1:48 ACH-47

Four helicopters rearmed as gunships

The armed form of the Chinook came about at the moment when the American army was looking for a machine able to carry heavy fire support deep into the jungle. Four examples were therefore converted from production transport helicopters; they received armor, machine guns in the side windows, a cannon and rocket launchers on pylons. The crews called them Guns A Go-Go and their service with the cavalry division lasted two years. Three machines were lost, the only survivor has been preserved as a museum exhibit and carries its original combat name on the fuselage.

The glazing of the cockpit

The cockpit of the helicopter has large flat windows, lower vision ports under the pilots' feet and a divided front frame. Flat surfaces are easier to mask than the domed canopies of fighters, but asymmetry is all the harder to hide on them. Die-cut shapes hold the spacings the same on both sides.

The inner and the outer set

The manufacturer gives covering from both sides. On a glazed cockpit with areas this large that pays off, because the inner frames are clearly visible through the windows and glossy plastic would give an unfinished job away at first glance.

When to fit the set

Ideally once the interior has been painted and before the cockpit is closed. The inner shapes can then be laid on without twisting and the outer set comes in turn only right at the end, just before the camouflage. If you build the model with the side doors open, keep part of the cut aside and cover the windows with it only once the interior fittings are in place.