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Mi-24 Upgrade Sets (Zvezda) 1:48


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Mi-24 Upgrade Sets (for Zvezda)

1:48 Eduard & Eduard Brassin

 

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The new Mi-24V kit from Zvezda is proving popular, and a lot of people seem to be picking them up to commit the old Revell Monogram kits to the back of the stash.  Eduard haven't been idle during the Covid-19 crisis, and have been busy producing a number of update sets for this new kit to add extra detail to the new tooling.  As usual with Eduard's Photo-Etch (PE), smaller Brassin and Mask sets, they arrive in a flat resealable package, with a white backing card protecting the contents and the instructions that are sandwiched between.

 

 

Wheels (648573)

This Brassin set contains just the four resin parts and masks, with two smaller nose wheels and two larger main wheels, all of which have moulded-in highly-detailed hubs, and a suitably sized hole for the axle.  They’re a straight-forward replacement for the kit parts, and have superb detail with circumferential tread and maker's data-plate, with a set of kabuki tape masks for easy painting of the new wheels.

 

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Interior (491097)

This set comprises two sheets of PE, one of which is nickel-plated and painted (yes, that rhymes), the other bare brass.  The first item is a complete replacement for the moulded-in headrest to the seat, with additional bracing parts on the rear of the seat frame.  The instrument panel and side consoles are completely replaced by layered painted parts with painted dials behind the green front layer.  Additional floor panels are fitted along with smaller instruments in both cockpits, including some protective grab-handles, equipment boxes and a breaker board.  New rudder pedals, HUD with slip of acetate included, more internal structure and floor panels are included, plus what looks like a small microwave oven on the floor.  Yes, I know it isn’t, or is it?  Inside the canopy a number of PE inserts that fit to the rear sections to replicate the padded covers found there and at the rear of the instrument coaming.

 

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Zoom! Set (FE1097)

This set contains a reduced subset of the interior, namely the pre-painted parts that are used to improve on the main aspects of the cockpit, as seen above.  Whatever your motivations for wanting this set, it provides a welcome boost to detail, without being concerned with the structural elements.

 

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Seatbelts (FE1098)

These belts are Photo-Etch (PE) steel, and because of their strength they can be etched from thinner material, which improves realism and flexibility in one sitting.  Coupled with the new painting method that adds perceived extra depth to the buckles and other furniture by shading, they are more realistic looking and will drape better than regular brass PE.  You get the pilot and gunner's four-point crew belts, plus six sets of grey lap belts in three parts for the passengers in the rear compartment.

 

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Exterior (481019)

This set is supplied on one large bare brass fret, beginning with the various doors and hatches that get new interior detail skins.  The rear wheel bay has all of its moulded detail removed to be replaced by a set of interior skins with ribs added along the length of the bay, then detailed once the divider is installed.  The nose gear bay has a new interior folded up, then inserted into the kit bay with other details.  Attention then shifts to the true exterior, beginning with raised surrounds for the exhausts, many aerials and antennae on the tail boom and under it, then new wiper blades for each canopy blister and the vortex generators on the pitot probe.  At the tail a number of grilles are added on both sides of the fin, plus a perforated skin for the two styles of countermeasures dispensers either side of the tail root.

 

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Cargo Interior (481020)

Another large brass fret contains all the parts for the passenger/cargo area of the Hind, beginning with instructions on how to make the recessed stiffening shapes on the two bulkhead pieces with a ball-point pen from the rear.  These and a floor skin for the cabin are placed on the kit parts after the moulded-in detail has been sanded away.  More detail is removed from the aft bulkhead to be replaced by new detail parts of superior quality, with the same treatment given to the opening parts of the doors with windows.  The roof margins are also skinned with new detailed parts, plus additional short sections shown in a scrap diagram to the side for correct alignment.  The horizontal ribs above and below the side fuselage windows are removed, and the window parts are given PE frames for additional detail, plus brackets between them. Finally, additional equipment and boxes are fitted to the cabin sidewalls, completing the upgrade to the interior.

 

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Masks Tface(EX706)

Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with a full set of masks for the canopy, with compound curved handled by using frame hugging masks, while the highly curved gaps are in-filled with either liquid mask or offcuts from the background tape.  In addition you get a set of hub/tyre masks for the wheels, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort.

 

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Or as exterior only masks (EX705)

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Conclusion

The detail added with these sets will doubtless set your model apart from the rest, and you can get any or all sets depending on your area of focus.

 

Highly recommended.

Review sample courtesy of

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  • 1 month later...

Great review Mike. Everything seems spread across all the sets. Which is a shame. It’s lovely stuff but blimey it’s pricey. I might just go for the Zoom IP stuff. And scratch the rest. 🤔 maybe the exterior too. 🤪🤣

 

Johnny

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/17/2020 at 7:47 PM, The Spadgent said:

Great review Mike. Everything seems spread across all the sets. Which is a shame. It’s lovely stuff but blimey it’s pricey. I might just go for the Zoom IP stuff. And scratch the rest. 🤔 maybe the exterior too. 🤪🤣

 

Johnny

You are doing a Hind? I will look forward to that! If you need any reference material please PM me. 

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3 hours ago, James G said:

You are doing a Hind? I will look forward to that! If you need any reference material please PM me. 

Yes. I have been stalking your rather brilliant 1/72 version. You did a great job. 🙌I bought some books on your recommendation. The yellow edition one? It’s turning up Friday. 

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1 hour ago, The Spadgent said:

Yes. I have been stalking your rather brilliant 1/72 version. You did a great job. 🙌I bought some books on your recommendation. The yellow edition one? It’s turning up Friday. 

Thanks very much! It was a long haul but very pleased with how my Hind turned out. Yes the Yellow Series book by Jacob Fojtik is very useful. Also the 'Aces High Hind Special' is brilliant for detail shots of the engines, rotor head, hydraulics box and the APU. I would be prepared to sell this if you are interested? Lastly there is a HT model special book which has some useful pics, you can't buy it now but a kind BMer lent me his copy a while back and I scanned it in! If you do Dropbox or something I can send you my scans. Cheers, James

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5 hours ago, James G said:

Thanks very much! It was a long haul but very pleased with how my Hind turned out. Yes the Yellow Series book by Jacob Fojtik is very useful. Also the 'Aces High Hind Special' is brilliant for detail shots of the engines, rotor head, hydraulics box and the APU. I would be prepared to sell this if you are interested? Lastly there is a HT model special book which has some useful pics, you can't buy it now but a kind BMer lent me his copy a while back and I scanned it in! If you do Dropbox or something I can send you my scans. Cheers, James

Oooh thanks that would be super handy. I’ll see if my drop box is still up and running. 🙌

 

John.

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