1:35 AH-64A Apache (for Trumpeter kit)

The attack helicopter that opened Desert Storm

The AH-64A Apache came out of the Advanced Attack Helicopter program, in which Hughes beat the competing Bell YAH-63. The prototype first rose into the air in 1975, and the machine reached the line units of the US Army in 1986. The crew consists of a pair sitting in tandem, the weapon systems operator at the front and the pilot seated higher behind him.

An M230 traversing cannon of 30 mm caliber hangs under the nose; on the pylons of the stub wings the type carried Hellfire anti-armor missiles and Hydra 70 rocket pods. Above the cabin worked the TADS and PNVS sensor turret, which opened the night sky to the crew. The Apache went through its sharp baptism over Panama in 1989, and in January 1991 it was precisely its missiles that began the opening strike on the Iraqi radars.

The A version can be told from the later Longbow at first glance. It lacks the spherical cover of the radar above the rotor head, and in the cabin round gauges with needles remain, because the screens came only with the modernization.

How the set gets into the cabin

The elements are printed in color, have a three-dimensional relief and carry an adhesive layer of their own, so they are laid directly onto the plastic parts. Once stuck on, the embossed dials, switches and safety belts cast a shadow of their own, thanks to which the cabin does not look like a flat print under varnish. The shapes are based on a particular kit; with another brand the dimensions would fit at most by chance.

It pays to degrease the base before the work and let it dry perfectly, otherwise the adhesive layer will give way in time. Neither the kit of the helicopter itself nor the paints belong in the package.