Speedman Posted September 28, 2013 Share Posted September 28, 2013 (edited) Call me insane, but here is my 6th and final entry. (Unless I find another gem on eBay cheap ) I've just won it, so until Mr Postman pops it through the door and it's in my grubby little hands you'll have to make do with an eBay photo. I built one of these in the late 80s but the skids ended up a bit lopsided, I was using Revell Contacta Pro and unfortunatly didn't leave it long enough to set. Those were the days before I trusted myself to use superglue. (I now live near a hospital as well...) I can't wait to get started on this one, the AH-1G is a beautiful looking aircraft and with my move to 1/144 (mainly) it's not often I'm going to get a second chance at building a kit from my early modelling days. ***Update*** Now I've got the kit here's a photo of my lovely sealed HueyCobra Edited December 11, 2013 by Speedman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hythe Posted September 29, 2013 Share Posted September 29, 2013 Excellent choice! I have a stack of these that I picked up cheaply, in the days before the prospect of the AZ and Special Hobby kits. It's only just been superseded, too, so a sneaky little choice. I have one waiting to be finished as a Spanish Z.14 - it has the paint, just needs glossing and decaling. Are you going to use the kit decals on this? They're very generic and the Marines ones are hopelessly inaccurate. Note that the configuration OOB is impossible - late tail rotor and early turret. I modded my turret on the Z.14 to a later 2 gun spec with some judicious carving on the opposite side of the turret and a bit of scrap plastic chopped and drilled to represent a grenade launcher. You may also want to enlarge the aperture on the exhaust - it's the most toy-like thing on the model. Maybe also blank it off inside. If it's a Vietnam Cobra, you could also add some tabs of armour plate to the inside of the cockpit - easily seen in period photos. Finally, if you figure out how to stick the rotor head on without it seizing, do let me know! This kit just falls together, one of my favourite builds ever as a kid. And that olive drab paint is a joy to work with, don't know why...! Are you not going to use the free tube of glue...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedman Posted September 29, 2013 Author Share Posted September 29, 2013 Tube of glue... No. I'm sticking with the XM64 turret and swapping the tail rotor from starboard to port to make it and early "G", I've also got to make a new clear nose for the landing lights. I'm going to be doing 66-15259 "Virginia Rose II" in the SEA scheme the Cobra NETT team applied when she first arrived in Vietnam and printing my own decals. Camo Cobra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hythe Posted September 29, 2013 Share Posted September 29, 2013 Might be easier to get hold of a hi-res scan of the decals for Virginia Rose II from the AZ Models kit... Not that I could possibly recommend such a flagrant breach of copyright, you understand... Very interested to see how you go about switching the tail around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 29, 2013 Share Posted September 29, 2013 I too built one of these back in the day. It always looked a bit evil. However, I was a little disappointed by my effort. It was in a monochrome colour scheme, which I always had difficulties portraying. They cam out looking far too boring. Nowadays, I understand about paint fading and have an airbrush, so it's about time I had another go at a Cobra. I'll be watching this one. Bound to bring back a few memories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Heath Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 (edited) I "made" one of these sometime in the 1970's. It came in dark brown and orange plastic if my poor memory is not playing tricks on me. Not sure how that was supposed to relate to military camouflage though. Edited October 3, 2013 by Nigel Heath Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedman Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 Opening this one up and looking at the parts was like stepping back in time! I still remember a lot of the parts on this one so vividly Here are the sprue shots... The tube of "British made" glue still looks good, I remember using these to build a few of my early kits. The profile is far more accurate than I was expecting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Well there's a step back in time. By no means a rubbish kit so I'm sure you'll have fun with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paganpete Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Wow, that is pretty accurate, shocked and stunned I am! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 The Matchbox Cobra always was a nice little kit, just the trench like panel lines let it down. I'll follow your built with interest. Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Heath Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 (edited) Not quite as orange as I remember. I don't remember the tube of glue being included in mine but I like it. Thanks for posting. Edited October 3, 2013 by Nigel Heath Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 Looking forward to this one,built many many years ago with different box artwork so must have been an original release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_W Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 I remember building this one too. Matchbox were great for the more unusual subjects. Deep panel lines? Once you blobbed the paint on with a hairy stick they soon dissapeared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Heath Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 I still find that paint as filler technique quite effective at hiding the details on my models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedman Posted October 5, 2013 Author Share Posted October 5, 2013 I've just won another of these kits... Ooooohh, what can I do with it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedman Posted October 6, 2013 Author Share Posted October 6, 2013 I made a bit of a start on this one. Nothing much, just removed all the parts from the sprue, cleaned a few of them up and glued the rocket and gun pods together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders154 Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 I have the Monogram one as well as the Matchbox. Do like vietnam choppers Rodders Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Cool. I remember building this one, as a kid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedman Posted October 6, 2013 Author Share Posted October 6, 2013 Trench line reduction phase 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Heath Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 What you using as filler there? Very neat application. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedman Posted October 7, 2013 Author Share Posted October 7, 2013 What you using as filler there? Very neat application. It's Mr.Surfacer 500, great for stuff like this. I started using it because I was drowning my 1/144 stuff in green putty on seams and tiny sink marks and having to rescribe half a model every time, they say you can paint it on but I use a cocktail stick to apply it. Once it's hardened it's easy to sand, blends perfectly with the surface and scribes just like plastic. I paid about £5 for a pot and it seems to last forever! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Need to find some of that for my own bench. Sounds ideal for these Matchbox kits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedman Posted October 7, 2013 Author Share Posted October 7, 2013 (edited) Having had a good look at the parts and a lot of reference photos I've planned exactly what I'm doing with this one. I need to correct a few external details including scribing a few more panel lines, I'm not going to go mental with these, just a few major ones. I already had an idea of how to swap the tail rotor from starboard to port, now I've got the kit I'm confident it will work and will probably be easier than I thought Internally the cockpit is going to get a lot of work. I'll be cutting down the rear "block" into to make a new rear section and bulkhead, the seats will be cut down and narrowed with padding added along with a set of belts. I'm going to scratch build a new floor section to the full width of the internal fuselage with new thinner side armour that will look a bit more to scale, this will hopefully allow me to add side consoles and I'll need to make some tail rotor pedals. For the armament, I'm going to have to work on the M200 rocket pods due to them having 20, not 19 rockets! And lastly, I'm going to work on the nose turret to make it a little more authentic and scratch build a M134 for it... Not a lot to do then Edited October 8, 2013 by Speedman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedman Posted October 8, 2013 Author Share Posted October 8, 2013 (edited) I've made a start on the cockpit. So far the only surviving kit parts are the bulk of the seats and half of the rear block. I still have quite a bit to do in there, side consoles, instalment panels, rear bulkhead quilting, seat pads and the armour for the sides and top of the seats. Fun! I sanded down all the panel line filler this morning and applied a second coat as well as fill some of the sink marks. Funny thing I noticed when researching the exterior detail, the little "steps" sticking out of the fuselage for the pilot and gunner are in the correct positions but are on the wrong sides! So... They're gone. Edited October 8, 2013 by Speedman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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