Trumpeter 1/35 Hind-E

Thanks for the heads-up.I can't wait to get mine.

Kik36, good catch. I am keeping the ceiling off until I can airbrush and detail the cabin more. Got a link for the Soviet Interior Green?

Praise the Lord to my tax return, I "went balls out" and got 2 Trumpeter kits. I am working on "downgrading" one to a (early) Hind A, and "upgrading" the other to a Hind F. Re-fitting a scratch Hind A cockpit last night (about 5 hours). The references are the hardest. I have quite a few books on the Hind, but clear and thorough cockpit shots of the Hind A are lacking (Hind in Detail by WWP is an exception). It is apparent that the pilot seat is offset much to the left, while the right side is consumed by a large breaker panel switch and various flight instruments. Also, the gunner seat (front) is quit cluttered with all kinds of weapon guidance etc. all around. VERY UNEVENTFUL in the case of a crash!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the pilot seat is not to scale. I was studying some pics of it (distance between head brace pads and seat cushion) and it is too long. I will have to trim it to get it to fit to scale in my scratch Hind A cockpit.

You know, I didn't have any regrets when I cut the $100 model's nose off, or did I . . . . ?

Check out this Group Build link
http://www.finescale.com/fsm/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17118
there's a couple of great links in there that have some awesome cockpit shots. I honestly am not experienced enough to tell ya if the seat is in scale or not. I can relate to the tax return!! I bought this kit, a PE rolling Set, the Flex-I-File, The Chopper, a Waldron Punch Set, a bunch of squadron patches and like 50 bottles of paint, and a handful of brushes!!! LOL I really went all out and got a bunch of stuff I needed/wanted. I don't know how many times I pass up the supply section, and head straight for the kits!!! LOL Make sure to keep us posted on your progress, I really want to see how it turns out, and I'll keep everyone updated on my progress. Oh what link did you need for the Interior green?? The MM paint color itself?? I have this Testors book with some of the paint chips offered by them, that's how I found it, but I'll see if I can find one for ya online!!

kitbashed,
appreciate the links. I cannot get the aeronautics.ru links to work (alas!). I did e-mail CJ at Heli-kit News, read an old (2001) post that he might have some Hind A cockpit shots from an Algerian type. I do have some poor pics of the A cockpit, but if I'm going to "brutalize" my Trumpeter kit, by god, I would like to see some high res-XXX Hind A pilot/gunner cabin pics (fist pounding on table!).
I'm on the hunt for that interior green, if you can find a link that's awesome. Of course i'll search and order on-line from Testors if I can find it. Looking forward to hearing (or seeing) your progress on your Trumpeter. Tears well up in my eyes as I look over at my kits. Where was this kit 10 years ago!

here ya go
http://www.testors.com/brand_category.asp?brandNbr=4
click on the Model Master II Enamel link, and it will bring up a PDF file with some chips on it. The Interior blue/green is on the bottom of the page. BTW, "kitbashed" is my posting rank!! LOL just like yours is "snap-together". It will change, the more you post!! Unfortunately the color doesn't look as good as it did in my reference book. Like I said, I'm gonna have to try and darken it up a bit.

KIK36 (Sweeping apologies, I'm a dumbass!)
I see what you mean about having to mix it. WIll have to do the same. Of course, troopies don't get the soothing cockpit green to settle their nerves before they pile out the troop doors. Looks like "topside blue" on the walls, "flanker blue" on the floor, and "fulcrum gray/green" on the ceiling installation padding.
Thanks! and keep me posted on your build. I'll make a digital of my scratch MI-24A cockpit (sans paint) when I have something worth showing.
Higg

Higg, here's the best I came up with on the fly last night, mixing the MM soviet interior blue/green with flat black.




I don't know if I'm too happy with it yet. I mean, for sure it doesn't seem to be as dark as the reference photos, and if I add any more black, it will turn into yuck. I think it need more.....Green I would say. What do you think?? And where did you come up with the color scheme for the cabin?? I couldn't find any good references for it, so I was just going by Trumpeter's suggestions. BTW, you should join us in the Hind Group Build. Though no one has any idea when it will end, I'm sure your input would be fantastic for everyone!!!

I'll toss my hat into the ol' Hind group build!
The green looks a little too dark (the lighting?). Best I can recommend is compare the pics of the cockpit and cabin I posted above your pic and compare with your color. And I came up with the cabin colors by comparing the cabin photo with that EXCELLENT Testors PDF link you hooked me up with. Thank-you!
By the way, are you using the instrument film behind the instrument panel assemblies or are you going to try dry brushing it? The panel seems too thick to really show off the film dials when I dry fitted them. Also, concerning the cabin, I'm thinking about going with the doors open, that will require some additional detailing to pull it off. Do you have the WWP Hind in Detail book? I recommend it for this build. If you don't have it, it is easy for me to scan any pics from it for areas you want to focus on.
I've cut my , floorboard, cockpit panels, and am scratching a fuse breaker panel to match the Hind A as close as possible. Also cut the pilot seat down a little bit. And have gotten some good effects with the plastruct (.080x.100) frames for the eventual fuselage putty and the greenhouse canopy. Tomorrow I will take a snapshot and post my progress, I've been working and re-working(!) the cockpit all night!
Haven't even touched my other 1:35 Hind (upgrade to F model) but I need to as it will be handy to have both sets of cockpit/cabin,rotor parts ready so I can airbrush them both same day on a single mix of paints.
HIGG

Those pics you posted aren't showing up, so I never even knew they were there!! It keeps coming up as a dreaded red X. I don't have any reference books at this time, as I was hoping to use just internet resources since I'm a bit tapped out on cash right now after my wild shopping sprees!! I'm glad that the Testors Paint references worked for ya!!! Here's the pic that I was looking at for the panel colors. I haven't fitted the instrument film yet, but on the corsair I'm building I used something similar, dry brushing the actual panel first, then using clear glue to attach the film. Then I painted the area flat white where the assemly would fit, and Voila!!! It turned out really nice!!

I challenge my former statement about your green being too dark! I went through some more references, and found some cockpit photos with the same shade as the one you just posted above and how you painted it. I just found some where the shade was a little brighter, a little greener (re-paint after fresh overhaul?) And the MI-35M (ex-MI-24P with upgrade) cockpit is painted ALL BLACK! I'm going to look at some more references and decide what blue/green shade I will go with. But I think you are right on.

Sweet, thanks for the input Higg, and I'm glad you've joined us in the Group Build!!!

BTW Higg, your pics need to be on an internet server of some kind. I think what you tried to do is upload it to the FSM site itself, but they don't host pics, so you can't upload pics straight from your hard drive. Which would explain why you can see it, but no one else can!!! You just have to find a host who will upload your pics for you for free, there are many out there, try a google search, and you should get quite a few choices.

Ahhhh, kik36. You are a wise sage, indeed. You must see the pic now. The ARC forum site uploads pics so I just ASSumed. Working the Hind still, but this damn Squadron white putty is too brittle. So now I got to pull out the cancer tube (Model Master red putty) and shore up some gaps in the forward fuselage, recommend anyother putty? BTW, do you plan on filling glue rivets in all the Trump "hole rivets," or is that going "too far"?

Sweet!!! They're coming up crystal clear buddy!!! Do you mean the ejction pin marks?? Those big, ugly round dots on some of the pieces?! On the more visible ones, I plan on getting rid of them. On the not so visible ones, I'm not going to sweat what I can't see. What I am going to do (Thanks to your awesome cabin pic) is to scratchbuild the interior!! What about you?? Are you going to go all out, and scratchbuild some interior too?!!

Oh, here's a great link for walkarounds. http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/ click on Walkarounds, and then helicopters, and there are two Hind walkarounds, with a couple of great cockpit shots, even a great shot of the personal cooling fan mounted to the canopy!!

See the lighter green on the cockpit pics (posted above). Dunno, I'm assuming its an overhaul coat on an export version.
I am Dremel-ing my butt off scratching out the conversion Hind A forward fuselage and canopy. It is taking me quite some time. I'm holding off my decision to going troop doors open and scratchbuild the troop cabin until I finish scratchbuilding the damn cockpit. You know what I mean? Phew! Holding off showing my work on the forward fuselage so far until some more sanded coats of red putty is laid down. Plus the admin (CJ) at Heli-Kit News site is going to post some ref pics of an Algerian Hind A cockpit. The voice in my head says I'll post a pic in about two days of my progress (more realistic). Thanks for the link to ARC, I got some posts there with some real Hind pics, too.
Off to the sack.

I know exactly what you mean. Scratchbuilding can be exhausting!!! LOL I'm looking forward to checking out some pics of what ya got though. Tonight, I was concentrating on my F4U-2 Corsair Cockpit, and I Airbrush some more Hind parts Flat Black. I'm keeping a heavy rotation going through the paint booth, and try to get as many pieces from different kits painted at the same time. Saves a bit of trouble. I haven't decided how much scratchbuilding I will do just yet. I'll have to decide in the next couple of days or so. BTW, forgot earlier.....so far I've only used the MM Red Putty of death, Squadron green putty, CA, and this stuff called Presto fine point correction pen filled with the white correction fluid. If your scratches are small, pick up the correction fluid pen, it works like a charm, dries fast, and sands easy enough. I haven't tried the white putty yet, though I do have a tube. Don't care for the red or green putty myself, and CA has been a bit iffy. Basically, I don't like filling!!!! LOL