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Mi-24 in Angola


Madmax

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Thanks for the encouragement and interest gentlemen!

 

Because of your comment about "that" scale Brian, I looked it up. Who would have imagined that a battery size and the influence of Mr Tamiya's brand would cause a separate scale for model armour! Fascinating.

 

Now, for "themongoose", "John1" and any others who are enjoying the history, a glimpse into the Angolan and Cuban cockpits thanks to Lionel's work with Eduardo...

 

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There is a lot of misinformation about the early Angolan SU-22's. In the photo above, you can see three single seaters with the low spine of the SU-17's as well as a bulged rear fuselage and shorter jet-pipe. These are actually SU-17 M2D's that in their export version were just named SU-22's. The important distinction is that they had Tumansky R-29 engines, same as the MiG-23. I haven't investigated the provenance of the dual seater. The airfield in this photograph is the gloriously named Aeroporto Yuri Gagarin, in the coastal town of Namibe. There was a large Russian contingent at the airfield, and they normally operated in two-ship formations with one Angolan pilot, and one Russian in the other aircraft as a sort of airborne coach. The Angolans were very fond of the SU-22's and by 1989 they had upgraded to the more familiar M4.

 

On the day, the Sukhoi formation was flown by two Angolans. Their formation leader was an old friend of the MiG-23 lead, having met nearly ten years earlier in the USSR and in Cuba. As the MiG-23 formation was arriving on the scene, they heard the SU's call: "Conhac ataco..." as the diversion strike commenced. Eduardo looked out of his MiG-23ML cockpit and picked up the two Mi-17's they were protecting. At that moment all hell woke loose on the radio. "Missile, missile launch! Break, break hard!" It was one of the helicopters but not the Mi-17's. "You're on fire, turn left! Turn left harder dammit!" Everyone was trying to talk at once at this point, and Eduardo just managed to order: "Rum maximal!" as they lit their burners and swept the wings to 45 degrees. He then put his radar into search mode and after a couple of sweeps picked up two targets at about thirty kilometres. They had been briefed that the SAAF Mirages were operating in the Mavinga area and the adrenaline was now really pumping. A green light came on indicating that the R24 radar missile was ready, and Eduardo flew his MiG into launch parameters. Just at the point he was about to pull the trigger, he did a quick flick of his left thumb on the IFF button. All the launch parameters disappeared, and as he got closer to the target, he could make out the two SU-22's heading for home at full speed. Good discipline and an amazingly effective IFF system had just saved the day!

 

As Eduardo looked back towards the combat arena, he saw a ball of black smoke where the helicopter had impacted the ground. He flew over the wreckage scanning all the time for other aircraft but didn't pick anything up on radar or visually, and with his fuel used up, headed back to base. It seemed as if the helicopter had been hit by a surface to air missile, although the real culprit would only be revealed in 2010, when he read an account of the Bush War written by one the South African Air Force commanders at the time - Brigadier Dick Lord. 

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Ok, I know it is a model aircraft forum!

 

Here is some more of the model. The main rotor is really well represented, down to the finest detail. It is also well engineered and fits together very nicely. The only additions I made was some plumbing and its securing mountings that you can see here. In fact, I pretty much just copied what Malcolm did in his build! ;) Oh, and I put some dents in the dome that goes on the top.

 

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Here a blade is attached, and you can see how it all comes together.

 

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Talking of blades, they have to be gently bent into shape to look like they are actually affected by gravity. Many helicopter models seem to be undone by this task, with either no bending, or bending too uniformly throughout the blade. It seems that they bend a little more towards the hub, and then straighten towards the tip. Just an observation, and maybe an engineer can explain it for us.

 

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Then it was time to fiddle with some fiddly bits. The tail skid is nicely portrayed, but the pitot tube is a complex affair. I have the lovely Master pitot, but it requires careful surgery and drilling of the kits pitot attachment and even the canopy if you want to fit it securely.

 

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The weapons were probably not made by the same guy who did the rotors. It takes a bit of careful filing to open the exit holes for the rockets, and although not all operators seem to attach sway braces to the rocket pod, it appears that the Angolans did. They add a bit of interest at any rate. The pylons themselves are actually nicely represented.

 

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The "Swatter" launchers, although of good shape and dimension, would only look good with the missiles attached. I just want the launchers, so I tried to thin the kit parts and see what could be done. It was a bit of a dead end, so I knuckled down and opened a plastic factory for manufacturing 2P32M/K-U4 launch rails. Yeah, I know :mental:.

 

IMG_0599-XL.jpg

 

IMG_0621-XL.jpg

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Thanks for the history and modeling update Max, all good stuff.   Hey, not sure if you are interested but Begemot has an awesome set of stencils for the Hip/Hind.   I used them on my Afghan War Mi-8 and can't highly enough recommend them.  They include all the dozens or so markings for the main rotor blades, plus all the other interior / exterior stencils. You mentioned using Linden Hill decals, not sure if those are the same or not but just figured I make you aware of them in case it helps. 

 

http://www.begemotdecals.ru/showpos.php?lang=2&id=73

 

Keep up the good work!

Edited by John1
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18 hours ago, John1 said:

Thanks for the history and modeling update Max, all good stuff.   Hey, not sure if you are interested but Begemot has an awesome set of stencils for the Hip/Hind.   I used them on my Afghanistan Mi-8 and can't highly enough recommend them.  They include all the dozens or so markings for the main rotor blades, plus all the other interior / exterior stencils. You mentioned using Linden Hill decals, not sure if those are the same or not but just figured I make you aware of them in case it helps. 

 

http://www.begemotdecals.ru/showpos.php?lang=2&id=73

 

Keep up the good work!

John I just ordered this set, thanks.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Max, it's probably to late to mention this for you, but for the sake of other readers, I just got in a 4 sets of PE from a company in Poland called Part.  Just Part.  They have some advantages and disadvantages over the Eduard set, which I also have. But the weapons sets comes with PE to make the 2P32M/K-4U launch rails.  I was thinking I might even post a comparison between the Eduard and Part sets if there is any interest. Here's some links, there are four total; cockpit, exterior, armament, and crew cabin. I think they cost me $75 shipped including a Master DUAS probe and gun set.

 

AFXJcdP.jpg

Edited by rtwpsom2
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Thanks gents, firstly for the interest, and secondly for giving this post CPR whilst it suffered from my neglect!

 

On 8/11/2019 at 2:54 PM, John1 said:

Thanks for the history and modeling update Max, all good stuff.   Hey, not sure if you are interested but Begemot has an awesome set of stencils for the Hip/Hind.   I used them on my Afghan War Mi-8 and can't highly enough recommend them.  They include all the dozens or so markings for the main rotor blades, plus all the other interior / exterior stencils. You mentioned using Linden Hill decals, not sure if those are the same or not but just figured I make you aware of them in case it helps. 

 

http://www.begemotdecals.ru/showpos.php?lang=2&id=73

 

Keep up the good work!

 

Hi John1, I took a look at the Begemot decals, and I must say they look very good - thanks for the heads-up! I will be using the Linden Hill decals as I have them, but will cast my net further East in future for aftermarket goodies.

 

On 8/12/2019 at 6:49 PM, Cheetah11 said:

 

Hi Sean

 

Great modeling and I can't wait for the next history installment. BTW when is Lionel publishing the book?

 

Nick

 

Nick, I think the book is probably nearing the one year to go mark, however Lionel keeps finding more and more interesting source material. Per chance, he has recently found an Angolan survivor of this very story! 

 

On 8/27/2019 at 1:53 AM, rtwpsom2 said:

Max, it's probably to late to mention this for you, but for the sake of other readers, I just got in a 4 sets of PE from a company in Poland called Part.  Just Part.  They have some advantages and disadvantages over the Eduard set, which I also have. But the weapons sets comes with PE to make the 2P32M/K-4U launch rails.  I was thinking I might even post a comparison between the Eduard and Part sets if there is any interest. Here's some links, there are four total; cockpit, exterior, armament, and crew cabin. I think they cost me $75 shipped including a Master DUAS probe and gun set.

 

AFXJcdP.jpg

 

Oh my word, that is exactly what I needed for the launchers!

 

Thanks very much for adding this to the mix for other modellers who are still contemplating building this kit. I hope Brian is taking notes :lol:. This really looks good and I for one would love to see crobinsonh's suggested comparison to the Eduard offering.

 

Back to the model,

 

Sean

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Without the benefit of the "Part" etched launchers, here is what mine turned out like. The styrene has its limitations as it can't replicate the amount of holes in the rails (without snapping more than it did already) or the thinness of the brass when layering up the top of the rails. Anyway, I will live with them as they are better than the kit launchers.

 

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With that done, it is time to prepare the helicopter for paint. I was concerned about how to seal the cabin and the cockpit, but need not have worried. The kit doors fit so well, that all I had to do was push them into place and voila - sealed! The cockpit door needed a roll of Blu-Tack on the inside, but probably only because I messed with the angle of the canopy.

 

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Here it is all primed and ready for some colour..

 

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Just as point of interest for those collecting aftermarket stuff, here is what the Linden Hill stencil decals look like.

 

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Now, on with the battle.

 

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(thanks for the photo Nick)

 

The Impala's had scrambled from Rundu at 08h55, and each pair arrived at their patrol area within minutes of each other. They were essentially straddling the most likely area of encounter to the North, East and West. It was the easternmost pair who saw the choppers first. They had crossed the Lomba heading North, and at the limit of the patrol area turned around and headed back now flying south towards the river, and close to where the choppers would been headed. The wingman saw them - two Mi-17's in front with two Mi-24 escorts behind them, the first about 300m behind the Hip's and the second lagging another 700m behind the first. He called visual and the leader instructed him to lead the attack. The helicopters were at the 10 o' clock of the Impala's and they had to turn left with a hard right reversal to get into the six of the last hind. As he was positioning for the attack, the Impala wingman recalls the turn reversal in the valley of the Lomba river: "I suddenly glanced to my right and was shocked to see my right hand tip tank slicing through the bullrushes on the river bank!" It was the closest he had come to dying in an aircraft - ever.

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Awesome update.   I look forward to every post of yours, both for the great modeling and the history snippets.    Those SAAF pilots certainly were masters of low level flying!

 

Not sure if your Hind had those add-on IR flare packs installed on the tail boom but if it did, you might want to consider the PART PE set.  I used it for my Afghan HIp, I thought they came out quite nicely. PART makes some really nice photo-etch. 

 

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Keep up the great work!

 

Edited by John1
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