In early November 2021, /r/modelmakers put out a feeler for anyone interested in a helicopter group build. Considering I’d never done a group build or a helicopter, I signed up. 🙂
Not really having a particular model in mind, I looked on Amazon. I found the Academy 1/35-scale USMC AH-1Z kit for about $30. Scalemates had good things to say about the kit, and there were plenty of build videos already on YouTube, so I went for it.
Here’s a gallery of the kit and some planning.
Every model I’ve worked on thus far rarely follows the sequence established in the instructions, so I watched four build videos for this kit to learn how to build it.
- ScaleModelAircraft – CON: construction sequence was very jumbled. PRO: spent more time showing how the ordnance was built and painted than other videos.
- Ardecon Hobby – CON: no explanation of why he painted/masked the clear parts the way he did. PRO: showed how the target sight system could be painted inside.
- Andy’s Hobbies – CON: didn’t show how he weathered the tail boom. PRO: used less dramatic weathering using thinned dark gray panel line accent.
- Ebroin’s Miniatures – CON: not much shown for the ordnance; PRO: showed more details on how to weather the kit (bonus: scratch-build of the target sight system).
Based on the instructions and those four videos, I mapped out what things had to be done in what order. With that general flow, I broke the project into steps in Trello. Watching other builders showed me things I hadn’t considered as well as areas where I plan to go another route.
I was missing the two main colors: light ghost gray, dark ghost gray. Tamiya is my preferred brand to airbrush, and they don’t offer either of those colors in acrylic. Vallejo only had one of the colors. Mission Models has both grays (which were in stock at the local Hobbytown USA), but I was unimpressed that I have to use their proprietary thinner for airbrushing. This kit will be an experiment to see how well that brand works.
So far I’ve spent about 8 hours researching and planning.
Looking forward to getting the build started!