Mi-4A Hound Helicopter
1:35th Scale Kit No. 05101
First Look by Terry Ashley
We now have the
first of these kits and I can say the standard is excellent.
The kit consists of 186 parts in light grey plastic, 19 in clear plastic, an
etched fret and a photo film sheet for the instrument panel dials and a 12 page
instruction booklet.
The large fuselage halves have excellent surface details with fine engraved panel lines and rivet detail, all the doors and windows are separate parts and the fuselage halves also have internal ribs included. The cockpit side doors are designed to be movable (as it says in the instructions) on the finished kit, although I would think this is more to fix in open or closed position as you wish than actually movable?
A full engine is included with excellent details including separate cylinder heads, exhaust manifolds and other smaller items; this will build into an impressive assembly. The entire nose engine bays doors are separate parts and include etched metal screens that fit inside the upper panels, so you can see the engine detail even if the doors are all closed; the two forward panels have the large louvers moulded open with clean openings between which again goes to show the excellent engine.
The
cockpit has the floor, rear bulkhead and roof panels with seats and flight controls
all separate. The instrument panel has a clear part for the dial faces with
the photo film dials trapped between it and the main panel. The rear compartment
has the floor and roof panels attached to a forward bulkhead with the two large
clamshell doors at the rear of the cabin as two separate parts with internal
bracing to show open if you wish?
The large under fuselage gondola is a separate part and the instructions indicate you should add 30g lead weight if you want your Hound to stand on its own four feet? This gondola also has a basic cannon which is also movable.
The main rotor
head assembly is very well done with 22 parts making up the centre hub with
the inner part of the blades separate from the main blades.
I don’t have any photos to compare this against but it builds into a
very busy and impressive assembly. The rear rotor is no less detailed with
the three
blades separate and an 11 part head assembly.
The undercarriage feature the main legs separate and I would
suggest the glue on these is allowed to dry thoroughly before resting the model
on them.
The wheels with separate hubs are in the same grey plastic as the rest of the
kit. Other smaller items such as antenna, rear under skid and crew steps are
also added to the fuselage.
Markings are provided for
six Hounds, a Russian, Czech, Polish, Chinese (2) and East German aircraft
although you better have your recognition
skills up to scratch as the nationalities of the markings aren’t stated
in the instructions.
All you get is a large A3 colour sheet showing side profiles of the six markings
options. Paint numbers are shown for Gunze Mr. color only but it won’t
be a problem to match the colours to other brands.
Conclusion:
Overall this is an excellent kit; I must say the quality of these recent Trumpeter
kits is starting to give the big boys a run for their money. This kit will
build
into an impressive model of the Hound with the excellent surface details a
stand out. In fact I hadn’t planned to buy one of these kits as the Hound isn’t
at the top of my want list but after seeing the kit that has changed, I
am after
all a sucker for a good kit.
Given the quality of this kit I just can’t wait for the Trumpeter
Hip and Hinds in 1:35th, they are going to be impressive.
Page created 26 November 2002