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ICM 1/32 AH-1G (Early Production)


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Thank you very much, Ray.

 

It's a good thing that I mentioned it here before I started cutting.:whistle:

 

Another thing makes sense to me now: I had seen that such a part (although smaller than in the ICM kit) was present in the Revell AH-1G. That one does not have the vent on the port side. I figured that the Revell researchers might have looked at different Cobra's and mixed features.

 

I did a test by spraying thinned Tamiya X23 clear blue on the inside of a spare canopy. From a distance it looks pretty cool, but it isn't easy getting an even layer on the inside. So, it's once again a good thing that the ICM canopy consists of separate panels. I'm interested in spraying the blue on the inside because I don't want to pull it off again when I mask the canopy for the OD.

 

Cheers, Stefan.

 

 

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4 hours ago, Stefan buysse said:

Hi,

 

This is part A5 from the kit.

wBBxC9V.jpg

 

 

I believe that the bit that I circled in yellow is part of the ECU.

As I'm building an early Cobra without the ECU, I'm going to remove it.  

 

Cheers, Stefan.

Stefan, I hesitate to disagree with Ray, but you are correct; that piece needs to be removed for early Cobras. If you look at Ray's tech drawing, #11 shows the flex hose and the manifold. You can't see the manifold flanges in the cockpit, but you can see the manifold. Also, the junction box depicted on the kit is where the First Aid kit goes on early Cobras.

 

Mig

 

ECU Manifold.jpg

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Stefan, in anticipation of your next question, here's what I did to make the soundproofing blanket. I used a piece of K&S Engineering SSM-84 mesh and embossed a piece of kitchen aluminum foil over it. I then cut it out and glued it in place (after removing the molded in detail). A little fussy, but looks really good. I'll be doing another one since I stuck my finger in the middle of this one.

 

Mig

 

 

Grid.jpg

Bulkhead-Blanket.jpg

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1 hour ago, Rob Mignard said:

Stefan, I hesitate to disagree with Ray, but you are correct; that piece needs to be removed for early Cobras. If you look at Ray's tech drawing, #11 shows the flex hose and the manifold. You can't see the manifold flanges in the cockpit, but you can see the manifold. Also, the junction box depicted on the kit is where the First Aid kit goes on early Cobras.

 

Mig

 

ECU Manifold.jpg

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

image.png.867c716781889512409580a88dfdd5f5.png

 

 

And in Green on this ECU diagram.  Exact same hose port from the same elevated structure in the back of the seat.

image.png.f8086015d6da8b2f74845db6271d03cf.png

  

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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

 

image.thumb.png.785d86e958fff5767680364e208bf2da.png 

 

Edited by rotorwash
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2 hours ago, rotorwash said:

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

image.png.867c716781889512409580a88dfdd5f5.png

 

 

And in Green on this ECU diagram.  Exact same hose port from the same elevated structure in the back of the seat.

image.png.f8086015d6da8b2f74845db6271d03cf.png

  

Ray, I agree completely. It’s visible in the photo I posted. I simply called it a manifold vs. a port. The later port/manifold, as depicted in the kit, is not there on early Vietnam Cobras.

Mig

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2 minutes ago, Rob Mignard said:

Ray, I agree completely. It’s visible in the photo I posted. I simply called it a manifold vs. a port. The later port/manifold, as depicted in the kit, is not there on early Vietnam Cobras.

Mig

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

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Ray, I'm not familiar with later model Cobras, so perhaps what happened is ICM didn't understand what they were looking at. Your TM drawing, #11 shows the manifold/port leaving the pilot's bulkhead horizontally. This is correct. It then angles downward through the shelf behind the pilot's seat. As I mentioned, you can't see the flanges. If you look at my photo (and yours) you'll see that we're looking at the curved portion of the manifold/port. It then follows the angle of the lower aft part of the pilot's canopy panel,  and the flexible hose comes out almost perpendicular to the manifold/port and nearly vertical. The kit part is attached to the aft cockpit bulkhead, is too tall, doesn't curve down to the shelf, and has the flexible hose coming out of the back of the bulkhead, which it clearly doesn't. The flexible hose is also undersized. I'm using .040" styrene rod. I think it also needs to move closer to the right cockpit wall. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for pointing out the junction box. I didn't realize it was there under the first aid kit.

 

Mig
 

ECS Manifold.jpg

ECS Manifold 2.jpg

Kit Part.jpeg

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50 minutes ago, Rob Mignard said:

Ray, I'm not familiar with later model Cobras, so perhaps what happened is ICM didn't understand what they were looking at. Your TM drawing, #11 shows the manifold/port leaving the pilot's bulkhead horizontally. This is correct. It then angles downward through the shelf behind the pilot's seat. As I mentioned, you can't see the flanges. If you look at my photo (and yours) you'll see that we're looking at the curved portion of the manifold/port. It then follows the angle of the lower aft part of the pilot's canopy panel,  and the flexible hose comes out almost perpendicular to the manifold/port and nearly vertical. The kit part is attached to the aft cockpit bulkhead, is too tall, doesn't curve down to the shelf, and has the flexible hose coming out of the back of the bulkhead, which it clearly doesn't. The flexible hose is also undersized. I'm using .040" styrene rod. I think it also needs to move closer to the right cockpit wall. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for pointing out the junction box. I didn't realize it was there under the first aid kit.

 

Mig
 

ECS Manifold.jpg

ECS Manifold 2.jpg

Kit Part.jpeg

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 kit, you totally removed the part behind the pilot seat.  Are planning to build it back more accurately so that it's shorter?  From what I can see on this build, the part looks to be about the right height in proportion to the seat but is too far from the right cockpit wall.

image.thumb.png.903bbab00dac9b3c2d83bf2708fa72eb.png

 

It is right up against the right cockpit wall in this pre-ECU bird (red arrow) I posted earlier and also in the closeup shot of a ECU bird I posted as well.  Plus as you say the shape isn't quite right.

image.thumb.png.785d86e958fff5767680364e208bf2da.png

Edited by rotorwash
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9 hours ago, rotorwash said:

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. 

Ray, I'll be building this kit at some point in the near future.  Aside from the issue now being discussed, what else do you feel is sub-par?   Taking notes for my build.   Still hoping we'll see some aftermarket support for this kit. 

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6 minutes ago, 11bee said:

Ray, I'll be building this kit at some point in the near future.  Aside from the issue now being discussed, what else do you feel is sub-par?   Taking notes for my build.   Still hoping we'll see some aftermarket support for this kit. 

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 could at least include a small photo etch fret with some of the screens and seat belts.  Of course the after market is already abuzz with many upgrade sets, but you will have $200 in this baby in no time.  I guess I would say while it looks like this kit has great "bones" for a detailed build, OOB it is just not that amazing, at least form what I can see.  It does, however, outshine the old Revell\Monogram 1/32 kit, but that's a pretty low bar.

   Ray

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Hi,

 

Ray and Rob, thanks for the info. 

I'm not sure how I'm going to handle this on my model, but it's good to know.

 

11bee,

I find some of the armament a bit underwhelming. Rob mentioned the XM-158 rocket pods in the first post in this thread.

The other rocket pods are pretty decent. The 7 exposed tubes of the XM-158's should be separate tubes in this scale. 

While I'm happy that we get the choice of chin turrets with one or two apertures, I'm not too happy with the miniguns.

The tips of the barrels are very poorly defined. It almost looks like a short shot part, but I think it's just the way that it is moulded.

I will look into replacing that, maybe a 1/72 Vulcan barrel set from Master could look the part for a 1/32 minigun. I could have lived with it that the minigun does not have separate barrels, but I do want clearly defined tips of the barrels.

 

Cheers, Stefan.

 

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3 minutes ago, Rob Mignard said:

Here's my solution to the ECS Manifold issue. I carved this out of a piece of .125" styrene. I still need to finish shaping it. Notice that it's right up against the left cockpit wall. You'll also see the improved pilot's collective.

 

Mig

ECS-Manifold-3.jpg

Actually, it's against the right cockpit wall (sorry, senior moment).

 

Mig

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Semi-OT but over on Brit Modeler, someone posted that they have a source close to ICM who stated that in 2022, they will release the AH-1G in 1/35th.   

 

I'm a bit skeptical but that's just me.

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On 7/30/2021 at 11:41 PM, HeavyArty said:

ICM posted the same on Armorama/Aeroscale.  We shall see.

https://forums.kitmaker.net/t/in-process-icm-1-32-ah-1g-cobra-late-production-aeroscale/9073/10

 

Wow, I was pretty skeptical that they would spend the money to scale the kit down to 35th but there you have it.    32nd isn't a huge issue for me but given that I've got plenty of unbuilt kits staring me in the face right now, I think I may hold off on the 32nd Snake and wait for the 35th one.    Have to wonder if they are re-evaluating doing helo's in 32nd and instead, all future subjects (which hopefully will include a UH-1D/H) will be 35th.   Seem a bit excessive to have two series of kits, 32 and 35th competing against each other for sales. 

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Hi,

 

On tuesday, I had the opportunity to visit a model store.

I looked at the Master barrels for my minigun in the chin turret. They don't do miniguns, but I bought the M61 Vulcan set in 1/72 (AM-72-039) and in 1/48 (AM-48-037). 

In both scales, these barrels are a bit too long, but I believe it is possible to install them further in the turret so that only an appropriate length of barrel is visible.

Back home, I checked the diameter against the ICM part and I found that the 1/72 set will provide the best match.

I will post a picture once I get it assembled.

 

Cheers, Stefan. 

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