DML 1/72 Mil Mi-28

 

This is also a very, very old build -and an even older model that I’d been dreaming about when I was 13.
As many others, I’ve started scale models with airplanes: old-school Czech, Polish and Russian models, with an occasional Airfix thrown in. (Mind you, this was in the ’80s, behind the Iron Curtain.) These models came in smallish cartboard boxes with drawings as box art (at best), and they lacked the polish, professional look of the Western (and Asian) kits.

I still remember the first Airfix model I’ve got: a Hawker Typhoon in 1/72. The model was in a bag, with the artwork printed on a cartoon to which the bag was stapled to… and it’s still in circulation.

 

But I digress. After 1989 the first “Western” models appeared: Revell, Tamiya, Hasegawa, and the rest; beautifully printed (and very light) boxes, which forever seemed to be out of reach, as the incredible increase in price made it sure I could not afford them on my pocket money. (An “Eastern bloc” model cost about 60-130Ft; the new ones vent for 1200-2000Ft at the time. The minimal wage was 4000Ft, and my allowance was 20Ft, just to give you a context.)

This particular model, the Mil Mi-28 was a particularly attractive one due to the looks of the helicopter. Back in the days I -as every other kid my age- was all over American military hardware; the Apache, the F-15, and other aircraft were the pinnacle of all that is cool, so the attraction to this particular helicopter was out of character for sure. I remember see a box of this model was sitting on a shelf of a stationery/toy store in the neighbourhood for years…

Fast forward to 2004, the price of this model was much more agreeable, and I promptly bought it when I was living in Boca Raton. (I have to admit I really felt guilty spending money on it, as I was still a student living under the poverty line.) Additional motivation to buy this model was the Commanche vs Hokum game, which I played a lot back then (although never in a serious, campaign mode, as I still have not mastered the whole game -or any sim game, for that matter- yet.)

I have not made photos of the build itself, unfortunately, but it went together quite well. The cockpit was very sparse (which is a shame), but most of the details would be hidden by the small, thick windows, anyhow.

I used masking tape to cover the transparent parts and the gun, which needed to be attached to the model before painting if I wanted it to be positionable. (It goes between the two fuselage halves.)  The model was sprayed using Surfacer 1000.

The bottom of the helicopter was sprayed in the light blue/grey characteristic of Russian aircraft, and masked using tape.

The three tone camo was applied with an airbrush and I used silly putty for masking out the different areas; the results were spectacularly nice (for my expectations).

 

 

As usual when using masking, some areas were not perfect, and had to be retouched using a paintbrush.

Once the camo was finished, I’ve attached and painted the small details, did some very light weathering, and considered the model to be finished. The yellow band on the rotor was also spray painted, using masking tape to get a straight line. (This was my first experience in trying to achieve an even coverage with yellow. It took lots of fine layers.)

This model is from the earlier DML offerings, but it has no major flaws (no fit issues, no warped parts), and the level of detail is very good even by today’s standards.