Every so often
things just, well, happen. In 1960 a Russian helicopter crew got completely
disoriented in a blizzard over the Bering Straight, and put down in Alaska with
little more than fumes in the tank. While the American authorities were more
than civil to the unfortunate crew it was decided that the craft would not be
repatriated along with them. The MiL-4 had been developed to give the Soviets
the equivalent of the Sikorsky H-19, but it ended up being bigger and more
capable in some ways. After studying the beast for a few months it was realized
that there would be no need for it in any capacity, so it was offered for sale.
Spartan Air Services, the legendary Canadian survey and transport company,
picked it up and used it in many roles for over a decade.
Click on
images below to see larger images
The NATO reporting name for the
helicopter was Hound, so in a play on that they named it the Pound, both because
of its noise and because it had come to them like a puppy from the lost animals
pound. It was a common sight in the Canadian arctic before parts, either bought,
purloined, or cobbled together, became increasingly difficult to obtain. On its
final flight to a maintenance depot at Coral Harbour a few critical pieces gave
up the ghost and the crew successful autorotated it into the water within easy
wading distance of land. The hulk was abandoned to the vagaries of wind and
weather, until the final traces were washed out to sea.
The Model
Two words – not easy. Oh you can bash a helicopter out of it, but getting
anything acceptable for human consumption is something I am not willing to spend
too much time on. VEB Plasticart models are not for the faint of heart. The nose
piece is perhaps the worst aspect of the whole model – why they chose to make
it a separate part instead of just having it as part of the fuselage halves is
beyond me. Once you stick it on it’s obvious that it has no relationship to
the contours of the real thing. The best after-market product for this model
would probably be another model by a different company. The fit is tolerable,
the clear pieces abominable (I just used Kristal Klear for all but the front
window), the instructions follow the 'minimalist' school of art, and while the
decals look comprehensive I wasn’t about to take the chance of them
dissolving. I made my own with MS Paint and an inkjet, not the best but
readable. Spartan used a number of different lettering styles, and I used the
Mistral font to approximate one of them. Not really that close but so what,
it’s a whiffer!
Dave Bailey, aka The
Rat
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