The Mi-24 Hind is one of the meanest attack helicopters on the battlefield. It is huge, ugly and spectacularly brutish. The Hind-D/E had a 12.7 YakB machine gun mounted in a turret under the nose. This gun was capable of carrying 1,470 rounds of 12.7mm ammunition and firing at a rate of 4,500 rounds a minute. This gun is a whole lot of whoop ass to go along with its brutish looks.

Master Model has started to release some helicopter armament systems in their turned metal barrel range. The third in the 1/35^th scale series is the gun and DUAS Probe for the Mi-24D/E.

Contained on a stiff cardstock backing sheet, is a ziplock baggie that contains three turned metal pieces and two resin pieces in light grey plastic. The resin pieces are things of beauty. There is no cleanup required, which is a Godsend since the DUAS vanes are very fragile. The resin pieces are protected by foam and some very light tack tape to hold them in place. The other resin piece is the actual gun barrels already mounted together.

The turned metal pieces are the center recoil spring for the gun is in brass and the front and rear portion of the DUAS system is turned out of aluminum.

The instructions are printed in black and white on a small sheet of paper. They are easy to understand and simple enough to follow.

For the DUAS, simply insert the large rear section through the resin vane piece. Glue in place. Then add the end piece. Now you just have to cut the piece off of the kit probe and drill a .8mm hole to insert the turned metal probe into. Get the orientation right and glue into place with super glue. Simple, strong and very effective. The tough part is that the mounting lug is a little longer and drilling that hole is not as easy as it sounds. I got mine on but I’ll have to sand down part of the mount or drill partially into the canopy which I don’t want to do. Though the part does look perfect when finished. I did notice that the Master part is slightly longer than the kit part. I believe Master to be correct on this. It looks more realistic longer.

The gun is even easier. Slide the turned metal recoil sprint into the resin gun piece. Done. Then simply cut the kit gun off and drill a .8mm hole to mount it securely in place. This will make a very realistic gun without the hassles of having to scrape off the mold lines. It will be infinitely stronger as well. It helps if you can sand the mating surface straight and drill the hole in the middle.

Painting is all that is required to bring this set to life. Care must be exercised when dealing with the resin vanes so don’t add this part until the end of the build.

Strength, no mold lines to clean up, realistically thin vanes and simple construction. I can’t think of anything else to make this a better set or a better reason to buy it. The hard part is drilling the holes. Once that is done it is simply painting the parts. As a helicopter modeler, this is a welcomed addition to my Trumpeter Hind. Another superb example of the level of excellence that has become the hallmark of Master Model.

Thanks to Master Model and IPMS/USA for the review copy. You can obtain your copy at your local hobby shop or online retailer. Master does not sell directly to customers.