modelling minion

Very nice John, very nice indeed. Good call cutting the star decals before they were applied, makes things a lot easier. Washes do look frightening before they are wiped off! I'm sure your Hip is looking great and I'm looking forward to seeing the next photos.

Really good to see this one underway Steve, although I don't think even you can catch either John or Glynn . I think the kit decals will be fine for the cockpit in 1/72 scale, especially with the lid shut.

Thanks Paul, and thanks for the encouragement on taking on more builds than I'm already committed to .

Ooh, the Minsk! You would get serious bonus points for that one Steve!

Excellent work all round Rich, the cockpit looks great and it looks like you've sorted the shock cone issues as your's is sitting perfectly. Great job on the wings too, very little gaps to deal with on the undersides. Don't forget that the rivets on the outer wings flaps are actually raised dome headed rivets, if you want to get that detailed, I wouldn't!

Still plenty of room in the GB for you to add another Hip to the lineup Steve. It really does show how much fun both you and Glynn are having with your Mi-8's, and with different kits too. there are loads of great helicopters out there to choose from Glynn and some great models of them too. I am a bit of a rotor-head though so maybe I'm a bit biased .

Nice smooth coat of black on the exhausts, should be a great primer for the metallic colours. Wit you 100% on good looking aircraft needing to retain their shape Paul, some are that overdone with all the panels open and engines dropped that they look nothing like the aircraft that they are, never mind being completely unrealistic.

Cheers Glynn, as far as I can tell from the very limited info that is out there they were just green over blue, albeit very faded.

I like the look of them too, Ive just taken delivery of one of their other kits, have a look at my J-7 build and all will be revealed . A Helix you say, now there's an idea!

Whilst the Zvezda Hind does look very impressive it is certainly not as quick and simple a build as the Hobby Boss Mi-8. I'm actually considering getting the Hobby Boss Mi-24 over the Zvezda one as it would be a simpler build and it comes with a ton of weapons, I know it doesn't have the slightly off set rear fuselage like the Zvezda kit does but it looks good and will build easily.

That really does look excellent Glynn, I think you were right to add the extra blue under the tail. This must be your quickest build yet, now lets see knocking out one Mi-8/17 every 2 weeks means that you can build a total of 8 Hips for the GB!

Watching all the fantastic progress going on in other peoples builds I thought it was about time I pulled my finger out and got on with my build, what with running the GB and all. Finding references for this build has been a bit like finding rocking horse poo, but then the Chinese have never been keen on sharing their secrets, they like other peoples but are just not willing to share, so my detail painting of the cockpit is pure speculation. Trumpeter gives what looks like a fairly comprehensive cockpit OOTB and all I have done is to paint it and give it a bit of weathering, here are some pics of the cockpit bits before assembly starting with the IP which has kit decals used for the instruments; Followed by the cockpit tub; The kits HUD, made up of around 5 parts; And the side panels; And the kit's seat, again made up of multiple parts. Not sure what kind of seat it is meant to be but it looks okay and I will need to sort out a harness of sorts for it; The wheel wells are again very well detailed and I have given them a coat of the sort of dirty zinc chromate that is used on Soviet aircraft and is used on the J-7, below are some pics of the parts still on the sprues after being painted and detailed and weathered; And what they look like built up; And the nose well installed; The wing wells were also painted; The vertical tail and centreline fuel tank which have been built up; And that is how things look at the minute, next job will be to assemble the cockpit parts and then to build up the engine and paint the shock cone for the nose. just to distract me a bit more (as if I need it!) this little beauty dropped through the letter box today courtesy of Amazon; Hadn't planned to build it for this GB but I know the Afghans used them and I think the Indians and Chinese still had them on strength at the time. Thats it for today, thanks for looking in and as usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received. Craig.

It really is a much anticipated kit and there are a lot of schemes available for ones that would fit this GB perfectly.

Can't go wrong then John as nobody can prove you wrong .

Time for the photos of how she looks at the minute. The nose art decal still needs a bit more work but it is looking pretty good; The national markings on the port side of the fuselage gave a little trouble on one side as I forgot to pre-cut them but they just need a small amount of touching up and then it will be okay; The undersides are nearly complete and have had the markings and a wash applied and now look like this; A close up of the national marking area; And an over all shot of the model as she looks now from above; I still need to a bit more weathering on the upper and lower surfaces but she is definitely moving in the right direction. Thanks for looking in and as usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received. Craig.

Very nice work John, the paint looks nice and smooth. I can't help you with the rocket sequence I'm afraid but if I had to choose I would put the 80mm one on the inside.

That looks fantastic Glynn, wish I could spray freehand like that. Shouldn't take you long to add the extra blue and then you will be on to the decals before you know it.

Great job on the painting Glynn, that will form a great base coat for the green and looks nicely weathered and worn already.

Those engines do look very detailed Paul. Having engines opened on models has become quite the fashionable thing for a lot of model companies to do now but personally I'm not that big a fan because super detailers will almost always buy a resin replacement which will be more detailed and the majority of us close them up and don't bother with them, so I would personally much rather they spent the time and money in giving a well detailed cockpit or actually providing something to hang under the wings.

As nice as those Taiwanese markings are they don't fit the timeline of the GB as they were not delivered until 1997, though a Taiwanese A/B/E or F fits perfectly.

Now, there is an A in the manufacturers name but not in the aircraft's and it's first production model is designated "A" but it's not by Mil .

Glad to hear that you have sorted things quickly and easily, really enjoying your build John.

Really glad that you're enjoying this build so much, and it shows in your progress and quality of your build. As for the purchase.... well that would be telling wouldn't it! It only has one canopy and does come with red stars, but mine might not have red starts on it, we shall see.

This really has gone together very quickly and very nicely Glynn, makes me want to add another one (or two!) to the stash, lets face it there are no end of schemes available for them. Going to need to get some Tamiya XF-23 as I've just won something on a certain auction site .

Glad to have you with us Jabba and with a very nice kit of a classic aircraft. I've been having a bit of a look at Malaysian RF-5's and it seems that you can finish it with either the square or round national markings as both were carried during the eighties, though they were delivered with the square ones. Are you aware of this site? http://www.the-northrop-f-5-enthusiast-page.info/