Zvezda 1/48 Mi-24 Hind, Croatian Air Force
I was wondering if I could make decent effect of launching flares. For this project I chose well known Mi-24 HIND, and Zvezda was logical choice of manufacturer. I decided to ditch provided decals and go with markings of Croatian Air Force I had in stash. Few more decals are missing and I'll have to wait to get my hands on some decal paper to make my own. A switch with 3V battery is located in cargo area.
Little bit of history;
At the beginning of war in Croatia (1991-1995), newly formed Croatian Air Force lacked any attack capability and consisted of few light/transport helicopters capable of transport/medevac operations. After successfully stalling enemy territorial advances, soon became obvious that Croatian Army will start conducting offensive operations. For that purpose, limited air attack capability was needed.
The first examples of these armored helicopters with high firepower were acquired at the end of 1993 from Ukraine. The acquired helicopters were manufactured between 1978 and 1987. The helicopter shipments to Croatia were delivered by the huge An-124 Ruslan cargo plane. Antonov arrived at the airport on the island of Krk, from where the helicopters would be transported by road to Velika Gorica near Zagreb, where the Aviation Technical Center was located.
Due to ongoing arms embargo, acquired helicopters quickly came under focus of international peace keeping organizations. To avoid any sanctions, Croatian government published statement that helicopters were purchased before 1991, they were stripped of all arms and painted as medevac units. In reality, these weapon stripped helicopters were used for training crews of the future 29th Combat Helicopter Squadron.
Along with the helicopters came several Russian pilots and engeneers with technical documentation, because until then the Croatian experts had no experience of using these armored combat helicopters. In parallel with the delivery of the helicopters, the training of pilots who already had experience flying SA342 Gazelle helicopters took place. The flight training took place in Varaždin, and the shooting matches at the coastal range near Pula.
All these efforts finally resulted in the first operational Hinds in HRZ (Hrvatsko ratno zrakoplovstvo/Croatian Air Force) along with the formation of the famous 29th Combat Helicopter Squadron. During the military exercises "Krndija 94", "Poseidon 94", and "Bandira 94", powerful and armed Hinds with Croatian Air Force insignia were shown to Croatia and the world public. Enthusiasm in the Croatian military leadership, shock and disbelief in the Serbian army.
In combat operations, Mi-24s acted as close air support for Croatian soldiers, and as escorts for MiG-21 fighter planes. It was the only aircraft that literally entered the battlefield. It is not necessary to explain the psychological effect of the appearance of this gunboat on the horizon. Croatian Hinds achieved the greatest war successes in the final liberation operations "Flash" and "Storm".
Also, during the Homeland War, these aircrafts were designated for search and rescue operations. One Mi-24 V was equipped with an IR camera, and it is little known that one Mi-24 was adapted by Croatian experts for anti-submarine warfare and carried an American Mk 44 torpedo. All together, Croatia purchased 7 Mi-24 helicopters (3 units Mi-24D and 4 units Mi-24V).
The last operation of the Mi-24 was in 1997, when during the military exercise "Puma's Leap" at the military training ground in Slunj, they fired rockets at ground targets. Unfortunately, by the summer of 1998, these machines were quietly withdrawn from operational use. They were officially written off in 2006, and the 29th Combat Helicopter Squadron was shut down forever.
Very nice! Both text and photos!
that's great I would love to know more on how you modelled the flares I wanted to do a Lancaster bomber shot down on fire trailing smoke this looks like it would work well for me in 1/72 can you give me any tips tricks please Borris
Thank you Martin. After experimenting with all kinds of wires I found that smoke trails best work with acrylic rods, so I bought a stash of 2mm thick round rods. You can soak them in hot water to shape them any way you want. Once I have a solid, yet transparent base for smoke trail, I use either cosmetic cotton for missile blast (pictures of MiG and Sukhoi), or polyester fiber fill (pillow filling) for small smoke clouds like on this model. I usually use transparent silicone to glue cotton/polyester to acrylic rod, it works much better than any glue. By adding a drop of yellow/red paint into silicone I get a decent fire effect. Hope this will help you.
3 attached images. Click to enlarge.
that's great thank you Boris taking time to let me know how you did it I also notice some guys use red and yellow orange lights in the cotton wool pillow fillings have you tried that route yet
That's not an option when you want to show an open flame. On this model I attached 0402 yellow LED on top of acrylic rod, but then shaped silicone cap around it trying to resemble burning flare (also mixed a drop of yellow paint with silicone). When silicone mass gets illuminated it resembles open flame much better than just putting light inside the cotton. Here are some pictures of my previous attempts of making flame from silicone.
4 attached images. Click to enlarge.
absolutely amazing Boris this is a side of the modelling world I think is super cool when I get around to it ill will be in touch for some help I am building F86 Sabre for first time but can't see it working on that unless its been shot down
Very nice work, Boris @grgast
Besides the beautiful looks of the Hind, your article is a pleasure to read as well.
Super job, Boris!
Great looking model. Your story adds plenty of interest.
Interesting model and a great result with the flares. And that was some history I wasn't aware of.
Great historical write-up and an impressive model, the flares are a convincing addition.
Absolutely Awesome Boris !
Thank you for sharing.
I have a Hind Aileron I found at a car boot sale.