Guideline Publications Guideline Publications is the UK's leading publisher of modeling and hobby-related magazines. With a world-class portfolio of titles and an international Social Media presence, Guideline Publications has a dedicated readership that is constantly expanding into new areas. This English language book, Mil Mi-4 Hound, is authored by Jakub Fojtik, Ph.D. and illustrated by Petr Kolmann. The latest in Guideline’s Warpaint series, 144, was published on September 1, 2024. A digital edition will soon be available. The latest on Guideline’s publications can be found on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/guidelinepub/

Jakub Fojtik , Ph.D. attended the Police Academy of the Czech Republic in Prague, achieving his Bachelor's degree in Management of Security Forces, Security, and Law Studies. He followed up with a Master's Degree in Management of Security Forces and a Master of Laws (LLM) in International Business Law. To top it off he achieved a Doctorate (JUDr.) in Security studies at the Academy of the Slovak Police in Bratislava and a Ph.D. in Management of Security Forces from the Police Academy of the Czech Republic in Prague. Jakub Fojtik is currently a University Lecturer at the Police Academy of the Czech Republic, the Vice President of Military Sales for Aero Vodochody Aerospace a.s. (Aero L-39, L-159, etc.) and an independent aviation journalist who is regularly published in aviation-related journals and aviation magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Defence Helicopter, FlyPast, Flying Revue, Hobby Historie, Letectvi a Kosmonautika, 4 Rotors, and many others. He is the author of over twenty aviation books, primarily rotary wing military aircraft monographs like: Mi-8/17 Mi-8 Multipurpose Helicopter (Jakab, 2009); Mi-4: Mi-4 Multi-Purpose Helicopter (Jakab, 2011); Latest Hips [Mi-171 & Mi-17V-5 and its Subvariants] In Detail (W&WP, 2014); Albatros: Aero L39, L59, L139 (Magnet Press, 2016); Ka-50 Ka-52: Werewolf, Black Shark, Erdogan, Alligator and the Others (Kagero, 2017); Mi-28: Night Hunter and the Others (Kagero, 2017).

Warpaint's latest is their standard portrait A4 [8.25” x 11.75”] format square-back softbound publication that is 88 pages, including the covers. Petr Kolmann contributes eight pages of illustrations that includes 38 color side profiles Sam Pearson provides two pages of 1/72 line drawings showing top, bottom, andfront views, and seven side profiles. I counted 63 color photographs and 142 black and white photographs. The front cover features a Petr Kolmann color side profile of an East German Mil Mi-4A with the additional large code ‘769’. This was applied during the 1968 Oder-Neibe military exercise to improve the visibility of the participants. The color photograph is an Aeroflot Mi-4 Hound without the belly gondola housing the machine gun and IFF device. Notable is the round military fuselage windows instead on the square ones common on a civilian Mi-4. The upper color photograph on the rear cover is of a Polish Mi-4 with a white 611 code [note the caption is incorrect]. Poland operated Mil Mi-4s from 1958 to 1978. The color photograph at the center of the rear cover depicts the happiness at serving in the North Korean military as the crew reviews the latest news of the Kim family.

Jakub Fojtik opens with an overview of the design and development of what would become the Mil Mi-4 Hound starting in 1945 with the end of World War II. Designer Mikhail Leontyevich Mil [Михаил Леонтьевич Миль] Mi-4 saw its first flight on June 3, 1952, with production exceeding 4,00 airframes. Outwardly similar to the Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw, the Mi-4 was a much larger helicopter that was able to carry more weight. Service introduction was in 1953 and eventually included service with over 32 countries. Front line military service continued to at least to 2014 in North Korea, where it is possibly still in use. The Mi-4 served in the civilian world in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and geology, as well as Antarctic explorations, air ambulance, firefighting, and air taxis.

Page 10 illustrates off the second prototype Mi-4 at the Mil test facility with the main gear tethered. The bottom photograph is of the test pilot Vsevolod Vladimirovich Vinitskyi (Всеволод Владимирович Виницкий) in front of an early production Mil Mi-4. Vinitskyi served with the 33^rd Airborne Squadron and the 7^th Airborne Squadron on the Western Front during WWII. He then commanded the 2^nd Airborne Regiment on the Ukrainian front [by this time he was up to 44 combat sorties] before taking command of the 51^st Transport Aviation Regiment on the Transbaikal front. Post war, he was a pilot for Polar Aviation before becoming a test pilot for Mil OKB. Vinitsky made the first flights in the Mil Mi-1U and the Mi-4 and much later, the first flight of the Kamov Ka-22 gyrodyne. Amazingly, no Mi-4 Hounds were lost in testing to evaluate a safe flight envelope despite violent maneuvers to determine critical loads.

The Mil Mi-4AV anti-tank helicopter is shown at the bottom of Page 23. The color photograph at the top of the page shows off the A-12.7mm machine gun in the belly gondola. The field of view was great but there was no protection from ground fire. Aiming this gun was interesting with bicycle-type controls as the gunner knelt behind the gun on a red cushion as seen in the center color photograph. The Mi-4AV could carry six UB-16-57 rocket pods or free-fall bombs. The 9M17M anti-tank guided missiles can be seen mounted above the rocket pods.

Approximately 195 Mi-4AVs were converted from Mi-4A airframes with their first combat sorties against the Israelis by the Egyptian Army. Page 43 shows off the Czechoslovakian attack helicopter, the Mil Mi-4B with a different configuration of the UB-16-57UM missile pods. Unfortunately, this configuration was abandoned due to airframe fatigue. The bottom photograph shows a Czechoslovakian Mi-4A practicing the use of the Czech-designed UMV-69 mine-laying system. This system could carry 100 anti-Tank PT-Mi-K mines or the newer plastic Antti-Tank PT-Mi-Na-III mines. This system did not pass in testing and was later replaced with a revised Anti-Tank mining delivery system, the UMV-69, although even it saw very limited use in Czechoslovakia.

A standard feature for Guideline’s Warpaint series is the In Detail section as seen on Page 75. These color photographs are of a Czech Air Force Mi-4A, serial number 2143, on display at Prague-Kbely in the Letecké Muzeum Kbely. This airframe was one of the last Hounds still in service in Czechoslovakia when it was donated in 1986 by Research Institute 03. Photos 7 and 11 show off the belly gondola with the A-12.7mm machine gun. Another standard feature are the color side profiles as seen on Page 84. A Mongolian airline Mi-4 is at the top, followed by an Afghan Mi-4A, an Indonesian Air Force Mi-4A, an Indian Mi-4A, and a North Korean Air Force Mi-4A. The Chapters include:

• New Helicopter Design Office
• New Model Requirements
• Finally in the Air
• Transporting People And Cargo
• With A Greater Fire Power [Page 23]
• Four Special Military Taks
• Over All The Seas
• For National Renewal
• In Warsaw Pact Countries
  • Czechoslovakia [Page 43]
  • Romania
  • Hungary
  • Poland
  • Bulgaria
  • Albania
  • Yugoslavia
• In Western Europe
• Under US Supervision
• In Far Asia
  • Mongolia
  • Afghanistan
  • Indonesia
  • India
  • Pakistan
  • North Korea
  • Bhutan, Cambodia, and Nepal
  • Vietnam
  • China
• In The Middle East
  • Yemen
  • Iraq
  • Syria
• In Troubled Africa
• Mi-4A Technical Data [Table]
• List of Mi-4 Deliveries [Table]
• Mil M-4A In Detail [Page 75]
• Colour Profiles And Plans [Page 84]

The Mil Mi-4 Hound has been issued in 1/35, 1/48, 1/50, 1/72, 1/100, and 1/144. The Trumpeter 1/48 kit of the Hound was released in 2022 as a new tool and was released in 2023 with two new versions (Mi-4AV and Mi-4A. The Trumpeter 2004 new tool of the Mil Mi-4A Hound is still easily available from most outlets and is a very nice kit. If you are into details, there is no shortage of resin and photoetch detail sets. The Kovozávody Prostějov [KP] kit has been around since 1994 but has continued to be released over the years by several different companies.

I was able to read Jakub Fojtik’s monograph over three days. The text is well supplemented with very clear photographs with good captions. Petr Kolmann provides well-executed color side profiles with Sam Pearson contributing the 1/72-line drawings. This is a nice reference on the Mil Mi-4 Hound and would be a handy addition to your reference library. If you are building any of the standard scale model kits, I would consider this edition essential as an aide to your build.If you own any of the previous releases in the Warpaint series, you know what you are getting. If this is your initial entry into this series, you will be quite pleased.

My thanks to Guideline Publications and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great monograph.

Highly recommended!