1/72 AModel Ka-52 Kamov

by  Mark Littrell (ARC forum name Mark M.)

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I picked this kit up in a hobby shop some time ago.  I liked the look of it, and it was just a "I want to get a small kit, but I don't know of what plane" type of build.  I don't have a "kit stash" per se, and at the time I was between projects and wanted to do an interesting looking helicopter.  The Ka-52 is an advanced "command" ship, meant to be included in "normal" helicopter missions, but using its advanced sensors and communications to better coordinate the attack.

Later I discovered (upon opening the box as well as upon searching the Internet) that the kit is a limited run kit.  What is limited run?  It means it's not made by a big factory, and that the materials used in the mold and the plastic might be a little less refined than in your average Tamiya kit.  Practically, it means the molds wear down quickly and can only be used so much.  I found a large amount of flash, some defects in surfaces, some shape problems here and there, and the entire kit had general fit problems.  The upside is that the kit is fairly small, and that the fit problems -- while numerous -- were each minor.  Plastic sanding/cutting skills will save the day for those that have this kit.

The kit itself is one I like.  The shape and angles of the subject are captured well, at least to my eyes.  The cockpit doesn't really seem scaled properly with the windshield, so I posed the canopies open.

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The kit came with an abundance of weapons options (a very nice feature).  I chose a loadout that included an air to air missile (for self defense), a twin-barreled gunpod (for strafing) and 2 types of rocket launchers. The kit also came with a very dense and somewhat grainy instruction sheet for the 100+ decals it included. It is hard to tell which stencil goes where, and the decals don't use some decals, but call for decals not included on the sheet!  It's very disorganized, and I used a magnifying glass at times to make heads and tails out of it.

I like stencils and feel they add to the finished model, but the problem with these decals was that they were all on a single film.  You had to cut out around each stencil, and you needed to leave some clear film to properly move and manipulate the decal before it sets.  I used MicroSet and MicroSol in massive quantities, not only to wrap around the many curves, but because the decals had very little adhesive on them and tended to fall off.  A dab of Set and they stayed put.  A dab of Sol and they melted to shapes better.

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All in all a fairly hard build due to the brittle plastic, some mistakes I made (and corrected), the dodgy instruction sheet, and the fact that the decals like to shatter.  I lost a few decals before figuring out how to better handle them. With an ARC forum-goer's help I was able to obtain Italeri decals for the same craft.  Using a combination of the two decals I think I've got the stencils down pat.  Many thanks to ChernayaAkula for his help in obtaining the Italeri decals! 

Mark

Photos and text © by Mark Littrell