glue held it so I could begin the next step.



Once it was back together and I could work with it, I built a wooded shelf/frame/support for it.

While doing this, I discovered that there are NO flat surfaces, straight lines, or right angles anywhere on this piece. Also, no two edges or corners lined up. Some of that may be my fault. With five big, heavy pieces it was impossible to get everything lined up perfect. I attached the cabin to the base with lots of epoxy, along with several drywall screws. It will hold together now!
Ken.
 
Once I had it firmly attached to the wood base, I got into the nuts and bolts of repairing it, filling gaps, sanding, priming, etc. I think everyone here knows how that goes. Of course, after all that I had to repaint it. I wanted to try and make it look like the 160th birds in the movie, so after priming, I pre-shaded all the recessed areas in black. For the basecoat, I airbrushed on Model Master Schwartzgrau '39-43. Then I built up the dark color by applying very highly thinned Tamiya Smoke until it looked right. The final result is a faded black with a lot of depth to it.



The photo is jumping ahead a little bit, but shows what it looks like mounted on my wall. Once all the painting was done, I added all the detail parts that came with it; rope, com cords, straps. Then came the figures.
Ken.
 
First figure: Evers.


Generally, I can't afford to buy figures new in the box, they just cost to much. I usually get parts from on-line retailers or from eBay. I cobble things together from whatever parts I can get. But this time I got lucky, Money Depot and Black Ops Toys had stuff on sale just when I needed them, with lots of gear from DAM Toys for both Evers and Grimes, including name tags, Grenade vest, pouches, and other gear.


For Sgt. Eversman, I started with a resin head that I found on eBay. It is a pretty good likeness to Josh Hartnett, and glued right on to the neck post of a Dragon figure. Most of his gear and uniform parts are Dragon. As much as possible, I tried to match the gear up to how he looked in the movie. Its harder than it sounds, because things get moved around during filming, so his gear (all of the actors) changes a bit throughout the film.

His pose in this photo is based on one of the publicity stills taken for the film. I have a 3 disc DVD that includes a bunch of the production photos, which really helps getting the right look.
 
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His rifle is from Dragon. The strap was wrong, so I redid it. A lot of figures come with some scale "tape" which can look very nice, but doesn't always work right. I was having trouble getting the scale tape to conform to the buttstock, so I said to hell with it, and used some of my real 100mph tape.



His gloves were a real pain in the butt. I got a bunch of these "leather" rappelling gloves on sale at MD for $.25 a pair. When I got them, I found out why they were so cheap. The wrist openings were sewed too small; I had a real bear of a time getting them on his hands. One glove was nearly destroyed in the process, and had to be replaced. The rest of the gloves will just be clipped onto figures gear, I am not going through that again.


The compass/strobe light pouch is an old 21st Century item, taped to his shoulder strap, as you can't really see it.
I gathered up all of the chocolate chip helmet covers I had and tried to match them up to the figures (yes, there are more) as best that I could. Of course there is simply no way that I could exactly match them up to the ones in the movie, but I tried to reflect the general pattern. For example, Sgt Eversman's has a large tan area on the front where his name is.

Names were done using a very fine black sharpie, or just a regular ink pen.
 
Most of Evers gear is a mixture of Dragon and other stuff. I started with the Dragon "Matt" figure, and replaced all of the molded plastic stuff with real fabric items. I replaced the Dragon radio with a more screen accurate piece. His buttpack is from the Dragon "McKnight" figure.


The boots were a real pain in the ankle:lol:, both Evers and Grimes.



I have worked with "leather" and "fabric" boots before, and they weren't TOO much trouble, but these were. I think it was because of the "speed laces". The parts for the "speed laces" had large metal backing plates; which seemed to affect the fit and flexibility of the boots. I had to really grind the feet down to get them to fit. Grimes boots were a little easier, if only because I sorta new what I was doing then.
Ken.
 
Grimesy is a BBI figure, I don't know which one. I found him on eBay, and thought the face was a pretty close likeness to Ewan McGregor; I think its better than the one on the DAM Toys Grenadier figure.



Most of his gear is from DAM, including the M-203 and grenade vest. I filled some, not all, of the pouches on his vest. I gave him a mix, including HE, Smoke, and Star Shells. I also did my best to match up his name and helmet cover.





Both of these figures are pretty clean, the mission has just begun, and they haven't even left the chopper yet.
Ken.
 
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The Door Gunner's Minigun

The Scale Store Black Hawk comes with a mount for the minigun, but not the gun. I have a number of different ones, none of which are completely accurate, but most are at least usable. The one I picked is the only one I have with a flash hider.



I added the handles, control box, and trigger switches.




The data plate is from Coo Models.
 
Tape on Gear

Here is a photo showing my real 100mph tape on the stock of Grimes' M-203 and the "scale" tape on an M-16. If you look close, you can see that the end of the tape has lifted up off of the M-16. I ended up tacking that down with some contact cement.

The scale tape is nice, when you can get it to work.
Ken.
 
And some photos of the gun installed.






At this point the chopper is basically done. I just need to finish up the door gunner.
Ken.
 
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