BBI MH-6 Little Bird paint scheme?

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 9:14 pm

I have two questions about the BBI MH-6 Little Bird helicopter:
1. Does the current re-release come in the two original paint schemes--olive drab and black?...(My re-release is olive drab).
2. Does the 160th SOAR Nightstalkers use both black and olive drab paint schemes?

(Foxhole.com identifies the black MH-6 as "Special Ops" and identifies the olive drab MH-6 as "US Army")

tkjaer21 · Post by **tkjaer21** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 7:38 am

There are three versions of this helo.

S1 - O.D.
S2 - Recon - Brown
S3 - Night Stalkers - Black

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 7:52 am

TKJAER21:

Thanks for the info. My MH-6 re-release is olive drab (photo below) and has the "Nightstalkers" inscription on the canopy frame.

This ticks me off---I wanted the black MH-6 and most of the dealers are showing the black version for sale.

digger · Post by **digger** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:54 am

I'm pretty sure my S1 was black for the record. And I am positive it came with a George W Bush pilot, but that didn't last.

pcoughran · Post by **pcoughran** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 9:13 am

I don't think yours is OD green. It looks like a series 3 which is suppossed to be black but has a decent amount of grey or brown in it. I have the same series 3 and mine looks more dark grey. Here's 3 pics of the versions. No brown. Just black and OD green although the latest black looks more grey/brown.
Series 1

Series 2

Series 3

This picture looks more black than mine is which is more of a grey color.
If I'm not mistaken, the real 160th SOAR Nightstalkers are not painted a true flat black. It is more of a really dark grey. I think that is what BBI was shooting for but came up a little on the light side. You can check with Tambo - he sees them everyday at Ft. Campbell as he instructs there.

pcoughran · Post by **pcoughran** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 9:29 am

I am disappointed with the color as well. The real ones do look pretty black although technically they are probably more Charcoal Grey.
Looks pretty black in this photo

Same aircraft up close shows that it is more washed out than true flat black.

Heres a couple more: (some say tomato, some say tomato) Black - Charcoal Grey not much difference. But BBI missed the mark on it this time.

This last one is a DAP blackhawk which has the more washed out color

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 9:30 am

PCOUGHRAN:

When I first got my MH-6, I was expecting a "black" one and my first reaction seeing it was that it is a brown/grey color---the Foxhole Toys photos in my above post is what mine looks like.
However, I got the photo below off the internet and it shows a "black" MH-6 in the box (my MH-6 looks a lot browner than the MH-6 in the photo below)

Are you saying my brown/grey MH-6 is really the "black" version and a true BBI black version doesn't exist?

Could the photo below be a "New and improved" BBI MH-6 with the accurate charcoal grey paint--or is the grey is just an optical illusion due to lighting, etc?

pcoughran · Post by **pcoughran** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 9:45 am

The only ones I've seen in the store (TRU several different locations) of the newest release all looked more dark grey. Maybe there was a change in the paint during the release? I've never seen a true black one in the newest release. That picture you just posted looks more black but it may be the lighting or the way the software handles the color. When my "grey" one is in true sunlight it looks much darker than it does when in the house under un-natural light. I got mine from Small Joes. What about you.
I can feel your pain though as I would rather have black.

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 9:54 am

PCOUGHRAN:

I ordered my MH-6 from Vlads.
It appears the MH-6 you saw at ToysRUs is dark grey like the one in the above in-box photo. Maybe BBI has two batches of the MH-6---dark grey (ToysRUs) and brown/grey (yours and mine).

I'd rather have the dark grey since its looks more like the real MH-6.

pcoughran · Post by **pcoughran** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 10:21 am

When I said dark grey I meant like mine (brown grey). All the TRU ones were like mine. None were like the picture above "in the box". I've never seen one of the new releases in person that wasn't the brown/grey. I was hoping if I ordered one from small joes it wouldn't be the same as the TRU ones but it was.

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 10:35 am

PCOUGHRAN:

It looks like all the MH-6 re-releases are brown/grey. Apparently, the dark grey MH-6 in the box photo is an optical illusion. Like you, I would rather have dark grey since it's like the real MH-6.

I bought two BBI Nightstalker "Harris" pilots and used Elmer's Glue to attach four BBI Delta Force "Danny Lynch" figures to the benches. I got rid of the "foot-wide" rappelling rope included with the model. Overall, paint excluded, it looks real impressive.

pcoughran · Post by **pcoughran** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 12:47 pm

Yeah I like the black.
Many have complained about the long skids. But there have been MH-6 and AH6 with the longer skids in the past. Maybe all the recent ones have the shorter skids.
Long vs Short

Some of the earlier pics I posted showed the longer skids as well although they are probably a little shorter than what BBI put on the 1/18 version.
After I do the pavehawk conversion then I'll have to work on getting this littlebird looking good.

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 1:15 pm

PCOUGHRAN:

The MH-6 looks beautiful in black...oh well.

Since you're working on the BBI MH-60 conversion, I'll ask you the question that nobody else has answered---does the BBI MH-60 belong to a particular USAF squadron?

Coreyeagle48 · Post by **Coreyeagle48** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 1:47 pm

Where does everyone get the extra figures? I'd love to outfit some of my helicopters with Chopper Harris and some Delta guys. Where's good places to get these figures? I never see them in the store.

Corey

Sky Ray · Post by **Sky Ray** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 2:05 pm

My MH-6 Little Bird (Nightstalker)'s color looks black enough to me in my room, I got mines at TRU for $19.99.

Coreyeagle48 wrote:Where does everyone get the extra figures? I'd love to outfit some of my helicopters with Chopper Harris and some Delta guys. Where's good places to get these figures? I never see them in the store.

Corey

TRU, but they are very rare, at least in my AO, I got lucky and found one surviving Chopper Harris last summer.

pcoughran · Post by **pcoughran** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 2:09 pm

Dragon53,
I could swear I saw the same tail number or nose number on an actual aircraft in a picture one time, but can't find it. The BBI model itself has no other unit markings on it so don't know if it is an actual bird or not.

Corey,
I got all my figures at the end of 2007 and early 2008 at Target when all the good buys were going on (blackhawks and Apaches for $20, Abrams and Bradleys for $15). These figures were all about $4 if I remember correctly but went on clearance for a $1.50 at one point. I snatched up about 50 of them at one time and ended up returning about 1/3, kept some, and ebayed some when they were going for $8-$9 each. I've seen some of these same ones now for $15 retail. Wish I would have kept a lot more. Chopper Harris and the Seal in all black with the NVGs are good. Elite Force made some Delta and Seal figures a few years ago that are even better.
Last time I was in TRU there were a couple of the Navy Seal all black for $4.99. I'll check next time I'm in if you think you'd want them maybe I'd could get them to you for cost plus shipping. They also had a couple of the Delta Night Ops and Navy para-diver but these had the Parachute accessories and straps, etc..
Let me know if you're interested.
Phil

pcoughran · Post by **pcoughran** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 5:14 pm

Dragon53,
I was curious and had too much time on my hands today (obvious from all the posts) - it was a day off.
Anyway, drug out my Nightstalker and put it next to the OD green Kiowa and took a couple pictures. I can assure you mine is the same grey/brown as yours (in the right light).
It's all in the lighting as you can tell from these pictures.
First one is Flash looks pretty black

Second one is Flash from a different angle - looks grey/brown here.

Third is no flash with indoor light - a little blurry but you can still see color pretty well

Fourth is natural light from the window with no flash a little blurry

This is the same bird with the same camera and I didn't do any other color or brightness changes. Can look pretty different depending on the lighting.

tkjaer21 · Post by **tkjaer21** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 6:22 pm

he one I have is brown and black like a darker desert type color.

1[/QUOTE]

Black_Dragon_One · Post by **Black_Dragon_One** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 1:29 am

we need a mini gun set for this bird.. it look easy to do...

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 8:28 am

COREYEAGLE48:

I got my 2 "Harris" pilots on Amazon.com for about $5 each. Badcat was selling them for $15 (now sold out). Foxhole also has Harris for about $15.
The Delta Force "Lynch" figures were at ToysRUs.com for $8 each (now sold out). I got 3 of the Delta Force figures from an SSHQ seller and bought the fourth at my local ToysRUs.
As I posted before, I used Elmer's glue to attach the 4 Delta Force figures to the MH-6 benches. The Delta Force figures are carrying M4 carbines with grenade launchers (one has a silencer) and an M249 machine gun. I've got the MH-6 co-pilot holding an M46 machine gun for defensive fire power, and I glued an M4 carbine on the pilot's lap (I read helicopter pilots now carry the M4 instead of the H&K MP5). All 6 figures have night vision goggles---perfect for the "Nightstalker" MH-6. The 6 figures, particularly the Delta Force figures on the benches, make the MH-6 look really cool.

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 8:44 am

PCOUGHRAN:

Your first 2 photos really underscore the optical illusion of the BBI MH-6 paint scheme---Photo #1 is what the MH-6 SHOULD look like and Photo #2 is what the MH-6 REALLY looks like.
I wish my MH-6 was really black---I wanted it to fly on some cattle mutiliation missions.

One last question on the MH-6 model---what are the long devices located on the left side of the pilots' seats?

I'm collecting North Carolina-connected models, and was curious if the MH-60 was based in North Carolina---but I highly doubt it is.

Thanks for all the info and photos---they clear up all the questions I had about the MH-6 paint scheme.

pcoughran · Post by **pcoughran** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 10:35 am

Are you talking about the Collective? It is always the stick on the left side of the pilot that controls up/down. It is a little big/overscaled on the BBI model, probably needs to be cut by a 1/3 or maybe even 1/2.

I don't think there are any MH-60 actually stationed at Fort Bragg/Pope AFB but they are there on occassion. I was stationed there for 5 years and saw them occassionally worked with them a couple times.
Fort Bragg is the home of the 18th Airborne Corps which has the 82nd Airborne Div. It is also home to SOCOM and Delta Force. The SOCOM units and Delta use the 160th SOAR out of Campbell quite often. Since there are a lot of Air Force Combat Controllers at Bragg, they have to train with MH-60s on occassion as well. There is another army aviation regiment stationed there that supports the 18th Corps and 82nd Abn Div that has UH-60s and CH-47s. I worked with them a lot as they were the main aviation support for air mobile ops and some airborne ops.

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 1:18 pm

PCOUGHRAN:

The rod-like device I'm referring to on the MH-6 is attached to each pilot's left-hand side of the seat. It has two white stripes on it and a rectangular hook-like attachment at the top.

I'm from North Carolina originally and collect NC-based models, which is why I bought the BBI Delta Force/Fort Bragg figures---so I decided to buy the BBI 160th SOAR MH-6 for them to ride on.
Also, all the info I looked at indicated there were no MH-60s permanently based at Pope AFB, but I wanted to make sure.

pcoughran · Post by **pcoughran** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 2:53 pm

Yeah, the stick attached to the left side of seat with the rectangular "hook" at the top is the collective. Basically, it controls the aircrafts up/down and acts like a throttle as well.

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 3:21 pm

PCOUGHRAN:

Thanks again for all the info and answering my questions---it's great to get info from an inside source.

Small Scale Military Headquarters

BBI MH-6 Little Bird paint scheme?

BBI MH-6 Little Bird paint scheme?

LB