Zulu Up! - 1/48 Kitty Hawk AH-1Z Viper - FINISHED 4/15

[doogsatx/]

Someone in another forum just mentioned that they use odorless CA (the foam-safe kind) and that it worked for them. Apparently it's non-frosting...

[JimD]

May be promising. I've not used foam CA before, so I'd be curious to see how that works.

[TomN.]

What about one of those UV curing glues?

Haven't tried them myself, so I don't know how strong they are.

Tom

[doogsatx/]

Forward canopy door mounted. Using epoxy. Tests with odorless CA proved (at least in this application) that odorless also = useless and holds even worse than Elmers. The rear door will be mounted tonight. Not as worried about it since it has a straight line to follow and the tabs are beefier.

Also got the FOD covers installed. Just red tissue paper folded and crumpled, glued to some foam, stuffed into the intakes and brushed with Vallejo gloss varnish. The FODs I've seen in reference photos look very similar - like someone just stuffed a tarp into the intake.

Apologies for the crappy photo quality...

[wbill76]

Well know you know a lot more about the strengths/weaknesses of various glues when it comes to Cobra canopies! Looks like the epoxy did the trick and the FOD covers have a very convincing realism to them as well.

[TRM]

Nice to see you have the gluing issue situated Doogs. Looks great from this end! If I had seen the post earlier, I would have suggested the PVA route...Gator or even Elmers. Strong hold once cured but getting there is often tough depending on the application.

[doogsatx/]

Apr 14, 2015 14:51:42 GMT -5 TRM said:

Nice to see you have the gluing issue situated Doogs. Looks great from this end! If I had seen the post earlier, I would have suggested the PVA route...Gator or even Elmers. Strong hold once cured but getting there is often tough depending on the application.

The problem with Gator (which I otherwise love) is that it's flexibility is a death knell if the join is under tension. The weight (in this case of the canopy) will pull against the join causing droop. I've actually had this happen with my Trumpeter Bf 109G-10 - the canopy has now flopped fully sideways to lay against the fuselage. I need to glue it back at some point - Elmers usually works well enough, but with the precarious nature of this particular instance, there's not enough surface area for Elmers to gain useful purchase.

Think my next few builds will have nice, sliding canopies, like god intended.

[doogsatx/]

Home stretch!

Got the cockpit all sorted out last night, including some (barely visible) cable bundling up along the aft firewall. The Viper's cockpit is very spartan as is, so there's just not much to add, though I really wouldn't mind seeing resin options for the seats.

The FOD covers got a treatment of AMMO Orange Brown panel wash to give them more definition. The - I guess "sensor nubs" - around the nose and tail got dabs of acrylic resin - this is one small detail area where the kit kind of flubs it, but oh well.

Finally, I installed the aft cockpit door. This one went in a LOT easier than the forward one, I think because it was all along a straight line. I actually used regular CA for it - I noticed after my clear sprue test that my Loctite gel CA only fogged the clear parts where it touched, with no radiating outward the way CA often does. It worked gloriously and I only had to hand-hold the parts for maybe a minute.



Still have to mount the canopy and the side glass, finish up the main rotor, and if I don't get too lazy, scratch up some gas struts for the canopy doors. After that, it'll be a wrap. Hoping to finish this puppy off before I fly to New York on Friday.

[doogsatx/]

Wrapped up the AH-1Z last night!

Overall, I have to say that it's a fantastic kit. There are some accuracy goofs and detail misses - the lack of clear seeker lenses for the Hellfires, rotor fold hinges, poor detail on the various "sensor nubs", the seats, and incorrect detail on the forward seeker ball being the biggest. But if you can resist the urge to count rivets, it's a nice build that gets it really, really right in most other areas.



Paints used were mostly Gunze and Tamiya, with some Vallejo, Mr. Paint and Alclad thrown in. AMMO panel line washes were used on, well, the panel lines.

Most of the kit was built OOB, with the exception of the Hellfires and their launch racks - taken off a Hasegawa Apache - scratched FOD covers, and some cockpit wiring with EZ Line.

Decals were the excellent Werner's Wings set, with a few odds and ends from the kit decals. The Hellfires were treated to Fireball's Hellfire and TOW stencils sheet.

Thanks to those who've followed along - here's a few more pics!

[JimD]

Kitty Hawk should throw some commission your way. You sure sold me on this one. Looks to be a great Kit. Never would have know of the small accuracy issues if you hadn't told me. Now I just need to wait for this one to cool off so I can build one. Great stuff.

[dupes]

Woof. That's some excellent work Matt!

[mrversatile]

I saw this offered for sale in finescale and it intrigued me. I have the Academy Apache MSIP in 1/48 on my shelf and I always wanted a Cobra. This one is the nicest one yet and you did a great job, as usual. I think I will get this at some point but I will wait for the aftermarket to see what comes out for it.

[doogsatx/]

Apr 16, 2015 10:04:01 GMT -5 mrversatile said:

I saw this offered for sale in finescale and it intrigued me. I have the Academy Apache MSIP in 1/48 on my shelf and I always wanted a Cobra. This one is the nicest one yet and you did a great job, as usual. I think I will get this at some point but I will wait for the aftermarket to see what comes out for it.

It's definitely the nicest Cobra I've encountered. I'm really hoping Kitty Hawk does the obvious and gives us an AH-1W SuperCobra - the kit is engineered in such a way as to make it pretty easy to do so.

Not sure what to expect with aftermarket - Kitty Hawk seems to get weird treatment from the usual players - really nice stuff for some things, total cold shoulder for other kits. Though newcomers like KASL are doing bang-up work on their F-35s, so who knows...

If I could pick aftermarket items for this sucker, I'd go with 1) forward sensor ball, 2) seats and 3) main rotor (or just rotor blades).

[mrversatile]

Thanks Doogs, maybe they see what sales numbers are before aftermarket commits. Those things you mentioned would make this model perfect I think.

[wbill76]

Enjoyed watching this one come together Doogs, glad you found the right solution for the canopy doors, really gives it a nice touch to see them open and show off the pit interior. Some nice eye candy on the weapons and paint finish as well.

[wing_nut]

I missed the finish on this one but just saw it in the MoM. Another fine job.

[doogsatx/]

Thank ya!

Fun build but I'm also glad to have it behind me.

Been up in NY for the past few days and I'm crazy-eager to get back to the bench and the big Intruder.

[aeroaustin]

Excellent Job Doogs!

[4bogreen]

Fabulous work Doogs! one of my favorite helicopters. Normally they are green, but this scheme is great.

[venom1]

Exceptional job as always Doogs! I have a mate who is building this at the moment, and he is appreciating you being ahead of him on the build!
I would buy this kit except for the fact that for some reason the Zulu doesn't quite float my boat as much as the Whiskey. Maybe it is the boring grey paint scheme. Maybe if we get some more colourful birds my mind might change? I agree with you, I hope a new tool Whiskey is on the way soon. Would snap that one up pronto!

All in all though mate, a fantastic build, she looks awesome!

Cheers,

Sam

[doogsatx/]

Apr 20, 2015 21:12:18 GMT -5 4bogreen said:

Fabulous work Doogs! one of my favorite helicopters. Normally they are green, but this scheme is great.

As far as I know the Marine Cobras haven't been green for some time. Last time I remember them wearing anything but gray was Desert Storm.

Would love to see KH do some older Cobras though, to give us some options - there's an older AH-1 (AH-1S I think) on display at Camp Mabry here in Austin in a nice, rich green with rocket cans and TOW tubes hanging off it.

[doogsatx/]

Apr 20, 2015 22:10:37 GMT -5 venom1 said:

Exceptional job as always Doogs! I have a mate who is building this at the moment, and he is appreciating you being ahead of him on the build!
I would buy this kit except for the fact that for some reason the Zulu doesn't quite float my boat as much as the Whiskey. Maybe it is the boring grey paint scheme. Maybe if we get some more colourful birds my mind might change? I agree with you, I hope a new tool Whiskey is on the way soon. Would snap that one up pronto!

Glad to be of service!

To be honest, I like the Whiskey a lot better, too. A late 80s tricolor scheme or a heavily weathered desert scheme with the gray paint showing through as the desert tan flakes off would look great.

I do like the Zulu a lot though. Think it has to do with keeping a platform that works chugging along with smart upgrades. It's kinda like the anti-F-35...

[venom1]

Apr 21, 2015 9:26:59 GMT -5 doogsatx/ said:

Glad to be of service!

To be honest, I like the Whiskey a lot better, too. A late 80s tricolor scheme or a heavily weathered desert scheme with the gray paint showing through as the desert tan flakes off would look great.

I do like the Zulu a lot though. Think it has to do with keeping a platform that works chugging along with smart upgrades. It's kinda like the anti-F-35...

Yeah, I'm with you, I think thats one of the reasons I like the Whiskey better, the paint schemes are great, especially when they are grotty! And as for the anti-F-35, I say if it ain't broke, don't fix it! Can't wait for the UH-1Y to come out!

Cheers,

Sam