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This my friends is one of the most noticeable things you will do to add a realistic and authentic touch to your beautiful model. Nothing else will make the "impact" more than a little exhaust soot. Keep in mind you only want to add this to your scale models with a "top mounted" turbine where you will see the accumulation of soot on top of the tail boom and stabilizers. Don't forget to add little soot to the leading edge of the tail rotor blades. The models such as the Hughes 500 series with a bottom mounted turbine will not leave but a slight amount of soot. The reason being: the exhaust from a top mounted turbine will accumulate more on top and in the middle of the tail boom due to air flow and rotor wash. The soot from a 500 series with a bottom mounted turbine will be mostly dissipated before reaching the verticle stabilizer and only a slight amount will accumulate near the bottom from the tail boom down. I like the results from using the Rust-oleum "High Heat 2000 Degree Ceramic Coating" for the best results that suit my goal. I spray the Rust-oleum into a cup and transfer it to my airbrush because the airbrush "atomizes" the paint into a very fine spray. I have used "flat black" paint and it works well but to me is a little "too black" when shot heavy, your choice. Apply the soot compared to your full size pictures. Most Military models accumulate a lot of soot because in a combat environment they are washed only "when water is avalible", lol. When I was flying full size on a long day of flying as you see in the picture of the ENG 206 it would get quite dirty. Just a little soot will enhance the realistic look of your model. If you have a model with a "black" tail boom you need only to add a little dusting of Testors DullCoat right from the can to simulate the soot and deglossing the tail boom. You can see my use of DullCoat in the video. The use of DullCoat is because after many washings the gloss coat will loose it's high shine. The decision to make is "do you want a big beautiful model" or do you want a "big beautiful model that looks REAL".

Most prepainted models from Roban, Funkey, Marvelcraft and others come with very nice paint but not a lot of detail. It is VERY easy to increase the realistic appearance of a prepainted fuselage by adding highlights to the rivets, adding panel lines, hinges and latches with nothing more than a little paint, brushs, 1/64th Graphic Tape and different colors of fine point permanent markers. I highlights the rivets with silver or aluminum permanent markers and "dry brushing", add or highlight panel lines with 1/64 Graphic Tape, simulate latches with small pieces of Monokote trim. I add exhaust soot with a cheap airbrush, if you have a black tail boom as on my yellow and black 407 I simply sprayed a light coat of Testors DullCoat on top of the tail boom and the leading edges of the horizontal and vertical stabilizers along with the leading edge of the tail rotor blades. You can judge by the "before and after" photos to see what a difference this little bit of detailing can accomplish to add a more realistic appearance to your prepainted model.

My goal for many years has been to make my models look as realistic as possible. I am in a small group and there is "absolutely" nothing wrong with having a beautiful "pristine" model but that is not my goal. I spent over thirty years in helicopter aviation and I seldom got the opportunity to fly a "pristine" helicopter. Most all my experience was in well worn and heavily used helicopters and I guess it left an impression, lol. Unless you are modeling a Medical helicopter, Executive transport or factory new or Air Force One lol, then there is going to be some wear. Even in ENG ( Electronic News Gathering ) and the Offshore industry ( where I retired ) we had to wash our helicopters daily and even then after hundreds of washings they began to show wear and loose their shine. I can certainly relate to you guys that want a "beautiful" and "brand new" looking helicopter but my goal is a "used" helicopter. I truly know the hesitation in "scuffing up" a new glossy paint job with "0000 steel wool" and "DullCoat" paint but to me it is just adding "realism" to give that authentic look. I "weather and wear" even my pre-painted models. Just adding a little "exhaust soot" can give your model a more realistic look. We love them all, weathered or not, BUT if you want to join the "next level" in modeling look at the pictures and determine if that might be your next goal. Just to show you how dedicated I am to this goal I am giving away an authentic SPH4 helicopter flight helmet as an award to the "most realistic and weathered" model at my Fun-Fly next year.

I purchased this model in 2023 in the"white" and only test flown. It has HELI-FACTORY mechanics with Hacker Q80 for power, Kontronik 200 on 12S, Bavarian 3X, ModelSoundsInc sound system ans Unilight lighting.
It was a "slick" fuselage with no exterior detailing. I added the rivets, panel lines and all exterior detailing. The cockpit was scratch-built, pilots were purchased from BlackOpsToys and pieced together with different heads and bodies ( the Frankenstein method ) along with assorted pilot accessories.
The armament is a combination of 3D printed parts from SCALE-PRINT and 9MINIMATRONIX.
Most Super Cobras are painted some form of Navy gray or camouflage. I did a lot of research and found that the USMC used the Sea Cobra in Opperation Urgent Fury and most of their helicopters were Deep Forest Green and even with this being a different version of the Cobra I chose this color, not building for competition but for personal preference. I did modify the skid gear for the proper angles and stance.
As with all my HELI-FACTORY models everything fit perfectly and flys GREAT
This model is now owned by Owen Battle and I am begging him to bring it down to Tennessee for me to once again fly.

Here are 40 full scale photos I took today of the remainder of the last Canadian Lama in operation. Sadly it had a mishap a couple of wees ago so now Canada no longer has any. These are now just skeletons. These are real working Lama's so nothing fancy here. These were used for fertilizing British Columbia forests.

These will be used by me to assist in achieving the best possible detail in the Vario Lama 1.8 that I am presently building.

Here I constructed a bubble window for the Vario AS350 for a nice customer and then deep-drawn it myself. I converted a domestic waterworks (cut out the membrane and screwed on a vacuum meter) and connected a small vacuum pump. I quickly cut the thermoforming box out of multiplex and screwed it together. I then warm the clamped thermoforming material in the oven and then quickly place it over the thermoforming model. Open the ball valve and after a few attempts, it works :-). If someone needs such a bubble window for his model, he only has to send me the door for scanning and of course dig a little deeper into his pocket as the construction including scanning is a considerable amount of time.
www.scale-print.de

First of all I'd like to thank Mike for inviting me here to post my detailing on my Roban Bell 429.

As most of you know the Roban models do not have too many scale details for the interior so I scratch built some in 3D. First off I made seat backs for all the seats. That was pretty much all I wanted to do but me being a modeller and with time on my hands I went a bit overboard.

The seat belts were made from duct tape cut into small straps. In retrospect that wasn't a good medium for the paint didn't stick very well and would flake off if handled too much. The seat belt buckles were 3D printed from a file from Thingverse of a full scale seat belt shrunk dow from 100% to 10% giving me the ideal size. The front cockpit side vent window frames were from a Bell 206 profile shrunk down from another file printed in flexible TPU to conform with the outside curvature of the window and affixed with very thin clear double back tape because who hates glue blobs on windows!

Small grab handles were also printed and were modeled from full size grab handles for cars and.matched as closely to the 429. Callie Graphics provided the seat graphics. Head sets were 3D printed from full scale head sets reduced down for scale fitment.

I could go on and on but nice weather is calling me so I'm off to the field! I'll be posting videos on my YouTube channel Perry F.@ret737 as my full maiden with the 429 with interior so stay tuned.

Please enjoy the pics I have provided and if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Hey guys just wanted to show you a slight modification I did with my Vario Trex Lama, specifically to the turbine. Having never seen the actual turbine on a lama helicopter before, I assumed that it's turbine would work just like most turbines for example on those Air force jets. So, after building the model turbine I then installed a center burner simulated afterburner LED light system, from the rcgreek.com at the rear of the model.

These afterburner LEDs are designed to run off of 7.2 volts and most are proportionally linked to the throttle channel. First thing.. 7.2 volts makes this light extremely and unrealistically bright. Additionally these units are designed to have air running over the lights to cool them down which is impossible inside of a turbine. As a compromise I use the resistor and cut the power down to 5 volts thereby reducing the brightness and lowering the heat.

I linked mine to the throttle channel however if you're using idle up one or idle up to as a starting point the light will come on at its full brightness in that configuration. To make it somewhat more realistic I start the heli in normal mode with very slight taps of up throttle enough to start the lights blinking but not enough to start the motor turning.. when that is linked to the sound system I use the blinking lights to simulate the churning up of the turbine and eventually give enough throttle to turn the blades and eventually go into idle up one.
There's two videos I have up of this. One of the videos, the close up... Some people have said that the the light is too bright and distracting.. in reality it really isn't. I simply chose to videotape the heli on the ground at dusk in order to accentuate the light.
I never fly my heli at dusk, my eyes aren't that great if you look at the other video of it flying during the day that is a more realistic portrayal of the intensity of the light, or the lack thereof. It was not until I finished building this thing that someone told me that there is no emitting of light from the turbine on a real lama.. so to that extent I guess this add-on is not technically scale, but I like it... So it will stay. 🙂

https://youtu.be/-t9-1OTVtow

I have one more. Also an American wish. For the XL Jet Ranger from Vario in 1:4 scale, I designed the emergency floats on the skids. The containers of the floats are printed out of rubber which can then be painted in any color. The necessary skid extension in the back is included and also the entry steps on both sides, air pressure tank and the end plugs in the front on the skid tubes. Of course you can also order the different parts separately in my store.
www.scale-print.de

For all Lama / Alouette II lovers. There are now the wheels on the skids including the brackets available. I can 3D print the tyres in rubber to fit any scale. The first prototype is already in the printer.
The tyre profile and the rim are still being adapted to the original. I am just waiting for the corresponding pictures.
This item is available as a complete set or just the holders individually.

I had a chance to visit a very friendly guy in Texas who is the owner of 3 Mil Mi 24 Hind helicopters. 2 of them are flown regularly. It was fun to get a chance to crawl all over the Hind and check out all the scale details.

I brought one of my Turbine Hind models for some comparison photos. Good times.

My Hind is from www.heliclassics.de and is powered by a Pahl Taurus turbine. 56 lbs. Has a bit over 100 flights so far without a single issue.