- iModeler

1/35 AH-1W

Started by Richard Mcstay · 49 ≡ · ↻ 9 years ago

Viewing 1 - 15 of 49 posts

Jump to latest post

Richard Mcstay said 9 years, 10 months ago:

Are you allowed heli's in this category? Here goes anyway. I really enjoyed doing the WIP on the McLaren so I'm going to be brave again and do one on the super cobra. I've actually had this kit now for over a year but only recently made a start. It's a now out of production kit from Italeri and to my knowledge, is the only one of the super cobra in large scale. It is also the only one I have been able to find anywhere on the internet, so lets hope I don't mess it up!

I've purchased a Big Ed set to go with it along with some custom decals from Two Bob's Decals which are from the second gulf war. As with previous photo etch attempts, I probably won't use every single piece. That's normally because I end up wrecking some of the fiddly bits to be completely honest!
Richard Mcstay said 9 years, 10 months ago:

I've once again incorporated the boiling water dip to get that weighted look to the rotor blades. There is still a lot of PE to go on the rotor head if I decide it is necessary, which I still haven't decided yet, major surgery for that one. The canopy masks were included in the Big Ed kit.
Richard Mcstay said 9 years, 10 months ago:

I'm going to build and spray the canopy separate to the main build. I will probably leave the seats out and any other delicate parts that can be damaged when masking up the cockpit, then install them after the weathering stages.
Simon Whitney said 9 years, 10 months ago:

Looking good so far Richard, one of your Xmas presents?
Bernd Müller said 9 years, 10 months ago:

Thats a very nice and clean start, Richard ! Good luck with all the PEs, make sure your carpet monster is feeded before you start 🙂
Ramon R. Lomeli said 9 years, 10 months ago:

very nice Richard, and I am following with extreme interest! one thing if its not too late - take some of the droop out of your main rotor blades. as you have it would be perfect for a Black Hawk or an Apache, but Cobra blades have only the very slightest of droop. it is also a semi-rigid rotor system as opposed to a fully articulated one, so that means that the entire rotor head assembly pivots on top of the rotor mast. in summary: when one blade goes down, the other goes up. like a see-saw. do, however, put some twist in the blades so that the innermost part closer to the head has more pitch, while the outer tips are almost flat. Hope this helps, again, your model is looking really great and i look forward to following your build.

Cheers!

-Ramon
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.
Richard Mcstay said 9 years, 10 months ago:

I've had this one in the stash for a while now Simon, I got it to go next to the old Huey cobra. That's a good tip Bernd, what do they eat? I could throw some old sprue down first, that should fill him up!
Cheers Ramon, I'll see what I can do, it should bend back a bit. I'll see about twisting it a bit as well, should be achievable. Thanks for the advice and the reference pic!
Simon Whitney said 9 years, 10 months ago:

Try cutting pieces off in a large clear plastic bag (like the type you get the sprues in).
If they shoot off they should remain in the bag.
Just an idea.
Richard Mcstay said 9 years, 10 months ago:

That's a great idea that Simon! Sounds good to me.
I don't know why I didn't think of that myself actually, we do that at work when scaling fish, so the scales don't fly everywhere... slightly off topic there!
Rob Pollock said 9 years, 10 months ago:

Interesting looking build. Detail looking good at this stage. I built a 1/48 Apache once but not sure how your model compares size-wise. These birds are deceptively big.
Richard Mcstay said 9 years, 10 months ago:

Cheers Rob. I'll put a common object in a photo once it's done. If it gets done, I don't want to jinx it! Those are 1cm squares on the cutting mat for a better idea.

There's a lot more room for detail in the cockpit. I will probably add some wires and I need to find a small fire extinguisher from somewhere. I've installed a PE bracket to hold one in the gunners seat, but I don't have one in the kit.

The M197 20mm cannon is aftermarket as are the TOW launchers. I still have a lot of work to do on the TOW's, the tubes all had to be separated from the original kit. There will be eight tubes eventually.
Dirk Derks said 9 years, 10 months ago:

Hi Richard,
Impressive stuff and some very helpful adds form the readers.
Thats what it is all about.
Richard Mcstay said 9 years, 10 months ago:

Cheers Dirk. Very true, this is how I do my learning! I made a couple of kits as a kid but only started modelling properly a year and a half ago. I got the basics down by watching some airbrush tutorials on you tube. The guys on here have pretty much taught me the rest. They are a great bunch!
Richard Mcstay said 9 years, 10 months ago:

I'm having a couple of days on this one now before I go back to work! I was hoping to finish this on my leave this time but the purchase of some new music equipment and a new PS4 game have somewhat distracted me!

I've added a bit of wiring in the cockpit as promised and I've used some matt black paint heavily thinned down with alcohol to create a shadow effect. I think I got that tip from Tamiya monthly magazine, it works rather well.

The cockpit is almost finished as well now. I've used an Eduard PE kit here which was very fiddly but rewarding in the end! I'm leaving the HUD out until later, it is very fragile and has got 'stuck to a bit of masking tape' written all over it. And I've found a use for left over holiday currency. Nose ballasts!
Bernd Müller said 9 years, 10 months ago:

Hi Richard, nice progress on your Cobra. The cockpit has got a lot of nice details.
Good idea to use euros as weight, the best way of use this currency

Viewing 1 - 15 of 49 posts

Work in Progress – Aircraft

1/35 AH-1W