UH-1 'Huey' and AH-1 'Cobra' (Bell and Augusta built aircraft) all versions

[kitnut617]

Gotcha, not building 1/48 models I didn't realize Italeri made a 1/48 Z.  I take it then that the -4BW was the development aircraft for the Z, the In Action book doesn't have anything on the Z, at least the one I have doesn't, but as I said, looking at the photos of the -4BW, the Hobbycraft kit follows that more closely I think.

[kitnut617]

And yes, I'm refering to the Cobra 2000
Shas

Looking at the photos of it, it looks like a mixture of two or maybe three others, the canopy has the square framework of the F or S, the engine covers look like a J and then the rotor is of course from the 412.

[jcf]

The Hobbycraft/Zhengdufu 72nd Zulu was modeled after the Italeri 48th model. I think thats what he's trying to say. And yes, I'm refering to the Cobra 2000, not the -4BW/Zulu model.

Shas

Evidently, according to the heli-modelling types, the HC/Kitech/Zhengdefu is closer to 1/80th than 1/72nd and it was not an attempt to model the -4BW. Rather it was, just like the Italeri 1/48th Zulu they copied, a matter of rushing to market.

Jon

[Shasper]

I believe the In Action book was pub before the Zulu program became official, hence the lack of references.

While I'm on the subject, why not add the W model style inboard underwing pylons to the Zulu?:




I figured that they'd fit & they would add some extra insurance against those pesky RPG wielding *insert appropriate term here*

Shas

[Jeffry Fontaine]

I have attached an image that had been posted previously on Michael Benolkin's CyberModeler main page.  While the two aircraft paired up in the image is in itself interesting there is one detail that caught my eye on the UH-1 aircraft in the foreground.  Take a long look at the door guns and also take a look at the door gun on the Mi-17 Hip in the background.  You will notice that these are the same weapons in both cases.  I had not thought much about Russian weapon systems being mounted on American built aircraft but things like this make you stop and think about the possibilities of such things and mumble to yourself hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, what if...

Anyway, the weapons mounted in the UH-1 and Mi-17 appear to be same and I recognize this as the PKM series of GPMG chambered for the 7.62X54R cartridge.  The breech covers are open and pointing upwards on all of the weapons visible in the image. 


Standard PKM GPMG as used by ground troops
Image source: Kalashnikov Site (http://kalashnikov.guns.ru/)

Additional reference for the PKM GPMG available from
Valery Shilin's Gun Club Page on the PKM General Purpose Machine Gun
Wikipedia entry for the PKM GPMG

So, with that in mind, it might be time to stock up on those old DML/Dragon Russian Weapons sets that were so plentiful several years ago.

[Aircav]

Heres some weapons tried on the Huey during the Vietnam war

[ysi_maniac]

^^^^^
These guns are so cool

[dy031101]

Heres some weapons tried on the Huey during the Vietnam war

The first pic actually reminds me of Maverick's profile of an alt. AH-1.  It looks like the belly cannon mount on the profile.

[kitnut617]

I was reading the google news (Canadian edition) yesterday and it said that the CAF will be arming it's Hueys they have in Afganistan to protect the Chinooks when moving troops forward.  Which poses a question, what are these Hueys camo'ed like? And another, which ones are out there, CH-135, CH-146 or both ?

[elmayerle]

One Huey variant I've never seen considered as a what-if, but would seem to make sense is a 414ST with a four-bladed rotor replacing that two-bladed one that was forced on it.

[SinUnNombre]

Slight OT here, but I've always wanted to build an AH-1W or -Z with a 4 or 5 blade main rotor, a retractable wheeled undercart, and a Fenestron tail rotor.

Jon

[Aircav]

The original Cobra had retractable skids so theres no reason why you shouldn't have wheels, would you fit small blisters for them ?

[SinUnNombre]

All I've figured out for sure is that I saw this picture:



here on What If, and I thought, 'Damn, that's REALLY sexy...' So I just added the Fenestron tail and 4-blade rotor in my head. And I still really wanna build it if I can figure out the specifics.

Jon

[Aircav]

You could use the main gear off a Seasprite, may be the rotors and hub off a Tiger plus a tail off a Dolphin

[Sauragnmon]

If I'm not mistaken, the -Z carries a fourblade rotor, but I think you'd have to uprate the engine to have the extra power to balance the prop's necessity.  I don't quite know where you're going with the tail, but retracting skids wouldn't be too hard, since as they've mentioned, early AH-1's had retracting skids.  Just my thoughts.