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I have heard a lot of good things about this kit so I decided to pick one up and I started the build immediately. It is really a good kit but not perfect. I have mixed feelings about rised rivets. I know this is how it supposed to be but you need to be very carefull to not damage them while handling the parts. And I am not talking about sanding but just holding in hand. The pit lacks of seatbelts which is painful especially since it is hard to find any good pictures showing how they look. Nevertheless the parts fit together pretty nicely and the kit seem to be well engineered. So this is what I accomplished so far. I still need to do some touch-ups in the pit where the paint is missing but here are the pictures.

 

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Looks really nice, especially the MFD's and the seatbelts. I was just doing a search to see if anyone had reviewed this kit, and just to be sure, you're building the Academy AH-1Z Sharkmouth 1:35 kit? I read a review from Korea that you might want to take a peek at, it is the most thorough review I have ever seen, with detailed pictures of the actual airframe the kit is modeled from. Hope this helps, if I can't find a review, I will start a new threat for the rotor heads to fawn over!

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony

 

https://www.themodellingnews.com/2019/04/in-boxed-135th-scale-usmc-ah-1z-shark.html?m=1

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6 hours ago, DanW said:

Yeah, it's a Sharkmouth

Question for you. I read today on another forum that one of the guys received his two kits. In his excitement, he of course opened them up for inspection. He says that both kits have broken forward canopies. Did you have any issue with your kit?

 

The link to the thread is here......

 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235032041-135-bell-ah-1z-viper-by-academy-released/&tab=comments#comment-2919393

 

Anyway, hope your kit is not affected by this, he also stated that Academy is refusing to issue replacement parts. Bit puzzled by this turn of events, academy can't be that stupid to allow this kind of bad press get loose without wanting to correct it. If it is systematic, then they are in trouble. I hope your canopy is just fine, but if you haven't checked it closely, maybe you should asap.

 

HTHs

 

Anthony

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Moving forwad with the build. There is some putty required on skids' support but the real pain is the engine bay assembly. Need to be very careful to make them aligned and dry fit multiple times and sand to minimize the gaps. Since the rivets are everywhere using the putty and sanding is out of question. The only option is to wipe off the excess with a solvent or thinner.

 

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original.jpg

 

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First off, good work.  Model is coming together nicely!  

 

Regarding seams, have you considered something like milliput?  It is an epoxy putty that is workable with water, and does not shrink while curing.  

 

I'm new to putty myself, and I got both kinds, dissolved (toluene based) and the water-workable epoxy stuff.   They both have their places, but I think for your needs, it may be worth a try.  If you don't like how its coming out, you can just wipe it off with water before it cures.  I work the milliput with a wooden q-tip rod that I sanded a 45 degree angle into, coated with epoxy and sanded smooth.  Think of it as a teeny spackle knife.  Smoothing over with a wet finger works well too.  

 

 

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