Tiger Tech Posted August 4, 2022 Share Posted August 4, 2022 (edited) Hi all I saw on HLJ website today they have Academy's 1/48 AH-64A MSIP kit for about $A15. I've read that this is a reasonably good representation of an Alpha or, a Delta demo with the radar attached. My question though... Are there minimal enough external/airframe differences that with an a/m 'D' cockpit, Longbow radar, upgraded M299 & missiles, I can still turn this cheapie into a 'D' Longbow? Or am I better off just jazzing this one up as an Alpha? And if I do that: *are decals available *what model(s) Hellfire was used on the Alpha Cheers EDIT: HLJ have a pre-order avail for the JGSDF version of Hasegawa's 'D' Longbow at a reasonable price. Are all Delta Apache's identical across the countries that fly them? Edited August 4, 2022 by Tiger Tech Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Floyd S. Werner, Jr. Posted August 4, 2022 Share Posted August 4, 2022 Decals are available from Caracal. The resin upgrades are there from a couple of places, Reskit is one that comes to mind immediately. Mettalic Details also has exhausts Floyd Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tiger Tech Posted August 4, 2022 Author Share Posted August 4, 2022 So Floyd...can I draw the conclusion then that with the 'D' model xtras I mentioned, I can build a Longbow from this kit? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Williams Posted August 4, 2022 Share Posted August 4, 2022 I don’t believe that the MSIP kit has the D model sponsons. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tiger Tech Posted August 5, 2022 Author Share Posted August 5, 2022 Roger that Dave. So the Delta sponsons are a different size &/or compartment layout then? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Williams Posted August 5, 2022 Share Posted August 5, 2022 The D sponsons are much larger than the ones on A model. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tiger Tech Posted August 5, 2022 Author Share Posted August 5, 2022 Sweet. Cheers Dave. That solves it for me Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HeavyArty Posted August 5, 2022 Share Posted August 5, 2022 (edited) From everything I have read, the Hasegawa 1/48 AH-64D is the best kit of it. Here is a review by our own Dave Williams: http://www.kitreview.com/reviews/ah64dreviewdw_1.htm Edited August 5, 2022 by HeavyArty Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Williams Posted August 5, 2022 Share Posted August 5, 2022 LOL, I forgot I did that review 20 years ago. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tiger Tech Posted August 5, 2022 Author Share Posted August 5, 2022 Thanks Gino. I was tracking the Hasegawa kit was the benchmark for the 'D' but given the starting price of the Academy 'A', I couldn't pass up the opportunity to find out where it sits in terms of accuracy as an Apache in general, & whether the base kit was suitable to be a project to be a 'D' with the right extras bought to supplement it or just leave it as an 'A'. As Dave wrote, there's a big enough difference between the base airframes in reality that even upgrading this kit with a few 'D' specific add-ons, it can't be a proper 'D'. Which is fine. I'm happy to grab it for 15 bucks, throw some p/e, maybe a cockpit, & accurate decals at it & leave it at that. Still leaves my edit point though as to whether ALL 'D' models that different countries have acquired are identical. The price HLJ have on the JGSDF 'D' is also pretty good for me Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Williams Posted August 5, 2022 Share Posted August 5, 2022 The D models aren’t all identical, but for the most part are the same. The British WAH-64D and the Israeli Saraf have a lot of added lumps and bumps, but for other countries, they are pretty similar to the US ones, especially earlier Blocks. The JASDF D should be fine for a US D. There may be some minor antenna differences, but the Hasegawa kits have a lot stuff on the common sprues that are used for various countries D models, and it doesn’t al get used in every boxing. For unique aircraft, like the Saraf and WAH-64D, they usually add a specific sprue that’s only in that boxing. Also, the upturned exhausts are only in one boxing, the AH-64E Guardian kit I believe. You can look at the kit instructions for various kits at Scalemates or Hobby Search and see if the kit you want to get had all the sprues you need. https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/search?typ1_c=102&cat=&state=&sold=0&sortid=6&searchkey=1%2f48+ah-64&spage=1&Make=Hasegawa Quote Link to post Share on other sites
midnightprowler Posted August 5, 2022 Share Posted August 5, 2022 Are there any decals for the revell 1/48 kit? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tiger Tech Posted August 5, 2022 Author Share Posted August 5, 2022 Awesome. Cheers Dave Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Williams Posted August 6, 2022 Share Posted August 6, 2022 6 hours ago, midnightprowler said: Are there any decals for the revell 1/48 kit? Which Revell kit? The old AH-64A kit first released in the mid 80’s by Monogram, or the Revell Germany AH-64D/WAH-64D, which I believe is the old A kit with extra sprues to convert it to a D? Caracal Models has a decal sheet for 1/48 AH-64 D/Es http://www.caracalmodels.com/cd48170.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites
B-ONE27 Posted August 6, 2022 Share Posted August 6, 2022 (edited) On 8/5/2022 at 9:27 AM, HeavyArty said: From everything I have read, the Hasegawa 1/48 AH-64D is the best kit of it. Here is a review by our own Dave Williams: http://www.kitreview.com/reviews/ah64dreviewdw_1.htm Can a late D or E be made from this kit? Or do I need to go the route of the Korean/Taiwan boxing? I have some BAM models ASPI exhaust already. Edited August 6, 2022 by B-ONE27 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crash Test Dummy Posted August 6, 2022 Share Posted August 6, 2022 26 minutes ago, B-ONE27 said: Can a late D or E be made from this kit? Or do I need to go the route of the Korean/Taiwan boxing? I have some BAM models ASPI exhaust already. Doubtful, that kit is over 20 years old, at least the review in the link is from 2001. I'm no Apache expert, so I don't know if even the Korean/Taiwan boxings would be correct for a modern US Army variant. You need to research the last 20 years for updates to the AH-64. Besides the upturned exhausts, I know the nose sensors have been upgraded, the upper nose sensor is boxier on upgraded helos. NEW: OLD: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
midnightprowler Posted August 6, 2022 Share Posted August 6, 2022 19 hours ago, Dave Williams said: Which Revell kit? The old AH-64A kit first released in the mid 80’s by Monogram, or the Revell Germany AH-64D/WAH-64D, which I believe is the old A kit with extra sprues to convert it to a D? Caracal Models has a decal sheet for 1/48 AH-64 D/Es http://www.caracalmodels.com/cd48170.html The old monogram one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Williams Posted August 6, 2022 Share Posted August 6, 2022 2 hours ago, Crash Test Dummy said: Doubtful, that kit is over 20 years old, at least the review in the link is from 2001. I'm no Apache expert, so I don't know if even the Korean/Taiwan boxings would be correct for a modern US Army variant. You need to research the last 20 years for updates to the AH-64. Besides the upturned exhausts, I know the nose sensors have been upgraded, the upper nose sensor is boxier on upgraded helos. NEW: OLD: The Arrowhead PNVS is on the T sprue, which is in some of the later kits, like the “E” models and the later JGSDF kit, but is not in the original boxing in the review. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Williams Posted August 6, 2022 Share Posted August 6, 2022 1 hour ago, midnightprowler said: The old monogram one. Unfortunately, there isn’t much out there for the AH-64A, except maybe an old OOP TwoBobs sheet if you can find someone who still has one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
B-ONE27 Posted August 7, 2022 Share Posted August 7, 2022 (edited) 4 hours ago, Dave Williams said: The Arrowhead PNVS is on the T sprue, which is in some of the later kits, like the “E” models and the later JGSDF kit, but is not in the original boxing in the review. Excellent, thanks all for the input, I'll be getting a later boxing in that case. Edited August 7, 2022 by B-ONE27 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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