1/72 Zvezda Mi-8

Gallery Article by Aamod Potdar on May 1 2015

  4th Anniversary of Indian Scale Modelers group 

 

      

Mi-8 Indian Air Force

I would like to start by mentioning that this build is part of Anniversary Special group build of Indian Scale Modelers (ISM). 30th April 2015 is 4th anniversary of our lovely group. 

This kit was chosen for me by fellow modelers at Indian Scale Modelers. There is lot of confusion when it comes to building Mi-8. One has to study the differences between Mi-8 and Mi-17. I almost spent a week researching whether kit I have is better suited for Mi-8 or Mi-17 conversion. 

And this where being part of modeling group such as ISM helps you. I got lot of suggestions regarding mods I would require till various camo schemes I can try on this kit. 

 

Click on images below to see larger images

The kit from Zvezda is boxed as Mi-8 T which is legacy Mi-8 which Indian Air Force did use. Its upgraded variant was Mi-8 MT which is better suited for Mi-17 conversion. Main difference between Mi-8 and Mi-17 would be tail rotor on left looking from front , no APU and no flare unit on tail for Mi-8. Also another difference is exhaust. Mi-8 has round air exhaust while Mi-17 will have oval air exhaust. 

Though Indian Air Force has moved to all grey camo scheme, I wanted go for some unique and striking camo. Mi-8 has better camo options compared to Mi-17. I finally decided to for the VIP version Mi-8 of Indian Air Force. This version is used to transport VIP / VVIP and other senior dignitaries. 

I only had to remove the flare unit from the tail. I did not have to make other modification. Decals where home printed on waterslide decal printer using inkjet printer. For IAF roundels and fin flash using Bright Spark decals. For paints I used combination of acrylics from AK interactive , local camel acrylics. Finished with coat of future and matt varnish. 

Aamod Potdar

Click on images below to see larger images

 

Photos and text © by Aamod Potdar