Mi-24v Hind, Aircraft No. 119, Iraqi Air Force, 1984

The Subject

In the period leading up to the first Gulf War, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq acquired a number of relatively modern aircraft from the Soviet Union.  The Hind is no exception and this example was likely still on strength when Operation DESERT STORM begin.  

The Model

I was given this Hobby Boss 1/72 kit to be put into the raffle give away but when I opened it and discovered the cockpit had been started I almost binned it.  I noted that the February 2022 theme for our local club was “Whirlybird — any helicopter” and chose to complete the model and test out airbrushing Vallejo paints.

Construction was a bit of a challenge because I had to break some cement bonds, which did not go as I’d hoped in all cases.  Repairing those issues and then getting things to align took a bit of work.  While this is not one of their Easy Build kits, it wasn’t what I’d consider a high quality kit.  Fit was poor and alignment a bit of a challenge.  There is, however a lot of detail.  

I did my best to get it painted in appropriate colors, mixing the interior light blue from a couple of shades of Vallejo Model Color.

Since my plan was to airbrush this model using Vallejo paints exclusively, I started with Vallejo Model Air 71.413 for the undersurface blue.  This went on nicely enough and looked about right.  The uppersurface sand color is Vallejo Model Color 70.819 (Iraqi Sand) and this required significant amounts of thinner to get it applied, but ultimately I won that one.  The disruptive green is Vallejo Model Air 71.411 and this is where my challenges existed, but ultimately with help I was able to figure out the thinning ratios and pressures.  See my older post linked above.

The only construction challenge I could not resolve was the sag of the blades.  I tried boiling water which worked on 2 blades but the other 3 either remained flat or as the one shows, curves upward!  One thing I noted was that the kit is engineered to display the engines, which are not present in the kit.  Maybe another boxing?  

Decals are from the kit and went on with no difficulty.

Summary

I finished this kit in February 2022 just in time for the Club meeting.  While I enjoyed learning how to airbrush Vallejo, I learned that I need to stick with my Tamiya paints for now, but I do want to get better results from true water based paints.