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My fascination with Soviet Cold-War military hardware continues unabated. The Hind is arguably the most iconic helicopter gunship ever conceived. Sure, it has been technically surpassed by now, but not before striking fear into the hearts of all who tried to run or hide from its near alien presence! Given the pivotal role the Mi-24 played in Afghanistan, it is hardly surprising that at the same time it would end up in another supposed Cold-War proxy - Angola. It was flown by Russians, Cubans and Angolans (and possibly even East Germans) during some of the most intense modern combat seen on African soil. As in Afghanistan, the American "Stinger" would prove to be a deadly opponent, as well as the Soviet's own RPG, but a little known South African weapon would prove to be the most deadly of its opponents. I was inspired to build this after seeing Malcolm Reid (a fellow South African) do a beautiful job with the Trumpeter kit. http://www.saairforce.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=8917&sid=7b9f0cc308e989bd28f8621829bbaeb9 Malcolm mentions a couple of interesting shortcomings in his build, and I will try to address them in my attempt at this great looking kit. The first is a question of two and a half degrees. It seems too little to bother with, but if you look at the Hind a lot, it becomes very noticeable. I mentioned in my MiG-29 build that Misha had done a sterling job in correcting this, but I am going to try a short-cut to get the "twist". In these pictures you can see how the "cockpit" is offset from the rest of the fuselage, and it is most noticeable by the apex of the canopies not being in line with the centre of the engine intakes. When on the ground, assuming the oleo's and tyres are equally inflated, the main fuselage lists to starboard when viewed from behind. I will concentrate on theses two points. The kit's cockpit and cabin are pretty well represented, but as with most Trumpy kits, just need that little bit extra. The Eduard PE set is used as a base, and then fleshed out with some extra styrene bits. Some vents added to the ceiling and a bit of structure and wiring on the aft bulkhead. The front seat was given a parachute made with leftover PE and lead foil that golfers use - handy stuff. The rear seat was left as a bucket seat, and some extras added to the controls at the back. The door frame was thickened and detail added. the same will be required inside the canopy frames as the Mi-24 has sturdy framing throughout. The troop seating was a little basic, and flat - a little extra styrene goes a long way to improving the look. Kit buckles from the PE fret. Drilling out some of the overstated detail and adding wire guards is all that is required for these consoles. The space between the cockpit and the cabin is devoid of detail, probably because it can't be seen, but I couldn't stop myself! I'm sure you can make out the rest without any further explanation... I suspect that this area may present some challenges when it comes to painting Cheers, Sean

Herewith, as promised on WIP, some more photographs of my Angolan Mi-24. Should you be interested in the build here is the link: And just to spice it up a bit, a companion from Angola - this is a MiniArt T-55.