Chief Snake

Coming in Octoer a new upgrade/update set for the 1/48 V-22 Osprey from Italeri. New complete flight deck, entryway details, new side doors and some other interior parts plus the hump on the wing is corrected. Chris M

I have a hard to find GMark Bell-47G-2 kit in the box. For sale, $750. I don't think I'll ever get around to building it. Chris M

I just built two of the Italeri kits, the ACH-47A and CH-47C. With both I encountered the same problem, poor fit of the nose to the body. On one, there is a possibility of interference at the bottom between a portion of the floor and a section in the canopy. Carving out some of the lower canopy inside helps here. With both, I found it best to remove the side "door" panels. This is a delicate thing to do as clear can be brittle. Once the panels are out, the nose fits onto the body much better. The top will require some fiddling to set in a good fit. After the nose has set up ( I used clear epox

Sorry, but discontinued means production has stopped permanently. We will not be making more. Chris Miller Cobra Company

Thanks Gino, had a brain short on that. Chris M

We could not make it to the IPMS USA Nationals this year so we will hold a sale concurrent with the event. Orders placed between August 3rd and August 6th will receive a 15% merchandise discount. Postage will remain as usual. International customers please contact us for a shipping quote prior to ordering. Chris Miller Cobra Company http://www.cobracompany.com/

We could not make it to the IPMS USA Nationals this year so we will hold a sale concurrent with the event. Orders made between August 3rd and August 6th will receive a 15% merchandise discount. Postage rates remain as usual. International customers please contact us prior to ordering so we can provide you with a shipping quote. Chris Miller Cobra Company http://www.cobracompany.com/

I'm not familiar with the range of motion, the button selections or even if any of the buttons may be multi-directional like a game pad. I just know the function for controlling the FLIR abilities lie in assignments to the handles. Chris M

The mission control grips mounted on the center pedestal. Chris M

With this specific part fit there is a problem with the pedestal and instrument panel fitting into the nose area. If you use strictly the kit parts and assemble them as directed the panel and windshield wind up interfering with each other. It could be size and placement of the interior parts or it could be an error in the nose and glass orientation. When I use the resin parts I move the replacement pedestal back a tiny bit, shave off a bit of the glareshield back edge and change the tilt of the panel just slightly. It's hard to visualize this but those areas give me the best success at getting

I agree with Rod. The CMK one is best choice of what you have. I also like the one contained in the Huey Hog kit. Chris M

That gap you have discovered is not your fault. It's inherent in the kit. Maybe something about the whole front area. Even the kit pieces by themselves cause that gap. I've taken to removing some of the panel edge and changing the way the panel sits on the pedestal. You're obviously smart enough to figure out a solution that will take into account your work as it is. Chris M

Ramon, I would like to encourage you to run a test fit at this point. Every one of these I have built has a problem with the top of the instrument panel and the windshield. It does not matter if it's totally kit parts or resin aftermarket parts it is in your best interest to check this out BEFORE you get to closing everything in. It's much easier to resolve the set of the panel now rather than after the whole assembly has been closed in. The work you've done real nice. Chris M

For anyone who has the same issue as I do, HOBBICO is the US distributor of Italeri and they will order new frets of the glass pieces for you. Now it remains to be seen if the frets actually arrive as clear parts but it'll be up to 12 weeks before I find out. Chris M

Thanks guys, 825 does have clear parts if it's a later issue. Newer 2622 kits have clear parts too. There had to have been a campaign to correct this problem at some time so early kits have bad canopy/window issues. I have contacted Italeri USA to see if these parts are available as replacements. Chris M

Thanks, I'll give them a try. What I'm really after is how many, if any, kits are easily available with accurate clear parts. Any kind of update set for this kit will be based on the probability people can actually build the kit realistically. As it is there is a substantial error on top of the fuselage to correct as well bad canopies. I can fix one thing but not the other. Personally I'll never build either yellow or dark part canopy kits. Chris M

I have two 1/48 MV-22 kits, one is a Testors (503) issue with a yellow tinted canopy and the other is an Italeri kit (2622)with a dark smoke tinted canopy. There is a release that combined Tamiya and Italeri with different decals which I do not have. Does anyone know if the canopy in that release was better than the other two? Something close to actual no tint at all? Chris M

The Osprey has come on my radar screen. My son is an MV-22 pilot in the Marines. He wants a model built in his squadron markings and that project will be in 1/72 using the Hasegawa kit. Anything I make will be for that kit first. The 1/48 scale kit has a very difficult to fix flaw from the start, that hump on the upper wing/fuselage is wrong. What ever else there is will have to be researched with up to date references which I do not have and with out help from some one who knows I may not pick them all up. One thing at a time with this idea. Chris M

Call it strange but I picked the kit off my shelf a couple weeks ago and started to build it. The resin and photoetch go a long way but with the amount of information now available in print and online I have doubled the amount of work that I'm doing. All of the rigging between the tail booms and the fins is fiddly and the mount for the engine exhaust was a bit perplexing. And the rotors in the kit are barren compared to what you can find in detail on the Prime Portal site. Chris M

There have been some requests to make a number of the sold out Cobra Company H-43 Huskie resin super set. There are some slight modifications to replace the white metal flight controls with resin ones but the full resin set masters and the some limited number of photo etch sheets remain. The new series would retail for $75.00. What interest is there, would 10 people commit to a purchase? Chris M Cobra Company

Those tags are a great touch. Good thinking out side the box on that! Chris M

Thank you all for your kind comments. Chris M

It can't be seen because of my poor photography skills but there are two litter patients and a crewchief/aidman in the cabin. Also, both pilots are in place. Thank you all for your kind words. Chris M

Ray, the Seminar is a pig compared to the MRC kit. It took building a couple of them to find all the problems and figure out fixes for them. It also takes careful study of the Army TM's to check accuracy and scratch out the more outstanding details that should be added. Rod, no one asked for them before. Chris M

The ALQ-144 was seen and photographed in Central America. It was also used in other areas. Chris M