Testors/Itlaeri 1/72 AC-130A Hercules Gunship
This kit fought me pretty much all the way through. Fit wasn’t that great, so there was a lot of putty, sand, prime, repeat. The decals looked great, but turned out to be a very stressful part of the build. The glue was thick and opaque, but luckily dried clear. They were also very brittle, so if I had to move them I was doing so in pieces. I had built the same version in 1/144 a few years, and liked the way it looked so I opted to build a bigger one. Silly me, lol. Not without it’s flaws, but overall I’m happy with it. Paints used were all Model Master enamels. No aftermarket goodies on this one either.
10 additional images. Click to enlarge.
John vd Biggelaar said on January 25, 2021
Good you kept on fighting with this kit, Christina.
You’ve created a nice looking Hercules.
Spiros Pendedekas said on January 25, 2021
That’s a beautiful Hercules gunship, Christina!
and it’s BIG in 1/72!
A lot of quality work and perseverence went into it and it shows!
Love your painting!
Congratulations!
Pedro L. Rocha said on January 25, 2021
Keep it up Christina, those are some good looking models, and C-130s! Well done
John Healy said on January 25, 2021
They both look great, Christina.
Greg Kittinger said on January 25, 2021
Nice Herc! Looks great – must take up a lot of shelf space!
Erik Gjørup said on January 25, 2021
1/48 next? 😀
Tom Bebout said on January 25, 2021
Nice looking Herky Bird Christina, glad you stuck with it. It’s an impressive and quite an effective A/C, lots to look at if you ever get a chance to view it’s interior. I like it.
Josh Patterson said on January 25, 2021
Looks great Christina! Now that you’ve climbed the ladder from the 1/144 to the 1/72, go for the top rung! 1/48 AC-130! I have one C-130E done and the AC and DC-130 to build. I built the 1/72 when I was younger and I do think the 1/48 fits a bit better. (Decals are the same problem though, worse if they’re old! Decal bonder spray for sure!) The Vietnam camouflage of the AC-130 is my favorite of all the C-130 schemes. The black is so sinister and it beats dull boring grey any day of the week!
Allan J Withers said on January 25, 2021
Nicely done Christina, looks good.
Haslam Yeoman said on January 25, 2021
All that perseverence sure paid off.
Curt Cayemberg said on January 25, 2021
Great job on the Hercules!
Christina Swank said on January 26, 2021
Thank you everyone for the kind remarks!
Tom Cleaver said on January 26, 2021
Perseverance and Stubbornness: 1
Plastic kit: 0
Victory!! And a nice victory indeed.
DE4EVER said on January 26, 2021
🙂 … Greetings … 🙂 :
Very nice and clean work Christina … on both.
Your skill for the camouflage painting is clearly seen.
After some small mishaps, seems that your perseverance has paid off.
Really hope too see more of your work.
George Williams said on January 26, 2021
A very impressive model, especially in 1/72, many thanks for sharing with us, definitely liked.