1/72 Russian Air Force Mi-26 RF-06801

[AndrewMi]

Hi everyone, this is my 1/72 Zvezda MI-26 of the Russian Air force. The kit was great quality with lots of detail. The inside was very detailed with lots of structure and the tail rotor drive shaft visible. Fitting everything in the fuselage halves was easier than I expected and was a quick process. The only fitting problems I had was the two engine air intakes which didn’t align properly with the engine covers. The rotor blades had strong joins to the rotor hub and came pre bent. I did accidently break one of the joins to the hub but managed to glue it on correctly. I sprayed it with a dark eggplant grey and air superiority blue on a small bump on the bottom and where the tail rotor gearbox is. The kit came with only two red stars when pictures showed it having a third one on the underside. I found a spare decal and tried to apply it to the underside. Due to what I think is structural support, the decal had difficulty conforming so I had to remove it. I then traced the stars that came with the kit and created a mask. It worked well but there were areas where the red paint had sprayed in to the white. I was going to redo it, but it is barely visible when the model is the correct way up. I bought the Begemot 1/72 Russian Air Force insignia decal set so I could create the aircraft Rf-06801. I took the blue 07 from the 1/72 Zvezda Mi-24 kit, it was a bit bigger than the one on the real aircraft but looked fine. In the pictures where four small red tabs on each wheel which I made from the red border on the decals sheet. In pictures of over MI-26, they had lots of streaks of faded paint. I tried to recreate this by covering the area in thinner and brushing white oil paint onto that are. It turned out well and gave a subtle effect. I finally added the doors and used a drill to spin copper wire together to look like the rope holding the doors.

Thanks for looking

 

[Homer]

Excellent work well done 👏 

[Pete in a shed]

Very nicely done Andrew, Clever use of oil paints to produce a very authentic worn and streaky appearance. Ive never made one of these but have always wanted one. Is there any detail provided for the rear hold?

Pete

[swralph]

Very nice build.😀

[AndrewMi]

@Pete in a shed the only detail was the tail rotor shaft at the top and the frame work on the walls. There are small boxes on the wall next to the door to the cockpit and that is it. I'll try take a picture. 

[AndrewMi]

@Pete in a shed

[neil5208]

Impressive kit nd result

[Robin-42]

 Beautiful work on a beast of a helo! Impressive photography as well.

[Abandoned Project]

Fantastic. Got one in the stash for when I finish my airliners. Great idea for the paint streaks.

[Ryan Hothersall]

Nice build. 

[Tripio]

Hello there,

 

Beautiful monster, simply.

You don't see these built very often.

For example I have one in the stash in Revell boxing, will be built as a Pemòn once.

There is something special in the Russian stuff...

Very nice.

 

Regards, Laszlo

[Team Aer Lingus]

Fantastic looking model very well done

 

thanks for sharing

 

regards

 

Eamonn

[roginoz]

Seems three of us have this kit in the stash, and you've built it to show us what an impressive model it builds up to.

 

That's a lovely build, @AndrewMi, and your photography provides a suitably ominous look of the beast. Mine just rose to the top of the stash, hope I can emulate the skills you've put into your model.

Best,

Rog

 

[F-32]

Wow, that is one big beasty!