Long announced and awaited Zvezda model of one of the most beautiful and most powerful helicopters of today is finally in front of us. Let me start from beginning. Big and sturdy box protects 318 pieces of grey styrene. Box art should represent historical event from December 1979, when an airborne battalion of the Soviet Army, thanks to superb tactical maneuver, took control over Salang pass and undetected by the enemy entered Afghanistan without losses. This is Soviet ground attack helicopter that can be used for a small scale transport operations as well. The Mi-24 was developed in the late ‘60-ies. It is used in many armies around the world, while the first combat use was in Soviet Army during the war in Afghanistan. There were numerous modifications and upgrades done on this helicopter, resulting in many versions. Some of them are given in this box.
Upon first inspection everything looks impressive. Big box, big model, because 1/48 is just the right scale for this model. 1/72 looks to small, whereas 1/32 is too big.
From the modeler’s point of view, everything is done in high quality, without “flash” around parts and with crisp panel lines. There are no rivets however, but the model looks rather nice even without them. There is an impression that Zvezda left a lot of room for additional aftermarket parts, especially in cockpit. The instruction sheet shows use of decals for cockpit interior. As mentioned before, there are two versions that can be built, Mi-24V and Mi-24V/P.
Painting and marking scheme shows four different types of helicopter. Of course, the most interesting one is from Afghanistan, Bagram Air Base 1988. Decals look good, even the separate sheet with stencils.
Conclusion is that this Zvezda model of Mi-24 Hind in 1/48 scale is, for now, the best model in this scale available on the market. I have tried to use photos to bring you the full impressions of the parts, instructions and decals, while the end opinion will be given when we start building the mode. As before, the whole WIP phase will be shown on our Club’s Facebook page.
I would like to recommend this new model to all modelers and in my opinion Zvezda made the right move with this model.
We would like to thank Zvezda for providing us with this sample.
