A nice, slender shape! And two bladed rotor makes it easy to place in a display cabinet! 😉
Overall, there are no issues with putting together this one. As it is a Hi-Tech kit, there was quite some work with small 3D printed and resin details involved, but if you have a vanilla variant, only with some PE or Space details from Eduard it should make building this one a breeze.
If it's American, then it's most likely in OD. But what Olive Drab to use, you ask? In this, early Vietnam, case - C304 from Mr.Hobby.
Remember to cram as much ballast to the nose or else you'll end up with a tail sitter. I also add a magnet to the turret (in some malign dream to make it swappable for a grenade launcher one) that gives it a little additional weigh, so it balances nicely.
No sharkmouth = not a true AH-1 Cobra.
As a sidenote - generally all fits in this kit very well, but if you'll be making it without ammo covers for XM-35 system, then it's worth considering gluing in a spar between body halves, so the lower plate aligns nicely as it might warp inwards just so slightly. In this case those covers totally obscures this join line.
Turret gun barrels are also provided for this kit in resin detail form. This really makes a difference, as those parts are poorly moulded. Fortunately they come repeated on another resin brick, so I have a set for another Cobra 😉
You can view the cockpit without canopy in other album, but here's how it looks on a made kit. Resin helmets are given as a bonus and are too nicely made not to include them.
So this is it. Actually it was completed some time ago, but it was waiting for the small base to be completed only for me to never have a real idea for it. So, let's skip it! Cobra looks good enough without it!
It's a Special Hobby issue of the very well made ICM kit with additional PE parts, resin and 3D printed details from CMK. I also added a CMK resin minigun as it looks leagues better than what's on the sprues and had to buy Eduard's Zoom set to obtain side consoles for the cockpit. All other detailing was made using what was provided in the set.
Decals are printed by Eduard and as such the clear film can be removed. It's especially helping the sharkmouth to conform nicely, though some touch ups are required. Also, it's a useful feature on the pronounced tail rivets.
A nice and straightforward build that gives a lot of pleasure! "The Gladiator" was chosen because, obviously, of a sharkmouth that is an obligatory thing on a Cobra and it also have some nice red accents here and there.
I never happened to stumble on a photo of a severely weathered and chipped Vietnam Cobra, so not much weathering on this one. Which on the other hand is something of my trademark 😉
