Hajo L. Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 My first entry here: The Special Hobby AH-1G Cobra in 1/72, propably the best kit of the "Snake"! Will do "Cindy Ann" with the 20mm M-35 Gun System. Read "Snake Pilot" by Randy Zahn and loved it, so doing his bird is a tribute to his actions and his book. HAJO Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 I'm looking forward to this! Build away... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ichitoe Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Nice, a Vietnam era cobra!. I have one of these on my To-Do list. Curious to see how the kit goes together. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hajo L. Posted February 25, 2017 Author Share Posted February 25, 2017 OK, some progress: The instrument panels are nice, but the decals provide instruments that are way too bright and "white". I tried to tone them down by brushing a thin layer of black of them. In the end it looks good, I´d say: As you can see, the cockpit itself is already done, and the kit is very straight forward. Fit is extremely well and I didn´t had to sand or correct anything yet. So I can really recommend the Cobra! In fact, the only step where I had some problems was when I tried to put in the engine exhaust AFTER glueing the halves together. The instructions say that this part needs to be glued in BEFORE shutting the halves - I thought I´d be smarter, and was proven wrong! So, the kit is very well engineered and will outsmart you if you´d try! ;) HAJO Quote Link to post Share on other sites
let_models Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 Looking good so far Hajo L.! did the kit come with anti missile exhaust? let_models, Quote Link to post Share on other sites
usmcski6502 Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 Looking great! Man, I wish they'd upscale these to 1/48... Keep up the good work! Semper Fi, Ski Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hajo L. Posted February 26, 2017 Author Share Posted February 26, 2017 Yep, the "toilet bowl" exhaust is part of the kit! I just have praised the kit for accuracy and excellent engineering - something I shouldn´t have done, I think! Because now I have something that simply doesn´t look right: The exhaust opening of the engine looks different than the pictures I know. But as you will see on the next picture, this strange ring that I glued on the end of the exhaust opening should go there, at least according to the instructions: Any idea if that´s a correct feature? And if not - how do I correct that? And a bonus question: I attached two small rings (one can be seen on the first picture below the fuselage), what is their purpose? HAJO Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hajo L. Posted February 28, 2017 Author Share Posted February 28, 2017 Thanks to Floyd Werner I was able to get my questions answered, which were in short: Cut it off! So I did. Progress of the last days was good, as you will see. I worked on the crew figures and started with the bodies, using two figures of the Revell pilot set. First I made sure they both fit in the seat: I had cut off the heads since they belonged to Jet-pilots. But before adding helo-heads (rotorheads? ;) ) I equipped the two with "chicken plate" body armour: I simply cut some paper in the right form and glued it on the upper chest. Voilà, new heads and body armour! After painting the two guys: Both look really good when seated in the cockpit! And I started with the clear parts. The center windshield went into place without problems: HAJO Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ichitoe Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 Coming along nicely! Paint shop will soon be calling. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hajo L. Posted February 28, 2017 Author Share Posted February 28, 2017 (edited) Yep, I´ll start painting it tomorrow. HAJO Edited February 28, 2017 by Hajo L. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rotorwash Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 Hajo, Looks like you got your question answered, but yes, that exhaust ring is just silly and is one of the things about the kit really annoys me. I actually like the AZ models kit as well. It really just needs a new canopy to be excellent. Both kits also come with the wide chord tail rotor of later cobras and need the Werner Wings tail rotor to be accurate. Ray Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lancer512 Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 Nice job with the pilots and I see you took care of the exhaust issue. I'll have to remember that! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hajo L. Posted March 3, 2017 Author Share Posted March 3, 2017 Thanks for the replies! I nearly forgot to mention that some ballast in the nose makes things a bit easier. I fortunately did so, maybe it would have worked without it, but you´d better don´t take any chances. Some update. The canopy was finished and went on quite smoothly, although it´s consisting of five different parts. Then I painted the Snake with Revells 46, adding Orange for the elevators, nose and tail-fin-tip: And just a couple of minutes ago I applied the decals: They are very thin and wet on good, although some of the detals are not that crisp as could be expected. For example the name of the Chief Engineeror the "24" in the yellow circle are no really good... HAJO Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ichitoe Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 Oh yeah, looking good! Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grandboof Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 Awesome Cobra Looking forward to the finish Martin H Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rotorwash Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 Looks great! You mentioned the lack of crispness in the decals. It is too late for this build, but I would highly recommend Joseph Osborne's AH-1G in Vietnam set which includes Cindy Ann. I love his stuff and put them on every build I can. http://www.fireballmodels.info/fm_D01.htm Ray Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hajo L. Posted March 5, 2017 Author Share Posted March 5, 2017 Well, the last item I added to the Snake was the main rotor. I don´t know what´s the idea here, but this can´t be right, can it??? As you can see, the rotor will be simply put on the doghouse, no mast or similar thing stabilizing it! This is definately NOT good and somehow damages the excellent reputation the model had so far. The weapons are spot on, thought! Aaaaaannd: "Cindy Ann" is ready for war! HAJO Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ichitoe Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 Nicely done! Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rotorwash Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 Looks great! Ray Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lancer512 Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 Well done, Hajo. How many models do you build each year? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ernest Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Yahoo .. another to the goal with very good face .. good work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hajo L. Posted March 6, 2017 Author Share Posted March 6, 2017 @Lancer: About a dozen kits per year? (Minimum) ;) HAJO Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lancer512 Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Thought so. I'm already happy if I finish about five a year. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grandboof Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Nice one Great work Martin H Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bravosierra001 Posted March 17, 2017 Share Posted March 17, 2017 Came out looking great!!! Brandon Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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