This was bought on a complete whim after recently reading Craig Thomas’ ‘Winter Hawk’, which feature a KGB Mi-2. I was intrigued if a kit of this helicopter existed and found a few. There are a couple of vintage toolings around (eg. Smer), but Hobbyboss’s is the latest. So I thought why not? Let’s get one. I do think that this is one of those kits that could easily slip under the radar. It’s not a pretty looking thing and they didn’t exactly set the world on fire with their performance. It’s actually a really nice little kit and Hobbyboss offer a couple of different armed versions. This is the US variant armed with an NS23 23mm cannon and 4 7.62mm PKT machine guns. There’s also a pair of machine guns mounted in the side windows.
Armament sprue. This is the only thing that changes between the various boxings. I have got my eyes on the Anti-Tank version next with AT-2 Swatter missiles.
As usual with Hobbyboss, all the sprues are separately bagged and delicate parts have an extra layer of foam wrapped around them. Wish more manufacturers would put this effort into packaging to protect the transparencies (Revell, I’m looking at you!).
Everything starts with the cockpit and cabin. You do need to cut some slots for the cabin seats. Not difficult, but the plastic was a bit thick. I chain drilled through the slots on the underside and trimmed. Holes are a bit ugly, but they’re hidden under the seats.
You’re off to a good start!
This is a very Polish build, because most of them were built in Poland. The Soviets said - we only like BIG things, so we’ll stick with the Mi-8. Poles can have those crappy Mi-2.
So we made not one not two but three gunship variants of this baby (somewhat comparable in size and capacity with the short Hueys when you look at it). There is US (Uzbrojenie Strzeleckie - guns), URN (Uzbrojenie Rakietowe Niekierowane - unguided missiles) and URP (Uzbrojenie Rakietowe Przeciwpancerne - guided anti-tank missiles).
Yes I didn’t realise that until I started a little research this evening. Surprised that the Soviet Army never had them, would think that a smaller helicopter than the Hip would’ve been useful in some circumstances.
I might look at getting the full range of these to show off the different armaments.
Can be dangerous for your wallet when they make a whole series of aircraft. I’ve already got most of Hobbyboss’s Lynx to do already. Still wishing for a new AH.1/7 in 1/72.
@Karl187 welcome aboard. It’s a nice little model. Recommend it if you see one.
Got some pain in the interior this afternoon. Looking online, the Mi-2 had it’s cockpit and cabin painted light blue with instrument panels in that turquoise that the Soviet aircraft industry was so fond of.
I used Vallejo’s pale blue and Revells Patina Green for the instruments. This is a very good match for the Soviet turquoise although I have seen lighter shades used.
Thanks.
Managed a little bit more tonight when I got in from work. Finished up the flight controls and gave the seats a dry brush and wash to make them look used and lived in. Gave the instrument a coat of gloss ready for decals. Should be able to get them down tomorrow.
Decals applied to the instrument panels. The upper console decal was a bit tricky to apply, had a little distortion on one side. Not much of it will be visible, but it’s a nice little detail that could have been overlooked.
And the interior is now mostly done. Just guns to do (instructions are vague on how they assemble). Seatbelts were made from painted tissue paper. The sort they cover decal sheets with.
The mounting arms are very fiddly to assemble and fragile. Not much surface area for the parts to attach to each other, especially on the upper rail.
I deviated slightly from the instructions here. Hobbyboss would have you fix the arm to the mg carry handle. But, it hangs far too low if you do. Below the window and interfering with the fit between the cabin seats and fuselage. I decided to fit it to the top of gun in front of the handle. Looks like a logical place that would not cause a problem with the guns breech and operating parts. But it is a best guess on my part. Try as I might, I haven’t found photos showing how the guns were fixed on the real thing.
