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1/48 - Mil Mi-24V/VP/P & Mi-35M "Hind-E/F" by Zvezda - released - Mi-24D "Hind-D" by Eduard - and Mi-24V/-35 in 2023


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15 minutes ago, 71chally said:

The Hind kit is now available in the UK from a well known online hobby shop, £39 Inc P&P, which seems good.

I'd say that given Zvezda's stated philosophy of going for lower detail in order to reduce the base cost, that's far too expensive. 

 

Jon

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I've had nothing but happy experiences with their kits, so I'm happy with that price.

Happy to add detail when the overall kit is accurate.

Also, the point is that it's not much more expensive than buying direct from Eastern Europe, which I was doing when I ran into an 'out of stock' caption.

Edited by 71chally
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My point is that Zvezda specifically said they omitted pretty important details (rivets, interior detail) to produce a cheaper kit, and at that price, they haven't. Zvezda list price on their website is ~£22. Their Yak-130 was a highly detailed kit with lots and lots of parts and costs a lot less than the Hind. I'm not saying it's expensive in this day and age (I just paid £42 for an AMP HUP-2 Retriever, although that won't need any aftermarket), just that ~£40 is what I'd expect to pay for a new-tool mid-sized helicopter with more detail than Zvezda are providing. 

 

Of course, when all is said and done, when they release the Hind-A I'll get it and all the additions necessary (but probably via Ebay given the savings available from Russia/Eastern Europe).

 

Jon

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The more tome passes the more I cannot grasp Zvezda logic behind this kit, they produced Pe-2 and Yak-130, without skimping on detail.

Both of before mentioned don't have wide appeal as Mi-24 has, and if they did it properly (proper surface detailing ) their Hind would have been go to kit for decades to come.

At the same time on european markets one can find superbly detailed newish and new Zvezda T-35,Boomerang, Pantsir kits for between 25-35 euros, mentioned have far more 

parts and are far more detailed than new Mi-24, as for savings, could have easily slashed half hearted attempt at Isotov's.👎

 

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@Jon Bryon, I'm with you in principle, and it's for that reason that I've just brought the Meteor NF.14 direct from Sword, rather than pay the inflated UK price.

 

I do think this kit is getting a slightly bad rap here. looking at the sprue shots on page 4 there is a high parts count and loads of detail, four nice decal options aswel.

Zvezda have omitted the riveting detail and provided flat instrument panels, their reasoning is this allows more versions from the same mouldings as these aspects vary between versions. 

The cost saving is in them not having to produce new molds for major items.

 

There is no doubt, from experience with their 72nd Hinds, and looking at the sprue pics, that this is clearly a well detailed and accurate Hind in 48th and has all features that I require, especially that fuselage lean which is a first on any of the Hind kits, apart from their own 72nd ones.

 

The basic kit price is around £32 and you get alot with this, one seller has the box weight listed as 1kg, which seems a tad heavy to me, but the Hind is a chunky beast, bigger than most 'medium' helicopters. 

I've built a couple of Monogram examples and was impressed by the size.

 

My point, I paid £38, that is the 'kit price' from that seller and they have free postage.

The day before I tried the cheapest price seller in Europe, in Poland, the kit was £31.40, postage was £7.50 (equivalent exchange prices), so £39.10 all in, but they had none in stock.

I have just seen that there is another UK supplier that I've never heard of before, that has it for £34, postage is £4, but again none in stock.

 

If you are lucky enough to be able to walk in and get this without having to pay postage then I would say that £32 is well worth paying for what you get.

Zvezda can't be responsible for postage or export fees.

 

Of course, we will have the Kittyhawk example to compare it with soon, but my hunch is the Zvezda kit will be better researched and offers more finesse and accuracy.  I'm buying on that hunch, but I could be wrong.

 

 

There are two reviews I've seen, one on DN Models and one on YouTube.

 

 

 

Edited by 71chally
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Hmm, looking at the dnmodels review sprue shots, I'm somewhat at shock (and I was already not expecting much given their announcement). This is like 1/72 level of detail at best and even at that from like 20 years ago or more (e.g. compare it to some recent Modelsvit releases in 1/72).

 

At 1/48, the detail should at least be at Trumpeter level and what they have here is slightly better than Italeri from 30 years ago (mostly by part count, the detail level not that much).

 

Adding that the price is not even that low (given how you need to add cockpit and rivet details at the very least, not to mention other stuff needing replacing like wheels, rear cabin interior, perhaps weapons, etc.), no, thanks..

 

I didn't mean to rain on anybody's parade here, I just expected so much more from a new 1/48 kit, especially since it's the iconic Mi-24 which should sell well. I wish them good luck with that approach, but I really hope Anetra makes one eventually.

Edited by Dudikoff
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10 hours ago, Dudikoff said:

Hmm, looking at the dnmodels review sprue shots, I'm somewhat at shock (and I was already not expecting much given their announcement). This is like 1/72 level of detail at best and even at that from like 20 years ago or more (e.g. compare it to some recent Modelsvit releases in 1/72).

 

At 1/48, the detail should at least be at Trumpeter level and what they have here is slightly better than Italeri from 30 years ago (mostly by part count, the detail level not that much).

 

Adding that the price is not even that low (given how you need to add cockpit and rivet details at the very least, not to mention other stuff needing replacing like wheels, rear cabin interior, perhaps weapons, etc.), no, thanks..

 

I didn't mean to rain on anybody's parade here, I just expected so much more from a new 1/48 kit, especially since it's the iconic Mi-24 which should sell well. I wish them good luck with that approach, but I really hope Anetra makes one eventually.

I think you're being a little harsh. what I hope this has over the older kits is fit. If it goes together well, for the average modeller that'll be great.

 

"you need to add cockpit..." is strong words. Yes, the kit lacks details in these areas but there is no "need" to add anything. I'd be happy to spray the cockpit blue and lay down the decals. Its not a part of the kit I'm that bothered about and if I ever put out pictures of my work, it won't be what anybody else sees. Infact the lack of cockpit detail is mildly attractive as I won't feel a need to concentrate on the parts of a kit I don't enjoy doing.

 

I'll wait for Kitty Hawk's release, but after that I'll buy the one that goes together best and i won't feel a "need" to add anything.

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1 hour ago, Simon V said:

I think you're being a little harsh. what I hope this has over the older kits is fit. If it goes together well, for the average modeller that'll be great.

 

"you need to add cockpit..." is strong words. Yes, the kit lacks details in these areas but there is no "need" to add anything. I'd be happy to spray the cockpit blue and lay down the decals. Its not a part of the kit I'm that bothered about and if I ever put out pictures of my work, it won't be what anybody else sees. Infact the lack of cockpit detail is mildly attractive as I won't feel a need to concentrate on the parts of a kit I don't enjoy doing.

 

I'll wait for Kitty Hawk's release, but after that I'll buy the one that goes together best and i won't feel a "need" to add anything.

Well, sure, it's a subjective thing. Personally, I could consider decals in 1/72 perhaps, but in 1/48, that's a big no-go for me. Yes, the cockpits are a hassle which slow down the build considerably, but if done decently, it's all worth it with a canopy open. Of course if you'll close it, with the thick and rounded glass of the Hind, you might just use the provided decals and call it a day.

 

A quick alternative would be the pre-painted PE pieces, but it's difficult to match the color (e.g. it pains me dearly removing the quite decent raised cockpit details Trumpeter provided in their 1/48 MiG-23M kit to mount these Yahu PE pieces which turns out are colored with some pretty odd and much too dark shade). But, in 1/48 I'd still prefer the raised details, ideally with holes for the front panel instruments and a decal for the instrument faces to add behind it. If Trumpy went for something like this for the front panel, I would have probably sold the Yahu set away. I'll try to cut out those decal instrument faces to fill those instrument depressions on the otherwise VERY nice raised interior details Kinetic provided on the Su-33 kit, but I doubt that will turn out circular enough (wish I had some punching tool for that).

Edited by Dudikoff
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My suggestion is to opt for a photo etch set with seatbelts and an instrument panel with holes where you could see the decal.  Alternatively a film with printed dials could be included but I think the photo etch instrument panel alone will be enough, and this would let you match your paint.  I generally go for PE seatbelts anyway so not a big deal for me.  I definitely am not going to add a whole new resin cockpit.  Although I assume it would be beautiful when done they just don't seem worth the work for me.  

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13 minutes ago, exdraken said:

Hmmm looks great,  but my Czech Hind model has  black/grey cockpit, not a turqoise one.... did I do it wrong back in the day? :(

No, some of the Czech Hinds have the dark grey cockpit, I believe the later 'modernised' or Mi-35 model type.  Someone else can probably answer that better though.

Edited by 71chally
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7 hours ago, 71chally said:

No, some of the Czech Hinds have the dark grey cockpit, I believe the later 'modernised' or Mi-35 model type.  Someone else can probably answer that better though.

So Quinta uses the only Hind camo paint scheme for their product that is not really suitable! :wall: hope the rest of their research is better...

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30 minutes ago, exdraken said:

So Quinta uses the only Hind camo paint scheme for their product that is not really suitable! :wall: hope the rest of their research is better...

I wouldn't like to say that, they do vary a bit and I believe earlier Czech Hinds had the bright colour.  The kit recommends that emerald colour in its instructions.

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My kit arrived this morning, very fast service from Jadlam.

Excuse the pics, taken quickly using my phone.

 

First impression is the sheer size of the box, which is sturdy and a top opener.  The size possibly explains higher postage charges, it could have been much smaller for packaging purposes, but better this way for storing the kit as you build.

 

49827351062_dcc4752d0d_b.jpg

Zvezda 1:48 Mi-24V/VP Hind E by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

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Zvezda 1:48 Mi-24V/VP Hind E by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

The detail in the plastic is very refined, sharp and crisp, basically looks like an upscale of their 72nd examples, but haven't directly compared yet.

Nice touches like the armoured areas being proud of the surface, like the real Hind.

 

49827036296_7d863f507f_b.jpg

Zvezda 1:48 Mi-24V/VP Hind E by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

49826502138_f0422d7d31_b.jpg

Zvezda 1:48 Mi-24V/VP Hind E by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

49827350077_c6c906bfb8_b.jpg

Zvezda 1:48 Mi-24V/VP Hind E by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

49827349737_987e314754_b.jpg

Zvezda 1:48 Mi-24V/VP Hind E by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

Raised armour detail

49827349437_85bd0bcde2_b.jpg

Zvezda 1:48 Mi-24V/VP Hind E by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

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Zvezda 1:48 Mi-24V/VP Hind E by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

49827348972_7930bdb0c6_b.jpg

Zvezda 1:48 Mi-24V/VP Hind E by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

Good number of underwing stores and armament options, including four fuel tanks, rocket pods and two cannon pods

49826500453_fe846d88e9_b.jpg

Zvezda 1:48 Mi-24V/VP Hind E by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

Decals, feature the instruments

49826500253_837fae759e_b.jpg

Zvezda 1:48 Mi-24V/VP Hind E by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

Transparencies look nice and crisp.

 

49827348277_c46098aa38_b.jpgZvezda 1:48 Mi-24V/VP Hind E by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

The instrument panels are flat, my work around for this is to use thin plastic card to make up new instrument panels, using the kit parts as templates, then by using the decals as a guide I drill small holes in the plastic card instrument panels to make up the look of the real panels. 

Others will doubtlessly buy aftermarket for this.  I think Zvezda have been quite savvy here, as modellers either tend to build a kit as it is, or will pay for cockpit and panel upgrades kits anyway, irrespective of what the kits provides.

 

This kit looks superb to me and is just what I'm after.  I must admit that I do tend to build clean looking models, and I think mine will be in one of the special schemes, leaning towards the Czech 'Coastal Command' scheme.  In pictures of such examples the rivet detail is hardly noticeable anyway, even when reasonably close.

Some like to build dirty and beaten up examples, so I guess the aftermarket rivet sets will tick those boxes.

Edited by 71chally
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...I must admit that I'm changing my view on the cockpit issue. 

I happened to be looking at reference material yesterday and the kit really deserves a decent cockpit interior (inc seats and panels etc), especially given all that large clear glazing that it can be seen through.

I wonder if one of the previous Pavla & Cobra resin cockpit upgrade sets for the Revell kit will fit this one?  If not, I'm guessing new sets will be forthcoming.

Edited by 71chally
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