Russian Mi-8 Hip / Afghanistan War Helo

[11bee]

Trying to do some research on a potential project (the Trumpeter 1/35th Hip helicopter) and I am down to two options, a CIA operated Hip in Afghanistan or a Soviet Hip from "their" war over there. Believe it or not, I think I have been able to find more pics of CIA Hips than Soviet ones. I've tried Google and Bing but have not been able to find much on these. Just wondering if anyone can point me to some good pictures?

Thank you,

John

PS - also wondering if anyone has seen aftermarket decals for this model? So far, I have not found anything out there, which is somewhat surprising given how many of these helos that are clattering all over the planet.

Edited January 10, 2010 by 11bee

[Flankerman]

Trying to do some research on a potential project (the Trumpeter 1/35th Hip helicopter) and I am down to two options, a CIA operated Hip in Afghanistan or a Soviet Hip from "their" war over there. Believe it or not, I think I have been able to find more pics of CIA Hips than Soviet ones. I've tried Google and Bing but have not been able to find much on these. Just wondering if anyone can point me to some good pictures?

Thank you,

John

PS - also wondering if anyone has seen aftermarket decals for this model? So far, I have not found anything out there, which is somewhat surprising given how many of these helos that are clattering all over the planet.

It isn't the scale you are looking for - but Begemot Decals do a Mi-8 + a Mi-17 decal sheet in 1:72 scale.

Best of all though are their well researched instruction sheets - with full camo and colour info - which you can download as a .pdf file.

At least one Hip on the sheet is an Afghan bird - I used their decals on my 1:72 scale Hobby Boss Afghan Mi-8MTV....

Ken

[Berkut]

John, here you will find a lot of Soviet Afgan War pics, also with Mi-8:

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showt...ar-79-89-Thread

[11bee]

Ken,

Thanks for the link to your builds, they will be very useful! Nice job on all of them. Also appreciate the info on those decal sheets.

Berkut,

Thank you very much for that link. Very helpfull pictures, they answer most of my questions.

John

[Linden Hill]

PS - also wondering if anyone has seen aftermarket decals for this model? So far, I have not found anything out there, which is somewhat surprising given how many of these helos that are clattering all over the planet.

If you're looking for 1/35 scale Mi-8MT decals for the Trumpeter kit, we did two Hips on our 'Post-Soviet Air Forces: Georgia' set:

http://www.lindenhillimports.com/lhd35018.htm

The one with the not-very convincing 'Police' markings was used for special ops in upper Abkhazia before the Russian invasion in August 2008.

We also did an Armenian Mi-8MT:

http://www.lindenhillimports.com/lhd35017.htm

HTH

Edited January 11, 2010 by Linden Hill

[11bee]

If you're looking for 1/35 scale Mi-8MT decals for the Trumpeter kit, we did two Hips on our 'Post-Soviet Air Forces: Georgia' set:

http://www.lindenhillimports.com/lhd35018.htm

The one with the not-very convincing 'Police' markings was used for special ops in upper Abkhazia before the Russian invasion in August 2008.

We also did an Armenian Mi-8MT:

http://www.lindenhillimports.com/lhd35017.htm

HTH

Thanks for the links, you folks have some very unique subjects. Never would have thought about a Georgian UH-1H as a subject! I spent some time looking at your decals and am quite impressed by them.

John

[F106A]

Your post caught my eye and I recalled that I had seen a couple Hips over in Afghanistan during my last visit in 2008. A bladeless, Polish version being towed, and an interesting baby blue version. I honestly don't recall who that blue one belonged too, and that's the only shot I got of it as we taxied by. As I was looking for these photos I recalled from the photo sequence that I was looking left taking photos as we came upon these Hips to the right, so I'm happy I was able to at least get one photo. I imagine I was busy keeping the engines cool on my C-130 at the same time!

Mark

[11bee]

Your post caught my eye and I recalled that I had seen a couple Hips over in Afghanistan during my last visit in 2008. A bladeless, Polish version being towed, and an interesting baby blue version. I honestly don't recall who that blue one belonged too, and that's the only shot I got of it as we taxied by. As I was looking for these photos I recalled from the photo sequence that I was looking left taking photos as we came upon these Hips to the right, so I'm happy I was able to at least get one photo. I imagine I was busy keeping the engines cool on my C-130 at the same time!

Mark

Mark,

Thanks for the pics, I wish you could have gotten some time off from babying your Herc and took some additional pictures of those blue Hips. Given the extra antenna's and the unmarked paint scheme, I am guessing that these are operated by "special" folks. I'm still on the fence about which Hip to make. My preference would be for something like that blue one but there just aren't enough good detail pictures out there to fill in all the missing info.

Regards,

John

[Raymond]

build an afghan one :D

massaud/dostum troops coming to town '92

[dragan_mig31]

build a soviet one. here you can find numerous pics from that era.

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showt...9-Thread/page27

[11bee]

build a soviet one. here you can find numerous pics from that era.

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showt...9-Thread/page27

Hi Dragan,

Someone over at Brit Modeler sent me that link. It's a fantastic thread, it pretty much answered all of my questions about Soviet Hips in Afghanistan.

Regards,

John

[Berkut]

Hi Dragan,

Someone over at Brit Modeler sent me that link. It's a fantastic thread, it pretty much answered all of my questions about Soviet Hips in Afghanistan.

Regards,

John

*Ahem* ^_^

Post 3.

[11bee]

*Ahem*

Post 3.

OOPS! My humblest apologies. It was you and I had actually acknowledged that in a subsequent post. I had a similar request for info on Brit Modeler. That's what I get for responding to a post while trying to rush out the door.

Thanks again for your assistance!

John

[Loach Driver]

Here is a link to an old thread on this topic.

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index....03240&st=20

Here also is a list of some possible CIA Hips (info from another forum);

N393RH, c/n 95716 also a Mi-8MTV-1.

N52173 c/n 95840 (on the FAA register as a Mi-8, but because of it's c/n and building year 1992 it should be a Mi-8MTV)

N8065R c/n 108M06, (Mi-17)

N8066L c/n 108M13 (Mi-17)

N80652 c/n 108M10 (Mi-17).

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Mil-Mi-17/0967248/M/

I seem to recall reading somewhere that the U.S., U.K. and France all fly Mi-8/17s in the "Special Ops" role. I had a photo of the first CIA Hip purchased in 2001 that I can't locate now. It had a green camouflage paint scheme and the top surface of both tail planes was painted with the Stars & Stripes.

LD.

Edited January 17, 2010 by Loach Driver

[Loach Driver]

I did a little more digging.

The first C.I.A. Mi-8 used in Afghanistan post-9/11 was purchased by the C.I.A. a number of years before the 9/11 attack. Prior to Operation Jawbreaker in September 2001, it was overhauled and had recieved some kind of avionics upgrade, probably adding western satcom gear. It appears it was painted in an overall green colour. To help it blend in with the Mi-8 helicopters operated by the Northern Alliance, it was painted with black camouflage over the green paint scheme. The serial "91101" was applied to the tailboom in black lettering. It had a radar under the nose and was fitted with a winch. This is the helicopter that later had the stars and stripes applied over the top of its tail plane. It was fitted with a large internal auxilliary fuel tank for the ferry flight into Afghanistan.

This information has come from the book "First In" by Gary C. Schroen.

LD.

Edited January 17, 2010 by Loach Driver

[Loach Driver]

Photo; Mark (F106A).

This Mi-8 Hip is possibly one used by British Special Forces. The November 2006 issue of "Air Forces Monthly" has a photo of a similarly-painted Mil Mi-8. It carries the Afghan registartion YA-94233. Other Hips operated by the Afghan Government are painted in a similar pale blue colour scheme so maybe the U.K. is leasing these helicopters from the Afghan Government.

Also in that issue is an article on private security firms and their aircraft. It includes a photo of a CIA Mil Mi-8, registered N25308.

LD.

Edited January 19, 2010 by Loach Driver

[Aggressor Supporter]

Interesting information there Loach Driver.

[JEN722]

I have seen Hips in these colour schemes in Afghanistan:

- Overall light blue

- Overall sand

- Overall dark green

- Dark green and dark brown disruptive camo

- Medium green and dark olive green/brown disruptive camo (Afghan)

- Overall white

- White, blue, light blue

- White, blue, red

- White, green

- Light grey-green and dark green (Kunduz wreck 0037)

- Light green, dark green, black-green (Kunduz wreck)

So, there's plenty to choose from. My own 1/35th scale Hip will be a standard Afghan Hip.

HTH,

Jens

[Shark]

build an afghan one B)

massaud/dostum troops coming to town '92

Awesome! Raymond, let's see more of these.

Shark

[Delta Wing]

Hello to all,

seen in Southwest Afghanistan at the beginning of January 2010;

Enjoy.

Jan.

More photos on:

Aircraft throughout the years

[JEN722]

Notice how the national markings have changed. The Hips and Hinds I have seen and photographed had the red at the bottom.

Regards,

Jens

[chef]

Hi John,

I've got several nice pics, including cockpit and interior but I'm kind of an *** with uploading these things. I've been in South Afghanistan for 2 years and I've got pics of Afgan Hip's but also unmarked ones and a Colombian one.

In case you're interested, how do I go about getting them to you?

Greetz, Pete.

[TaiidanTomcat]

Welcome aboard and a fine "first post"!!

[chef]

Hey John,

I hope these are a little helpfull...

And Jens, as the roundels are concerned there is this difference, yes. But the Afghani pilots don't know. At least the ones that talk English...

Greetz, Pete

[JEN722]

Great pictures Pete, thanks!

The orientation of the national markings seem random. Most Antonovs I have seen have the green at the bottom, but I have also seen one with black. All Hips and Hinds had red at the bottom though, and so had the L-39s.

I also have pictures of a Hip numbered '656', except it's in the standard light green, brownish olive drab and light blue. I wonder if it's the same airframe.

Regards,

Jens