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Mi-8 Gunship


Dukie99

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Hi Guys, thank you for stopping by. The helo I have in mind is a Russian bird operated late in the Afghan war with the full Afghan upgrades, i.e. PKM in the nose, the three boxes of flares on the side of the fuselage and the exhaust suppressors. For the side flares, I will use the profimodeller upgrade for the Mi-24 as the Mi-8 was using the same. I already used them on my Mi-24P and it is a very nice set. For the PKM in the nose and the exhaust suppressors I will have to scratch them. I was thinking of getting the exhaust suppressors from Cobra but it is too complicated and the shape is simple enough that I think I can scratch them. I have already started and I will post pics soon.

 

The cargo hull provided by Trumpeter is completely empty and full of ribbing which actually do not exist in reality, so I have decided to scratch build the interior and add the seats on both sides. I am also thinking of leaving off the clamshell doors. I have read that the clamshell doors where never used to disembark troops during operations as it took a couple of minutes to open and close them and as the side door only allows troops to exit one by one, some troops removed the clamshell doors to allow for a fast exit. This would allow me to show off the interior otherwise not much will be seen. Assuming this helo was operated without the clamshell doors, I plan to install a Plamya 30mm grenade launcher at the end of the cargo hull for rear protection.

 

I am actually still waiting for some photo-etch (interior and exterior) from Part in Poland to arrive,  and then building will hopefully start in earnest. In the meantime, I have filled and sanded ejection pin marks in the cockpit, added some details to the side of the cockpit and started building the seats. Obviously a lot of work ahead but it is a start.

 

Mi-8%20interior_zpsuwgn85uv.jpgMi-8%20Interior%203_zpsivhsmdkb.jpgMi-8%20interior2_zpsx37sfh6r.jpgMi-8%20Interior%204_zpsx8xyvuph.jpg

And finally another inspirational shot

Hipafgah_zpsvjqorgtf.jpg

Until next time, Thank you for looking. David

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Dutik,

 

If you have interior shots during the Afghan war, I would be very interested as I have only interior shots of post-war birds and aside from the folding seats and the wall paneling there is not much there. You sometimes see a large yellow additional tank in the cargo hull, but this is not what I want to model. From what I understand Hips in the Afghan war did not need the extra tank for most assignments. I am not going to go crazy on detailing the cargo hull because even with the clamshell doors removed, there will not be a ton of light in there.

 

Regards,

 

David

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