Italeri 1/48 Bell AH-1W Supercobra

US Marine Corps, HMLA-169 'Vipers', Persian Gulf 1987

AH1W_015 AH1W_018

Another helicopter to which I have added Cobra Company resin is this Italeri AH-1W Supercobra. The basic kit is good, but has an inaccurate exhaust area more representative, I believe, of the prototype. The resin upgrade set is basically a completely new cockpit, which is brilliant, and a replacement rear upper fuselage section to correct the kit's inaccuracy. One other major inaccuracy of the kit is that the rotors are supplied upside-down, which I didn't discover until I'd finished the model (of course!). I used Humbrol enamels for the finish followed by Johnson's Klear, an oil wash, and Humbrol Matt Cote. This was fast becoming my standard finishing sequence. The kit decals are typical Italeri; they have a milky white residue and can silver a bit. The Hellfire missiles and rocket pods came in the kit. This kit was built in the Summer of 1998.

AH1W_001 AH1W_002 AH1W_003 AH1W_004 AH1W_020 AH1W_007

AH1W_021 AH1W_011 AH1W_012 AH1W_013 AH1W_014 AH1W_016

AH1W_017 AH1W_019 AH1W_005 AH1W_008

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