1:35 AH-64Di SARAF (for Meng kit)

Two stations one above the other

The crew consists of a pair of men. The weapon systems operator sits at the front and lower, the pilot behind him and higher. The arrangement gives both of them a view forward and at the same time allows either of them to take over the controls. Each place has its own group of screens, a row of buttons around the edge and a helmet-mounted sight which turns the cannon according to the movement of the head. It is precisely this tangle of controls that makes the crew space the most interesting place in the whole machine.

Why a print instead of photo-etch

Photo-etched metal can do sharp outlines, but you have to supply the color yourself. Here the graphics are finished: the backlit lettering, the colored warning lights and the dark mirrors of the screens. The layering gives the surfaces a noticeable thickness, so in a macro photograph they do not look like a sticker but like a modeled surface with shadows in the corners.

A cut for the Meng kit

The outlines of the parts match the Israeli attack helicopter from the Meng brand. The model is sold separately. Before fitting, check whether a burr has stayed on the mating surfaces after removing a part from the sprue, because every unevenness shows under a thin layer.

Anyone building with the electronics covers opened will appreciate that the sheet deals with the small warning plates as well. By hand they would be painted at this scale only with great difficulty.

Israeli machines have elements in the cabin that the American versions do not carry, so comparing them with photographs from a foreign army does not pay off. The sheet respects this difference and keeps to the home form of the instrument equipment.