Floyd Werner has come to the rescue with a correction to the Kitty Hawk 1/48 AH-1Z Viper kit by issuing a resin bottom-less turret assembly. Floyd Werner provides great instructions showing exactly what to modify on the kit along with color photos of the turret assembly being installed in an AH-1Z. A re-sealable zip lock bag holds the part and the instructions. This part can also be used in any AH-1J, AH-1T, or AH-1W kit as well since many Cobras have been retrofitted with this turret assembly. Werner’s Wings turret assembly is designed to be used with the Kitty Hawk barrel assembly, but can also be used with the Master AM48056 turned metal barrels with minor modification.

Werner’s Wings has molded the turret assembly perfectly in dark grey resin with no apparent bubbles. The turret assembly is supplied as four resin parts with minimal flash that is easy to cleanup by just sanding the parts on a flat surface. The first step is to snap the gun assembly into the turret ring. If you don’t cut or break off the pins on the side of the gun assembly, it will be able to move in elevation. You will want to paint the gun assembly and turret ring at this time. Floyd Werner provides a color photo to illustrate the different greys and blacks.

I deviated from the instructions as this point. The instructions would have you slide the front fairing over the gun, however, on my example the front fairing would not clear the middle gun brace (part D5). The other issue is that the back of the gun (D7) didn’t want to fit into the gun assembly provided by Werner’s Wings. I began sanding the inside of the resin gun assembly a bit, but ended up sanding down the diameter of the back of the gun (D7) until it would fit into the resin gun assembly. At this point, I lightly tacked the resin front fairing onto the gun assembly with superglue. Once dry, I will secure the turret shroud to the turret ring with superglue making sure it fit up against the tacked on front fairing (the photo below with the turret shroud does not show the shroud superglued and is somewhat loose). I did end up sanding down the inside edge of the turret fairing to improve the fit as it has a tendency to spring out off the turret ring. I then made sure the resin front fairing was quite secure to the gun assembly with superglue. To avoid breaking off the gun barrels, you may wish to wait on installing them once most of the kit is assembled.

One other issue you may have to deal with. Since the kit turret held a steel ball for weight, you now get to find another place to add some weight to the front of the Cobra. You can put some small steel pellets under the cockpit floor behind the gun turret, but the steel ball provided by Kitty Hawk will only go as far forward to secure under the cockpit floor under the rear seat. I’m not sure that will be forward enough to keep the Cobra from being a tail sitter.

Although most paints will adhere to resin alone, I would recommend that you wash the part to remove any remaining mold release and prime it first. It will need to be installed with your favorite CA (super glue) or epoxy, as the normal plastic glues or solvents will not react with the resin.

Floyd Werner’s turret assembly is an easy part to install and greatly enhances the look of the Cobra. The instructions provided are top notch and should be a model for all aftermarket producers.

Highly recommended!

Thanks to Werner’s Wings and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this set.