IsraCast 1/48 AH-64D-I Saraf Conversion First Look
By Michael Benolkin
| Date of Review | August 2006 | Manufacturer | IsraCast |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | AH-64D-I Saraf Conversion | Scale | 1/48 |
| Kit Number | 48012 | Primary Media | Resin, Photo-Etch |
| Pros | Beautiful detailing | Cons | |
| Skill Level | Intermediate | MSRP (USD) | $50.95 |
First Look
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If you're a modeler of the Israeli Defense Forces, you've no-doubt come across many of the excellent decals from IsraDecal or the colorful monographs from IsraDecal Publications. In attempt to bridge the detail gap between production kits and current configurations of IDF aircraft, IsraCast was born to fill this void.
In this release, IsraCast has taken on the rather extensive modifications undertaken to their Longbow Apaches. This detail set provides a nice array of resin and photo-etch parts to reconfigure the Hasegawa 1/48 AH-64D kit into the contemporary AH-64D-I. The conversion starts with a new all-glass cockpit and safety features in the cockpit. The most prominent feature is the new set of wings with the contoured trailing edges and bulbous fairing on each leading edge.
A nice set of resin external fuel tanks are provided (and can be used with any Apache variant).
The real work will be installing all of the new sensor and countermeasures antennas and fairings around the aircraft. Many of these details are subtle, but part this completed model next to a 'stock' Longbow and it will be immediately obvious that this is not quite the same aircraft the US Army operates.
A note about the instructions. I've seen some really impressive advances in the state of the art in kit instructions, and IsraCast has pushed the bar up yet higher. This set comes with a little instruction booklet that not only has clear photos of the conversion in progress, but also clear photos of the real aircraft to show how it is supposed to look when finished. There are seven pages of instructions, one page of parts identification, and six pages of photo walk around of the aircraft as a bonus. Not bad!
If you're interested in modeling the modern IDF, check out this and other releases from IsraCast, as well as the various decals and references from IsraDecal.