1/35 Italeri AH-1W Super Cobra

by Cornel Porcoteanu

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This is my first attempt at scratchbuilding some of the details for a larger kit. The kit itself is quite good, with ups and downs, especially bad in the fuselage fit. The lower part needed heavy filling and sanding, being totally bent...
The kit details are quite good, but some of them were screaming for improvement.

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I did not change everything I wanted, but I just corrected the engine bay cover, as seen on some walkarounds, added syringe needle for gun and pitot tube, cockpit details, cables, extinguisher, engine details and, in the last 30 min of the build, door handles: the ones in the kit are too bulky.

New handles are PE leftovers cut to size, soldered and glued through a hole in the canopy.

Painting was done with Model Master and Revell colors, fixed with Future (or Pronto Fast Wax, as it known around here).  The diorama is not finished yet, but up to this point was painted with acrylic spray colors...it still needs weathering.  Overall this was a nice fun build, not really highly recommended, but with enough patience it can turn into a beauty.

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PS: I do not know if any of you tried, but I found a nice material for water (dirty) in dioramas: transparent sanitary silicone (see last picture). I am now looking for ways to color it: any ideas?

Thank you all for the ideas and tips on the ARC website and forums!

Cornel

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Photos and text © by Cornel Porcoteanu