Happy New Year, fellow plastic mashers! One of my three modeling resolutions for the year is to try new things and push my limits. I figured this would be a good project to start with...
I was able to scoop up all USMC Cobra variants in 1/48 (2 - AH-1Js, 1 - AH-1T, 1 - AH-1W, 1 - AH-1Z (W boxing with "Z" parts; 1 - AH-1Z). My goal is to improve my skills with each one until I work my way up to the Zulu. Obviously, there is no -G in 1/48, so I gotta make my own. I know that the Js are can be hard to come by and can cost a pretty penny, but I was able to get one and a -S fairly cheaply at a local model swap meet.
Since I have two -Js, I'm not too worried about screwing this up. To start, I figured I'd try to scratch the chin turret. I told myself, if things went well with the turret, then I'd press on with the rest of the build. I have to say, I'm fairly satisfied with my first attempt at scratch building.
I used the existing opening in the turret and traced its size and shape onto a piece of tape. Then I used that tape as a template to open up a second slot.
After opening up the slot, I used some plastic rod, tube and card to create the grenade launcher, then I found a minigun in my spares box to round things out.
Nothing's glued together in the picture above, but I'm thinking once everything's assembled, things will be passable under some paint.
Feeling invincible, I moved on to the doghouse. I decided to build the doghouse separate from the fuselage. My thinking was, if I screwed the pooch with the doghouse and its modifications, I could still salvage a -J from the plastic. The first thing I did was tend to the exhaust. As it goes, out of the box, the plastic allows for a "see-through" exhaust. I fixed that by finding about 1/2" of 5/16" OD tubing to substitute as the exhaust. On the interior end, I glued what I think is a wheel hub from my spares box for some visual interest. As of now, the exhaust is just dry-fit to allow for final adjustments and painting.
Continuing with the doghouse, I moved on to the inlets and their debris screens. I looked at a lot of pictures of both Army and USMC AH-1Gs. While all of the screens were similar, not all were exactly the same. That was nice to see because it gave me some flexibility in my "interpretation." I had some random PE screen sitting around, so I cut it to size and trimmed it with strips of Tamiya tape. Perfect? Nope. Replicates in scale? Nuh-uh. Close enough? Yep. I'm sure they'll look OK under some paint.
Satisfied with the stuff on the outside, I worked on the cockpit. Everything up front is pretty much OOB, except for some wrapped wire to represent the ECS hoses. I cut one free from the rear bulkhead and wrapped the bulkhead in foil to serve as soundproofing. I'm not too worried about the texture not being perfect. Little is going to be seen once everything is closed up. Besides the ECS hoses, I used a small square of clear acetate as the pilot's sighting glass, and some tape strips as simple seat belts. These shots were taken before it was all cleaned up and flat coated.
Well, that's where things stand as of now. Winter break is over, and I gotta get myself back in the classroom tomorrow. It was nice having some time at the bench, but I don't know when I'll be able to get some more progress done on this. The good thing is that I'll have some time to come up with a plan to tackle the canopy issue. If anyone has any ideas, I'm open to suggestions. Feel free to share any questions, comments, and criticisms.
Thanks for looking!
-O