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


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34 minutes ago, serendip said:

Gabor,

 

Thanks for your efforts - is the kit available already, or did you you receive a pre production sample?

 

Thanks,

 

Marc.

 

Hi Marc,

 

Which kit do you mean? As far as I know all 3 kits are available already. The Annetra will be in stock with the orignal designer Annetra Co. somewhere in a months time. As far as I know some Annetra kits are available from other sources also. 

Both the Zvezda and the Trumpeter kit have been released some 2 months ago. Due to circumstances it is not easy to buy the Zvezda kit, although I know one Czech company who had them for weeks now. The Trumpeter kit is also available as far as I know. Have to say it is unlikely that I will try to get it, as it is in another league in comparison with the two other kits! It is more a toy than a scale replica. 

 

The Annetra kit I had for some 3 or more years, the one I have is one of the very first few which were made, they are test shots.

The Trumpeter kit is from information released by the company / official sprue photos and CAD and from that video made by Mojo Rising Modelling to which I refered earlier.

The Zvezda kit I received from a very good friend for which I can only thank him!!!

 

Best regards

Gabor

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

 

Hi Marc,

 

Which kit do you mean? As far as I know all 3 kits are available already. The Annetra will be in stock with the orignal designer Annetra Co. somewhere in a months time. As far as I know some Annetra kits are available from other sources also. 

Both the Zvezda and the Trumpeter kit have been released some 2 months ago. Due to circumstances it is not easy to buy the Zvezda kit, although I know one Czech company who had them for weeks now. The Trumpeter kit is also available as far as I know. Have to say it is unlikely that I will try to get it, as it is in another league in comparison with the two other kits! It is more a toy than a scale replica. 

 

The Annetra kit I had for some 3 or more years, the one I have is one of the very first few which were made, they are test shots.

The Trumpeter kit is from information released by the company / official sprue photos and CAD and from that video made by Mojo Rising Modelling to which I refered earlier.

The Zvezda kit I received from a very good friend for which I can only thank him!!!

 

Best regards

Gabor

Thanks again Gabor,

 

I guess availability is lagging behind here in Western Europe regarding Trumpeter. As far as Zvezda goes that's not on the cards for the time being due to the present political situation.

I'm surprised at Annetra however - you have the model they produced three years ago, or perhaps I misunderstood? I thought this one was not even out at the present time let alone three years ago.

 

Thanks, love your work,

 

Marc.

 

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43 minutes ago, serendip said:

Thanks again Gabor,

 

I guess availability is lagging behind here in Western Europe regarding Trumpeter. As far as Zvezda goes that's not on the cards for the time being due to the present political situation.

I'm surprised at Annetra however - you have the model they produced three years ago, or perhaps I misunderstood? I thought this one was not even out at the present time let alone three years ago.

 

Thanks, love your work,

 

Marc.

 

Hi Mark,

 

I did say it was the very first test shot, I think the 3rd or 4th ever made. It is a test shot which is made to test how the press forms are doing, what problems are there, unexpected technological problems, short shots where plastic does not go into the mould, things dont meet up when cut from the sprue . . .

I known the company owner for some time and helped them with problems on the early test shots. As a result of that work the mould were changed to get to the final production version. But as you can know there was also a Covid, the AMK man who were making the tooling had a health issue, other commitments and so in the end the kit was held up for a long time!

 

The story behind the Annetra AMK kit was already mentioned on several forums and even in print mags.

 

The Annetra kits are on their way from China and they should be here in a month or so. This is also a result of Covid with all the slowing down postage around the world and prices rocketing.

 

What was happening in the background with the Trumpeter and the Zvezda kit should also be an interesting story and one going back some time as well. The only difference is that Annetra was open about what they were doing and preparing years ago while the other two companies only released the news immediately before coming out with the kits.   

 

Best regards

Gabor

 

 

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Thanks, Gabor

 

Your review has become very useful for deciding which kit is best suited for each one taste; in my case, Annetra's seems to be the right one, but for now, it isn't available in any of my regular sources, not even as pre-order so I'll keep waiting.

 

On a side note, Aztec has announced decals for the Mi-17 for some American operators.

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Winding back the clock a little. Here are some photos from Moson kit show 2019 when I was already showing some images of the Annetra kit test shots.

 

hDN4HR4.jpg

 

SfzZUMh.jpg 

 

 

 

And here are some views from a year earlier of those very first test shots.

 

8KX9GGg.jpg

 

MbWuUSG.jpg

 

Best regards

Gabor

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19 minutes ago, cruiz said:

Thanks, Gabor

 

Your review has become very useful for deciding which kit is best suited for each one taste; in my case, Annetra's seems to be the right one, but for now, it isn't available in any of my regular sources, not even as pre-order so I'll keep waiting.

 

On a side note, Aztec has announced decals for the Mi-17 for some American operators.

 

Hi Cruiz,

 

Glad you like the pages so far. There is a lot more in future! : )  : )   : ) Yes, the three kits are very different in many ways! This is why I try to show comparison views of same parts, similar areas so one can see it more clearly. 

 

As far as I know the Annetra kit is only available so far through some private channels from China. The Zvezda kit is / was on sale in a Czech store MN Modelar for 56Euro (at 20% discount from the normal 70Euro price). Have no idea how they managed to get the stocks. 

 

Best regards

Gabor

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I too appreciate these efforts.

 

Hannants had the Zvezda kit in stock last week. It sold out within a day.

 

The biggest issue I have with the AMK kit is the lack of rivets and rough plastic, so I've bought one of the other options...

 

Jon

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Hi Jon,

 

Yes, the question of rivets or no rivets has been raised (get it raised rivets :coolio: :rolleyes:) several times. I have some more comparison on this question later.

 

 

Best regards

Gabor

Edited by ya-gabor
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Little bit more on the interior of the 3 kits.

One point that has to be made here. Trumpeter simply did not make any interior furniture for the cargo cabin. Even the walls, the floor and the roof is pure fiction with randomly applied ribs and panels which have no relation what so ever with the real interior of a Mi-17 helicopter. But they do provide an open clamshell door at the back. If there is nothing inside, why add the option of opening the doors??? I am sure they have a very good explanation for this.

 

The side walls are nicely made and what is more important realistically detailed for the Annetra AMK and the Zvezda kit.

 

66mYe2G.jpg

 

 

Here are the doors of the cargo cabin. Once again different approach was taken by the three companies.

Annetra AMK provides full interior details moulded in one part left and right side. Some fine details are included like the opening mechanism for the emergency door, the flare dispensers and the vent. Surface details are there for some additional equipment usually carried on the doors (they are not included in the kit). The triangle central part is integral part of the doors. It will have to be cut with razor saw if the modeller wants to show it in upright position.

 

Trumpeter provides some interior wall details. The back emergency door is made as a separate part just as the triangle pieces.

 

Zvezda made the doors in two pieces, with an outer shell and also an inner one. It all adds to the thickness of the doors but also allows for some additional details. It is strange that the flare launchers and the vent parts are simplified and all the other fixing points for additional equipment was not added. The “triangle” pieces are given as separate parts and even made up of outer and inner parts.

 

3l2CFUr.jpg

 

Best regards

Gabor   

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22 hours ago, ya-gabor said:

Hi Mark,

 

I did say it was the very first test shot, I think the 3rd or 4th ever made. It is a test shot which is made to test how the press forms are doing, what problems are there, unexpected technological problems, short shots where plastic does not go into the mould, things dont meet up when cut from the sprue . . .

I known the company owner for some time and helped them with problems on the early test shots. As a result of that work the mould were changed to get to the final production version. But as you can know there was also a Covid, the AMK man who were making the tooling had a health issue, other commitments and so in the end the kit was held up for a long time!

 

The story behind the Annetra AMK kit was already mentioned on several forums and even in print mags.

 

The Annetra kits are on their way from China and they should be here in a month or so. This is also a result of Covid with all the slowing down postage around the world and prices rocketing.

 

What was happening in the background with the Trumpeter and the Zvezda kit should also be an interesting story and one going back some time as well. The only difference is that Annetra was open about what they were doing and preparing years ago while the other two companies only released the news immediately before coming out with the kits.   

 

Best regards

Gabor

 

 

Thanks for the info Gabor, I was not aware the Annetra kit made it that far before corona hit. Aware of AMK issues with other models (365 pages here on ARC for the F-14 - that was really something) but not with this one.

 

I have (and built) the MiG-31, so I know what they are capable of. Might also buy the Magister, looks really good also.

Marc.

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The side walls and the floor was shown already so here is a comparison of how the roof part was designed by the three companies. The only comment I can add is that Trumpeter took a very fiction way with random ribs added which have no relation what so ever with reality.

 

za6fmKn.jpg 

 

Now to the cargo bay “furniture”.

Trumpeter did not make any at all, so there is little to show here, actually nothing!

 

Annetra AMK took a lot of time in designing the seats, each one is made from three parts: the seat itself, the legs and the support of the legs. The supports are positioned from the reverse side of the side wall, nice touch there and clever thinking. The fit of parts is almost Snap-Fit, for the photos I did not have to use any glue, it was possible to assemble the whole thing as is shown. One good side of the kit is that parts have a “positive connection” to each other, side walls attach to the floor at the desired angle and stay like that without and glue!

 

The Звезда kit provides the seats as one part and as a result they can be shown only in upright position, against the side walls. OK, if one takes time, surgery, cuts of the legs off, remanufacturers them from wire or whatever, makes the supports also then it is possible to show them in normal down position. In most cases (I would say 80% of the time) the seats are in down position. The side walls even though they have a kind of positioning help on them, they are far from an easy Snap-Fit type. For an unexperienced modeller there could be some hard times ahead in assembly of this kit.  

 

lpjzPjE.jpg

 

8LossCj.jpg 

 

Best regards

Gabor

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Good information. 👍


Question, could Trumpeter be trying to represent a Hip with no padding/insulation like one might see in US helicopter cargo areas or if they are the ribbing is also not correct? It has a similar layout as the 1/72 HobbyBoss kit so I am curious about there intent. 

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1 hour ago, Tank said:

Good information. 👍


Question, could Trumpeter be trying to represent a Hip with no padding/insulation like one might see in US helicopter cargo areas or if they are the ribbing is also not correct? It has a similar layout as the 1/72 HobbyBoss kit so I am curious about there intent. 

 

This is a question to Trumpeter which they would never answer.  : (  : (    Sometimes it would be interesting to know the thinking inside the heads of some designers.  : )  : )

 

In this kits case there is little that one can say. The problem is that when you strip down all the covers from the walls and the roof it looks very different. There are ribs there all right, but they are substantial, especially around main frames, there is a lot of wiring and piping all around. One will see all this only during overhaul or when the airframes are scraped. There is no use of comparing it to the inside of a US helicopter, this is a Mi-8MT or Mi-17!

 

What they have in local Chinese versions have no idea but if they represent that version then it should not say on the box top that it is a Mi-8MT.

 

How do you explain the cargo cabin floor? It has some random main panels and that is all which have no relation to the real thing! I would say the designer NEVER looked at any reference from the real helicopters. Knowing the amount of work they have, it was probably a design job that he had to complete by Monday afternoon, this was the best he could do.

Will it sell?

Most certainly on local and international market, modellers will not care about this or other problems “It looks like one of those ruskky helis” and it will be probably cheaper than the Annetra or the Звезда version.  

 

Best regards

Gabor

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Hi Marc,

 

This is a good question. Have no idea and since I dont have the final box and kit the only thing I can go by is the instruction sheet. Based on this the number should be the second, 88010. 

I think the kit will be on show at this weekends toy fair. 

 

Hope this is of help.

 

wvoO5RK.jpg

 

Best regards

Gabor

 

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Thanks Cruiz / Gabor,

@Gabor, the instruction sheet does not have the model number?

 

Is your comparison based on the 'old' Annetra kit or the new one? You mention you only have the old box and kit above.

 

Thanks so much, just trying to get this straight.

 

Marc.

 

 

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Hi Marc,

 

The kit numbers should be the 88010 which is on that image above. Well as far as I understand. 

The actual sprues I have are T (test) 1 and T2 sprues and they still dont have any numbering on them, either for the kit or the part numbers.

 

There have been some major rework of parts which I have seen. While some problems were solved in a different way. But more on this later today. 

 

Best regards

Gabor

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The same info on these 3 different makes of Mi-8 helicopters I post on several different forums in different parts of the world. There is sometimes different response to the same points. But there are also some questions put forward on some of them.

 

One of these concerns the front part of the cockpit floor on the Annetra kit. It has elongated surfaces on both sides. This is wrong and it was pointed out to the tool makers many years ago with reference to what it looks like  on the real helicopters. Many mistakes were corrected on the kit during development, but this one was left as it is. Easy tooling changes would have been far to expensive while the actual solution on the kit is simple and fast.

The instruction sheet gives instructions that this should be cut. And sand to a flat finish I would add to it. It is about 5 minutes of work with a razor saw and a bit of sanding.

 

Just wanted to draw the attention to this for anyone doing the build in the future. Please make a note!

 

yGGw4rC.jpg

 

 

ZTegWH8.jpg

 

Best regards

Gabor

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