1:48 Mi-8 Hip weapon mounting frame with BD3-57KrV for Trumpeter kit (USSR/UKRAINE Early) (2 pcs)

The carriers that turned a transport machine into a gunship

The Mi-8 arose in the Mil design bureau as a transport and assault helicopter. The ability to carry armament was given to it only by lattice brackets bolted to both sides of the fuselage. Blocks of unguided rockets, bombs or pods were hung on them, and it was they that turned an unarmed machine into a means of close support, as photographs from Afghanistan to the present day show it.

The contents and purpose of the set

In the package you will find two complete frames, that is the left and the right side of one machine, including the rack designated BD3-57KrV. The rendering matches the early configuration carried by helicopters of the Soviet period and, in the first years of independence, by Ukrainian examples as well. The castings have sharp edges to the sections and thin walls of a kind that cannot be reached in injected plastic.

Preparing the parts before the build

The dimensions follow the Trumpeter kit in the same scale. Cut the casting blocks off with a modeling saw as close to the part as possible and sand the remainder carefully, so the mating surface lies against the fuselage with no gap. Before painting, wash the castings in lukewarm water with dish soap: mold release agent remains on the surface and paint would not hold on it. The shade of the frames matches the underside of the fuselage on most machines, so you can spray them at the same time as it. A photograph of one particular example is always a better guide than a general rule, though, because repainted machines differed even within one unit.