Chief Snake

If someone wants see something in more specific detail let me know. Chris M

Well, let's see if I can get these. Chris M

The photos were in photobucket and when they wanted money to use the site I dropped it. I will make a new series of photos and make them available here or by direct email. Chris M

All well and good but the main question remains unanswered. How do you find out where to buy the set? Chris M

The Hobby Fan and AFV, when released in 2018, were the same. Vendors are now showing that the Hobby Fan is no longer available so it seems whatever is being sold under the Hobby Fan name could be radically different than when originally released. Either that or the first release information wrongly showed a full set under both names. The boxings shown above are coming from Mexico. They could be knock offs of the AFV Club set. Chris M

Made in Taiwan as UH-60M (ROCA) and distributed by Hobby Fan and AFV Club. Available at Hobby Linc Japan as kit HF090 base model Italeri UH-60. Chris M

You Tube videos show that the landing gear lift the aft fuselage off the ground both when running and shut down. Points to them being hydraulic, in the above picture they may have been collapsed to relieve pressure on the system when parked for a bit of time. Chris M

Sounds like what you found is left over parts from a set that might be the MH-60M set. I did not release the set "early", it should have had the panels and the nose from the start. Try contacting Mike West at Lone Star Models, he bought all of Cobra Company's masters and instruction sheets. Chris M As I remember it now, the ballistic panels were included after the first sets were released. Anyone who bought those sets could ask for the panels for free.

To the best of my knowledge your definitions are correct. Chris M

Try doing a search using AH-1Z crashworthy seat. The Z is equipped them, previous AH-1 versions were not. Chris M

I made a UH-1A using a Seminar UH-1B kit. Some fitting issues with the interior but you can get to an A model with it. Cut short the rotor mast, change the balance weights to the drop down type and change the details of the stabilizer bar and the exterior is more like an A. Inside, the pilot seats are different. Not hard to scratch build. Chris M

My son flies the MV-22B with VMM-161. The USMC aircraft are painted with FS36320, Dark Ghost gray- FS36375, Light Ghost gray- FS36237, Blue Gray. Color tones are muted and can be difficult to see delineation at even short distances. Lumps and bumps are no-tell, no-pic items at unit level however some are on both USMC and USAF V-22's and are shown on publicly released pictures. Xtra Decals makes a sheet, 48-119 that is quite accurate for common markings. Individual unit markings change with any decision the unit commander may entertain. USAF CV-22's have some different color schemes, some

Resin casting runs the gamut from simple stuff from Alumalite or Micromark to high tec two part systems. Most products from Smooth On are for more advanced casting that requires vacuum and pressure at various points. Even those products that don't require vac or pressure are for explicit purposes and can be frustrating to use. More advanced measures for making blades are expensive and some like Hi Def printing have to be reinforced at the hub because that is where the weight gets concentrated. I have taken the Panda/Dragon series of UH-1D's or UH-1N's and modified the blades for the UH-1B's I

This set was discontinued by Cobra Company because the rotors were incorrect (wrong chord width) and the resin would droop unless it was reinforced with a stiff wire. Trying to insert a wire into the mold become a real problem and coupled with the other factors did not prove to be viable. One may certainly try their hand at fixing this but It will be daunting. And yes, Mike West has the masters be he also knows of the problems so it may affect whether or not he revives the set. Chris M

That list indicates that MRC has taken over distribution of Italeri. While MRC has a great history of supplying replacement parts, it's no indicator of what Italeri will send. Chris M

I actually did get windows from Hobbico/Italeri. I asked for them by sprue number as clear window sets. Trouble was the sprue number was the same on all the window and canopy parts. What I got was two smoke tinted window sets. Don't know how else to get them to understand. Chris M

The 503 kit which is a Testors boxing has two hard to deal with issues. The yellow windows of course and the fact that is produced as a preproduction aircraft. There is a noticeable difference on the top of the wing, compare the 2622 wing top with the 503 one and you will easily see the problems. There is a fix for this in the Cobra Company MV-22 detail set. Chris M

Getting clear window pieces from Italeri will not happen. I requested those parts through Hobbico and when they arrived they were the smoke grey ones. The clear ones were introduced when the Japanese one was produced and any remining clear went into certain kits boxed with HMX-1 decals. The kit number is 2622 which is the same for two kits. There is one difference I found that identified the boxings with clear parts, the box it self. Rather than a glossy finish on the box it has a matte finish. I have seen this to be true on several occasions that I had to examine kits at model shows. That's n

Don't fret over finding the TwoBobs sheet, it did not have any of the small stencils provided. The dark colors were are also substantially darker. Nice decals though. Chris M

Strictly speaking, no. The rotor is depicting the 540 system used on the UH-1C. The tail is from a UH-1B. One or the other has to be replaced to be "accurate". Chris M

It would be more helpful if you decide the type you want to build. There are many add ons and kitbashing that could be done if you are willing to spend a few extra dollars. If it were me I would start with the Monogram Huey Hog kit. From there you can make the additions or deletions to get to the type you want. The Monogram kit is sort of a hybrid of UH-1B and UH-1C. It has the wrong main rotor for a B model, it's more like a C model. To fix that I would rob the rotor system from an old UH-1D kit made by AMT or ESCI. There are two fuel filler ports on the kit, right and left side. The right i

It is a term used to define the tracking accuracy of a main rotor blade. Tracking attempts to make the rotor tips travel in the same plane as they make a revolution. When the tracking starts to vary a little "bump" can be felt by the crew of the aircraft. A 1 to 1 rev is a very normal measurement. That is as the blade makes one full revolution the tracking difference makes one feel a bump, gentle, but a bump. What Mr. Boyer is referring to is that the weight of the armor panels affected the travel of the blades for some reason and caused the blades to increase the tracking plane to a level tha