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*FINISHED* 1/72 Special Hobby AH-1Q/S Cobra "US ARMY"

Stew Dapple

By Stew Dapple
in Bell Huey STGB

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S5 modeller Very Obsessed Member

S5 modeller

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Looking good stew.

As for ejector seats in helicopters,I think there was a design in one where the blades are jettisoned out of the rotor head. Could have been the eurocopter, but not sure. It would certainly prevent minced pilot syndrome.

Matt

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Stew Dapple Completely Obsessed Member

Stew Dapple

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Looking good stew.

As for ejector seats in helicopters,I think there was a design in one where the blades are jettisoned out of the rotor head. Could have been the eurocopter, but not sure. It would certainly prevent minced pilot syndrome.

Matt

Thanks Matt :) - you'd think it would be possible, I just don't have the technical knowledge to imagine how...

Had some time so I did a quick search on this and this says no. There may have been a Kamov with this fitted but I can't find any videos of this in action - I wonder why?

Thanks Ced - perhaps the results were just to grisly to release the video...

Lovely looking cockpit.

Thanks very much mate, it is all as provided in the kit apart from the belts :)

Cobra seat belts are white or grey depending on the model. The AH-1Q had white belts.

,,, but... they were white before I painted them! Curse you MPM with your misleading pre-painted photo-etch colours :owww:

I got the fuselage halves together:

DSCN5399.jpg

... and once that had set added the little stub winglets:

DSCN5404.jpg

Next is a bit I am not particularly looking forward to as it involves removing part of the chin underside for replacement with a couple of resin parts... :unsure:

Cheers,

Stew

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Stew Dapple Completely Obsessed Member

Stew Dapple

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Hmm, brings back some memories. And from the last pictures I could clearly clearly see that those turbine covers definitely need surgery. And it's not to late for you to do it. Just do some research online and see how far they are from the real thing.

Hi Alberto, thanks for the pointer, but I'm building this purely for my own amusement and do not intend any radical surgery beyond that demanded by the kit instructions - I don't know enough about the real aircraft to be upset by any inconsistencies in the kit and I am quite happy in my ignorance :)

Looking like a Cobra already Stew, the cockpit is especially impressive.

Thanks Cookie, I hope it will look acceptable once the canopy is fitted :)

Great progress Stew, good luck with the chin surgery

Cheers

Aaron

Thanks very much Aaron :) - about that surgery...

I'm actually in a slight rage about that, it didn't go terribly well and the most irritating part is that it was sort of my fault for not checking before cutting... but in short, if you remove the area of the chin shown on the instructions, as I did, you will end up with a hole that is both wider and shorter than the resin part intended to fit over it. Also the resin part has bevelled edges so it is clearly not meant to fit in the hole, but over it... now if I were a better and more conscientious modeller I would be able to advise would-be builders what to do about this, but I am not and I blindly followed the kit instructions and then on finding the true situation tried to fill the gaps with superglue gel. This worked after a fashion but I have no idea if the resin part is where it should be:

DSCN5407.jpg

It's still going to need some cleaning up but I am reasonably confident that the underside won't be all that visible when it is finished.

I also assembled the nose-cap with the forward-looking-infra-red unit and the chin turret:

DSCN5408.jpg

... and I packed both of these with Liquid Gravity mixed with PVA glue, as the instructions call for 3g nose-weight (in truth I have no idea how much 3g is in real terms but I hope this ought to do it):

DSCN5409.jpg

Those parts will be fitted soon and then the tail assembly can be started.

Cheers,

Stew

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Procopius Blabber Mouth

Procopius

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I hate those "3 grams of noseweight" instructions. Who do these jokers think we are? Nobody I know has a scale for measuring grams. I'd rather they showed a common household object the noseweight should weigh as much as, say a Bounty bar, or a plastic comb. I could work it out from there.

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CedB Blabber Mouth

CedB

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"...if I were a better and more conscientious modeller..." Hah! Then we'd all have no one to turn to as an 'achievable standard' Mr Dapple! Give us a chance Stew!

Looking very good and no, I can't see the join on the resin bit - good job.

PC "Nobody I know has a scale for measuring grams" - glad to hear it!,

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Stew Dapple Completely Obsessed Member

Stew Dapple

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...Nobody I know has a scale for measuring grams. I'd rather they showed a common household object the noseweight should weigh as much as, say a Bounty bar, or a plastic comb. I could work it out from there.

I understand drug dealers generally have scales that can measure in grammes ;) Not saying Special Hobby hang out with dealers but... actually it would explain those instructions...

Cheers,

Stew

Edit: ninja'd by Ced! Thank you for the shameless flattery mate :D

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Stew Dapple Completely Obsessed Member

Stew Dapple

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Just for interest. Here's a NASA designed helo ejection system. As far as I know the Ka-50 does have an ejection system, very similar to this one in operation.

Thanks for that mate, it looks pretty hair-raising... "Of course, the three seats in this test were occupied by dummies" Yep, they would have to be.

I've added the nose-piece, the chin turret, the tail section (but not the tail rotor which wil be easier to paint separately and fit at the end), the mini-wings at the back (which appear to be aerodynamically inverted, presumably they serve the same purpose as the spoiler on a racing car) and the air intakes:

DSCN5410.jpg

Starting to look a bit more helicopterish now. From the instructions it appears that there are a couple of hundred microscopic unidentifiable parts to be added next, although I may be exaggerating to a degree... and also the rocket pods and missile packs...

Cheers,

Stew

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milktrip Very Obsessed Member

milktrip

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From the instructions it appears that there are a couple of hundred microscopic unidentifiable parts to be added next

That's the fun part of helicopter kits :devil: loads of sticky out bits

Looking great Stew

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amblypygid Very Obsessed Member

amblypygid

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I'm fashionably late, but mind if I drop in for the denouement? Certainly it's looking rather nice thus far, Stew; will it have a one-tone dark gull gray finish?

(Unlike PC I rather like wasps, clever and useful beings that they are, but I'm sorry to say that the Cobra still doesn't beat the Hind in the looks department...)

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S5 modeller Very Obsessed Member

S5 modeller

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Just for interest. Here's a NASA designed helo ejection system. As far as I know the Ka-50 does have an ejection system, very similar to this one in operation.

Sorry for the thread hijack, but they portrayed a system in one of the brosnan bond films ( goldeneye, tomorrow never dies?) might have been a work of fiction though.

Found it! Twas goldeneye, and the chopper looks very cobra like.

https://youtu.be/2QxdKY-6zHA

Matt

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modelling minion Blabber Mouth

modelling minion

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Sorry for the thread hijack, but they portrayed a system in one of the brosnan bond films ( goldeneye, tomorrow never dies?) might have been a work of fiction though.

Found it! Twas goldeneye, and the chopper looks very cobra like.

Matt

It's a Eurocopter Tiger, though I think the ejection system is a pure work of fiction as the only helo with ejection seats is the Kamov Ka-50.

Craig.

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Air Hockey Propellers Established Member

Air Hockey Propellers

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(Unlike PC I rather like wasps, clever and useful beings that they are, but I'm sorry to say that the Cobra still doesn't beat the Hind in the looks department...)

=

Edited by Julien
Please do not indulge in stereotyping others.
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  • 3 weeks later...
Stew Dapple Completely Obsessed Member

Stew Dapple

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Haha, you chaps, I turn my back for two minutes... :lol:

 

Chris, the version I am doing is overall Olive Drab, it is from the late 1970's and I think it pre-dates the grey schemes... or perhaps the Army still use OD and the Marines grey? In any case, it shouldn't require any fancy masking apart from the clear parts I hope...

 

I've got most of the tiny tiny parts and the ski landing gears fitted:

 

DSCN5462.jpg

 

There are still a couple of bits to fit and then the clear parts to atttach - I got a set of Eduard Masks from MJW Models in a fit of extreme laziness - and then I can start on the paintwork. I'm going to leave the rotors and weapons off until after the main painting is done; the rotors are black anyway and I will add a bit of green to the OD to paint the missile and rocket packs so they don't look quite so homogeneous to the main 'copter. Not sure if that will be this week but I do have a free weekend coming up as far as I know...

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

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