Emergency Miniature Work - 15mm USMC Super Cobra

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Project Entry by oriskany

Need a new miniature in like ... 2 days?

February 3, 2021

Tutoring 8

Skill 8

Idea 10

3 Comments

When gaming, filming, and production schedules dictate that you ABSOLUTELY need a new aircraft on your table within 48-72 hours … and you don’t do 3D printing … Here’s what happens.

I needed a new AH-1W Super Cobra for some 1:100 / 15mm USMC wargames in Desert Storm (30th Anniversary) …

Download a papercraft AH-1S in Japanese markings (best quality / closest technical item I could find ...

Update in Photoshop to AH-1W, change markings to 1991 US Marine Corps, re-size to fit the intended scale (1:100 will be just short of 6", not including the rotors). Print out on 80# card stock.

Build the model, using wooden dowels and plastic sprue bits for some of the pieces. There's also a wooden "beam" inside the fuselage for added strength. Also, a spare VADs cannon for the rotary cannon (not quite the right gun, close enough). The rotor is even magnetized so it will spin. Now this is EXTREMELY rough, and so far this is 5-6 hours from "oh shit, I need one of these" to this point. Obviously I have to add a few bits to the wings, tail rotor, and chin sensor mount, and clean up / paint the gaps greatly ... but given the EXTREME short time span available, I'm hoping this will serve as a workable 1:100 "miniature" proxy for upcoming Marine Corps Gulf War games at places like Al Jaber and Kuwait International Airport.

Okay, here is the completed model. At 1:100 / 15mm, she's just under 6" without the rotors. Still not a true "miniature" of course but definitely fills the requirement of AH-1 to support my Marine Corps force in games coming up this week (table build tomorrow, dice being chucked on Thursday) Total time between "Oh shit, I need one of these" to table ready: 30 hours (including sleep and a busy day the at the office job).

Again, I know the gun is technically wrong (I have a 6-barreled 20mm looted off a VADs turret in my bits box instead of the 3-barrel M197 cannon that should be here), but I'm not building a scratch 3-barrel 20mm cannon in 15mm. Stole a bead from my girlfriend's hobby box for the sensor / targ-aq turret under the chin.