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Mi-8 Gunship


Dukie99

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A bit more progress

The overhead console:

Mi-8%20Interior%205_zpsomb701p1.jpg

The ongoing work on the cargo bay, here the ceiling with the pannelling and overhead lights (should look better under a coat of paint)

Mi-8%20Interior%206_zpsrdjj9dtg.jpg

Jump seat with seatbelts, I have about 12 seat belts to do for the jump seats...

jumpseat_zpsta0wsjgh.jpg

and one of the seat, the cushion is made of medical gauze dipped in CA and wrapped around the kit seat. Still unpainted and without the seatbelts.

Hipseat_zpsimh1cqek.jpg

and finally a motivational shot

Hip%20afghan12_zpsc8gyvmfp.jpg

Till next time, thank you for watching. David

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Thank you guys for the kind words. I finished tonight one row of seats, decaled and weathered the walls of the hull. Seats and sidewalls are just dryfitted, the seats need some more painting and weathering. I need a pause on making seatbelts, I have done 14 pairs and I need to do 4 more but that will be for tomorrow. I hope to be able to close the fuselage by the end of this week-end. Thank you for following this build. Till next time, David

Hipcargo1_zpsvtavl2ee.jpg

Hipcargo2_zpsvvxiy5ir.jpg

and one more motivational shot: an Afghan hip with two Aphid AA missiles and two gun pods, still debating what will be the loadout of this beast but we're not there yet.

Hipafghan8_zpsrinbcwgi.jpg

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Very slow progress during the week-end but I had a great time with my kids climbing in the trees... almost done with the seats and pilot seatbelts and the cargo hull. Before closing the fuselage I wanted to add one more detail: the windows in the cargo hull can open towards the inside and some are equiped with a pintle on which you can affix a AK-47 for self-protection. Since I plan to affix a PKM at the door, I wanted to protect the other side with one of these pintle and posing the window open with an AK-47 poking out. This is my attempt at scratch building the pintle with the AK-47, imagine it is glued just below one of the window. Should look the par under a coat of paint:aK-47_zpskkzjl6tn.jpg

and one more motivational shot:

HipAfghan14_zps50pbcxpx.jpg

Thank you for watching. Till next time. David

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David,

 

Everything is looking amazing. I'm truly inspired by your work!

 

One comment on the weapon, however. The groove in the buttstock would indicate that this is actually an AK-74 (5.45mm) instead of an AK-47 (7.62mm). The 74 would also have a muzzle brake and a 90 degree gas block (which I can't make out in the photo). The magazine is hard to say in this scale and would probably pass for either caliber, as they made smooth-side, orange, bakelite mags for both weapons (although, it seems to have the curvature of the 7.62 magazine) and I believe the dark plum colored polymer mags for the 74 may have started to appear late in the conflict, as well. This is a very minor detail and the average Joe would probably never notice. I hope you take that as a constructive comment.

 

Carry on!

 

John

Edited by mywifehatesmodels
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Hi John,

 

Thank you for posting. You are absolutely right this is an AK-74, I did not really pay attention to the type of gun I put there until you mentioned it.  The AK-74 did actually see service during the Afghan war, so I think I am fine. The model comes from a Masterclub resin figure of a Russian soldier in Afghanistan which I initially wanted to pose on a BTR-70 but now I am wondering whether he should not be sitting in the Mi-8 instead.. And by the way I love to shoot guns (the Swiss army did that to me), but nowadays I mostly do skeet shooting as it is difficult to shoot assault rifle in Switzerland outside of a 300m shooting range, which is fine but not as fun as shooting shorter range on movable targets.  

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David,

 

I went back through some notes and references to find a little more info on the AK-74s used in Afghanistan and thought I would share. If it's not an issue for you, that's okay, too (but I had to refresh my memory, for my own satisfaction, as it's been a while since I got into Kalashnikovs and studying them!). The most prominent version was the fixed, wood stock variant. The wood was actually laminate and coated in an amber/red shellac. Magazines were normally the orange colored bakelite, as I mentioned before. However, in 1985, they started producing rifles with "plum" colored, polymer furniture, as well as magazines of similar material/color. There are also variations within the "plum" features. However, for the most part, this very dark purplish color was, in some cases, almost black. As it aged and was weathered, it would lighten in color, if only slightly. So, in any case, you have some options to choose from, especially if you're doing a subject used within the last few years of the conflict.

 

Here are some pictures of a few that I own/have owned (only semi-autos, of course), for examples, if you need them.

 

First, is an AKS-74 (The "S" denotes a folding stock. In this case, a side-folder). This one is of Bulgarian origin, but the handguard is actually an original Russian laminate and a good example of how the wood might appear (although, I have seen some examples that were also a bit darker and more red):

 

AKS-74005touched.jpg

AKS-74002touched.jpg

 

Also, note that the rifle above has a Russian "plum" magazine that's fairly well worn and the purple color is starting to show.

 

Next up is another Bulgarian, but this time with a fixed stock and "plum" furniture. The furniture set on this one was stated to also be from Bulgaria. However, the parts do have some inspector stamps on them that are clearly Soviet. While the Bulgarians made a lot of their own equipment, it was also pretty common to see them using items made in Russia/Ukraine, as well. This one has the unique, Bulgarian "Bubble Gum" colored pistol grip. However, on a Russian model, it would have had a plum, or "shiny plum" grip, as seen on the example above. The magazine in this rifle is also Bulgarian and is actually a true black magazine, so when you compare it to the one above, the color difference becomes more obvious.

 

BulgarianAK-74017.jpg

 

And, another example showing what the earlier (and more common) variant would have looked like, with wood furniture, bakelite grip and a bakelite magazine (this magazine may be East German, but they are very close to the Soviet version, if not just a touch more orange).

 

DSCN0675_zpsbii8kxnh.jpg

 

Again, you may not want so spend too much time on such a small part of the build and I could completely understand that, but I just wanted to throw this out there, in case it would help.

 

REALLY looking forward to seeing this one completed!

 

Cheers,

 

John

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John,

 

Thank you for the pictures of the AK-74, I will definitely use them as inspiration when painting the furniture, grip and magazine for this build. Very cool collection of guns, I would love to shoot them. I still have my SIG 550 at home as I was able to purchase it for USD 100 (what a bargain!) when I retired from the army but I rarely shoot it now.

 

Very little progress on the build, I am leaving for 10 days with my family on holiday and had to work crazy hours to finish everything at work. Here it is and till next time. I hope to see lots of progress on the other builds and new entries when I get back. David

Seat_zpsb8k2wqpm.jpg

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