Hasegawa 1/72 Mi-35 Hind 'Czech AF' Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

The Mi-24 series first started development in the late 1960s following the success of the AH-1 Cobra in combat. As the AH-1 was developed using the power train from the UH-1 Huey, the Mil Design Bureau also saved development time by adapting key airframe and powerplant components from the Mi-8 Hip/Mi-14 Haze family. The Mi-24 was closer in development to the UH-1C Huey Hog, as it not only carried an impressive array of firepower on its stub wings, it also retained the ability to carry troops in its cabin.

One of the mainstays of the Soviet Tactical Aviation forces was the Mi-24V (Hind E) which was widely deployed among Soviet (later Russian) tactical aviation regiments as well as exported to allied nations including the Warsaw Pact. The export version of the Mi-24V was designated as the Mi-35. The Mi-24V and Mi-35 are distinguished by their anti-tank weapons update - while earlier Hinds carried four AT-2 missile on missile rails mounted to the outboard wing-stub pylons, the Hind E carried the AT-6 missiles in launch tubes mounted to the same pylons.

Over 30 years ago, Hasegawa first released the Mi-24 Hind A and Mi-24D Hind D kits, and they remain one of the best options for this subject in this scale today. Over the years, Hasegawa added additional parts to add additional details and version options to the Hind D tooling to render the Mi-24V Hind E and Mi-24P Hind F. This kit benefits from those updates but also includes additional parts from low-pressure injection-molded plastic to provide additional details.

The kit is molded in gray styrene and rendered on six parts trees, plus a single tree of clear parts, and a small fret of photo-etch details. Among the features and options in this kit:

• Nicely detailed cockpits
• Positionable main cabin door (no details inside the main cabin)
• Positionable landing gear
• Rotor blades molded with droop
• IR exhaust supressors included (not mentioned in instructions)
• Chaff/flare fuselage launchers provided in PUR
• Extended antennas provided in PUR
• Rear starboard bulged doghouse door provided in PUR
• Photo-etched rotor details

The kit includes four UB-32-57 rocket pods (used on most Hinds) and four AT-2 missiles w/dual launch rails (not used on the Hind E). The tooling was not updated evidently for the AT-6 missiles carried on the Hind E and Hind F.

This kit comes with an option for two subjects in Czech AF service:

• Mi-35, Bort 3370, 311 Sqn commemorative markings, Czech AF, 2016
• Mi-35, Bort 7360, Czech AF

The subject of the box art is bort 3370, painted in RAF Coastal Command WWII colors and carrying the ID letters PP-K, which was the identifier for a Liberator VI (EV953) flown by 311 Squadron (Czech) during the war before the aircraft and crews returned to Czechoslovakia after the war.

This release provides a pair of distinctive subjects that will look great on your scale flightline. Wouldn't it be nice to see a future limited edition Mi-24/35 with either the eagle or alien paint scheme provided as decals?

Here is a list of paints Hasegawa identifies for the colors of this kit and the equivalent colors from other brands:

My sincere thanks to Hasegawa USA for this review sample!