1/35 MRC AH-1W “Whiskey” Cobra

Gallery Article by Scott Windjack

The Kit 
This is one of MRC’s 1/35 scale Helicopters. I have built several of there products and would have to say that is you are one who has been contemplating building a “large” helicopter.. Than I would tell you “you can’t go wrong with any of the MRC Helicopters”. 

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Construction  
The construction was very straight forward and provided no hang ups or excessive filling needed. The one and only down fall for this kit is in fact the cockpit. It is not “terrible” and has raised detail… which sure as heck better than the alternative “DECALS”!! YUK! However, there are none of the extras, which are needed to give this model that “realistic look”. The main problem is that the AH-1 has a HUGE greenhouse! Therefore you can look right into the cockpit with out difficulty. You have to add the A/C hoses (which I scratch built from wire tubing). It would also be recommended that you modify the Pilots HUD. They give you the standard “chunk” of clear plastic that in no way resembles the real deal. I used spare pieces of old left over photo etched material to scratch build the frame work then cut a clear piece of styrene for the glass. The gunners station also needed a little work. His optical sight did not have the handle, so I found a spare cyclic grip which I chopped up and added some small blocks of plastic to build up the sight to more accurately model the real one.

Painting  
Being as though I made this kit around a year ago, I was limited to the stock decals. I considered making a “Desert” sand version, but decided to give the old Marine Corp. Three tone Camouflage used in the late 80’s early 90’s.

Decal & Weathering
After the paint dried I coated with Future, and then applied the kit provided decals. After sealing with Solvaset. The helicopter was then spayed overall with Testors Flat Coat .