ICM AH-1 Late Cobra.

[BlrwestSiR]

I was planning to sit until I was further along with the Lancaster before starting this but decided my bench wasn't cluttered enough.

This is the recent ICM kit.

 I've got a bit of AM for it, primarily the Eduard PE set and the Quinta cockpit details. 

I've also got an Aber M-61 brass barrel set that I've cut down to better approximate the length of the one on the gun pod. This I had assumed earlier. 

[BlrwestSiR]

I had the afternoon off so got to work on the cockpit. 

I removed the raised details from the cockpit tub and then painted it grey.  I then started on the Quinta panels. 

[Drifter]

Looking good. I started an ICM kit as well, my first one. So far I am impressed. 

[DocRob]

Nice start Carl, good to see  you working on the Cobra. Having the Special Hobby derivate of the early model in stash, I will follow closely.

Cheers Rob

[BlrwestSiR]

On 3/29/2022 at 4:08 AM, Drifter said:

Looking good. I started an ICM kit as well, my first one. So far I am impressed. 

This is my first ICM kit as well. I'm really impressed by the fit and overall quality as well. 

On 3/29/2022 at 4:13 AM, DocRob said:

Nice start Carl, good to see  you working on the Cobra. Having the Special Hobby derivate of the early model in stash, I will follow closely.

Cheers Rob

I've got the Special Hobby version as well. The paint instructions are much better in the Special Hobby kit than the ICM so I've been using them on the build. 

[BlrwestSiR]

Here's an example of the great fit. There are separate tail sections to reflect the change in  the early and late versions of the tail rotor. ICM made sure to use a suitable overlap so the join is strong and aligned easily.

I installed the engine bay into one side of the fuselage and then painted it interior green. 

I then added the gearbox(?) after painting all the bits. 

Back to the cockpit, I tried the Quinta seatbelts and they worked out nicely. 

Then I added the remaining cockpit details. 

I'm getting nearer to closing up the fuselage. 

[Martinnfb]

Amazing progress Carl, almost missed out the finish line

[Martinnfb]

Wait for it .....

[DocRob]

Looks like a nice straightforward build Carl. The cockpit is looking great.

Cheers Rob

[BlrwestSiR]

Thanks Rob! It's definitely going together nicely. 

Speaking of which, I got the cockpit in place.

And the fuselage closed up. You're supposed to install the tail rotor at this point but I'm leaving it off to make painting easier. 

[BlrwestSiR]

I got some more work on the fuselage done. The transmission covers need a small tweaks to fit better. They sit a bit proud of the surface.

There's a tab and corresponding recess on the panel. When I deepened the recess the panel dropped in better. 

I repeated this on the other side. 

The fuselage needed some nose weight so I epoxied in some pennies in the nose under the cockpit..

9¢ deemed about right as there's nothing in the instructions about adding nose weight. 

I then attached the lower fuselage panels. The fit was again fantastic. 

Lastly I added the applique armour fitted to the port side. I suspect this is due to the cannon on the inboard station. 

 

[DocRob]

Start to look Cobra, Carl. Nine Cent are a true bargain for better balance , thanks for that tip. Are you sure, the extra armor is not to protect the pilot a bit better?

Cheers Rob

[Drifter]

WOW, thats some progress. Those Quinta seat belts look the real deal. 

[BlrwestSiR]

On 4/1/2022 at 5:14 AM, DocRob said:

Start to look Cobra, Carl. Nine Cent are a true bargain for better balance , thanks for that tip. Are you sure, the extra armor is not to protect the pilot a bit better?

Cheers Rob

Pennies aren't legal tender in Canada any more so it's a good way for me to use them up. 

The armour plate only goes on the one side of the fuselage. It's the same side that the underwing cannon is which is why I think it's more of a gun blast protection rather than cockpit armour. B-25s with the fuselage mounted gun packs had similar plating added to them. 

[Martinnfb]

Looking good Carl, how do you like the Tamiya Lacquer paint ?

[BlrwestSiR]

Thanks Martin! 

I've been using them since they first came out. I like them as I'll think them down in the bottle and leave them that way ready for use. I find they flow fairly well and generally cover nicely. The only exception is the whites. Those I find too translucent which is interesting as their acrylic versions cover nicely. For white I usually just use their surface primer in the bottle. 

[BlrwestSiR]

In going over the fuselage I found some imperfections that needed a lick of putty. 

I then finished the cockpit adding a couple armour plates(?) to the cockpit. 

Then, I got to the hardest part of the build. The canopy is in 5 parts and everything is a butt joint. 

First I added some details to the centre section of the canopy. 

Then I added the outer panels. 

Finally I masked it off ready for paint. 

[DocRob]

5 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said:

Then, I got to the hardest part of the build. The canopy is in 5 parts and everything is a butt joint. 

The canopy came together nicely Carl. Which type of glue did you use for the clear parts? Have you prepared the clears with Future? You see easily, my questions manifest, that I also found the canopy will be the hardest part of the build.

Cheers Rob

[BlrwestSiR]

Thanks Rob! 

For the canopy I used Tamiya Extra thin Quick set cement. I put a tiny dab on the seam and let capillary action do its thing. 

I found that I needed a couple small shims to make the panels fit. I used thin styrene strip for that. 

After doing a test fit, I decided to not follow the instructions and I stead started with the rear side panel rather than the centre one. I could this had a much more positive location for fit especially with the shim needed at the front. 

I then added the front side panel, shimmed it, then the centre panel. Lastly I did the other side panels again starting with the rear one. 

I don't have Future so gave the panels a quick polish with Tamiya finishing compound. 

I haven't seen many builds of the kit so hard to tell if the canopy fit was operator error or not. Seeing how everything else has fit so well it could be. 

 

[DocRob]

Thank you Carl, it seemed to have worked perfectly, gluing the canopy without smears and fogging. I dip clear parts in Future to enhance the transparency and minimize the risk of fogging, specially with CA involved. Once I had a reaction between Future and liquid mask after some weeks, since then it's only Kabuki on futurized canopies.
Nice save with the shims, the canopy fit now looks great.

Cheers Rob

[GazzaS]

Sharp Work, Carl!

[BlrwestSiR]

Thanks folks! 

Had to take a pause as it turns out I didn't have olive drab. So i finally made it to the hobby shop today and picked some up. 

I got to work on putting some paint down. I started with the black areas of the fuselage and then realized it would be easier to mask off the OD and paint them after. 

So I've now got the OD on and it's drying. 

Hopefully late today I can redo the black areas and continue on. 

 

[BlrwestSiR]

I masked off the areas to be painted black. There's also a small bit at the end of the tail boom that's red so masked that off and hit to with some white primer first. That might be visible in some of the pics. 

I also masked off the stub wings.

Black and red are now on.

Moment of truth. 

The good news is that there isn't any bleed thru under the masking. The bad news is that the canopy had some gaps around the edges where I glued it to the fuselage and some paint dust got in and is on the insides. If I could get the canopy off I could wipe it off. It's just stuck in place with static electricity bit I don't think I'm going to risk it.

[belugawhaleman]

Looking good Carl!

[BlrwestSiR]

Last bit of paint for tonight. I used a mask for the Army script that goes on the tail. When I was applying it I was concerned it want flexible enough to confirm around the rivets. 

Worst case if there was a lot of bleed through I'd just overpaint it and use the decals. Turned out much better than I'd hoped. 

I went back and did the centre of the "A"sand that's one more bit done.