French helicopters Algerian War

I finished off the two 1/72nd scale French helicopters last week, a Piasecki  H-21 and a Sikorsky H-34.  

These are both Amercom Collection diecast and plastic pre-built models from the Helicopters magazine series.  I got these off  eBay at the start of 2022 from a local seller, we did a deal on the pair and I picked them up which saved a lot on postage which was nice.

First off the Piasecki H-21C.  These helicopters made a real difference when they became available to the French in Algeria.  Their capability to take 20 men meant whole platoons could be transported quickly.

 

My favourite is the Sikorsky H-34.  These were used in a variety of roles.  Most famously they were armed with various machine guns and light cannons and used as gunships.  The French in Algeria were the true pioneers of helicopter warfare.  

When I got them, the H-21 was in USAF camouflage and the H-34 in French Marine colours.

I stated off repainting these with a couple of coats of Revell acrylic Nato Green.  This was a bit light so I washed the H-21 with Army Painter Dark Tone.  This came out looking terrible!  I then added some AP Black to the Nato Green until I was happy with the colour and gave them another coat which looked alright. Not wanting to repeat the wash mistake I inked in all the panel lines with a fineliner.  I then did a series of progressively lighter dry brushes using Vallejo Model Colour (VMC) Green Grey added to the Nato Green until I was using pure Green Grey.  I repainted any black areas such as the tyres and rotors in VMC Matt Black and then drybrushed these with VMC German Field Grey.  Any metallic parts were repainted with VMC Oily Steel and then washed with AP Dark Tone.

The French roundels are spare decals from an old Douglas Invader kit which I'd finished as a USAF aircraft.  They're probably a little too small, but on studying photos from the period, the size and placement of the national insignia on French choppers varied quite a lot so I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.  I did look at buying some from Hannants but the 9 quid price put me off!

Once the decals were applied I added  weathering all over by splodging, stippling and drybrushing on some Vallejo Game Colour Earth. I then did a final light drybrush of AP Banshee Brown to pick up some edges and the 'copters were done.

To really finish them off I added some crews.  These were from Elhiem, FP08 Early helicopter pilots pack.  I like Elhiem's figures a lot but these are not their finest, in fact I didn't bother painting one it was so poorly sculpted/moulded.  Having no references to draw on I painted them in a mix of Khaki and Green uniforms.  Getting them to sit in the models was a bit of a challenge and required a part amputation, but I got there and it finishes them off nicely.  

Now to get them into action over the djebel.