History
Bell
’s Model 209, better known
as the AH-1 Cobra, was conceived in the middle stages of the Vietnam War.
While ad-hoc weapons systems were added to existing helicopters for
gunship use, the Cobra was the first mass-produced, dedicated heavy attack
helicopter. Built around the UH-1
Huey’s engine, transmission, and tail boom, the Cobra would prove to be
deadly efficient at its intended role. The
AH-1G entered front-line service with the US Army in 1967, with AH-1F/S being
the last variant to serve before being superceded by the McDonnell Douglas
AH-64A/D Apache. In the late
1990’s the AH-1 was retired from the US Army, some 30 years after it had
entered service. The AH-1W Super
Cobra (twin engine, navalized variant) serves as the primary attack helicopter
of the United States Marine Corps, and serves with the armed forces of Turkey,
and Taiwan, while the AH-1F/S is in service with Israel, Japan, Jordan, and
Pakistan (The Cobra was exported to a host of other countries, but their
operational status is unknown). Upgrades
in armament, avionics, and defensive aids keep the Cobra in pace with the
latest generation of attack helicopters. With the introduction of the AH-1Z
Viper, the Cobra will continue to strike for sometime to come.
Building
an Israeli Tzefa
First
order of business was gathering references.
After I had gathered what was needed, building commenced.
First order of business was to add brass screen mesh to the engine
cover openings. After thinning the plastic from inside the fuselage and
enlarging the openings a bit, the mesh was glued into place.
Work on the cockpit started next. The cockpit tub, instrument panels,
interior walls, and seats were painted Tamiya NATO Black. Various shades of
black were used to detail paint the instruments, controls, and interior bits
to avoid a monochromatic look. Everything
was dry-brushed again, then individual knobs and switches were piqued out with
grey, red, yellow, and silver. The
seat cushions were painted dark green, with light grey seat belts, then glued
to the pit’ tub. The cockpit
received a final dry-brushing before being sealed into the fuselage halves.
After all exterior sub-assemblies were added, the fun job of seam
clean-up began. The kit was
tooled in the hey-day of raised panel lines, so care is needed when
eliminating the seams. A
combination of CA glue and Model Master red putty was used to fill gaps and
seams. The trickiest part to fit
and clean up was the where the bottom plate/landing skid assembly attaches to
the fuselage. The piece was
warped, plus there were major gaps where the skids meet the fuselage. Once
satisfied with the seam clean-up, I began the task of making extra RWR and
other assorted lumps found on Israeli Cobras.
Resin pour stubs were reshaped for the RWR housings behind the canopy
and on the right side of the tail boom (also for the whip antenna base on the
tip of the tail). A plume
detector from a RoG MH-60L was modified then added to the left side of the
tail boom, just below the exhaust. Another
sensor was whittled into shape, and then added to the top of the nose.
There is a triangular housing on top of the doghouse that needs to be
removed. The holes for the towel
rack antennas that would be mounted behind the horizontal stabs need to be
filled as these were deleted from Israeli Cobras.
The tail skid was replaced with brass rod for added strength.
A new blade antenna was made from sheet styrene, and then placed on the
bottom of the fuselage, between the skids.
The last obstacle to tackle was the external chaff/flare dispensers.
Sheet styrene was used for the base of both dispensers, while brass was
used for the mounting brackets. The
dispensers themselves came from a Pro-Modeler F-4E Phantom kit.
Screen mesh was added to the back end of the dispensers to replicate
the egg-crate look. Perhaps the
most nerve-racking portion of the build up was cutting the canopy apart.
With all the detail painting, plus I wanted to add HSS rails and the
associated wiring, it would’ve been a shame to cover it with a closed
canopy. The canopy was cut apart
using the backside of an Exact-o knife blade, cleaned up, strip material added
to replace material lost in the cutting process, and then polished and set
aside. Some strip styrene was
used to shim the canopy/fuselage join (another major fit issue) to improve the
fit. Before adding the canopy,
HSS rails were added to styrene brackets, and then attached to canopy.
Copper wiring was used to replicate the HSS rail wiring.
With canopy added and sealed off, the last of the fiddly bits (cable
cutters, braces, ADS Boom) were added prior to painting.
Painting
and Rotors/Weapons construction
After one final check of the seams and masking off the canopy, it was time to
apply the paint. No complicated
paint scheme here as the overall finish is FS 30145.
A Humbrol mix of Hu110 and Hu119 was sprayed onto model for a base coat.
The color was lightened, and then applied in light coats.
More white was added to a separate jar of the base color, it was randomly
applied to replicate patch work on the finish.
The panel lines were post shaded with the base color. While
the model was left to dry, I assembled the weapons and rotors.
The operational load-out on most Israeli Cobras these days consists of
just four TOW launchers (two per side, mounted on the outside pylons). After
removing the lower half of the TOW launchers, sheet styrene was used for the
mounting brackets and retaining straps. The
rotors and TOW launchers were painted with the original base color, and then
detail painted where necessary. For
a touch of color, the armed portion of the TOW launchers was painted blue to
represent inert weapons. Dark grey
paint was used to replicate the anti-slip material on the wings (upon
re-evaluating that decision, Interior Black would have been a better choice).
Model Master Metalizer Sealer was sprayed onto all assemblies in
preparation for the decaling/panel line/weathering process.
Markings/Weathering
In
the latter stages of 2002, Northern Cobra Squadron AH-1s’ started to sport a
new large, black snake motif on the fuselage.
Ra’anan Weiss (owner of Isradecal) designed the motif and applied it to
first NCS Tzefa himself. The snake
is actually FS 34031 Helo Drab, but looks black in photos.
Imagine my delight when I received word that Ra’anan was going to issue
a set of decals for this scheme (along with decals for the desert camo’ed
Apache and S-70 Yanshuf). Applying
those large decals was daunting and proved to be very challenging.
I had to use decals from my spare set of as one of the snakes rolled onto
itself while trying to apply it to the model.
I ended up destroying the decal while trying unroll it, GRRR!
Oh well, that’s why I get a second set, just in case things like that
happen. The rest of the snake
segment decals went on without a hitch.
An acrylic sludge wash was used to darken the vents and
shadowed areas. It was also used on the rotors and weapon racks.
After the wash was applied, I sealed everything with Acryl Dull Coat.
Dry-brushing was done on various places of the fuselage (mainly on the
rivets and some access panels).
Final
Assembly
With
the painting, decaling, and weathering completed, it was time to put the final
touches on this baby. A new
anti-collision beacon was made from a piece of clear sprue, added to its base,
and then painted clear red. The
wing tip and other fuselage navigation lights were painted at this time as well.
The ALQ-144 IR Jammer was first painted silver chrome, then tinted with
Tamiya Clear Yellow and
Orange
.
A small section of brass rod was used to replicate the targeting turret
location marker (then painted hi-viz orange).
The operational sections of the canopy were added next.
The actuators and handles came from an Italeri AH-1T Sea Cobra kit.
The 20mm gun was installed, as were the TOW launchers.
The launchers themselves received some wiring for added detail.
Two whip antennas were made from stretched sprue, and then added just
ahead of the doghouse. A section of
guitar string (E1 for you music types ) was
used for the UHF antenna on the tail. The
exhaust was painted a burnt metal color, and spotlight lens was added to the
bottom (from layered five minute epoxy).
The
last touch was using black pastel powder to replicate the exhaust stains on the
tail boom.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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Conclusion
Monogram’s
1/48th AH-1S was originally released in the mid 1980s’.
Accurate in shape and detail, Monogram’s Cobra still continues to be
one of the best AH-1 kits on the market.
To this day, it is a Rotorhead favorite.
The level of detail is outstanding, with cockpit being the most
impressive aspect of the kit. It
builds up somewhat hassle free, and with some
extra TLC, a stunning replica of the is important aircraft can be made.
Shana
Tova,
Albert
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