Steve Brodie
SMF Supporter
Academy 1/35 AH1-z Viper 'Shark Mouth'
Managed to grab one of these kits from Wonderland Models, who kindly brought it to Fairford Airshow for me to collect. These kits seem to be rarer than 'hens teeth' for some reason and are going for silly money on eBay.
I was a bit surprised by the size of the box, as it initially looks quite small, and i had to double check it was 1/35th scale;
but as soon as the box is opened and you see the forward fuselage halves you are in no doubt over its scale.
Instructions come on an A4 foldout sheet in black and white with a second 'manual' as Academy call it showing all the paint schemes, along with the stencil data placements. Finishing off the package is a small sheet of etch for the various grills on the Helicopter
Putting the main fuselage parts together showed no problems, however the tail boom, a beautifully rendered slide molding, seems to be a 'butt' joint with very small locating tabs to join onto the forward fuselage, similar to the tail rotor to tail boom so i will be adding small plastic tabs to aid in joining these parts together.
Its a large bird at just over 16cm in length and the whole body is full of sharp details, even down to the hinges on panels;
The biggest omission though is no belts for the seats, with such a large and clear canopy its just not going to look right, so what to do; well i could purchase Eduards 1/35 AH1-W interior set , but that would leave virtually everything on the etch fret as totally different instrumentation or i could get Def.Models Viper Crew and Belts which then gives the option of a crewed bird or one waiting for the crew, but thinking of building this one on a carrier deck, prior to start up with the canopies open so think the crew would work okay with the way they are moulded.
YouTube clips show they only close the canopies when the blades are spun up;
And would use the un-visored head for the pilot;
Managed to grab one of these kits from Wonderland Models, who kindly brought it to Fairford Airshow for me to collect. These kits seem to be rarer than 'hens teeth' for some reason and are going for silly money on eBay.
I was a bit surprised by the size of the box, as it initially looks quite small, and i had to double check it was 1/35th scale;
but as soon as the box is opened and you see the forward fuselage halves you are in no doubt over its scale.
Instructions come on an A4 foldout sheet in black and white with a second 'manual' as Academy call it showing all the paint schemes, along with the stencil data placements. Finishing off the package is a small sheet of etch for the various grills on the Helicopter
Putting the main fuselage parts together showed no problems, however the tail boom, a beautifully rendered slide molding, seems to be a 'butt' joint with very small locating tabs to join onto the forward fuselage, similar to the tail rotor to tail boom so i will be adding small plastic tabs to aid in joining these parts together.
Its a large bird at just over 16cm in length and the whole body is full of sharp details, even down to the hinges on panels;
The biggest omission though is no belts for the seats, with such a large and clear canopy its just not going to look right, so what to do; well i could purchase Eduards 1/35 AH1-W interior set , but that would leave virtually everything on the etch fret as totally different instrumentation or i could get Def.Models Viper Crew and Belts which then gives the option of a crewed bird or one waiting for the crew, but thinking of building this one on a carrier deck, prior to start up with the canopies open so think the crew would work okay with the way they are moulded.
YouTube clips show they only close the canopies when the blades are spun up;
And would use the un-visored head for the pilot;
, so far no issues. 
I think that should be inches Steve
