Tag Archives: Mil

S3cUre Pa55w0Rd

The Soviets may have been reasonably good at making things to blow up other things, but their naming department was terrible. Whilst in the West we got Cold War aircraft called ‘Apache’, ‘Electric Lightning’, ‘Vulcan’, and ‘Phantom’, the communists got ‘Mil Mi-8 MTV-2 HIP’. Which reads like a secure password.

Despite its crap name, the MIL Mi-8 _Gy72%& is world’s most produced helicopter, and is still in production today, some 56 years after its introduction. This one is from the German ‘Democratic’ Republic (East Germany) in the 1980s, and has been reproduced beautifully by Flickr’s [Maks].

Some light painting adds to the realism, there’s more to see of [Maks]’s MIL Mi-8 @-4Jx7z0P# at his album of the same name (kinda), and you can click here to ensure no-one’ll guess entry to your laptop.

Russian Wings

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Russia, or the Soviet Union before it, are the world’s most prolific maker of military helicopters. Tens of thousands of MiL helicopters have been built since the first design way back in the late 1940s, and are operated by dozens of nations the world over. Including a few you might not expect.

Cue Flickr’s Francis Bibeau, here making their TLCB debut, and these two incredible brick-built replicas of Russia’s finest rotary-wing aircraft.

The first (above) is a Mil Mi-17V-5, as leased by the Canadian military for extraction duties in Afghanistan, whilst the second (below) is a Polish Air Force Mil Mi-8T, the world’s most numerous military helicopter, depicted here on a fast-roping training exercise.

Wonderfully realistic, Francis’ models display forensic attention to detail, clever construction, and deploy custom mini-figures to great effect to bring the scenes to life.

There’s much more to see of each MIL helicopter diorama at Francis’ ‘Bird’ album, and you can hover under rotating Russian wings via the link above.

It’s Be-Hind You

This is a Mil Mi-24 Hind helicopter gunship, a 1970s product of the Soviet Union that remains a formidable aircraft even today.

The MI-24’s speed, size, troop carrying, and attack capability have led to its use in a depressingly long list of wars, conflicts and insurgencies over the last five decades, with over fifty operators worldwide, including countries in direct conflict with one-another, and some less-than-reputable dictators, despots, and militias.

The U.S even have a few, as does much of the former Soviet Union, with this excellent brick-built example by Flickr’s Steffan Johansson flying in Ukrainian colours. Ukraine’s former Soviet comrade Russia flies the greatest number of Mi-24’s of course, with many currently deployed in the ‘Special Military Operation’ (read ‘Illegal War’) in Ukraine.

At least five Russian and one Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopters have been lost in the conflict to date, which is a number that is at least the right way round, and you can see more of this one at Steffan’s ‘Mi-24/35 Hind’ album on Flickr.

Click the link above to take a look, or here to donate to those whose lives have been devastated by Russian aggression against their former ally. Both sides may be deploying the Mil Mi-24 Hind in the current conflict, but one deserves your support.