1:72 CH-54A Tarhe - interior 3D decals for ICM kit

A crane you can see into

The Sikorsky CH-54A Tarhe was built as a flying crane: under its narrow fuselage the load was not hidden away but slung, and whole container modules were carried between the legs of the landing gear. With it the US Army lifted hundreds of downed machines out in Vietnam and carried guns to ridges where no road led. The rear crew member sat facing backward in glazing of his own and controlled the load looking straight at it.

Why the inside here is not only half visible

It is exactly the extensive glazing that makes this subject a case where the view into the pilot's compartment is not lost. The raised print brings in the instrument panels, the console between the seats and the controls of the hoist in shades that match the real machine. The individual elements carry a height of their own, so the edges of the panels catch the light and the surface stops looking like paper stuck on.

Contrast decides

In this scale a dial is smaller than a pinhead. Printed white markings on a dark field therefore manage what a dot of paint by hand never will: they keep a round shape and do not bleed. The result is a cockpit in which the eye tells the individual instruments apart instead of seeing a gray smudge.

• Rid the base of grease and dust.
• Soak the film only briefly, the elements are thin.
• Once dry, it can be gone over with a matte varnish.

The dimensions fit the cockpit of the kit from ICM; the helicopter model is bought separately. The rest of the cargo space and the outer surfaces stay with the builder, as the set aims exclusively at the glazed nose.