1/48 Monogram AH-1P Cobra

[Bell209]

While I was waiting for the paint to dry on the Cessna 172P and Chengdu J-7G, I thought I'd start my next project. It's Monogram's venerable AH-1S kit but I'm modelling it as 76-22592, the AH-1P that is now at the Historical Aircraft restoration Society's annexe in Parkes, New South Wales. When I worked on it in Bankstown during the early 2000s, we were close to getting it running again.

As the P differs from the S in a number of areas, I'm using the Cobra Company's AH-1G conversion for the Fujimi AH-1J as it has the turret, pylon and engine cowlings and exhaust I need for the P. I'm also using the seats as I like them better than the kit versions.
 

Most of the cockpit is suitable enough for the AH-1P but I need another cyclic stick as I've lost the gunner's (yes, I do need to keep better track of the parts for my models!) I've got one at home but I won't be back there until early next month to get it. I'll probably need to scratchbuild some tail rotor pedals, too.

 

It'll be finished in the scheme it's in now; US Army Helo Drab all over with the usual stencils.

[corsaircorp]

Hello Rob,

Did'nt know that Monogram has commited a Cobra !!

I know what you mean about searching for kit parts...

Can I take a seat at the bar ?

CC

[Bell209]

19 minutes ago, corsaircorp said:

Did'nt know that Monogram has commited a Cobra !!

It's an old kit - the instructions say 1998 but I'm sure it's at least ten years older than that. Quite well moulded but short on detail.

23 minutes ago, corsaircorp said:

Can I take a seat at the bar ?

Sure; but get a comfortable one - I've demonstrated my glacial pace of building here a few times now!

[Bell209]

I've made some serious cuts into this so far - the rotor system has been sliced so I can display the blades with a significant pitch on the blades, more representative of the real thing than the kit. depicts. The detail on the head is quite good but Monogram chose to represent part of it as a solid block, where it's actually several parts which I'll scratchbuild from sprue. That pales into insignificance compared to the cutting on the fuselage.

Here's what it looks like off the sprue:
 

 

The Cobra Company pylon needed modifying, too. The AH-1G is a little different to the AH-1P, so I had to cut it along one of the panel lines and insert it into the fuselage:
 

 

It's not neat but I can't do too much until I complete the cockpit so I can join the fuselage halves. Stretched sprue has since filled the gouge near the wing attachment point; the insertion cuts were rather tricky to do neatly due to the angles involved! I'm waiting to jon the fuselage until I go home next month and can grab another cyclic stick grip (because I lost the gunner's) and rotor pedals (the kit has none). The conversion kit will need a few more conversions before I'm done, too.

[whiskey]

Wow this is fun!

 

I believe that the AH-1 kit from Monogram does not have the correct tail boom you need to build a -P as it still retained the length of the -G's. I may be wrong but that's another reason why you don't see any builds of that kit into a -G using other kits because of it (also because the tail rotor blades and the gear box are larger than the -G's.). I do know for a fact that the tail is actually wrong even for the -S or -F (whichever one you wanna call it). The -P does not have the triangle (antenna or part of the WSPS?) mounted on top of the nose like on the Monogram kit. In fact, the -P doesn't have any of the WSPS I'm aware of. 

 

Are you planning on tackling the HSS inside the cockpit?

 

 

Edited July 15, 2019 by whiskey

[Bell209]

Thanks, Zach.

 

It certainly looks like the tailboom on 76-22592, although I can't check it's dimensions. The panels all look correct and in the right place, so I'll run with it anyway. Our aircraft had the composite Kaman blades, rather than the metal Bell blades, too. That makes things a whole lot easier, although I'm rectifying a couple of errors with the head currently. The Ps seem to be a mix of conversions; ours had some G model stuff but also some F model stuff on them (we had 76-22598, too). The one in the Darwin Aviation Museum seems to be of the same batch. Comparing the photos I have, along with my memory of what I remember of pulling the two aircraft and components apart, I reckon it's not far off. Ours had noses that look very similar to the kit (including full WSPS and ASE sensor mounts) but I'll need to use the turret from the Cobra Company conversion as ours had the M134 and M129, rather than the M179 suite.

 

Yes, I am planning on 'tackling' the HSS - a very apt term as I don't know how I'll go! I plan to use some 0.6 mm dia nickel rod for the job, which should at least look the part! Not sure how I'll go with the fittings, though. Like so many things, the references I need are at home (including the full set of manuals)!

 

Here's what she looks like today.

Edited July 15, 2019 by Bell209
Inserted reference link

[whiskey]

So I went through some of my old info (not at home and my memory is rusty but I found everything I was looking for and here it goes:

 

AH-1S(Prod)=AH-1P

Canopy-Flat Plate

Wing Armament- M261 19-shot pods, M260 7-shot pods, Outboard pylons changed to allow for M-65 TOW system

Tail Rotor-Larger paddle type blades

Misc.-Larger bulge for the tail rotor gearboxes

Introduction of Kaman K-747 main rotorblades. (The older B-540 blades were used up to the AH-1F)

WSPS (Wire Strike Protection System) Cable cutter modification

APR-39 on the front of the helicopter and back of the tailboom

Slightly larger elevators than the -G

 

Now here's the gig with your aircraft at the Museum. It's actually a re-manufactured AH-1G to AH-1S(Prod) or -P standards completed at the Amarillo plant.. The AH-1P was produced from 1977 to 1978 and only 100 air frames at that. And it also weighed about 200-200 pounds more than an actual new AH-1P aircraft. Not exactly relevant to the model as it won't show but it's an interesting footnote.

 

 

[Bell209]

Thanks again, Zach. 

 

I knew some of that but not all! I guess the remanufacturing is why it kept the M134 and M129 systems? Interestingly, at least one of the aircraft had the TOW avionics in the tailboom when we got them but both were missing the targeting computer needed to make the HSS slave to the nose sight and weapon turret. As an aside, it was amazing how many parts had a 204/205/212 part number prefix, showing its heritage! The tail rotor is almost exclusively 212/412. Anything that starts with 209 is Cobra-specific and really hard to get here in Australia!

 

I'm working on tidying up the main rotor at the moment. It's pretty good but I want it a bit more accurate.

[whiskey]

No the AH-1P retained the dual chin mounted turret from the start. The AH-1E (Enhanced Cobra Armament System or ECAS) was exactly the same but introduced the M197 turret. The rocket system was not operational in the ECAS for several years however. I'm sure that the secret to the missing parts on the Museum's bird was just salvaged parts for other Cobras.

Edited July 15, 2019 by whiskey

[Bell209]

As mentioned earlier, I'm reworking the Main Rotor Head to look more like the real thing. The top blade is the original after I tried bending the leading edge section to look more realistic. I then cut the blade and scratchbuilt the TT Strap arm of the head. 
 

I reckon it looks a lot better. I managed to pick up a copy of the Squadron AH-1 Cobra Walkaround at AeroWorks (my LHS) this afternoon, which will help a bit with details until I can get to my manual set when I'm next home in a few weeks.

[Bell209]

Made some more progress on this over the last few days. I grabbed the engine from a donor UH-1D kit I've had for years and attached it to the kit transmission. Looks much better (although almost nothing will be seen when it's assembled!)
 

 

Test fit
 

 

I realised the AH-1G intakes are different to the AH-1P and have had to do some more surgery. From this:
 

To this:
 

 

Much better! Now it's ready for fitting the engine and transmission to the cowl and then attaching the lot to the fuselage. I've added some tabs to make location and the inevitable filling easier.
 

 

I'll be working on the canopies and the HSS next.

[Bell209]

Even though I said was going to work on the HSS next, I've ploughed on with the fuselage as the canopy wasn't quite dry when I wanted to work on it. Here's the engine and transmission fitted to the Cobra Company cowlings:
 

 

Lots of work to get the mast and swashplate to fit into the Cobra Company cowls at the correct height but you'd never know it!

The fuselage tidied up and waiting for the new cowls:

 

Much Araldite and clamping later:

The Araldite's done the job I was hoping for when I set up the plasticard backings and filled most of the gaps. Mr Surfacer 500 will fix the rest. Working on the wings now and then the lower fuselage before masking the cockpit for Mr Surfacer 1000.

[gingerbob]

On 7/7/2019 at 5:08 AM, Bell209 said:

As the P differs from the S in a number of areas, I'm using the Cobra Company's AH-1G conversion for the Fujimi AH-1J...

 

So let's see... to convert from S to P, you use a set for J to G.  I love modelling!

 

I too did not remember a 1/48 Monogram Cobra, but when I saw photos I thought I had a flashback.  Now I'm not so sure- maybe it is just the familiar brownish plastic of some of the old Monogram.  I always thought the Cobra was one of the coolest looking helicopters, but I have never bothered to learn anything much about them.  [Edit: doing a bit more "research", I think it is the 1/72 Cobra that I remember from somewhere.]

 

This should be a fun one to follow...

Edited October 5, 2019 by gingerbob

[Nikolay Polyakov]

Looks very interesting and informative, @Bell209! I’m in... 🍿 Excellent surgery, keep up the good work! 👍

[Bell209]

1 hour ago, gingerbob said:

So let's see... to convert from S to P, you use a set for J to G.  I love modelling!

Me, too!

[Bell209]

On 10/5/2019 at 8:18 PM, Nikolay Polyakov said:

Excellent surgery, keep up the good work!

Thanks, Nikolay. Hopefully it will come up nicely after filling and sanding.

[Bell209]

In what's becoming par for the course, I managed to drop the Cobra this afternoon while applying a coat of Mr Surfacer 1000 and snapped the crosstubes off at the fuselage on one side. While I stewed and waited for the glue joining them to dry, I moved onto the HSS installation.
 

 

 

For reference, the front is on the left on the top shot and the right on the one above. I've used 'C' cross-section plastic and 0.3 mm nickel wire as the basis of the system. Once it's all dry, I'll add some brass wire for the rods connecting the helmet to rails and I'll need to find some fine wire to make up the leads. I'll use it to make wander light leads, too.

I also made some progress on the main rotor:
 

 

I still have some work to do on the mast/head connection and will need to adjust the pitch change rods to suit once I seat the mast in the head but I reckon it's an improvement on the OOB part.

Once the crosstubes dry (hopefully I won't have to put a metal insert into them for strength now), I'll finish off the Mr Surfacer coats and move onto the wings and horizontal stabs.

[Nikolay Polyakov]

4 hours ago, Bell209 said:

Hopefully it will come up nicely after filling and sanding.

These kits are made with love, so I think all will be good! 👍

 

4 hours ago, Bell209 said:

I still have some work to do on the mast/head connection and will need to adjust the pitch change rods to suit once I seat the mast in the head but I reckon it's an improvement on the OOB part.

Excellent work, Rob! The rotor assembly looks great. I like it a lot! 😉

[Bell209]

Been busy this weekend. I made up the turret using brass tube for the 40 mm grenade launcher and used the M134 Minigun from my Fujimi Kiowa in lieu of the resin version as two barrels broke when I trimmed them to size. Some left over bits of heatshrink were used to make the weapon fairings that were not part of the conversion turret.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also realised I need to add the rather prominent transmission oil inspection window to the side of the right cowl. I drilled through the resin for this and will add a window of Future after it's painted.
 

 

I've also drilled a hole in the 42 degree gearbox for its sightglass that will be Future-filled when its been painted. I think it's just about ready for pre-shading now.
 

 

I managed to snap the lower forward cable-cutter off while sanding (knew I would) but, fortunately, the Eduard detail kit comes with etched replacements.

I've been working on the under-wing weapons, too. Our Cobra only came with rocket pods, so I want to model it that way but I haven't worked out yet how to make the outer pylons look right without the TOW tubes. I may end up fitting the TOW tubes if I can't make it look right. I've also progressed the HSS on the canopy but need some wire to finish it off. Once that's done, I can fit the canopy to the fuselage. I fitted the gunner's rear-view mirror from the Eduard set, too (one of the few things from it I've actually used!)

[Bell209]

Pretty happy with the HSS and won't be doing anything else to it.

 

Had another go at preshading. Still not convinced it's a technique I want to use for most models but it worked reasonably well for this one.
 

 

Managed to get a few coats of Testors US Helo Drab on, too. The resin/plastic joins needed striping and repainting before I was happy with them. Next steps are fitting the doors (did I mention I'd cut up the canopy, cut the bulged windows out and replaced them with acetate flat plastic? Don't!!) and painting the guns. I've painted the rocket pods Olive Drab with Testors Metaliser Brass fronts and rears but forgot to photograph them. I'll include them in another post. I also managed to find a couple of sway braces for each outboard pylon and a facsimile of the rack in an etched set which looks quite reasonable., so I can leave the TOW sets off.
 

 

I also need to progress the main rotor some more and touch up the tail rotor, too. The kit instructions say the tail rotor blades are Helo Drab but my AH-1P manuals say they're Olive Drab (which matches my memory of what they looked like when I disassembled them).

 

Need to pay more attention to camera focus, too, I see!

[Bell209]

Looking at the rocket pods, I realised Monogram forgot the inner braces on the inner wing pylons that later Cobras had to reduce swaying, so I scratched some up.
 

Ready to gloss coat but I thought I'd try out the Main Rotor assembly in the fuselage first. Pretty happy with it

 

 

Gloss coat next (after touching up the rocket pod I ripped paint from with glue!)

[exdraken]

very nice progress!

 

[Bell209]

Thanks. Pretty much finished now.

 

 

Edited March 29, 2022 by Bell209
Fixed picture links

[Bell209]

Finished. Photos on the RFI pages.

 

Thanks for tagging along!

Edited January 30, 2020 by Bell209