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AH-1Z Viper Combat Heilcopter; Motor Max Meat and Potatoes; 4.5 Perks; 5.0 Homer Factor; 5.0
				Description; after almost 50 years, the Cobra is still kicking ass! The AH-1Z Viper is a reproduction of the Viper Marine attack chopper.  The model has a rotor diameter of 12".  The fuselage is constructed of die-cast metal while the rest of the piece is made of plastic.  The Viper's sculpting is very detailed and has a number of great details such as the moving 20 mm cannon in the chin turret. The Viper comes with a display stand.
I don’t know what got me started on choppers.  A plane is faster, carries more ordinances, and feels like a Dodge Viper on steroids!  Choppers are slower and make a LOT of noise.  However, whereas a fighter plane is like a sports car, a chopper is like a pumped-up pick-up truck; no it’s not sleek and sporty, but it carries a lot too, and can do things no sport car can do.  In the 21st century the chopper has turned into a proverbial flying tank; armored, with lots of weapons designed to take out heavy targets.  And there’s that entire thing about flying vertically and poking around hard-to-reach places no plane would dare to approach.  There’s also something menacing about a chopper.  Remember that opening shot in ‘Blue Thunder’ when we first see the legendary chopper?  Sloooowly loping towards the testing range like a wolf approaching it’s prey?  Sure a plane can go Mach 3 over a testing range, but THIS is pretty dang unnerving.  One of the classic military choppers is the Bell AH-1 Cobra.  It was originally designed during the early ‘60s as a stopgap chopper until a ‘real’ armed helicopter was put out for the Vietnam War.  The ‘stop-gap’ lasted for almost 50 years in a multitude of armies across the planet.  You would think with the advent of choppers like the AH-64 Apache, KA-50 Hokum, among others, that the Cobra would finally be put to rest.  Forget it.  Each time it seems as if it’s time to put the old chopper to pasture, a new incarnation or renovation comes up.  Case in point, is the AH-1Z, AKA the Viper.  Rather then ditch about 200 AH-1 Super Cobras, these are being pumped-up for the 21st century.  By the grace of Ebay, I got my hands on a miniature version of the latest chopper for the US Marines.  So how does it measure up for a toy collector?  Not bad. Meant and potatoes aren’t bad.  The sculpting on the piece captures the panel lines and vents found on military vehicles in general.  It’s also painted in the ocean-blue of Marine choppers.  A nice touch is the entire piece is made of die-cast metal.  The heft of the piece is a nice feel.  The details on the piece, though, are a mixed bag.  GOOD news is the chopper captures many of the changes in the Viper versus the Super Cobra.  The model has the larger wings for carrying weapons, the four main rotor and anti-torque blades, and the fins on the rear horizontal stabilizer.  In addition little things like the full armament of the Viper, flare-launchers on the wings, spinning rotors, moving chin turret, and assorted antennae are evident.  BAD news is there are still a number of details missing.  The sensor cluster in the nose and engine cowling are the same as the Super Cobra.  Also the Viper has a different and much taller rotor mast.   Normally these wouldn’t be a big deal, but considering the piece is meant to hi-light the transformation from the Super Cobra to the Viper, and the fact this is meant to be a model, it’s surprising. There are a few perks for this piece.  First it comes with a nice stand with ‘AH-1Z Viper’ written on the base.  There is the box itself.  It’s a typical window box, but the interior is painted to look like an aircraft hanger.  Either you can display the piece in box, or you can take things out but still keep part of the box as a shelf display. Homer factor?   Keep in mind this isn’t a Transformer or the latest vehicle from the new ‘Joe’ line.  No opening doors, no special launching functions or any of that.  However, it looks very good. The last word?  If you’re looking for the newest toy to sink your chops into, this doesn’t’ quite count.  In the end this is basically a pre-assembled model.  Still it is a well-done pre-assembled model.  It’s certainly not perfect, but for no assembly and under $20 it’s a good value to put on your shelf.