1/48 AH-1S Cobra

[96Delta]

I am going to try and attempt to do justice to the

Monogram 1:48 AH-1S Cobra (Kit #5444).

Not only will this be my first model in a very

long time, but it will also be my first chopper

model ever. Wish me luck... *gulp*

I got this kit on eBay a week or so ago before I even

knew about this GB so maybe it was destined for me

to get back in the game in this event. I don't mind

telling you that I am more than a little bit nervous

about stepping back into the hobby in such a public

way. I know that my modeling skills are pretty much

gone by now so expect me to ask for help (and a heapin'

helping of sympathy!) when I run into trouble.

Anyway, the kit came in pretty bad shape.

The decals were cracked, scratched and yellowed - totally worthless.

Some parts were already off the sprue and were found rattling

around in the water stained and crunchified box. I haven't

done an inventory (a sprue diagram would have been useful)

so I am going to see if I enounter any missing pieces as

I build to add yet another element of doubt to this venture. B)

I won't be able to start this build until after this upcoming

weekend though as I will be out of town. By then, hopefully, my

copy of Verlinden's Lock-On #6 will have arrived so

I can get started in earnest.

For tonight, all I am going to do is start cleaning up the

pieces. Who knows, I may even decide to

inventory them. :o

Thanks again for the chance to participate. :)

David

Edited July 3, 2007 by 96Delta

[96Delta]

Step One: Cockpit

Removed the interior components from the sprue

after washing in preparation for paint. After some

experimentation I settled on a mix of Tamiya XF-1

(flat black) and XF-63 (German Grey), thinned to a

milk consistency and sprayed at 18psi through my

Badger 350 (next time I drop the PSI to 15).

And here is where I made the first mistake of what

I am sure will be many. I thinned the Tamiya

paint with tap water.

Maybe its old age, maybe I was distracted by the fireworks.

Whtever the reason the deed is done. The paint went on

in a splotchy fashion. Pigment pooled and didn't distribute

evenly. I still got coverage it just wasn' uniform.

But you know what, it looks like worn and abused

paint. I think I am going to leave it this way with

perhaps, a lighter highlight misting to add to the worn effect.

I plan to get some 91% Isopropyl alcohol tomorrow

and use that for subsequent sprays with Tamiya.

FIGURE 1: Parts Prepared and awaiting paint

FIGURE 2: Parts a couple of minutes after spraying.

David

Edited July 5, 2007 by 96Delta

[Ivan T.]

This is going to be a good one!

I have this same kit, so I'll keep an eye on this one.

Ivan

[albert_sy2]

I got one of those too!

[96Delta]

Hi guys, thanks for posting. :)

I will try not to disappoint.

I just have to get a better camera. All

I have is this old Mavica. Dang, camera

phones are better than this!

David

Edited July 5, 2007 by 96Delta

[Aggressor Supporter]

Looks like after twenty years, you have little to no rust in your modelling skills.

[96Delta]

Okay, this time I think I got it.

I decided to respray the cockpit tub, seats and fuselage sides with a lighter shade of gray to provide a little scale effect. The original colors were way too dark. I left the instrument panel faces the darker color. Detail painting later will benefit from the darker base coat.

This time I used a mix of Tamiya XF63 'German Grey' and XF19 'Sky Grey' applied with my general purpose Badger 350 airbrush at 15psi. Unlike last time when I thinned with tap water, the colors went down beautifully after thinning with 99% Isopropyl alcohol.

Next step is to do some detail painting of the cocpit and instruments.

Here are the pics but they aren't much different than the last batch.

Sorry the quality of the pics is so poor.

When I get the cockpit done I will take some close-up shots with a better camera I will borrow from work.

I will be out of town for the next 4 days so no new updates until Tuesday at the earliest.

Enjoy your weekend everyone.

God bless. :D

David

P.S. Thanks for the words of encouragement Raptor. I hope you're right. ;)

Edited July 6, 2007 by 96Delta

[Impatient Pete]

Looks like a fun build. It's funny, every time I see a new broup build subject posted, I think "Hey, I have that kit in my stash. I should build it one of these days."

Thans for posting the info on spraying the Tamiya paints! I have never had luck with them but would like to use them sometimes.

Pete

[oldeagle]

looking great so far , I can't wait to see it. Its really amazing how much I have learned about model building from this site.

[96Delta]

Hi guys, here is the next installment.

I always find that I wish people would put more details in their posts and I'm betting I'm not alone. To that end, I have tried to be as detailed as possible so readers will be left with few questions and can get the most from this build. I hope someone benefits from this level of detail.

I. INITIAL INSTRUMENT PANEL PAINTING

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After initially drybrushing the instrument faces with Windsor & Newton Oil 'Titanium White' paint I decided that there needed to be more contrast between the white and the instrument panel. So I whipped out the Windex and stripped the paint from both the pilots and gunners panels so I could start over. Windex is great for stripping Tamiya paints (and other acrylics) quickly and non-toxically.

This go'round I brush painted the instrument panels and coaming with Polly-Scale 'Grimy Black' straight from the bottle. I also used the Grimy Black for the switch panels in the cockpit tub to make them a little more prominent against the lighter gray cockpit tub cover. This dark color should also help make the detail painting of the switches and dials really stand out. I think it looks much better.

Figure 1: 'Grimy Black' switch panels added

II. COCKPIT DETAIL PAINTING

--------------------------------------------------------------

To give the cockpit a little life, additional detail painting is required. According to the group build rules, I couldn't add any detail so exagerating detail with paint was the only option.

Black Dials

The instrument faces were now filled with diluted Tamiya XF-1 'Flat Black' by taking a small pointed brush and dipping the tip into the diluted paint, then touching the face of the dials, letting a small puddle form in the dial's recess. It filled the dials quite nicely and because it was diluted, it didn't obscure the raised detail that would later be highlighted with drybrushing. It dried quickly and then it was on to drybrushing the dial and instrument faces to make them pop!

Instrument Drybrushing

My paint supply is woefully inadequate as I haven't built up my inventory yet so I had to scroung for suitably colored paints. First, I drybrushed the raised detail with Windsor & Newton tube oil paint 'Titanium White'. This was followed by a little touching up with the Polly Scale grimy black to restore areas of the instrument back panel that had inadvertantly been drybrushed. I only wanted the white on the dial, switch and some bezel highlights, not the rest of the panel.

Instrument 'Glass'

Once that dried, I took some Polly Scale 'Satin Finish' and, using the same technique as when I was painting the black dials, I dipped the tip of a small brush in the satin (undiluted) and touched the dial face with the brush, letting the satin flow from the brush into the dial recess. It formed a nice rounded (convex) puddle in the dial neatly contained by its raised border. After drying, the puddle had settled down and produced a suitable scale sheen on the dial faces.

Detail Painting

Unfortunately, according to my best instrument panel reference photo [link] the raised detail only approximates the position of switches and knobs on the actual aircraft so I decided to just gussy it up with a little dab of color here and there. Scrounging for paint, I ended up using Vallejo '028 Vermillion' for the red switch and a mix of Acryla Gouache 'D151 Titanium White' and 'D105 Prussian Blue' for the blue lights. In order to give the switches a bit of pop I gave them a touch or Tamiya XF16, 'Flat Aluminum'. Any paints would have worked for the detail painting at this stage though, even craft paints. And with that, the detail painting for painting for the cockpit tub and instrument panels was completed (until I get the urge to add more .

Figure 2: Instrument and cockpit detail painting completed.

Next update I hope to add some scratches and weathering to the cockpit tub and fuselage sidewalls.

Thanks for reading!

David

Edited July 12, 2007 by 96Delta

[madmike]

David

That is very nice work so far. You have lost none of your skills at all :)

I brushpaint all my aircraft cockpit parts and details. I get far better control and it beats setting up the spray booth and airrush stuff up every half an hour!

:blink:

MikeJ

[96Delta]

Nah...these aren't my skills.

I've been borrowing them from all the great modelers who go

through the trouble to share their techniques here on ARC!

I learn something new every time I log on. :D

David

[Impatient Pete]

Wow...great work and great post!

Very informative.

Pete

[uscusn]

Great Job David. Cockpit looks great so far. Like Mad Mike even with PE and resin details, I prefer hand paint the details as well. Raw Umbar and or Tamiya Smoke will also bring out the highlights. I also use a Silver Pencil to hit Hi use areas such as the floor in front on the pedals to show wear. Easier to manage. But still, use Testors Silver to highlight details as well. Great techniques to use if building OOB.

Chuck

Fly Navy

Edited July 14, 2007 by uscusn

[96Delta]

Hi Chuck,

Thanks for the tips! I plan to put them to use as I

just got back from A.C. Moore (a craft store) with a few

prismacolor pencils, silver among them.

Gonna put them into action as I proceed.

Thanks again!

David

Great Job David. Cockpit looks great so far. Like Mad Mike even with PE and resin details, I prefer hand paint the details as well. Raw Umbar and or Tamiya Smoke will also bring out the highlights. I also use a Silver Pencil to hit Hi use areas such as the floor in front on the pedals to show wear. Easier to manage. But still, use Testors Silver to highlight details as well. Great techniques to use if building OOB.

Chuck

Fly Navy

[96Delta]

FINAL COCKPIT DETAILING & WEATHERING

Seats & Seat Cushions

The seat cushions in the AH-1S have a distinctive

2-panel fabric pattern. To reproduce this a border

was first painted on the seat cushions with Tamiya

XF61 'Dark Green'. The inner panel was done with a

mix of Tamiya XF61 'Dark Green' and XF25 'Light Sea

Grey'. Once this had dried the seat cushions were

given a drybrush of Humbrol HM8 (8164) 'Khaki Drill'

which seems to be a good general purpose drybrush

color for anything dark green or dark brown. The arm

cushions (that are molded with the cockpit tub) were

painted with Tamiya XF61 'Dark Green' and drybrushed

with a lightened version of that color.

Seat belts were picked out in a mix of Tamiya XF22

'RLM Gray' and XF26 'Deep Green'. The leather latch

area of the seatbelts were first picked out with

DecalArt Americana DA064 'Burnt Umber'. Then it was

overcoated with a thin coat of Delta Ceramcoat

'Territorial Beige', leaving the edge of the burnt

umber area showing.

Belt latches and hardware were picked out with a

Prismacolor PC949 'Metallic Silver' pencil. The hoses

on top of the seats were first painted with a thin

coat of flat black and then rubbed with a Prismacolor

PC950 'Metallic Gold' pencil to highlight the brass

hose rings. Finally, the seat frames were 'scratched'

with Prismacolor PC1063 'Cool Gray' and PC935 'Black'

and their edges worn with the silver Prismacolor

pencil.

To accent the seat belts a thin black wash will be applied

to the edges of the straps using an '00' brush but

still I'm working up the nerve for this step. ;)

Drybrushing Part Deux

The dark gray 'Grimy Black' areas of the cockpit

(coaming & seat frames) were drybrushed with Tamiya

XF22 'RLM Grey' while the lighter gray areas (cockpit

tub) were drybrushed with XF63 'German Grey', a darker

color than the base color of the tub. To reproduce

wear on the cockpit floor these areas were also

drybrushed with XF63. In contrast to

traditional drybrushing with a lighter color, the

darker XF63 produced a nice worn and scuffed paint

effect.

Final Detailing of the Cockpit

The cockpit tub, instrument hoods, interior equipment

and sides of the cockpit tub floor were also

'scratched' and 'worn' with Prismacolor PC1063 'Cool

Gray', PC935 'Black' and PC949 'Metallic Silver'

pencils. Additional switches and knobs on the control

sticks and panels were picked out with additional

prismacolor pencils of various colors, as well as with

with Vallejo 'Vermilion Red' paint.

With all that I just need to add a few more doodads

and then I can declare the cockpit done! Now its

time for the engine!

David

Edited July 17, 2007 by 96Delta

[96Delta]

[DISREGARD THIS POST - THE PART HAS BEEN FOUND!]

Disaster!

One of my kit parts has been upducted by a UFO !

While photographig the cockpit build I must have snapped a part off the model and now its lost! despite a frantic and desperate search with choppers and dogs the part has vanished!

I am now desperately in search of the Gunners Cyclic Stick (Part No. 24).

If anyone has consigned one of these kits to the plastic boneyard or parts bin, could you spare that part?

Hope someone can help.

Thanks!

David

Edited July 20, 2007 by 96Delta

[96Delta]

Next update...

Engine Painting & Weathering

The inside of the fuselage was sprayed with Tamiya XF4 "Yellow Green" to cover the yellow zinc chromate areas of the engine area in preparation for turbine installation.

All I can say is its a good thing this GB prohibits superdetailing and opening up access panels because I would have felt driven to add at least some plumbing to this engine.

Over on the Helo board chopperpilot71 (who works on the AH-1S ) was kind enough to post some excellent pics of the engine for me. Comparing the real thing with whats provided in the kit is quite a contrast. The kit part is very simplified and lacks any plumbing at all. This is understandable though since 90% of it is hidden from view once the fuselage is closed up. Nevertheless, I still had to paint it.

After priming the engine with a spray of Tamiya XF53 "Neutral Grey" I painted the exhaust bell, cone and intake fan (the areas of the engine that will be visible) with a base coat of Liquitex Acrylic "Iridescent Antique Silver" tube paint. When that dried I gave it a drybrush with Tamiya XF6 "Copper". This gave it a more varigated metallic finish that started to resemble burnt metal. Finally, a light drybrush of Tamiya X10 "Gun Metal" toned down things a bit and left a realistic metal appearance.

Engine support panels were painted with Tamiya XF4 "Yellow Green" to match the interior bulkheads. The prop shaft gearbox was painted with Tamiya XF16 "Flat Aluminum". Some watercolor washes with Grumbacher Academy "Paynes Grey" watercolor tube paint and some drybrushing with the Antique Silver finished off the powerplant.

The next AH-1S I build will get the full monty of plumbing on the powerplant, as well as opened access doors. After all, I can't let those reference photos go to waste, now can I?

Edited July 23, 2007 by 96Delta

[Aggressor Supporter]

Wow! In checking back, it's looking fantastic, especially the painting details. Good job so far!

[chopperpilot71]

That Cobra is lookin' great David, cant wait to see the "roll out"!! Rich.