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Mi-8MT/Mi-17 from Annetra, Trumpeter & Zvezda in 48th scale


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Here we go with Mark 2 version.

 

This is a little strange. For more than a month there was a thread here on ARC about the upcoming Mi-8MT kits in 48 th scale from Trumpeter and Zvezda. Two days ago (Nov. 15) somehow it vanished as if never existed. I have asked several ARC Administrators about this, receiving only from one person saying that it is not his decision neither responsibility and he could not be of any help. Others did not respond. It would be nice to know what happened and why the thread disappeared so suddenly.   

If there is any response from Administrators I will most certainly show it.

 

OK one could ask is there any sense in writing about these kits?

 

*   Probably, since there was “so much” demand in the past decades for an injection moulded quarter scale version of the Mi-8.

 

*   If I remember right there were 3 pages of response in that vanished forum, so there was some interest.

 

*   Even if only one new tool kit is released it is interesting to write about it, but in this case there is a chance that almost at the same time 3 manufacturers are planning to release the same helicopter.

 

*   Without influencing anyone with any manufacturers product it is the task of this kind of forums to give a view, share photos, show CAD images, sprues of what is anticipated.

 

 

What’s common in the 3 kits:

 

*   They are all in 48th scale.

 

*  All of them are new tool production.

 

*  Neither of them is available as of mid November

 

*  Each of them represents the Mi-8MT or better known in the West as Mi-17. The version of the good old Mi-8 helicopter with the more powerful (but smaller) TV3-117 engines and all the updates for the second generation Hip helicopters.

 

So basically they are kits of the exactly the same helicopter but of course some manufacturers have more information than others and also there is some local flavour so to say. 

 

 

Just to recap where we stand at the moment in mid November 2022.

 

*   The first on the scene was Annetra from the Czech Republic somewhere in second half of 2010’s. Test shots and few test builds were shown already years ago. At present it is not clear what is going on with this kit but it has the same chance of being released as the other two kits. In the past sprues have been shown, also box art as well as the decal sheet.

 

hDN4HR4.jpg

 

TwHKtEg.jpg

 

SfzZUMh.jpg

 

qbvkl4b.jpg

 

v6hFH0U.jpg

 

MbWuUSG.jpg

 

tVbvKzB.jpg

 

1VvhcVW.jpg

 

 

*   Trumpeter announced in September this year a kit with supposed November 2022 release. Showing sprues, decals, box art.

 

ps51LUG.jpg

 

xQBEBD5.jpg

 

aABMnv6.jpg

 

OipdsbE.jpg

 

 

 

 

*   Not to be left behind / left out of the business Zvezda also announced few weeks ago that they are also working on this project. Few CAD images were shown, the decal sheet and bits and pieces of the first test sprues.

 

9QlqOoA.jpg

 

qfT9IzY.jpg

 

tdADWlh.jpg

 

 

Who will be first on the market???  Probably we will see very soon.

 

 

This is where we are at the moment.

 

Best regards

Gabor

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Yes, please write about them.

 

The problem was from what I saw one poster was fighting the UA conflict on the board. Instead of cleaning up the posts and putting the poster on a short timeout a moderator nuked the thread. 

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Hi Tank,

 

Thanks for the info. I did not follow every minute of the forum, just drop in every other day or so. 

 

Yes, this is one way of dealing with a problem. More or less hiding your head in the sand.

If we dont see, what the problem is, we are not told by the Admin then we will not really know what to avoid next time!!!!!!!!!!! Even if it is all obvious.

 

Best regards

Gabor

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I agree but should talk more about the models so we don’t offend the moderators.

 

The Zvezda kit looks like it is set up for more versions then Trumpeter. With the nose cut it would appear that both factory’s can possibly be built, plus the fuel tanks and ramp area.

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I had very positive respons yesterday from one Admin for which I have to thank him! I only wrote down what happend, hope it is no offence to anyone. 

 

Yes, the kit is why we are here.

Thing is that in the previous thread there was about a month worth of work which with delition all went out the window. I dont have records of what was written then, so will have to do it ALL OVER AGAIN and this is a lot of work, typing, linking photos . . . For the moment I believe it was important to restart the topic with all the kits comming up soon.

Hope we can speak about the kits. But also have to say that in my opinion this Mark 2. version is a much better approach to these kits. So who cares about the Mark 1. now! : )  : )  : )

 

Just a quick one. 

All three kits have potential for further versions. I know two teams and it is certain that they did plan into the first release kit sprues many future version. I did write before that it is obvious that Trumpeter has a GP2 version of the front canopy which will provide all sorts of standard Mi-17's and not only the one with gun in the nose. 

 

Best regards

Gabor

 

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Thank you, Gabor, for your efforts in collecting and systematizing information!

Annetra looked very interesting in my opinion. I hope the project is still alive.

Unfortunately, one inadequate person tried to do the same for political reasons with the topic on the Ka-52, but the moderators turned out to be fair and figured out this situation. Thanks to this, we can return to modeling and discuss only those things that are related to the building of modelkits and real prototypes.

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I have been waiting for the Annetra kit for what seems like ever. and I feel it would be the best kit of all these. AMK for all their dodgy practices were master mold makers, and the community was more than willing to assist with reference material.  hopefully the Trumpeter kit will not be as flawed as many of their other kits and I can finally build the Mi=17Mtv I flew in.

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Since Annetra was first ready with the kit of course it was the Czech Annetra kit first to be built from first test shots. The actual build was a year ago using Annetra test decals but it also included some addition by the modeller like the extra internal fuel tank. So it is NOT part of the kit, before anyone starts to demand it.

Here are few photos of the built up Annetra kit by the author and as far as I understand an ex Mi-17 crew.

 

It gives some ideas of what is inside the planed  Annetra box.

 

kAVqGWD.jpg

 

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PcEgv5D.jpg 

 

 

Here is the original source:

 

https://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=140874 

 

Best regards

Gabor

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8 hours ago, Tank said:

Noice build, is it yours Kotey? Are you playing a decal sheet or two for the kit?

No, it is Sergey Surnev build. Decals - yes, we print inbox decals for Zvezda model

 

 

 

h-Kh-Vw4j9jg-U.jpg5d2-HP1yutpo.jpg

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6 hours ago, kotey said:

No, it is Sergey Surnev build. Decals - yes, we print inbox decals for Zvezda model

 

 

 

h-Kh-Vw4j9jg-U.jpg5d2-HP1yutpo.jpg


Sergey did a good job. Cool that you did the kit decals, are you looking to make additional decal sheets with more markings like 72-012 in 1/48?

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First let’s look at some of the simple problems. It could be only a problem by the master kit builder (Сергей Сурневwho constructed this test build. The side armour is in wrong place, it should be further forward. If one looks at the real helicopter then it is visible that the armour gives a forward and quarter forward protection to the pilots. There is a small white sensor antenna for which a round hole was cut into the armour plate. In the forward view it is perfectly clear that the hole is far further back where it should be.

 

It is a simple problem as far as we know at the moment. It is possible that he did not know where to place it exactly which could be because he did not have instructions but it also means that exact location is not cater for on the kit.

 

Also let’s not forget that just as with the Mi-24 kit one of the target groups of Zvezda sales are children who will look at the nice colour photos on the back of the box and build accordingly placing the armour plate in wrong position. This is a simple and silly mistake by the manufacturer.

 

nscuKvo.jpg

 

 

This is just a simple problem. Let’s look later at some bigger problems.

 

Best regards

Gabor  

Edited by ya-gabor
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14 hours ago, ya-gabor said:

First let’s look at some of the simple problems. It could be only a problem by the master kit builder (Сергей Сурневwho constructed this test build. The side armour is in wrong place, it should be further forward. If one looks at the real helicopter then it is visible that the armour gives a forward and quarter forward protection to the pilots. There is a small white sensor antenna for which a round hole was cut into the armour plate. In the forward view it is perfectly clear that the hole is far further back where it should be.

 

It is a simple problem as far as we know at the moment. It is possible that he did not know where to place it exactly which could be because he did not have instructions but it also means that exact location is not cater for on the kit.

 

Also let’s not forget that just as with the Mi-24 kit one of the target groups of Zvezda sales are children who will look at the nice colour photos on the back of the box and build accordingly placing the armour plate in wrong position. This is a simple and silly mistake by the manufacturer.

 

nscuKvo.jpg

 

 

This is just a simple problem. Let’s look later at some bigger problems.

 

Best regards

Gabor  

😱

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Repositioning the armour plate could be simply corrected. The same goes for the so called EVU or engine exhaust gas mixer/cooler.

The EVU is hang on the side of the helicopter with 4 attachment points. On the base there is a kind of pylon to hold the unit. There are also 2 struts on top, the one forward is attached to a load bearing bulkhead, the after strut has an attachment to an engine cover. The two top one are attached with a simple pin each, which can be removed and the whole EVU rotates to the side with pivots on lower pylon. This way the engine covers can be opened for servicing. The top two struts not only hold the weight of the EVU but are also exposed to considerable force from engine exhaust gas pressure.

 

One the kit the top braces are attached in wrong place, actually on the skin of the panels, which hardly has much load bearing quality. This once again could be due to the skills of the model builder. But this also shows that there is no exact and positive identification or location points for the struts which is more a design problem.

 

Based on what is visible the actual EVU units looks a little fishy. In reality it has a very complex shape. The unit is made from a glass fibre outer shell with glued on glass fibre ribs for structural strength. On the inside the “plastic” is covered with flexible shiny metal foil for heat protection and additional shielding.  

 

On the kit it has a strange curvature on its forward part, while the back should have several brakes on its surface, but this is not visible on currently available images. We will have to see or hold in hands the sprues for further look (if the kit will be available at all in the West at any time in future).

 

bQ6YtHU.jpg 

 

 

Best regards

Gabor

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Interesting and thanks for the information. I would guess the modeler like many in this position are not experts in the model subject, building with limited or no instructions and have a time limit that prevents careful study, like build this in a day kind of time constraint. 
 

Looking at the front curve, page 2 of the review photos has a photo that kinda matches the kit curve.

https://www.hyperscale.com/2021/reviews/books/mmpmi8bookreviewdc_1.htm

I do wonder if this might be a case of a shape being too complex to capture in scale and look correct as has happened in other aircraft models. I defer your knowledge on the subject of that might be the case.

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Hi Tank,

 

You are right, and I have pointed to the fact that it is a quick test build. It could be the source of some problems that we see on factory photos. But and this is a very big BUT, it also shows that the kit does not have positive, easy to identify location holes for the given parts. Now this is a design problem and it will effect a lot of modellers in the future!

 

As I have writen further up, one will have to have a look at the real parts or at least better detailed photos of the actual EVU parts. Before then the only thing I can say is that the EVU looks fishy!

 

More than a decade ago on aircraft factory floor there were dozens of wooden crates. The big pieces inside had to be identified one by one. I "happend to be there" at the time. The crates had six different EVU versions, left and right for the Mi-17 and left and right for Mi-24 as well as some of the EVU M versions (they are the longer ones on later Mi-24's). 

It was an excellent opportunity to take a closer look, take measurements, hundreds of photos and also do some comparisons with the Mi-17 and Mi-24 units. Also one was taken apart to look what makes it tick! (I put it all back together later) : )  : )

 

Best regards

Gabor

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5 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

Sprue shots of the Trumpeter kit.

 

https://www.themodellingnews.com/2022/11/preview-trumpeters-january-kits-come.html#more

 

I wish they had released their 1/35 kit in this configuration, instead of as an unarmed version.

 

 

Hi Dave,

Yes, Trumpeter sprues. They have been shown previously here in that forum which was so suddenly erased by ARC. 

 

I did not see any reason to put it all up again. Instead started a forum in a little different way. Should come around to putting up some more comparisons but those 3 pages before had a lot of info, input and lot of work so I lost a "little" enthusiasm.

 

I never heard back why exactly was the original 3 pages erased completely without trace. There was some suggestion that a lot of off-topic political rumbling was added. COuld be. 

 

Best regards

Gabor

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1 hour ago, ya-gabor said:

I never heard back why exactly was the original 3 pages erased completely without trace. There was some suggestion that a lot of off-topic political rumbling was added. COuld be.

 

I think this is the closest we will get on subject. 


Those 3 pages did have lots of good information posted by you, while gone thanks for the effort you did put in. 

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16 hours ago, Tank said:

 

I think this is the closest we will get on subject. 


Those 3 pages did have lots of good information posted by you, while gone thanks for the effort you did put in. 

 

 

Thanks Tank,

 

I was not every minute of the day on that page so I mised this part of the "conversation" completely. Only to get here and try to post the latest news on the kit and simply not finding it. Thanks again. This way it is clear.

 

I try to do as much comparison of the Hip kits. It's a lot of work, : (  : (   try to do as much as possible. Fortunately now we have 3 kits in parallel to talk about!  : )  : )  : )

 

Best regards

Gabor

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The Box Art of the new Zvezda kit was shown. It represents a scene from the Afghan war with Yellow 31 taking off. The image is almost perfect and most probably an artwork “recreation” of a photo. Most of the things are there which based on the present knowledge and test build photos are missing from the kit.

*  The pilots mirrors are  shown

*  The side armour plates are in right position

*  The thermometer on the right hand side windshield is also there

*  The LPG-150M outboard winch of course as a distinct feature of the Mi-8MT / Mi-17

*  The EVU exhaust gas cooler system (when fitted) has a wide ring on the fuselage around the actual engine exhaust. The connector “skirt” is attached to this and on its outer end it goes into the EVU unit.

*  The EVU shown attached as it should be and also its shape is correct

*  The oil cooler ventilator housing has the right shape

*  For attaching the triple ASO-2V flare dispenser units to the fuselage sides two reinforcement straps were riveted to the outer skin.

 

All this is shown on the box art while the actual kit does not have them. Well based on what is visible so far of the kit it is very different!

 

x1kMYUA.jpg

 

 

Best regards

Gabor

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