RWG686

Enough of the modern stuff..back to the Mil. I spent ages looking for a photograph of the inside of an operational Polish Navy Mi-4 with no luck. That was fun but as far as the build goes,a total waste of time because with that very small door and only a small hole behind the second pilot there is not a lot to be seen. As usual in this scale the impression of kit down the back is more important than accuracy so I had more fun getting diverted trawling through the spares box to find bits that looked as if they were 1960's secret Soviet submarine tracking gizmos. This is what I came up with. A wee splash of paint and when that's all boxed up it will do the job I reckon. I've started looking for replacement seats as the kit ones are too thin and I want to make a start on the cockpit tomorrow. I have nothing which I can just drop in so lots of wee bits of plastic rod make an appearance soon I suspect.

Did I ever mention that my skills in masking are 💩 So are a few others but masking takes the title. I see build where the tape is peeled back and there is a razor sharp line with no bleed. I used Tamiya tape and carefully rubbed the edges down. I peel the tape off and you'd think I'd masked it with a tattie sack. I'll sort it tomorrow..maybe!

Ancient KP I suspect. It was probably a new release when Donnie built it.

That looks very very nice. You'll now need to invest in an Eduard kit and do another one.

Excellent job there Ian.

I wonder how I can do this mesh ?

This one is the hunter. They operated in pairs because they weren't powerful enough to carry all the kit in one airframe. On the killer,the torpedo bay is external and was basically a box extending back from the gondola. I haven't seen a 'killer' which is just as well as there are very few photos of them. A bit of work this afternoon on adding some detail. Not too much in the cabin. as the door is very small. Different story with the cockpit. Plenty visible there as I will have the sliding windows open. The kit completely misses out the half bulkhead behind the second pilot.. I made this out of 20 thou card. His seat back folds to permit access to the cabin .

Yes,I like that! Thanks for posting it.

I delayed saying what I was going to do because I didn't have a picture of it in operational service. I have loads of photos of it in the museum at Krakow but wanted to do it in service colours. Here it is then, A Mil Mi-4ME of the Polish Navy.

A bit more filling and sanding with some of those wee sticky oot bits started and ready to be filed into shape.

Excellent idea which I only found after another thinning session but I may still try it. This kit was supposed to be a straight out of the box build. I have been bashing plastic for about 60 years and I don't think I have ever done that. As this follows my usual trend I decided that the bog standard troop transport was boring so I have started modifying the fuselage for my chosen version: The Mil Mi-4 has often been compared with the Whirlwind. As you can see here,it's not too different

Thinned down to about half what was there and mesh added. Still a tad deep but I daren't risk going any further. Looks terrible in the photo so may have to do more thinning after all.

Looks better already I will now need to very carefully thin down the inner face before adding a suitable mesh. Once that's done I'll see how much is visible in there and hopefully I won't need to do a really detailed engine.

Some of the people have spoken and as time is of the essence, I will press on with the Mi-4 but don't be surprised if an NH90 suddenly appears. Mi-4's are like the piston Whirlwinds and S-58s with very prominent cooling grills for the engine. Kopro give you some half hearted impressions in the plastic which will look naff so a start has been made to remedy this. A wee while later and it looks like @Miggers has been out with his 12 bore One and three quarter holes later and I'm already regretting this. Time for a cup of tea I think.

Haven't seen any in that scheme. I've seen 11 and guess what / They were all green and blue. Pity it isn't an Amodel kit. I could have poured glue and paint into the box,given it a shake and got this: Assuming of course I don't just ignore you and do a Norwegian NH90.