Academy 1/35 AH-1Z Cobra
By Chris Vandegrift
Another Academy 1/35 AH-1Z! This one is HMLA-167 based out of MCAS New River NC.
I just love these kits AND there are so many great schemes to do! The only downside is the clear parts. The canopy glass is prone to cracking, when taking them off the sprue (even with micro saw) and when installing them.
This one is 100% out of the box. Just as a fun build, I did the assembly in the hotel each night while I was traveling earlier this year. Finally got to the fun part…painting! Scale Colors for the blue grey on top, MCW lacquer for all the rest. I made masks on my Silhouette cutter for the Warriors scheme. Man, they have a lot of unique graphics on their Vipers. The squadron logo over the gun I did by airbrushing a white shadow on the gun, then I hand painted the black and red elements of the skull.
The one allowance I had to make was for the intake danger markings. I needed to split the red and black colors but I only had red and grey markings in 1/35 scale. Unfortunately, the lettering is too small for the silhouette so I decided solid red would at least reflect the paint scheme well.
The ordnance load is based on a pic I found online. I liked the non-symmetrical load and the different color rocket pods.
© Chris Vandegrift 2023
This article was published on Friday, August 25 2023; Last modified on Sunday, August 27 2023