1/35 Academy Super Cobra

Gallery Article by David Qu on Nov 1 2010

 

Hello there,
I'm back to ARC with my second submission in one month.  This is actually a build I finished more than half a year ago.  It was one of those models that I didn't think I could ever have a good finish, but it turned out a lot better than I expected.  This 1/32 Academy "Super Cobra" is straight OOB build. Overall fit went fairly well, but fillings on seams here and there were needed.  I didn't open any fuselage panels to display the engine bays as I'm not good enough yet to scratch build all the wiring for internal details; in addition, I always think aircraft without too many open "holes" presents a better overall asthetic effect.  I used Model Masters/Testors light ghost gray for overall color, and washed with acrylic based color. 

Click on images below to see larger images

  

  

  

The biggest challenge on this kit, and actually on lots of Academy kits are the decals, I don't know why they always end up having those white spots underneath even though I applied lots of decal setting solution before and after applying them.  I heard about general issues with Academy decals, but didn't really expect that I would encounter it every time (not long before this build, I also finished a 1/35 "Black Hawk", and decaling had the same issue, I'll share this build later in ARC).  Nevertheless, I was able to manage this decaling issue with lots of setting solution, and after that, I applied my acrylic based wash. After everything dried up, I further enhanced panel lines with dry brushing pastels, and it turned out with great effect like you see here.

Hope you guys enjoy it; too bad I'm busy these days, but modeling is a on-going effort for me in my leisure time.
Cheers.

David Qu

Photos and text © by David Qu