Kitty Hawk AH-1Z 'Viper'

[Kevthemodeller]

Got this kit almost 3 weeks ago, but work has had me all over the place and not had a chance to even look at it. Work has now finished for Christmas and New Year for me

This will be a good comparison with Johno's 1/35 entry

IMAG7111

Internet Article by ZAAL TCHKUASELI

The Bell AH-1Z Viper is a modern version of the AH-1 Cobra, the first ever attack helicopter. The modern version is also called Zulu Cobra in reference to its variant letter. Since its introduction in the mid 1960s the original Cobra has been constantly improved and upgraded. The latest AH-1Z Viper is a result of H-1 helicopter upgrade program for the US Marine Corps, that was launched by the US Government in 1996. The Bell helicopter company was eventually awarded a contract to deliver both upgraded and newly-built AH-1Z Vipers to the US Marine Corps. The Viper gunship was developed alongside the UH-1Y Venom utility helicopter under the same program.

The AH-1Z Viper is a direct derivative of the AH-1W Super Cobra. It is one of the most powerful, capable and advanced helicopters, flying today. The AH-1Z made its first flight back in 2000. It was introduced to the US Marine Corps in 2010. Full scale production commenced in 2012. Marines plan to receive a total of 189 Vipers until 2019. These include 131 AH-1W upgraded into AH-1Z and 58 newly built AH-1Z helicopters. In 2015 it was announced that 12 of these gunships will be delivered to Pakistan.

Upgrades of the AH-1Z included implementation of state-of-the-art weapons and digital technology to respond to modern demands for contemporary warfare. The Viper features outstanding flying and combat capabilities.

The AH-1Z has essential changes in propulsion. It is powered by two General Electric T700-GE-401C turboshaft engines and has uprated transmission. One of the main external differenced from the AH-1W is a composite 4-bladed main rotor, instead of the previous 2-bladed rotor. It reduced vibrations by up to 70 percent. It is worth noting that a 2-bladed rotor was a distinctive feature of all previous Bell helicopter models. However due to these changes flying characteristics improved a lot.

Despite all improvements and upgrades appearance of the AH-1Z remains the same. Pilot is seated at the rear and co-pilot/gunner at the front. Layout of two integrated digital cockpits is identical and all systems are duplicated.

This helicopter uses off-the-shelf electronic systems. It can operate in day, night, or adverse weather conditions. It has night vision twinned with infrared and new target search and acquisition software. It permits Viper to find and engage targets at long range. It can be fitted with Longbow fire control radar, mounted on wingtip station. Also there is automatic flight control station.

Armament of the Viper is very flexible. It is enhanced by helmet-mounted sight and display system. The AH-1Z carries about 2 t of various weapons on stub-wings. Typically it carries AGM-114A/B/C Hellfire anti-tank missiles (up to 16) and pods with 70 mm unguided rockets. The Viper can be also fitted with AGM-114F Hellfire anti-ship missiles, free-fall bombs, including the Mk.77 incendiary bombs. It can also carry two fire-and-forget AIM-9 Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missiles. These a mounted on wing tip stations. Also there is a 20 mm three-barrel cannon.

A number of improvements were made to survivability and crashworthiness of the helicopter. It is fitted with infrared suppression system which covers engine exhausts, laser and radar warning systems, and radar jammer. It also has smart countermeasures dispenser with missile warning device.

Latest airframe technologies were implemented, such as crashworthy seats, energy absorbing landing gear, self-sealing fuel tanks and fuel systems and fuel vapor inerting systems.

Fuselage of the helicopter and external components were coated to avoid corrosion during prolonged service at sea. These helicopters typically operate from amphibious assault ships.
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[jmurphy18]

Very cool picture Kev! Excellent idea on the build and choice

[Johno]

Awesome! Excited to see how this one goes, i wish the academy i'm doing had the engine and internal's detail this one has, looking forward to seeing how it goes together for you.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Sweeeeeeeeettttt!!!

[Stokesy44]

Sweeeeeeeeettttt!!!

What he said.

These modern attack jobs look so awesome. Cant wait to see you get into this Kev. Can just imagine you sat at the bench, beavering away while humming Ride of the Valkyries!

[TommyKillander]

Lovely!

I have a soft spot for helicopters that have wings so they can carry more ordnance

Good luck!


Tommy

[Tomcat64]

Awesome to have you onboard for this Kev!

Looking forward to seeing you get started - that red, black & white scheme looks really eye-catching - any idea which one you'll be going for?

[Kevthemodeller]

Really pleased I'll be able to do something over the holidays I've got myself in a situation I never said I would i.e. I've got 2 builds on the go at once My off line Spitfire and now this

Still I've got until end of March so not too bad.

As for which version I'm leaning towards the all low visibility grey

[Stokesy44]

I've got myself in a situation I never said I would i.e. I've got 2 builds on the go at once My off line Spitfire and now this

You'll just have to be brave, push through and grit your teeth.

[Kevthemodeller]

I've got myself in a situation I never said I would i.e. I've got 2 builds on the go at once My off line Spitfire and now this

You'll just have to be brave, push through and grit your teeth.

I wasn't that brave and resisted starting the Helo but now ...................................I've started

[digger303]

Now this is what a beautiful helicopter looks like.

[Kevthemodeller]

Finally I've started

I'd never even really heard of Kitty Hawk kits until fairly recently and until starting this kit never seen one up close. First impressions Not too bad, not Tamiya level about Airfix, their new stuff e.g. my recent Spitfire build. The moulding isn't as clean though quite a bit a flashing especially on the ejector pin areas


And it's not your normal wafer thin stuff it's like 1/4 solid


Even the mould half flashing is almost as thick as the part it's self, see arrow.


It's the same for the mould in/out where the part is joined to the sprue these are rather large.


Moulding in general could be better, square peg roundish hole


More moulding issues, started like this


Should be like this


Not show stoppers just disappointing and requires a lot more clean up time
About quadruple this pile later


And we're ready to start assembling


The assembly begins


Ready for primer and paint

[Kevthemodeller]

Now this is what a beautiful helicopter looks like.

It does look pretty cool

[Kevthemodeller]

Yesterdays bench time:

Got the cockpit painted ready for assembly


Started build the engine bays and engines, all with the same ejector pin flashing issues


You can really see how big the ejector pin flashing is, it not show stopping but time consuming.



And yet more thick edge flashing


All cleaned up and some dry fitting


This evenings bench time:
Complete dry fit, ready for painting


Engine bays and engines painted


Cockpit ready for assembly


Engine bays and cockpit assembled, instrument panels are still awaiting decals and not fitted as yet. Clear and weathering still do, those engines are quite nicely detailed and should look good once weathered

[smokeriderdon]

Looking very nice!

[Johno]

Those engines look awesome.

[Kevthemodeller]

Looking very nice!

Thanks mate some way to go yet

Those engines look awesome.

Thanks Johno, planning on some detailed weathering for both engine and cockpit. I doubt you'll see the engines much on the finished model, but I'll use them as a learning curve

[Meliodas2019]

thats amazing looking work there Kev, the engines look stunning weathered will be awesome

[Kevthemodeller]

thats amazing looking work there Kev, the engines look stunning weathered will be awesome

Thanks mate

[Kevthemodeller]

Little bit more engine detail

Starting on the fuselage same flashing issues

And this bad boy, luckily it will be hidden behind one of the cockpits armour plates, but it still needs removing to get the cockpit tub in

Cockpit tub and engines now varnished awaiting weathering, fuselage cockpit area painted

[digger303]

Some nasty plugs, but I'm sure they won't bother you. The engines are looking choice !

[Kevthemodeller]

Some nasty plugs, but I'm sure they won't bother you. The engines are looking choice !

Thanks mate the plugs are on just about very part

[Kevthemodeller]

Little but more weathering on the engines, this being in non war service and well looked after helo the engines are clean.

Cockpit is nearing completion, just some transparent to add screens

Rotary cannon housing, the ball bearing nose weight is included in the kit


Moulding issue here, some seam work is required


The skids, this shows the size of sprue gates

[Kingdan]

Nice subject really liking the engine work

[Kevthemodeller]

Nice subject really liking the engine work

Thanks mate

[Kevthemodeller]

Added the look of a screen to the cockpit monitors

Cleaned up the skid legs

Filled the gap in the cannon turret, just needs finishing now

Engines glued in, this is a bit tricky as there's very little to align them. If they're glued out of line the fuselage wont mate correctly

Seat belt PE.

From my research these are all black affairs including the buckles, they don't look too bad I think

Fuselage is now together, seat belts in place and PE vents/intakes

I think Kitty Hawk has a touch of the Dragon's, in that the instructions are misleading/wrong. Look at PE part 5

PE5 is on the right, the correct part is 9 on the left, there appears to be quite a bit of PE supplied that's not on the instruction but could and should be on the model

Optic pod, made a error here I should have painted the inside of the sphere to colour the optical lenses before I closed it I find away

Optic pad assembled

Fuselage detail parts, awaiting cleaning up

More tomorrow, with luck

[Kevthemodeller]

Kicked it along a little more yesterday

Stub wing and weapon hanger assemblies, you can see yet more of this heavy ejector pin flashing, it's on everything The little pile of clippings is of one wing and hanger

Both assemblies cleaned and glued, with all the crap cleaned off

Engine exhausts


Fuselage boom

[Quax]

just caught up with this Kev, its all looking very good and should be the mutts when you get to the end!

Paul

[Kevthemodeller]

Tanks Paul I must say I'm enjoying the build, could do without all the mould and flashing.

[Kevthemodeller]

Fuselage fittings

Some of the mouldings are too big/long, requiring modifying

Others too small or holes are way too big.



Tail boom PE some of these were a real pain, with the recesses being too small a lot of modding later


Boom surface fittings

Final fuselage PE same issues as the boom

and same on exhaust cowling

Tail rota, instructions call for part B25

But there's no B25, it's B24 touch of the Dargon here.
#
Note the amount of waste sprue that needs cleaning off


Main rota, the ejection pin flashing struck here it's thick and all of it must be removed. To make matters worse it's in the rebate areas where part have to sit flush with each other, took ages removing it

Fully assembled

Almost ready to assemble the the helo, internal areas painted. Fitting the exhaust cowling was a real pain the engine cells only have one small area at the front that locates in the fuselage, I though this would be a potential problem for late and I was I had to remove the cells and realign them right pain



Next will be assembling and start painting

[Meliodas2019]

looking great Kev, really come on since I last seen it, nice job on the seatbelts I just been doing my first every PE and not as simple as it looked

[Kevthemodeller]

looking great Kev, really come on since I last seen it, nice job on the seatbelts I just been doing my first every PE and not as simple as it looked

Thanks mate PE is at times is a nightmare much of it is in my opinion a waste of money and time as it can't be seen on the finished kit. I now study any PE kits to see just what you'll be able to see and if it's really any better than kits parts, these days moulding is so much better. I would no longer consider buying PE for anything below 1/32 unless, it could be seen and was better than kit parts. I buy the kit then check out what PE is available, often you can see where it all goes on manufactures websites.

I've only got it for this kit as it was in the box and to be fair it's not bad, except the seat belts. Which need bending etc before painting

[Kevthemodeller]

This weeks bench time

Remaining fuselage detailing

More moulding and fit issues, this time the roto head the control rods circled.

They're fiddly to fit, they have nothing to align them and hold them square so that they locate in the holes in the rotor drive head, zoom 17

and 20

I fitted them and couldn't get the rotor head to sit square, or get the control rods to align with their holes in the rotor drive plate. The rotor head shaft part D73 locating lug is semi circular, but the hole in B13 rotor head is circular, the same applies to the other end of D73 where it locates into the drive plate, both that end are semi circular. To make matters worse the control rods are different lengths

I had to disassemble the rotor head, luckily the glue hadn't completely cured, an application of extra thin and it all came apart I also found D73 locating lug was too long , chopped that and the control rod, and assemble it all wet, which allowed me to move it all about before it all set. What a faff but I got there in the end

Yet more fit issues The sensor arm is both longer thinner and a completely different shape than the mounting hole The canopy is covered in masking by the way.

Made a start on the weapon load, 70mm HAP

and HellFire during my research I found many pictures of mixed HellFire heads, so thought I'd mix mine

70mm HAP cleaned up and partly assembled, the end caps need painting a different colour so will be added once painted.

HellFire assembled

Yet more fit issues, the front lower access panel doors I decided to have these closed on the finished model, the detailing inside is very basic and would require considerable work to get it to a standard I'd like. I don't feel I've got the time left in the build to do it justice and hit the deadline of the end of Mar. The doors surprise, surprise don't fit well at all They're designed to be left open I think, the small lug fits into a recess and looks fine in the open position, not when closed

Even with the lugs removed the doors still stick out, the rebate on the door edge and fuselage door frame isn't deep enough considerable scraping later
And we're there

I'm almost at the painting stage

[Kevthemodeller]

The painting starts
Primer

My very first attempt at preshading


First colour, for the lower section of fuselage. The pictures don't do the preshading justice it could be better but it is there.




Masked up, which took a while especially around the back of engine exhausts



Reapplied the base for preshading


For some reason I forgot to take pictures of the white shading applied, got carried away with painting
Second colour applied and masking removed. Got a few very small bleed through areas, but it's not an issue as I've got to soften off the edge anyway. Thinking about it now I could have gone freehand as it's not a hard edge but opted for the safe option for my first go

[Meliodas2019]

looking good Kev, realy coming together now and loving the paint job

[Kevthemodeller]

Concentrated of feathering the colour separation line, all done free hand learnt new skills with the airbrush. It could be better but I'm pleased with the result, going forward I'll freehand this type of colour separation Glossed and ready for decaling and panel lining

[Tomcat64]

It's a real shame about the sloppy moulding and Dragon style instructions Kev, but well done for sticking with it as that's a great looking chopper.

Looking forward to seeing how the paintwork develops now

[Kevthemodeller]

Thanks Neil, I'm really enjoying the build despite some of the minor issues. Although not show stoppers, they're a little disappointing when you consider what you pay and measured against the competition which is cheaper or about the same. All that said it's still a nice kit

[digger303]

It always catches my eye I think your doing a sterling job Kev

[Kevthemodeller]

Digger

[Kevthemodeller]

This weeks bench time
The decals are on they were very hit and miss, took ages to release from the backing paper with warm or cold water it made little difference. They're pretty poor quality, most of the wording you can't read even with x3 They took a lot of decal solution, even solvaset had little effect, oddly some would react as you'd expect, most are poor Still got a reasonable result



Rota, needs some tidying but almost there


Weapons now AIM-9L

Motor exhaust

Hellfire & AIM-9L shading and ready for top colour

[Kevthemodeller]

Small up date weapons load almost complete

The jet exhaust in the kit had a almost 45* angle, I couldn't find a picture of one during my research, only a slight kink. I've modified the kit part, you can see the angle it was and what I cut off.

Section cut I off on the left and modified re-drilled part on the right.

[Stokesy44]

Looking good Kev

She looks great with the decals on and that ammo load is going to be superb.

[Kevthemodeller]

mate

I'm trying to put the Hellfires on the racks, what a faff Each missile has 2 tiny indents, which align with two tiny lugs which run parallel to the missile body, you can't see the rear one as it's right between the fins and they are so small the offer no positive location.

[digger303]

Missiles and rotor looks great. When it all comes together it'll be a show stopper

[Kevthemodeller]

Missiles and rotor looks great. When it all comes together it'll be a show stopper

Digger, not sure about show stopper though

The missile rack mounting is a real mare

[Stokesy44]

Sounds like it’s been a bit of a battle. What are your thoughts on the kit in general?

I’ve seen plenty of negative stuff about the brand but this is the first build of a Kitty Hawk kit I’ve followed.

[Kevthemodeller]

Sounds like it’s been a bit of a battle.

Its been a battle for sure, not really thought out way of assemble There's also a flaw in the the moulding, the top left hand missile is further back the all the others. At first I though it was me gluing in the wrong position, as you cant really see the small mounting lungs or dimples in the missile when gluing. Three time I took it off, it's was only when I measured did I find out it's moulded wrong The mould are also carbon copies so the fault is the same on both

What are your thoughts on the kit in general?
I’ve seen plenty of negative stuff about the brand but this is the first build of a Kitty Hawk kit I’ve followed.

I'd be thinking very hard before buying another, it's not bad just has lots of little niggles, bit like Revell or Airfix. They do make some interesting kits though got my eye on the 1/32 Kingfisher, anyone got any feed back?

[Kevthemodeller]

Yesterdays bench time. Started the weathering with panel lining, came out rather well I thought

[Kevthemodeller]

Weathering is finished was looking for the been in action look, pictures I'd found during my research showed a grubby look of accumulated grime, think I've captured it




On the the weapons and rotors now
I've also just noticed somehow I've knocked off the tail rotor protecting skid, i need to search the carpet monster