BLUF - Bottom Line Up Front

It has been a while since I built a helicopter. The last time was an aborted attempt in 2014 give or take. That did not end well. I feel that going outside your lane (mine is aircraft) improves your skills a bit. And that certainly happened with building the Cobra. The kit itself builds up to a very nice replica of a Vietnam era Cobra. The build is straightforward. The only thing I would do differently is attach the landing skids after the kit is built, painted, decals applied, and any weathering is done. Otherwise, you run the risk of damaging the skids as you handle, or mishandle, the kit as you accomplish those tasks. I must have broken the skids about 5 times. The last step, of course, is to attach the rotor blades.When the kit arrived, I inspected the box and its contents, and immediately noticed that a sprue bag had been ripped and noticed a number of loose parts floating around. Upon a more detailed inspection, I noted that one of the landing skids (part no. B10) was broken. Although easy to fix, I opted to use parts B11 and B12 for the skids. More on the skids later.

About the Kit and the Subject

ICM first released their 48th scale Cobra in September 2022, this version of the kit was released in October 2024. Per Scalemates, the kit is a reboxing of the Special Hobby AH-1G released in 2022. Indeed, there is a sprue in the box that is labeled “Special Hobby”. I am not aware of the business details or engineering that either ICM or Special Hobby had in designing or marketing of the kit itself.

Per the internet (Wikipedia), the AH-1G was a rapid response by Bell Helicopter for United States Army demands for a gunship during the Vietnam conflict.Its design was shaped to fulfill a need for a dedicated armed escort for transport helicopters, giving the latter greater survivability in contested environments. It’s first flight was on 7 September 1965

Instructions and Assembly (Including Decals)

The instructions are straightforward and are easy to follow. The cockpit builds up quite nicely and has sufficient detail for the scale. Because of the large, highly visible cockpit, I opted to add to the build Kelik (another Ukrainian company) Interior 3D decals (K48071). I thought that adding seat straps was a must.

Assembly itself is also straightforward and there are really no issues with the kit. Having said that, I did encounter a few issues with how I chose to build the kit. The first, as stated earlier, was attaching the landing skids too early. I did follow the assembly sequence though. I broke both skids multiple times as I handled the kit during painting and decal application. I was never really able to get a secure fix. I strongly recommend that the skids be put on as late as possible in the assembly sequence. The other recommendation I have is to separate the main rotor from the sprues early on, and set it aside in order to protect the piece. My initial inspection showed that it survived shipping, it could not handle my handling of it. Sometime after my initial inspection it snapped in half. I was able to repair it though. (See photos)

I have built numerous ICM kits and have never had any issues with their decals. This was the first time I had issues, mostly self-inflicted. During application, I had a number of decals fold over onto themselves. I am not sure why this was, perhaps my mishandling, or perhaps it was the Tamiya Mark Fit. (Never used before with ICM decals.) Remember, correlation is not causation. One thing I did notice, is that special care of the US ARMY decals requires attention due to the riveting on the tail boom. And finally, yes, the pitot probe is not in the photos. Maybe I’ll find it one day.

Thanks to ICM and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this kit.