#65279;I recently bought the Italeri 1/48 AH-1Z, however when I opened the box I noticed there were extra parts
for their old AH-1W.
Does anyone have the instruction for the old Italeri AH-1W, or has built a Whiskey from this kit that could
help?
I would like to build both versions. Any help or corrections would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Larry
Larry,
Their Whiskey kit is accurate for the AH-1T+ (The Gold Cobra or the orginal prototype) except for the fact the main rotor goes in the wrong direction. It should spin counterclock wise when viewed from above. The production Whiskeys didn’t have the open slots (probably designed for more cooling air) at the exhaust but the prototype did and this kit reflects that. Otherwise, it looks OK to me. Be sure and put some weight in the nose if you want it to sit properly.
Good luck,
Paul
The kit says it builds into a AH-1Z…but actually builds to the AH-1-4BW prototype. The production “Zulu” has a different FLIR turret than the “Whiskey” NTS-TSU, along with a couple other changes.
I beg to differ. The fairings over the exhaust could be and frequently were removed on the production Ws. As evident in the below pictures.
I stand (actually I’m sitting) corrected. Hey supercobra … I’ve never seen this before. Is this common to all production aircraft or just early production? At least I got the part right about the main rotor (Ha!)
Paul
Look at the photo above. See all of the screws going around the inside edges of the exhaust cowling? They hold on the fairing. Take off the fairing and it looks like the Italeri 1/72 and 1/48 kits. Put it back on and it looks like the MRC 1/35 kit or Cobra Company’s upgrade to Italeri kit.
This applies to all Ws. It is simply a removeable fairing. Leave it on and you get less drag and perhaps another knot or two. Take it off and you get cooler exhausts and maybe won’t get shot down by a heatseeker. It’s up to the squadron. However, I have not seen anyone take them off since the mid-90’s. Although it wasn’t uncommon to take them off I would say the majority of the time they were left on - one less part to loose.
As far as production or early production I’d say there was no such thing. Marine Cobras have always gone through upgrades but until the Zulu there were never any pre-production aircraft except maybe the first one. The first AH-1J went to the fleet with the rest of them and flew until they all went to the boneyard at Davis Monthan. It is now a hulk in the fire training pit in Yuma, AZ. The first AH-1T’s were actualy converted from the last two Js on the productin line. They also went to the fleet and were later upgraded to AH-1Ws with the rest of theTs. All of the AH-1Ts were converted to AH-1Ws. The first one also joined the fleet. All AH-1Ws will be converted to AH-1Zs and all UH-1Ns will be converted to UH-1Ys. Marine Corps reuses everything. That is why you will never see an AH-1T or an AH-1W in museum.
#65279;Thanks for the help Guys.
By the way, any of you wouldn’t happen to have the instructions for the old Italeri AH-1 series would
you???
I think the Gold Cobra MRC instructions will work as well,and the MRC AH-1W
super cobra instruction as well.I have both.Let me know if you would like me to mail them to you.I don’t have a scaner.Do the research and let me know at my E adress.
I would really like to get one of those old 1/32 S type cobra that revell did years ago.
Let me know
The Best
Davey5 dhi69@aol.com
Sorry I don’t have the W instructions still but if you take a digital picture of the sprues I’ll talk you through turning the Z kit back into a W. Should be pretty straight forward - just substitute the parts they don’t tell you to use in the Z instructions (IIRC rotor, stub wings, doghouse).
The 1/5 MRC instructions will not work - completely different kit - although you could go by comparing the overall shape of the parts to the ones left off in the Italeri Z instructions.