The Bo-105P PAH (TGBX12) HOT missile launching whirlybird of tank death! This is a nasty little mobile anti-tank launching missile platform...and is next in our Tips and Tricks series covering the forces in Battlefront's Team Yankee West German Forces.
The PAH is the West Germans anti-tank helicopter. You can get 2 flights of up to 4 birds in a flight for 16 points. Now this is interesting because the US Cobra Platoon is 4 Cobras for 14 points and you can get 4 Hinds for 10 points...say what? The PAH has Hunter Killer like the Cobra but doesn't have Thermal or any other weapons besides the "shoot while halted" missile and the Cobra has a gun AND rockets in addition to the TOWs. What you do get though is a missile with Anti-Tank of 23 (2 more than the Cobra's TOW and equal to the Hind's Spiral) and the same range as the Cobra's TOW and double that of the Hinds Spiral. The big difference is the PAH has a Skill and Morale of 3+ vs the Cobra's 4+. The big deal here is being able to make the Blitz move at better odds...does that equal a 2 point difference between the Cobra and PAH for the better Anti-tank, Skill and Morale increase for only 1 weapons vs the Cobras 3? Maybe? All I know is that they look REALLY cool and this article is about building and painting these awesome models anyways...and that they are the only helos the Germans get well they are what you get.
These are part of the commission I am working for Luke and this is a very nice plastic model kit. Super clean with no mold lines or other flash. The sprue connection points are very well placed to minimize clean up later. As always when cutting long items off a sprue (like the main and tail rotors) take extra care. I started clipping the supports in the middle of each blade, then the ends and finished with the middle on the main rotor. The tail rotor is just have a sharp clipper and support the junction of the rotor you are clipping with the rotor head.
Build: Again, this is a pretty simple build; a very well thought out design. Glue the Fuselage together, then the skids. Next add the nose pieces and the sensor on top. Add the stabilizer and tail rotor. Finish this section off with assembly the missile sections and gluing those into place. The main rotor consists of 2 blade pieces and a peg. They fit together snugly so be gentle but firm as you push the peg into the hole...huh?...what? Come on...really? <ROLLS EYES> Lastly, you have magnets for the stand and the rotor. The rotor magnet is a snug fit and if you don't center the magnet on the rotor base it won't fit cleanly. The trick I did here is to glue the magnet into the engine well. When that is dry place another magnet inside the engine well. Now, put just a drop (only a drop as you don't want any spillage or drips) on the bottom of the rotor base, then place the rotor base into the engine well. This will make sure the fit is centered...but if you do too much glue it will spill over and lock everything together...not enough and the rotor come out without the magnet. Let this dry FULLY. If you did it right and can separate the rotor with magnet from the engine magnet and leave the engine magnet inside the engine.
Paint Plan:
The PAH is pretty simple to paint and I pretty much followed the guide in Leopard on page 46.
- The base coat was the now standard West German NATO Green. For these, I started with Vallejo Surface Primer Black and then a base layer of Vallejo Model Air 71.093 Field Green. I mentioned in the Gepard article (LINK) that VMA 71.093 Field Green isn't in the Vallejo catalog anymore and that Vallejo had changed their numbering and VMA 71.93 was now NATO Green and isn't a match for the West German Green. Luckily, VMA 71.022 Camouflage Green is a good match. So you will see a mix in the future of me using VMA 71.093 Field Green or 71.022 Camo Green.
- Once you have the green base laid down, it's time for camouflage. Again look at the templates Battlefront has for these. The only bit of camo on these birds is the black stripes. The guide calls for Worn Rubber. I am in love with the Vallejo's Model Air colors and used a mix of Vallejo Game Air 70.862 Black and Vallejo Model Air 71.048 at a 2:1 ratio for the black stripe/blobs.
- The main rotor and tail rotor I painted the same. The blades start with a base of Vallejo Model Color 70.950 Black. For the rotor head (the center pieces) is a build up a mix of VMC 70.950 Black and 70.863 Gunmetal Grey with a final hi-light of straight 70.863 Gunmetal Grey. The rotors are dry brushed with German Grey across the top and bottom of the blade. try to get a little line of German Grey to run along the leading edge of the blade. Top the blades off with a line of Vallejo Game Color 72.007 Gold Yellow on the tips. Yellow is a hard color to build up from black so start with a base of your favorite brown and then layer on thin yellow paint. It will take 4-5 thin layers of yellow to build up enough. If you don't use thin paint, the yellow will look "gloppy."
- The little sensor on the top is a base of VMC 70.872 Chocolate Brown followed by a hi-light of 70.988 Khaki.
- The HOT Missiles are a base of VMC 70.979 German Camo Dark Green followed by Team Yankee Cobra Drab. A highlight of VMC 70.866 Green Grey. The final touch is to add a thin yellow stripe of VGC 72.007 Gold Yellow for the explosive markings.
- Next I did a little clean up and used the Team Yankee colors to hide any of the little "splatter" marks that creep in when you airbrush and to add a little depth to the camo lines. The thinner nature of the Team Yankee colors help you keep the feathered airbrush edges...feathered.
- Next in the guide is a drybrush of Dry Dust. I used the old standby of Vallejo Model Color 70.819 Iraqi Sand. You aren't trying to get the dirty/dusty look at this step. You lightly (and I stress lightly) drybrush the Dry Dust/Iraqi Sand. What this does is tone down the brighter/bolder tone of the NATO Green. Do this on everything except the metal parts, main rotor and tail rotor.
- Glass effect was done by starting with a 70.950 Black base then adding 70.816 Luftwaffe Uniform as the first layer on top of that. Last is to add some reflection lines and a jeweling effect with 70.943 Grey Blue by adding a little curve on the outer bottom of the light and then a little dot in the opposite corner and little "scratches" on the curved portions of the glass...especially on the bigger pieces.
- The model is gloss coated; decals applied; Ordnance Shade (or other black wash) is applied and then model then hit with a Flat Matte or Anti Shine. Last step is to add a little gloss varnish to the glass areas to wrap it all up.
Now get these little hovering hellraising helo holligans hurling havoc from on high into action!
Jeff Flint "SonBae" has been a long time contributor to WWPD and admin on the forums. A long time gamer and painter and recently a new studio painter at Mastermind, Model and Miniatures in Huntsville, Alabama. Just trying to keep the cats herded in WWPD-South.
