Revell Bell AH-1G Cobra Helicopter

When Monogram's AH-1G was first released in the late 1960s, the Vietnam War was in full swing. The modeling industry wasn't what it is today, but this was a fairly decent kit, for its time.

Revell has re-released the AH-1G Cobra with a sprue of updated parts. It's molded in gray as opposed to the original olive drab.

It features a removable panel on the right side of the fuselage to show a basic engine/transmission assembly, but there is no internal framing to the open bay. A pair of two-part crew figures are included.The new parts include large and small rocker pods, minigun pods, a replacement anticollision beacon for the tiny one molded on top of the fuselage, and two small antenna fairings for the aft fuselage (which I misplaced). Fine decals by Cartograf feature a choice of 1st Armored Cavalry with shark's teeth, and another from the 11th Armored Cavalry.

The original molds are long in the tooth. Some parts were badly misshapen, especially the muzzle for the minigun in the nose turret. I had to trim flash from most of the original parts. The cockpit went together well, but closing the fuselage halves left seams all the way around. I filled them with gap-filling super glue.

I had to file and sand down the top of the nose so it would be level with the canopy, and even then l had to fill large gaps at the front and rear of the canopy with Micro Kristal Kleer.

After painting and glossing, the decals went down without incident. A final flat coat and some pastels finished the job.

It's good to see this old chestnut back on the hobby-shop shelves. It took only 14 hours to build. It's not difficult, bur be prepared for "classic" fit problems. Experience with seam filling and curing fit problems will be helpful. Fanatics will want to upgrade the old kit with aftermarket detail sets.