rotorwash

The AH-1G pictured in this thread at the US Army Aviation Museum was actually a Spanish G model. She served in the Spanish Navy as 007-1. Ray

Yep. That's it. Ray

Yep, in fact I believe most were 20mm ammo boxes. Ray

Just type in "Vietnam Era Ammo boxes" in a Google search and you will see tons of photos of them. These are large ammo boxes with the tops removed. Ray

In country ammo bins were made of sheet aluminum based on my research. However, I've never seen great photos of them up close. So, about the bench seats. In most gunships, the bench seat was replaced with a single seat on each side of the door for the crew chief and doorgunner. My dad was an armorer\doorgunner so this topic is near and dear to me. If you want to be accurate but keep the bench, you will need to model a very early UH-1C. The UH-1C entered Vietnam around November 1965. However, the majority served between 1967- end of the war. First photo shows the interior of a typic

first off, the cylinder ammo can that comes in the kit was a real piece, but I have never seen a Vietnam UH-1C with one installed. Also, the tiny stateside 85 round ammo bin was also virtually never used. Instead, most units fabricated their own ammo bins that could carry 300 or more. Below are some pics from various sources including unit websites. One shows a comparison drawing between the drum and box ammo bins. Then there is a schematic photo of the box ammo bin installed in a UH-1B\C. Then one of my photos of the 85 round box magazine in storage at Ft. Rucker (now Ft. Novosel). Then

That would be a definite negatory, good buddy.

That is a beautiful bird! Ray

Oliver, My guess is you can use either. Let's put it this way, I doubt you will find anyone who can prove the Navy never used chromate. Afford yourself a little creative license on this one. Ray

I don't know how much this will help, but I believe this is the same stinger system. From USAAM archives. I'm sure i ahve others but thsi si what i can find at the moment. Ray

Just for clarification the modern 7 shot pod is the M260 and the 19 shot pod is the M261. I only say this because the M157/M158/M159/M200 Vietnam era pods are too short and will not look quite right. Ray

Looks great, Mig. I like your rebuilt manifold much better. Ray

John, Floyd actually just built the kit for an upcoming SAMI article so he would be the best qualified to comment on the entire kit, but from what i have seen of an online build and looking at the sprues, the detail isn't that much better than many smaller scale cobra kits. I cannot find the parts count, but it looks very similar to the parts count in the 1/72 Special Hobby kit I have. Both kits have 5 sprues and about 20% of the ICM parts aren't used on this version. While I am not an open every panel guy, there is no engine at all. Also for the price (~$60) you would think they co

Actually, the Alpha model kit is a completely different mold. Yes, the "china weights" are the blade counterweights and hang down on the A model. In the later B model they face upwards. The rotor mast on the A is also shorter. The "raised bar" across the right side of the roof is an aerodynamic strake. There was also a strake on the bottom of the left fuselage. They are designed to break up symmetrical airflow over the fuselage during flight. You can see the strake on top and the downward facing blade counterweights as well as the short mast on this bird, UH-1A 58-2091 at Ft. Camp

Mig, I think I see what you're getting at. I agree the part is certainly not perfect on the kit. Honestly, a lot about the kit seems underwhelming considering the scale an price. I don't have the ICM kit so I can't tell exactly what the proportions are but I'd be interested to see where the top of the part you circled in yellow sits relative to the seat back once it's in place. I do agree that the angle the hose exits isn't perfect, but there is a hose in both pre and post ECU birds and a corresponding part behind the pilot seat where it exits. If I understand what you did in your

Mig, I guess I'm confused. I showed the part on both pre and post ecu birds and it looks the same on both. Visible right behind the pilot seat just like the kit part. It sticks up above the edge of the door but below the top of the seat in both types. What am I missing? Ray

John, I can help with that. Original A model kit on top, "USAF" kit middle, original Huey Hog next and latest Huey Hog kit at bottom. Kit contents: Only the Alpha kit is really different. Here is what's inside. It is a very basic kit. The USAF kit is the same basic kit as the Huey Hog but with a roof mounted rescue hoist and no weapons. I trust everyone knows what's in the Huey Hog kit.

They were sold by Floyd Werner at Werner's Wings. Floyd thinks he's out but he's checking. Ray

Here's a pic of a backdated G model that shows the elevated area behind the seat as in the pre-ECU cobra i posted above.

Here is Bearcat 15, a very early pre-ECU AH-1G and you can see the area depicted in the kit right behind the pilot seat at the end of the red arrow. USAAM photo. Ray

There is also a junction box but with a first aid kit over it. you can see both the first aid kit and junction box on this late model AH-1G. USAAM photo.

Rob, The port for the hose is still there on pre and post ECU birds. It is circled in red on this pre-ecu diagram And in Green on this ECU diagram. Exact same hose port from the same elevated structure in the back of the seat.

This is indeed for the ventilation system, but a common misconception is that pre ECU birds didn't have the system. As this diagram form the 1967 AH-1g dash 10 manual shows, they did, it just didn't carry cold air but instead recirculated air form outside. In bird with the ECU there would be little visible difference in the cockpit. However, this vent on the left side would be visible on ECU equipped birds. Bit not on birds like these that lacked the ECU. Bell photo.

In 1965, the UH-1B was replaced in production at Bell by the UH-1C. After that date, all replacement tailbooms were UH-1Cs with the wide chord tail. Therefore, whenever an old B model needed a new tailboom after 1965, it got a UH-1C tail. This was done both at the depot level and the unit level from what I can tell. As far as refs, I have thousands of UH-1B/C photos. Regarding HAL-3, you can't do better than this: https://seawolf.org/resources/picture-collections-part-1/ There are thousands of photos here and it is the official website of HAL-3. There is a TON of info there.

You mentioned "the particular aircraft I wanted to model had the latter boom". I assumed this meant you knew what aircraft you want to build. Take the two HAL-3 birds below. Both are UH-1Bs, but the foreground bird has the original B model tail like the Huey Hog kit while the one in the background has a replacement UH-1C tailboom like the HB kit. It is true that many HAL-3 B models had the replaced C model tail but you can build either one if you want. Personally, I'd use the Huey Hog kit and make one with the old style tail but the HB kit does fall together so you could also build it wi