Oh gosh that's awesome!!! My favorite TV show as a kid and I had the same kit back then. Still have most of the parts but not enough to assemble into model. Always struck me as funny they didn't reissue it as the stock Bell 222 the kit also builds into. 

Got the recent Aoshima kit a few years ago but haven't started it due to the trepidation that I'll screw her up somehow.

Will be watching this for sure!!!!!!  

Ohmygosh!

 I remember that old thing! What got me were the oversize window gaskets and rivets!

This is super cool. I love this helo. You can safely strip the paint away with some over cleaner. It will take all the paint off and won't touch the plastic one bit. It will be clean as a new kit.

BK

This is an awesome helicopter!  I was a fan when the show first aired back in 1984 and I faithfully watched every episode...even the bad ones.  The ones where Jan Michael Vincent's alcoholism was getting the best of him and the bloodshot eyes couldn't be hidden.  Then I followed the show to the USA Network and I was immediately disappointed with the new cast and episodes.  I, like many others had just stopped watching the show.  The new episodes were that bad and so far from the original show that nobody was watching the show.  No wonder it only lasted one season.

Once the parts have been cleaned, I think I'll strip the paint and repaint The Lady.  Hopefully, with my current skillset, I should have a better looking model when I have finished with it.     

Ouch, I'd forgotten about the USA Network's '4th' season... Oh gosh, I watched one episode and turned it off and walked away. 

I picked the complete series (seasons 1-3) on DVD and thankfully no mention is made of the USA series. 

Good luck, looking forward to seeing how she goes!!! 

I picked up the "Complete" series on DVD which included the fourth season.  The fourth season was rather bad including the shots of Airwolf flying across the screen.  You could tell it was a R/C toy.

Mr Mike

I picked up the "Complete" series on DVD which included the fourth season.  The fourth season was rather bad including the shots of Airwolf flying across the screen.  You could tell it was a R/C toy.

 

Lol, I picked them up separtly so I guess I kinda 'forgot' about the fourth season... 

I've seen them available as the TV movie, all the seasons seperately, the 3 seasons gift pack and the 4 seasons gift pack.  I have also seen them available from a couple of different DVD retailers.   

I got Airwolf out of its one week bath and I have noticed that some of the enamel paint has come off.  Interesting!  This was only a bath in water and Dawn Dish Detergent.  I'll let this dry and then a good soaking with Easy Off.

More Airwolf to come...

Hmmm, had no idea regular dishwashing detergent and water would take off enamel paint. You learn something new everyday! 

Looking forward to seeing 'The Lady' all stripped clean. 

Gamera

Hmmm, had no idea regular dishwashing detergent and water would take off enamel paint. You learn something new everyday! 

Looking forward to seeing 'The Lady' all stripped clean. 

 

I was surprised as well!  Must be a fluke!

The disassembly continues...

I broke the cyclic handle on the right last night and I glued the two pieces back together be fore I turned in for the night.  

As I was preparing the flight deck for paint, I removed the piece from the center console and it disappeared on me.  Not sure what that part was for, but I'll either fill the hole or scratch build a component to replace it with.

More Airwolf to come...

The flight deck of Airwolf has been painted and reassmbled.  Have a look...

More Airwolf to come...

Cool!!! She's coming right along! 

Thanks Gamera!  

I was trying to figure out why I had never heard of this show before, then I realized the dates were when I joined the Coast Guard, Jan 84, boot camp, through electronics school in NYC where everybody wanted to watch Miami Vice on the one TV (still a tube) on the rec deck, through my time on a cutter in Alaska, 87. Now it makes sence.

Steve: If you wanted to pick the show up today I'm not sure I'd recommend it or not. As I said it was my favorite TV show as a kid. I picked up the DVDs and as an adult- well it's not aged as well as I'd have hoped. 

The chopper is awesome though! The Bell 222 is one sexy looking heli and the black paint and fiberglass pods for the jet engines and weapons only add to the look. Even as a kid I never understood how they could break the sound barrier without ripping the rotor blades off or have space for all those missiles though. But still it's more important that the chopper look totally badass. And she does even today. Flying over the SW American desert or over the ocean with the rotor wash throwing up waves is sheer beauty. And 'The Lair' in the Valley of the Gods is so much cooler than the Batcave that Batman would turn green with envy.

And I loved the cast. Ernest Borgine is fun in anything and Ann Bruce Scott is stunning. I had a big crush on her way back then. I may have her to blame for my current weakness for redheads/gingers. I can't say I've been that crazy about Alex Cord in most stuff he's starred in but he's perfect here as the government 'spook' in their corner. Jan-Michael Vincent was the perfect leading man until he started destroying himself with booze and drugs. It was sad to watch his slide downhill in the latter half of the series. I have a lot of respect for Borgine when a reporter kept harrassing him for dirt on Vincent and he told the guy that 'Jan-Michael is a good friend, and I'm not saying any more than that.' 

The main issue I have with the series as an adult is the stories. The first season is pretty good overall but season two and three they seemed to run out of good ideas and the plots were pretty bland. There were a few good ones spliced in there like 'The American Dream' but overall it was weak. And the less I say about the abomination of the 'fourth' season the better. On moving to the USA network the entire cast was replaced and they didn't even have the friggin' chopper to film with so they used nothing but stock footage shots. Eeeeyuck......   

Yes, the stories haven't held up as well as one would like, but I do agree that the helicopter is awesome!  The reason the stories had changed during the 2nd and 3rd seasons was the studio producing the series wanted to get away from the espionage storyline and have more of a family oriented show.  Unfortunately, Airwolf is a weapon used more for espionage and covert missions than something that is family oriented.  A few family stories here and there would have been better IMHO with the majority of episodes being of the espionage type.  But other factors were working against the show,  mainly Jan Michael Vincent's alcoholism and drug use. 

The Canadian/USA Network season 4 changed everything.  Much smaller budget, constant reuse of stock footage, new cast, storylines and studio.  I found it very difficult to watch the 4th season as did many other viewers.  Someone, somewhere wanted more episodes for series syndication and I believe they had achieved that. 

The actual helicopter was returned to stock configuration and sold overseas as an air ambulance.  It was destroyed and all lives lost during a rescue mission.  When the Canadian series started, an R/C helicopter was used a couple of times, but proved to be very unreliable.  The decision was made to use stock footage of Airwolf, thus keeping the series under budget.  Anyone could tell the difference showing Airwolf flying over a forest in one scene and then in a desert enviroment the next. 

I have the complete series on DVD and I paid about $20.00 for it at a local store that was doing away with DVD sales. 

I started playing some Airwolf music on Youtube and went to work on the ADF Pod.  I drilled holes in the Pod front and rear for more realism and detail painted the Pod.

More Airwolf to come...

Oh the weapons pod came out great! That's some nice work!

I hadn't heard about the whole push for more family scripts in season 2 but it makes perfect sense. Probably my least favorite season other than the 4th. I mean why not bring a military grade helicopter gunship in to solve your family issues???

Gamera

Oh the weapons pod came out great! That's some nice work!

 

I hadn't heard about the whole push for more family scripts in season 2 but it makes perfect sense. Probably my least favorite season other than the 4th. I mean why not bring a military grade helicopter gunship in to solve your family issues???

Absolutely loved this show when it was on, except for Season 4 which I just couldn't watch after the first couple episodes. My son was just a couple years old at the time and would always jump up and down on the sofa when ever he heard the music.

I've been finding lots of covers of the Airwolf theme song.  I have a few on my iPod and I found a bunch on Youtube.  I think I like the theme song...

Yeah! It's one of the best theme songs from any TV show. Funny how I hadn't watched the series in over twenty years till I picked up the DVDs and yet I could still hum the entire theme! 

I find myself humming that theme song all the time!  Never get tired of it!

I finally got Airwolf out of the Easy-Off bath and gave her a good scrubbing with an old toothbrush and Dawn Dish Detergent.  Ready for primer and paint!

More Airwolf to come...

Hoorah!!!

I fired up the paint booth this morning and painted "The Lady" with Tamiya TS-94 Metallic Grey.  I thought the shade of color would be a little lighter, but this came out perfectly!  I like it!

More Airwolf to come...

Cool!