QUOTE: Originally posted by Cobrahistorian
Guys,
That's not a Z Cobra. That's the AH-1-4BW, the initial 4 bladed rotor demonstrator.
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Actually the Italeri AH-1Z is much closer to an AH-1Z than the 4BW. The 4BW differed from the AH-1W in only the main rotor and the end caps on the horizontal stabilizers.
The Italeri AH-1Z sprue has a lot of items that are new to the AH-1Z and not on the 4BW, including wet stub wings, 4 bladed tailrotor, and new doghouse with APU.
Granted the Italeri kit doesn't look like the current config for the Z but it is still closer to a Z than a 4BW. Problem is the look of the Z keeps changing. Italeri did their kit when all there was were Bell drawings - and it looks like those drawings. Sicne then the larger doghouse has been added, the stabs have been moved back, the TSS was added, etc. In fact the look of the Z is still changing. The two most recent changes are a redesigned tail stnger and exhaust stacks canted 90 degrees. Don't anticipate any more significant changes but modelling a Z is a snapshot - even with current references a Z you make now might not look like the Z the fleet will get.