Building The Revell 1/32 scale Bell AH-1G Cobra in a Viet Nam Vignette Book Review

By David L. Veres

Review

I love constructing classic kits. And with time, talent, and tenacity, you can turn old, putatively obsolete models into tours de force of accuracy and appeal.

Now Richard Marmo proves it in Building The Revell 1/32 scale Bell AH-1G Cobra in a Viet Nam Vignette – eighth in the author’s “Marmo Method Modelbuilding Guide” range.

Downloadable from scalepublications.freeyellow.com, the convenient, printable PDF traverses the total topic in nine, how-to chapters across 49 fact-packed pages in two parts – the build and the vignette:

• Introduction
• Bell AH-1G
• The Model
• Cockpit
• Details
• Camouflage
• Final Touches...On The Model The Revetment
• What A Vignette Is The Base
• Finishing The Vignette The Dust Cover

Marmo prefers the term “vignette” – “a small diorama”. It’s “essentially a way to display your model in a natural setting without making things too complicated” – sometimes “nothing more than a natural ground base with the model sitting on it”.

Alone, he argues, a scale plastic kit can be “beautifully built and finished masterpiece. But incorporate it into either a diorama or vignette and the model comes to life.”

First released in 1967, Revell’s Vietnam-era AH-1G, Marmo’s central subject, still remains the only Cobra kit to 1/32 scale. And he upgrades it with the aftermarket Cobra Company resin cockpit interior – available again from Lone Star Models.

Using an 8-1⁄2” x 11” sheet of 100 or 120 grit sandpaper affixed to a clipboard – a useful and clever tip – Marmo shows how to dress, clean, and install the resin set.

From that point, Marmo recommends color matches, prepares subassemblies, adds external ordinance, paints camouflage, surmounts pitfalls, and completes construction.

Text then turns to the display. There Marmo similarly walks you through the process. Planning. Preparation. Production. Tools. Techniques. And tips – including carpentry commentary!

Best of all, you can apply Marmo’s “methods” to a wide range of scale-modeling projects.

But the possessive of “it” is “its” – not “it’s”. The author employs paint brands that haven’t been available for years. Always wear a dust mask when working with potentially toxic resin materials. And always spray solvent-based paints in properly ventilated areas.

Make Marmo’s privately produced, illustrated E-Book part of your hobby references.

Recommended!

My sincere thanks to Scale Publications for this review sample!