Vital Stats
- Manufacturer: Kitty Hawk
- Scale: 1:48
- Aircraft: Bell AH-1Z Viper
- Markings: VMM-161 | United States Marine Corps | Present Day
- Aftermarket: Werner’s Wings decals | Fireball missile stencil decals | Master rotary cannon barrels | Hasegawa AGM-114K Hellfires (from the AH-64D kit)
- Paints: Gunze Mr. Color | Tamiya | Mr. Paint | Alclad | Vallejo | Mig AMMO |AK Interactive
Mini-Review
Overall, I really enjoyed Kitty Hawk’s take on the latest and greatest evolution of the AH-1. The Zulu is nicely detailed – particularly the fuselage – and goes together quite well.
Frustratingly, it does miss on a few of the Zulu’s details. The sensor ball could be a better reflection of the real thing. The pilot and gunner’s seats could be more detailed (particularly considering the spartan nature of the cockpit). The rotors could use more detail where the rotor folds should be. And the Hellfires criminally lack clear seeker heads – speaking of which, why in the hell hasn’t Eduard or someone pumped out a really fancy set of resin AGM-114s?
Aftermarket Verdicts:
- Werner’s Wings Decals: Solid decals that went on with not problem. While they seemed a bit thick, they absolutely vanished under the final float coat.
- Fireball Stencils: A pain in the ass, frankly. Definitely, these decals fill a void, but the fact that they’re untrimmed, and the entire sheet is carrier film, makes using them a rather tedious proposition. Especially across EIGHT Hellfires.
- Master 20mm rotary cannon: So lovely, and such a pain to put together!
Photos
See more photos in higher resolution over at SmugMug:
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Doogs Models 
Stumbled across your page while looking for a fix to the guns on the hasegawa p-51d and had to compliment you on this bird. Amazing. I’ve been looking for a helo kit to do for a long time (originally wanted a more modern take on a uh-1 but can’t really find a kit that piques my interest) and I think I’ve found my subject. Great work!
I dig the detail. The exhaust stains on the tailboom are quite accurate. I was a mech on Zulus for a brief period toward the end of my career. Would love to see the digital camo livery we did with HMLA-775 (or VMFA-101) come to life in your hands. I’ve seen a few renditions over the years but your attention to detail would own it. My only critique is that aircraft is way too clean. Those things are filthy and leak like a sieve. Awesome job brother.
Months ago this Viper brought me to this blog, and I can say with confidence – THIS model is best I ever seen on web, seriously, for me everything just looks perfect. A piece of art. Thanks for your work, blog entries along with youtube channel helps me a lot.
Looks great! What is that main color your using there??