albymoore

Hi Eng, Okay, ya talked me into it. It's supposed to be another beautiful day here in Michigan tomorrow, so I'll take some close up pics and post them after work. As far where to get a Hasegawa Hind A, I don't know who has the kit as it is OOP (I picked mine up at contest/swap meet back in March). Heller and Airfix also had a Hind A in their lines back in the day. Cheers, Alby

Hi Martin, Yes sir, it would be the AT-2s. I have a set from the AMT boxing of the Hind D, so I'm not totally down and out (they look the same, just have to test fit them). I do appreciate the offer though. I had a bottle of Ambroid pro-Weld spill into the box that had the AT-2s, as well as the wheels and main rotor blades (which were okay, how ever the Swatters looked like plastic blobs by the time the glue did its thing). Thanks again for the offer. Cheers, Alby

Watch the fit of the windscreen. I don't have experience with those two particular kits so this may not apply, but a few of the 1/35th Academy/MRC kits I have messed with (1/48th helicopter kits too for that matter) needed some tweaking via sanding around the instrument panels, and also shimming the top or bottom seam to get a flush fit. Also watch the the width of the floors. They may need to be whittled down a bit so the fuselage halves meet up properly without a gap. Figures you may be on your own per sey. There aren't any 1/32 figures that I know of, but I reckon you could modify some 1/35 figures to suit your purpose. Dragon as well some of the resin folks have made various helicopter crew figures, and the Academy UH-1C Huey Gunship has some nice figures that could be modified (if you can find someone to part with theirs). Hope that helps! Cheers, Alby

Ciao Everybody, Thank you for the kind comments and the warm welcome. Good to see some familiar names from outside of my usual stomping grounds, it's been a while. I agree with WolvoWill on his assessment of the Hind A (apparently so did George Lucas- look which variant inspired the Republic Gunship in the last two Star Wars flicks). Hi Dave, Your peepers are working fine. Yup, Primus. Don't know whose ganja-inspired idea it was for the video for 'Wynona's Big Brown Beaver', but they deserve a lifetime achievement award as that is the best video ever! Thanks for the nice comment on my Mi-24. Thanks again to everyone! Cheers, Alby

Here's the latest off of my bench, a 1/72 Hasegawa Mi-24 Hind A with Ethiopian Air Force markings. The Mi-24 got its first taste of combat with the ETAF during the Ogaden War of 1977-78 between Ethiopia and Somalia. The kit was built out-of-box, with the particle separators being the only extra added (from a 1/72 Monogram snap tite Mi-24 Hind-D). An ARC member was generous and sent me the ETAF roundels, which made this project possible. The finish is a mixture of Humbrol and Model Master enamels. the paint scheme was applied freehand with an Aztek A470 airbrush. After applying the base colors, I added white to each color and added highlights, as well as to fade the colors a bit. A final touch was using the dot filter technique to add more subtly to the finish (worked like a charm I must say!). After the flat coat, pastels were used for the exhaust staining. The Hasegawa kit went together without too much fuss, and the markings make for a unique build. Still need to add the wingtip ATT missiles, but I have to get another kit as the ones that came with this kit were damaged (I'm hoping that the later boxings of the Hind D kits retain the weapons from this kit as I'm getting the newest version in that spiffy Hungarian deer scheme). All comments and critiques welcomed, thanks for looking. Cheers, Albert

Sharp pics, lots of great detail shots there! I may have to pick up another 1/72 RoG Bell 412 so I can build one of these gray Griffins (to go along with the DHFS Griffin on my shelf). Any decals available for this Griffin? Cheers, Albert