Czechoslovakian Hinds

The plan for this week had been to paint BRDMs and two Hinds, but in the end it became painting one Hind, then repainting a second one because I decided I didn't like the colours I'd previously chosen for the scheme. More on that in a bit.

Here is the finished product.

These Hinds are a 1/100 Aoshima kit, which is a reboxing of a Revell Mi-24D.

I'm using them for my Czechs, as the differences between this and the Battlefront Hinds I've been using for my Soviets are enough that they don't sit nicely together. Apart from its slightly larger size, most notable is the difference in armament, with the missiles being AT-2 vs AT-6, and the rocket pods being B8V20 vs UB-32.

The Aoshima kit is okay, it certainly looks like a Hind, but as a gaming piece the Battlefront one is far superior. While the BF kit certainly has its flaws, it has fewer pieces, has been thoughtfully designed, has nicer detail, and goes together well. An example of the difference in detail is in the photos below, of the main rotor hub. The Battlefront kit is in green on the left, while the Aoshima is the black one on the right. Then again, I'm not totally sure that the assembly of the Aoshima 's rotors is quite correct. I followed the kit instructions to the letter, but I'm pretty sure the blades are upside down.

The reference for the colour scheme came from an Eduard kit, whose instruction sheet is on their website. Unfortunately, the only colour references are to Gunze paints, so I had to guess at the Vallejo equivalents. And this is where the repainting that I mentioned earlier comes in: I had previously painted one of these kits and estimated that the closest colours were 885 Pastel Green and 823 Luftwaffe Camouflage Green. I've since changed my mind and am now going with 886 Green Grey and 830 German Fieldgrey. The 886 is probably a bit dark, which is mildly annoying as the new bottle of this colour I have is a much darker shade than my previous one.

It just didn't feel right.

Both of these are 886 Green Grey, yet very different shades

This is also an opportunity to show how I'm storing and transporting my Soviet Hinds. It's a Tactix storage box from Bunnings that I attacked with a multitool and lined with strategically cut pieces of foam to allow it to carry four Hinds and my two SU-22s. The rotors attach to magnets glued to the lid. I'll do the same thing for the Czechs.

Helicopter transport. Hind quarters.

So still no BRDMs, but this coming week I think I'll take a break from the moderns and head back to 1938.