Further progress on Revell’s veru old AH-1G with some upgrades. I have fitted and attached the new late war tail and the beginnings of the exhaust with anti-strella unit by fireworks - really good set, nicely molded and pretty much fits like a glove. I do have to modify the resin spine just under the exhaust since it seems to be a tad wide and tall for the “toilet bowl” to fit properly. I have also added some PE parts from an old Eduard set that I had laying around. I have also added the gun turret and cockpit from the Cobra Co. set - also excellant.
I need to add some scoop covers, belly armour plates and figure out how to deal with the fabric air intake covers on the engine housing. Then it’s on to a canopy - gawd knows how I am going to deal with that since I want to open it and the Revell canopy is a bit thick and not really well molded.
For my intakes, I used really fine mesh with strips of styrene to make the vanes. IIRC there should be seven vanes per intake cover. Lookin good, can’t wait to see her finished!
your right Wibhi that “toilet bowl” does look like a toilet bowl cool now if you do have a problem with the thickness go and get a package of Squadrons Thermaform plastic to make a better copy of the canopy since canopies made by the thermaform method are more in the line of correct thickness and the canopies are crystal clear as well.
I just got my Anti-strela kit from Fireball Modelworks and WOW! Firstly, Joseph is one heck of a guy, and second, the parts are beautiful, with minimal cleanup. I’ve got one Cobra building already that I was going to convert to a right-hand tail rotor. The new tailfin makes this SO much easier! Plus, his decals are BEAUTIFUL! I got the Cobras Pt. 1 sheet, and it comes with markings for four specific birds and basic markings for just about any other unit you can think of!
I’m going to finish this Cobra as a May 1972 AH-1G flown by Blue Max F/79 AFA in the vicinity of An Loc, just before they moved up to Hue.
Splendid!!! I’m loving what you are doing. Even though you have opted for one of those “sissy, never run out of left pedal” versions, I can’t wait to see the final product. Your modeling skills appear to be first rate and I am envious of your work. 1/32 scale is a bit big for my tastes as I have only recently graduated from “braille scale” to 1/48. I am looking forward to “Chiefsnake’s” AH-1G conversion. My workbench is going to look like the 2/20th, 4/77th , F/79th ARA
flightline circa '69-'72 . I may even toss in a 11th ACR or B/1/9th Cav bird to finish off a collection of units I got to work with in RVN. Now, those guys could fly “Snake”!
Do we know if any Max Snakes were fitted with anti-strela kits after Brown & Cordon’s mission? If I remember correctly, they were the last SA-7 victims that F/79 had at An Loc. In any case, I’ve been working on my toilet-bowl exhaust today and I’m getting the markings ready for it. Just need an accurate bird to portray!
Cobrahistorian,
I put up a request on ARA website for information on anti- Strella kit installation on Blue Max aircraft. I have no photo evidence of the installation and suspect that they were not installed. Remember, first suspected shoot-downs were blamed by the “pencil pushers” on RPG’s. The only written or photo evidence I can find suggests that F Troop 4th Cav (Hue-Phu Bai) was the first to get the kits in the July/August 1972 time frame. I have some photos of last day for F/79th ARA and neither of the two aircraft in the photo have the “toilet bowl” installed.
I was able to get more information on F/79th ARA anti-Strella modifications from a fellow Blue Max pilot who was with the unit during the Easter Offensive and and its subsequent move North to Da Nang in early July. Near the end of June, and shortly after Mike Brown and Marco Cordon survived a SAM shoot-down, the Army issued the bolt on kits to F/79th and several other units (F Troop
4th Cav, H/17th Cav which was B/7/17 Cav). The kits were available for several years, but were stored in the U.S. for eventual use in the European theater. The Army brass insisted that the losses sufferred by the Blue Max pilots were due to B-40 RPG’s (at 3500 feet AGL no less). These were the same chaps who insisted there was no Soviet-made armor in South Vietnam. To combat the SAM’s, Cobras flew “in the weeds” for several months until the 'Toilet Bowls" were installed. At that time they returned to operating “at altitude” and the SAM threat abated. Blue Max flew its last missions in August 1972. pilots who had less than 6 months left on their tours could opt to extend or go home. Those with more than 6 months left were parcelled out to other units.
Wow,
That is such cool info. Thanks snakedriver.
I opted for an easier route on theFOD covers. Chris Miller from Cobra Co. is going to send me a set from thier XM-35 Weapons set. THANK YOU CHRIS and Cobra.
Hey CH,
The drawings in your book are approximately what scale? or are they NTS?
