Minihobby Mil Mi24 Hind F in 1/48 scale

[yak face]

Is this one of those builds were you just keep making loads of sub-assemblies, then all of a sudden, stick them all together and its time for paint ?

Eventually yes colin , the trouble is the cockpit is going to take a good while .

[scottie3158]

Tony,
Coming along nicely.

[BigGreg]

very nice detailing and the major surgery really worked well... WOW...love it..

[yak face]

Been quietly doing things on this one . The crew cabin is done , the bench is fitted with four sets of etched belts added from the spares box . The LLTV , FLIR sensor under the nose was a bit simplified and not representative of the Hind F. The later version as fitted to the F has a different retraction system for the sensor armoured covers with twin springs and linkages for the two per side covers. A bit of plastic card and some springs made from guitar string and it’s looking something like. A bulge was also added on the side of the housing. Similarly the teardrop shaped missile sensor on the other side of the nose benefitted from a bit of jazzing up too .
The cockpit is taking the most time with this build , as I’m having to make most of it from scratch and it’s a complicated pit. The main switch panels have been added with plastic card / rod / strip and wine foil ( embossed with one of those riveters everyone seems to have but doesn’t use) these just needing a careful paint up and possibly some decals here and there. Some heater pipes / cables have been added to the front cockpit . The front IP is done ,the pilots still needs painting up
Theres still a lot of bits to add like the gunsights / weapon aiming sights and the canopy has its fair share of stuff dangling from the inside too . cheers

[colin m]

That's a nice few add ons there. Your attention to detail is commendable. I'd of just stuck it together by now.

[yak face]

That's a nice few add ons there. Your attention to detail is commendable. I'd of just stuck it together by now.

Cheers colin , the cockpit is so prominent and visible through the large canopies i couldnt leave it as supplied , good thing is for the next mi24 i’m doing , ive got myself a resin cockpit !!

[scottie3158]

Tony,
Some very nice additions they add a great deal of interest to the office.

[yak face]

Slowly moving on with the cockpit, the various switch panels have been painted black and the surrounds in the lurid blue green . Next they need to have the details added with a combination of careful painting and random decals from the spares box. I’ve also been working on the WSOs cockpit . The kit supplies a very basic representation of the mi 24 D equipment but the F is a bit different . I’ve already covered scratching the instrument panel and now I’m sorting the various weapon aiming instruments .The kit supplied items are basic to say the least so the FLIR /LLTV scope has been thinned down and spruced up with bits of plastic rod and a bit of aluminium tube for the eyepiece. The bit of equipment beside this isn't supplied so I’ve had to scratch this from bits in the spares box ( a sprue of spare aerials from the Eduard MiG 21 came in very handy!)

[scottie3158]

Tony,
The paint in the office has brought out the great detail.

[yak face]

Tony,
The paint in the office has brought out the great detail.

Hopefully once I get a bit more on and a few decals it’ll look passable Paul , cheers tony

[yak face]

Slowly getting there with the painting , but still a bit of tidying up to do . Got the sighting rigs finished ready to go on and finished the main instrument panels . Once all this is done I can get the seats and cyclic sticks/ collective levers in and then maybe think about getting the fuselage together

[papa 695]

Fantastic work on the cockpit Tony

[yak face]

After a lot of touching up and repainting I’m happy enough with the pit. The instrument panels , control sticks and seats have now been fitted and also the quilted padding behind the WSOs seat, which was made from wine foil ,scored with a ballpoint. The pit and the troop compartment were bit sandwiched between the fuselage halves along with the engines and rotor base.

[scottie3158]

All looking very nice.

[Steven000]

Very nice interior!
Steven