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Took the plunge for the SH 32nd AH-1G


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The G-model Cobra has been on my to-do list for a few decades.   Right now I've got more than enough kits to keep me busy but given events overseas, I figured I should grab one just in case they end up being OOS for the foreseeable future (hopefully this won't be the case).   I got the SH version of this kit over on the Hannants website.  Pricey but it's still worth it. 

 

That being said, I really wanted to do the version armed with the XM-35.  If anyone has the cannon bits that they didn't want to use for their build, please PM me.    Also - are there any aftermarket decals for the Snake?

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11 hours ago, 11bee said:

The G-model Cobra has been on my to-do list for a few decades.   Right now I've got more than enough kits to keep me busy but given events overseas, I figured I should grab one just in case they end up being OOS for the foreseeable future (hopefully this won't be the case).   I got the SH version of this kit over on the Hannants website.  Pricey but it's still worth it. 

 

That being said, I really wanted to do the version armed with the XM-35.  If anyone has the cannon bits that they didn't want to use for their build, please PM me.    Also - are there any aftermarket decals for the Snake?

Let me recommend Metallic Details.  Great stuff.  I don't believe they have the XM-35, but a lot of other really cool stuff.  The Special Hobbies boxing takes care of a lot of the shortcomings of the ICM kit at less than $10 more.  Some other good stuff should you choose to use it is the MicroDesign Interior and Exterior sets.  I got mine off of eBay.  I'll be starting this kit shortly.

Floyd  

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Just as a note, Metallic Details is out of Ukraine, so getting direct may not be an option right now.  I ordered some Cobra stuff off eBay in early January, but it got returned to the seller in early February for some reason.  Asked them to resend it, but the last tracking showed it in a Kiev PO on Feb 5.

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19 hours ago, 11bee said:

The G-model Cobra has been on my to-do list for a few decades.   Right now I've got more than enough kits to keep me busy but given events overseas, I figured I should grab one just in case they end up being OOS for the foreseeable future (hopefully this won't be the case).   I got the SH version of this kit over on the Hannants website.  Pricey but it's still worth it. 

 

That being said, I really wanted to do the version armed with the XM-35.  If anyone has the cannon bits that they didn't want to use for their build, please PM me.    Also - are there any aftermarket decals for the Snake?

Hi,

 

Good decision and a good choice of kit.

I'm not sure if anyone will have the XM-35 bits to spare. Maybe you could buy the ICM "AH-1G (late production)" kit ICM 32-061 as well?

As things look like now, the ICM kit will not be available for a while  (maybe forever☹️) and Special Hobby won't be able to offer a re-boxed one with their nice upgrade parts.

Maybe Special Hobby will release their upgrade parts separately one day. This may become the only way to sell them and there are probably some owners of a "bare" ICM kit who would  be keen to obtain them.

 

Floyd,

Are you still considering doing a decal sheet for the 1/32AH-1G?

 

Cheers, Stefan.

 

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Hobbynut Models (sole US distributor for Quintas) only has one remaining AH-1G cockpit decal set let (after I just bought the 2nd to last).    Given world events, might be a long time before they are restocked / available from Quintas.   

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8 hours ago, 11bee said:

Hobbynut Models (sole US distributor for Quintas) only has one remaining AH-1G cockpit decal set let (after I just bought the 2nd to last).    Given world events, might be a long time before they are restocked / available from Quintas.   


Why would Quinta Studios sets not be restocked or unavailable?  They are out of Russia, not Ukraine.  Unless sanctions on Russia go down to the level of blocking the mailing or imports of any goods from Russian companies, or model shops stop selling anything Russian, I’m not sure much will change.

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36 minutes ago, Dave Williams said:


Why would Quinta Studios sets not be restocked or unavailable?  They are out of Russia, not Ukraine.  Unless sanctions on Russia go down to the level of blocking the mailing or imports of any goods from Russian companies, or model shops stop selling anything Russian, I’m not sure much will change.

Have you checked the news lately? Russian is a pariah. The banking sanctions are designed to make it difficult to move money in or out of Russia so just ordering a restock may be impossible.  On top of that a lot of shipping companies have already cut off service to/from Russia.  Quinta themselves may also have problems obtaining raw materials due to the same issues.

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Quinta says as a few hours ago. “All shipping goes as usual there is no any changes”

 

I ordered direct in Oct and it took a little over a month to arrive in the US as I recall. There will still be stock in the shipping pipeline but depending on how long this goes, there it very likely shortage in the near future for this and all Russian model company products (keeping to our sphere) of which there is many big name companies. I have not seen any US companies stop selling Russian models yet but many other folks have. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think I'm good to go.   The SH kit just arrived from Hannants (~ a week in transit, not bad at all).  Got the Quinta cockpit set from Hobbynut.   I am extremely impressed with the SH kit.   The pics online really don't do these parts justice.   The ICM kit is very nice by itself, but the resin / printed parts from SH take this to a whole new level.  

 

Very much looking forward to starting this build, just need to finish my 32nd scale F-4C first.  If nothing else, the time needed to finish the Phantom will give the aftermarket crowd hopefully more time to release some nice bits for the kit.  

 

If anyone is on the fence about getting the kit, just do it.   You won't be disappointed.  

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  • 2 weeks later...

The kit is great - the only exception is the decals. Fortunately for me I built the Cambodia one with the black tail and minimal decals. The decals weren't very pliable and stuck immediately when placed and were impossible to move around. Other than that it's a great project and I'm enjoying it.

 

John

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15 hours ago, jgrease said:

The kit is great - the only exception is the decals. Fortunately for me I built the Cambodia one with the black tail and minimal decals. The decals weren't very pliable and stuck immediately when placed and were impossible to move around. Other than that it's a great project and I'm enjoying it.

 

John

Hi,

 

The black tails for the Cambodia invasion were news for me when I read it in the Special Hobby instructions.

If I had seen a picture of such a Cobra, I would have assumed that it had flown a lot and had accumulated a lot of soot from the exhaust.

Does anyone know if the Hueys and Chinooks had their markings painted out as well?

 

Cheers, Stefan.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 3/2/2022 at 9:50 AM, Floyd S. Werner, Jr. said:

We are in the works.  Just busy.

Floyd

Floyd, 

 

If you are still thinking about doing this sheet and are looking for subjects, Graham "GT" Stevens just posted a bunch of pics of his G-model that he crashed after losing the tail rotor.  Pics are over on the FB AH-1 Cobra page.   Some I'd seen before but some are new (at least to me).   It's a pretty nice subject, would be great if it could make it to your sheet. 

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On 3/24/2022 at 9:44 AM, jgrease said:

I looked online and couldn't find anything past the illustrations in the instructions. My interest was piqued.

 

John

The War Wagons of the Lighthorse Cav were all over Cambodia in Cobra's, Loaches, and Hueys. None of them have blacked out tails which is folly as the helicopter would have Bell Helicopter data plates and other identifying C/N and S/N marks besides a big United States Army painted on the tail boom. Nice SH give credit to this flight crew and their AH-1G. They are not being accurate however in stating that all helicopters participating in the Cambodian incursion had this done. One AH-1G like this does not make it gospel for Cambodia flightops or Laos for that matter.  

 

From Rex Gooch's Lighthorse Cav album and labeled "Crusader Cobra inflight over Cambodia"

 

192297271_ph-al-goo-005_4CrusaderCobrainflightoverCambodia.thumb.JPG.9bd39a0f657360bece2cba9d97cb6709.JPG

 

Another in the same series labeled "War Wagon Loach over Cambodia" which makes sense for a Pink Team.

 

ph-al-goo-0034_35.thumb.jpg.6ce2631c21117cdbe6949a5dd9c8f123.jpg

 

 

 

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I flew H model Hueys in the invasion of Cambodia. No helicopters that I saw had any markings painted out. There was no effort to obscure any markings. The Cobra on the instruction sheet has a replacement tailboom. I've got a photo of it (or one similar to it) somewhere and I'll post it if I can find it. Stefan Buysse is correct that the tail pylons and aft portion of the tailboom got very dirty from the exhaust.

The only Vietnam G model Cobras with black aft fuselage/tail pylons that I'm aware of are the Marine HML-367 (Scarface). There may be more.

 

Mig

HML-367a.jpg

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8 hours ago, snake36bravo said:

 

From Rex Gooch's Lighthorse Cav album and labeled "Crusader Cobra inflight over Cambodia"

 

Nice pictures, is that album online?   Tried finding it via Google, no luck. 

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I'll be the first person to eat crow although I still maintain this was not widespread.

 

Jonathan Berenstein who wrote 'USArmy AH Cobra Units in Vietnam' back in 2003 has a color profile of the same Snake in his book. 

 

AH-1G 68-15049 'White R1' of C/2/20 ARA, flown by 1 Lt. George Alexander (AC) and WO1 Jim Mopran, Bu Dop, June 1970
Flying as 'Romeo 1' on the 24 May 1970 Medal of Honor mission depicted in Mark Postlewaite's specially commissioned cover artwork for this volume, AH-1G 68-15049 suffered numerous 0.30 and 0.51-cal machine gun hits prior to Lt. Alexander and WO1 Moran departing the area, their ammunition exhausted. The Cobra was repaired and flying again by the next day. The radio compartment hatch on the non-stanard black tailboom was scavenged as a replacement from another Cobra, hence it's Olive Drab colouring and letters 'ATE' from the UNITED STATES ARMY titling, present on the donor AH-1. The black paint on the tailboom on 69-15049 was applied in oder to obscure any US markings on helicopters participating in the Cambodian invasion. According to Jim Moran, 'someone in the higher headquarters got the bright idea to paint out the national insignia, so if anyone on the ground saw us they "wouldnt know who we were" - like anyone else was operating helicopters in South Vietnam and Cambodia!" B Battery 2/20 ARA also felw an all black Cobra at around this time too.

 

Here's the plate:

19.68-15049.thumb.jpg.75af41faf24957d24ba6e0543c69d43f.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

Open up! Here come's the Crow!!

 

Official Caption: A U.S. Army Bell AH-1G Cobra of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) landing for refueling during the Cambodian offensive at Katum Camp, South Vietnam, in May 1970. The helicopter is nicknamed "Leprechaun".

 

557209432_LeprechaunAH-1G058.thumb.jpg.5a645377813415d48d003186df3fe349.jpg

 

WO1 Moran may not have known it when he claimed no one else was operating helicopters in Cambodia but the Cambodians did have and used UH-1 Hueys. 

 

691625880_cambodianhuey.thumb.JPG.b9b01a161616ba80d36eaef55d643825.JPG

Edited by snake36bravo
Cleared another cobweb
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Thanks Snake, that site is a great resource.    On the subject of the ICM kit - I'm trying to find 32nd weapons (XM-177/AK-47) and misc gear that I can add to the cockpit.   I think I know the answer but is anyone aware of a good source for something like this?  If not, thoughts on how apparent it would be if I went with 35th items?

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