1/35 MRC AH-1W Super Cobra

by Fernan De Gannes

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  Trinidad Independence Day 

 

This is my 1/35 AH-1W Super Cobra updated to the NTS version using the Cobra Company's upgrade set. In addition, I combined parts of Eduard's cockpit set and lots of scratchbuilding to improve the overall accuracy.

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Summary of improvements:

(i) Corrected interior and nose using Cobra Company and Eduard sets

(ii) Corrected the landing skids to get the tubular shape

(iii) Reshaped parts of the main rotor. (blade tips, main mechanism) and added scratchbuilt details

(iv) Scratchbuilt the tail rotor assembly and added details to the rotor

(v) Combined scratchbuilding and kit parts to make the empty TOW launcher

(vi) Added details to the chaff launchers and wired them to the pylons

(vii) Added a sheet metal cover to the tail boom

(viii) Opened up the bottom of the gun cowling and added scratchbuilt details to the gun

 

 

The plume and laser detectors were left off as they were not evident in the reference photos of the aircraft I was modeling. I wanted to match the dirty weathered look of the real chopper. After preshading with Testos Dark Gull Gray, I created the worn, patchy effect with different shades of Light Ghost Gray and Medium Gray enamels. The shades were created by adding a couple drops of the darker gray to the base coat, applying these in areas that would be dirty and then applying lightened shades in random shots. A thinned coat of the base colours was then airbrushed to blend things together. Pastels were used to represent grime and exhaust staining. Everything was sealed with Future to prepare for decaling.

Decals from Two Bobs Whiskeys in the Mix were used. One problem with the sheet is that some of the markings were overscale e.g. the Intake Warning Triangle. I had to compensate by moving them back toward the intake. The canopy was then detailed and affixed after a coat of Testors Dullcote. Hope you like the end result.

Fernan

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Photos and text © by Fernan De Gannes