Synopsis

Hi Stew! Thanks for the compliment, you know I was looking at your build thread yesterday, I have to admit I was quite intrigued by the black basing you did and was contemplating giving it a go now I have an airbrush more suited to the fine work, not sure yet though, might just chuck on a coat of the tamiya extra fine white primer and pre-shade, depends how bad the surface looks after I have finished assembly!

I managed to get a little more time at the bench over the weekend, got some more of the etch attached and the fuselage together. Still plenty to do but at least its starting to look the right shape! Have sanded off the detail from the bottom panel too as the instructions indicated to do, I assume Cobra's of this age didn't have the various lumps and bumps on the bottom that are moulded onto this panel as standard. I am actually a little further along than this picture as the panels installed and the tails now attached too. A little more work with the filler and one or two more pieces of etch and she will be ready for primer. With regards to the weapon load I found an image of another Cobra carrying four XM-159s so this combined with the caption on the photo of my chosen airframe is enough for me to chose this as the load out I am going to represent. Hopefully get an hour or two to work on her again tonight after the marine tank gets its weekly maintenance.

I have a few in the stash so once I have finished up my Cobra in the Huey group build I will do the hard part and decide which to build..

Postman bought me a package today from the big H part of which was this lovely chunk of resin. At least I won't have to worry about her tail sitting!

I love a bit of dayglo me, I've only just managed to work my way through this thread whilst waiting for my airbrushes to finish a deep clean cycle and once again Mr Heath I am filled with awe and green with envy rather than spilled olive drab for once. Looks stunning that.

Quick update as to where I am at the moment! The office is nearly complete, I still have one or two things to finish off and I want to drop a quick interior wash on it too, I have to admit I love the addition of the AC hoses that Stakor has added to his build of Crystal Ship but I am not sure if I have the required materials to put some together for my build. I have also started adding the etch parts to the fuselage etc although I didn't think to take any photos of that yet! I am not sure if anyone knows much about the Cobra in service in Vietnam but I was searching online for references to the airframe I am building here, unfortunately there aren't many as she was lost to small arms fire which ultimately ended with the loss of the crew too after she went down into a river in flood and they drowned whilst the pilot was trying to rescue his crewman, but one of the references to Murder Inc I did find was in a book called Helicopter Gunships: Deadly combat Weapon Systems by Wayne Mutza. Anyway in this book there is a small image from a difficult angle but in its caption it describes Murder Inc as being in "Heavy Hog" configuration by carrying four XM-159 Rocket Launchers! Now I have very little knowledge when it comes to things with whirly wings but the only other times I have heard the term Heavy Hog is with reference to UH-1's when loaded with 48 rocket tubes (2 x 24 config I believe), but this says 4 x XM-159s on a Cobra which I believe are 19 tubes per launcher, which would mean it was armed with 76 rockets, unfortunately the image in the book is side on and I can only make out 1 launcher so does anyone know if this load out is indeed a correct and viable option? As it happens I do have 2 spare XM-159s in my spares box from my TH-1G build earlier in the year so I if it is a correct and viable load out I would love to represent it. Anyways here's some photos of the office!

I am not sure as I really don't have any real knowledge about the differences but if both of the kits allow an AH-1S to be built then I see no reason why you couldn't procure the parts you require from the Hasegawa kit in order to build the variant you want. There may be some fit issues to address but thats to be expected when kit bashing!

Very nice work Stakor! I think these are great little kits! I see I am using the same etch set as you too.. I know where to come when I get stuck! Loving your gun turret mod, have to admit I took the easy way out and ordered a RES-IM replacement last night whilst I was picking up a couple of other bits and pieces off Hannants.

Hi guys, Well I've struggled with my mojo over the summer thanks in no small part to an SR-71 build thats stalled but I think its time to get back on the horse and I can think of no better way than with one of AZs lovely little Cobra kits. This time I have the Murder Inc boxing of the kit: I do like these AZ kits I have to say, I will be building this using Eduards lovely little etch set for this kit, you will also notice below there is a Pavla canopy in the image, not sure if I am going to use it yet as the standard one is actually looking in pretty good nick truth be told and I don't have that much time to get this build over the line. I was hoping to have got started on this yesterday but a combination of a cat induced lack of sleep and a PH crash in my marine tank meant I lost most of yesterday, I haven't really done much with etch before so this will be my first real go at it, so I spent what little time I did get going over the instruction sheet for that. I will start cutting sprue after work tonight though and hopefully be able to post some real progress! Cheers Mark

So I've not been active much over the summer, mostly due to a stalled SR-71 build beating my mojo out of me but if no one minds another cobra I have an AZ Models 1/72 AH-1G Murder Inc boxing I'm planning to start. I know it's a bit of a late entry but I should be able to get her done before the deadline

I love both of these but this scheme on that MiG looks superb. Real nice work!

Lovely looking Seahawk in a great scheme, really nice!

Love it, looks great!

I was just looking at my Academy Mig-27D kit and wondering if it should be next on my bench and thought I'd have a look in at this GB for references etc then I looked at the build threads already running in this GB though and I now have at least half a dozen projects I'd like to start..

I really enjoyed this GB, even if I was cutting close to the wire on the deadline with the 2nd of my builds. My first ever two helo builds have been for this GB as I am normally a fixed wing guy and I enjoyed them that much there's been a few more added to my stash for the future. I have loved watching peoples builds unfold, even if I haven't commented on them I have still been reading many of the other threads, as its always goods to see how other people approach things. There are some fantastic looking finished articles in that gallery, and I even had the pleasure of being able to cast my eye over a couple of them in the flesh at the ScotsNats. I am really enjoying being part of GBs in general, so much so I am looking at what I can do next lol

Thought I would pop these in here as I haven't done an RFI for a while. This is my Revell UH-1D SAR in "hospital" configuration. Built her for the helicopter group build, my second entry and my second ever helicopter thingy! Here's the build thread if you like that sort of thing. Corrected the vents on the engine cowling with styrene rod and photoetch mesh (the slats could do with a wash in between them but I was running out of time , added a light and had to scratch build one of the windows last minute thanks to the carpet monster! Painted with a mix of Revell Aqua Acrylics and Tamiya

Revell 1/72 UH-1D "SAR" - Build thread here Vents/Grills reworked with Styrene rod and photo etch mesh, added light and had to scratch a window to replace the one the carpet monster ate! Painted with a mix of Revell Aqua and Tamiya.

Well I made it just about, had a minor disaster with one of the win1 dows going missing so I had to scratch a replacemet pretty quickly. I think she turned out quite nice though!!

Decals are done, just letting them settle till tomorrow, then it will be touch ups, fit the doors, final varnish on the body then add the glazing and rotors!

Got the paint on last night, doors need another coat though. Decals this afternoon.

Just came across this thread! Looking forward to seeing the progress as I have the Tamiya, Trumpeter and Airfix versions in my stash waiting for some attention!

So here she is waiting for paint, I actually managed to get her fully masked and the first of the 3 colour camo on last night. I did that after I had realised I had but the tailplane things on the wrong side and removed and swapped them round (they're still the wrong way round in the photos below lol) I should get the paint finished tonight, decals on tomorrow afternoon and maybe final varnish late saturday night or sunday morning so she should be complete for the deadline.. just about anyway!!

I forgot to get some photos but I have put the two halves together and am just needing to do some work on the main seam before paint. Also need to figure out a way to protect all the interior detail during paing as the windows and doors aren't attached at the moment and I can't decide if I should fit them prior to paint or not!