1/48 Kitty Hawk AH-1Z “Viper”

Started by David Kopielski · 29 ≡ · ↻ 1 year ago
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    David Kopielski said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    My next build is the 1/48 Kitty Hawk AH-1Z “Viper” attack helicopter. This is the first of a few commission builds I will be doing over the next few months. For this build I will be adding the Eduard interior and exterior photo etch sets, the Model Master M197 (20mm) brass barrels, and the Flying Leathernecks TSS Turret. The scheme will be aircraft 47 from the HMLA-267 Stingers.

    As typical I started off with the cockpit using the Eduard photo etch detail set. The photo etch replaces the kit decals for seat belts and instrument panels. The side armor panels, seats, and side control panels required some putty to cover the mold marks. Everything went together very well. Next I am starting on the engines. I will be detailing these as at least one of the engine covers will be in the open position.

    You can see more photos and details in my build log at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-ah-1z-viper/

    8 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    You started this excellent entry with a beautiful interior, Dand @davids_models
    Looking forward to see this progressing.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    Another great entry and ditto progress, my friend @davids_models! Looking forward to it!

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    David Kopielski said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    As week two of the AH-1Z finishes I spent most of the week building, painting and detailing the engines. There were a few mold marks that needed to be filled with putty on the engine bay walls. For painting I used the Vallejo Metal Air paint. I used the duraluminum for the bright metal, dark grey metallic, and Jet exhaust for the exhaust. For the added details I used 30 gauge wire for the steel lines and sleeved wires of green and blue for some of the hoses.

    With the cockpit and engine bays assembled I began assembling the forward part of the fuselage. The fit is very good along the seams with some minor putty where they attached to the trees. The poor fit is the well where the gun turret sits. There are lots of gaps. I was able to get most of the gaps close and then putty the rest. I am working on the photo etch details of the forward fuselage now. There are many screens, and access panels to add. Then I will be detailing the gun turret with brass barrels and then the resin TSS turret will be built and detailed.

    You can see more photos and details from the start in my build log at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-ah-1z-viper/

    6 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    Great progress, my friend @davids_models!

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    John vd Biggelaar said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    Those engines are excellent detailed, David @davids_models

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    Anthony Ricco said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    Wow @davids_models - what a build so far - the interior is astounding and now those engines, unbelievable work - really great stuff.

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    Ceto 3D Art said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    Excellent work! It is a model that I would like to do at some point! I will follow your progress closely!

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    David Kopielski said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    Week three of the Viper build was spent adding numerous photo etch details to the forward fuselage and detailing the avionics and cargo bays. The avionics bay detailing was started with the Eduard photo etch parts. I had to drill some .05mm holes thru the photo etch for the cables. I then used some 30 gauge to represent the numerous cables and routed them like the reference photo. I used a little gloss white pant to represent the ID tags on the cables. I located a small fire extinguisher to duplicate the one in the ref photo as well.

    The other side of the fuselage is a cargo storage bay. The photo etch set provides a cover with handles and the hinge at the top. I then added the various antenna pods and covers for the fuselage. I started working on the intakes by filling the mold marks. Next up is the gun and TSS turrets for the nose.

    You can see more photos and details from the start in my build log at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-ah-1z-viper/

    6 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    Amazing progress, my friend @davids_models!

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    John vd Biggelaar said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    This looks superb, David @davids_models

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    David Kopielski said 1 year, 4 months ago:

    Finishing the fourth week of the Viper build I began building and detailing the turrets. The TSS turret from the kit was replaced with the resin version from Flying Leatherneck. Speaking of the kit version it is very inaccurate. It has two small round lenses and two large round lenses. The actual turret has one small, one medium and one large lens and they are shaped differently. The resin kit does also have an issue. While they give you a prism sticker for the large lens, the resin turret does not provide the clear lenses for the small and medium lenses. I made these from a sheet of clear acetate. The internal sensor faces were painted chrome using a Molotow chrome paint pen.

    Turning to the gun turret I replaced the kit with the Model Master kit. The brass barrels are a little longer and have the barrel holders in the correct locations. The kit includes a weight that goes inside the turret so it does not tail drag. I then started to add more details to the fuselage. The landing skids have some photo etch details. They were then mounted. I then built the exhaust section and added the photo etch details. To mount it to the fuselage I had to use a piece of styrene to push the mating edge of the fuselage out a bit to line up with the bottom of the exhaust assembly as the fuselage edges were slightly warped inward. Once the seam was glued I removed the support. I am now working on the side wings and should be starting the boom this week.

    You can see more photos and details from the start in my build log at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-ah-1z-viper/

    9 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 1 year, 4 months ago:

    Superb job so far, my friend @davids_models!

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    John vd Biggelaar said 1 year, 4 months ago:

    Those barrels are a huge improvement, David @davids_models
    Very nice progress.

  • Profile Photo
    David Kopielski said 1 year, 4 months ago:

    Five weeks into the “Viper” I added the exhaust to the fuselage. The exhaust was painted using Vallejo Jet Exhaust then heavily weathered with dark grey and black pastel chalk. I next started to assemble the boom and added the photo etch details. The boom and the side wings were then attached to the fuselage. I built up the main and tail rotors then began adding the photo etch to the panels that will be open.

    There are many screens/vents on the fuselage. Some of these are open holes and some screens fit into a panel. For the ones that fit into panels I painted the panels black and then brush painted the screens with thinned paint so the screen holes do not fill with paint before installing them. This will highlight the appearance of these areas. I painted all the photo etch details with a thin coat as well so when the fuselage is painted the overall coat will be even. I noticed the vent just above the exhaust was incorrect in both angle and shape. The vent has a 90 turn which is incorrect. It is more of a 45 bend to the starboard side. The kit vent was trimmed and re-installed correctly. I will be starting some pre-shading and the base coat painting this upcoming week.

    You can see more photos and details from the start in my build log at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-ah-1z-viper/

    9 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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