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Academy 1/35th AH-1Z is absolutely amazing.....


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That's great to hear.  I really hope they will step up and release many more 35th scale helos.    Looking forward to seeing some indepth reviews.   From what I've seen online, they appear to be at the top with regard to quality of moldings, surface details, etc. 

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6 hours ago, HeavyArty said:

Good to see.  Hopefully it builds up w/no issues and they continue to release more 1/35 helos.

 

Here, here. 

 

Gonna enjoy watching this build.

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Got mine yesterday as well.  It is really nice.

 

Now if they would do a UH-1Y, it would be awesome.  Since over 85% of the parts (rotors, sail, tail, skids, exhaust, etc., etc.) are the same between the two, they have a lot of what they need already.  Hmm, maybe a kitbash is in order...

Edited by HeavyArty
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13 hours ago, HeavyArty said:

Got mine yesterday as well.  It is really nice.

 

Now if they would do a UH-1Y, it would be awesome.  Since over 85% of the parts (rotors, sail, tail, skids, exhaust, etc., etc.) are the same between the two, they have a lot of what they need already.  Hmm, maybe a kitbash is in order...

 

While that 85% number may be true in reality, a lot of that number comes from the engines, transmission, and other internal parts that aren’t modeled in the Academy kit.  Modelwise, some very major components are different, like the entire fuselage, interior, clear parts, and engine intakes.  It would take more than changing 15% of the parts in the Academy kit to make a UH-1Y, plus the parts layout on the sprues aren’t set up to make a swap easy.  About the only sprues you could reuse without having a ton of parts left over are the sprues with the rocket pods and rotor blades.

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28 minutes ago, norbert said:

isn't the tail boom same on UH-1Y and AH-1Z ?

 

 

Yes, the entire tailboom from the fuselage joint back is the same.  Also, everything above the roofline is also mostly the same.  The fuselage extension is 21 inches in reality, about 15.6mm in 1/35; not a big issue.  To me, with some sheet plastic and a bit of work,  it is very doable.  The biggest issue I see is that there isn't a UH-1 fuselage that is up to the same level of detail as the AH-1Z parts.   It would take a lot of work just to update a Panda/Dragon UH-1N fueselage to match the Academy AH-1Z parts.  It would take a lot of Archer rivet decals to fix it.  I may still tackle it though.

Edited by HeavyArty
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1 hour ago, HeavyArty said:

 

Yes, the entire tailboom from the fuselage joint back is the same.  Also, everything above the roofline is also mostly the same.  The fuselage extension is 21 inches in reality, about 15.6mm in 1/35; not a big issue.  To me, with some sheet plastic and a bit of work,  it is very doable.  The biggest issue I see is that there isn't a UH-1 fuselage that is up to the same level of detail as the AH-1Z parts.   It would take a lot of work just to update a Panda/Dragon UH-1N fueselage to match the Academy AH-1Z parts.  It would take a lot of Archer rivet decals to fix it.  I may still tackle it though.

yes, and the tail is on a separate sprue with the horizontal exhaust...as if...

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5 hours ago, Whiskey said:

What's a real NTS? 

 

I assume that you're asking if Academy wanted to depict an actual AH-1W with the last of it's upgrades before it was replaced by the Z? 

 

Correct, my understanding is Academy cheaped out on the upgrades for the NTS kit. I could see them adding that sprue to the NTS kit with new decals and calling it a day.

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There is only one problem with what you are saying though. NTS (Night Targeting System) is actually the upgrade that AH-1W's received in the mid-late '90's following their experiences in Desert Storm. The turned exhausts was not part of that. Did Academy get their 'NTS' packaging totally correct? No. But a AH-1W with turned exhausts would be considered a different packaging all together.

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