Pavla U72-97: Mi-8 Correct Engine Cowling

PRICE:

 $

REVIEW BY:

Scott Van Aken

NOTES:

 Resin for the Hobby Boss kit

Once more, we have an upgrade set from Pavla for the Hobby Boss Mi-8. This is a corrected engine cowling to replace the one on the kit. The set comes with a very nicely molded one-piece upper cowling that will require you to cut away the extant one molded on each of the two fuselage halves. The set comes with complete instructions so that won't be a problem. Included with this set are to intake pieces and two exhausts, making for a superb correction set.

March 2009

Review copy courtesy of the fine folks at Pavla ModelsPavlamodels - logo. Visit them at their website.

As a late note on this. A reader has commented that he was unable to get this set to fit properly. As he told me: "The instructions look simple enough as it looks like you basically cut out the same area as you are replacing with the new resin piece.  I have wrecked 2 Hobby Boss kits trying to get this to work as they say. What you are left with is a hole much larger than the resin replacement unit.  I’m not sure what Pavla were doing when they made this (as nice as it is) but it is not even close to the right size. I have tried heating and stretching it to no avail.

If you were to cut the Hobby Boss kit about 3/16” higher than indicated it may work but then everything else is out of whack. A much easier thing is to do as I did. Sand off the parts of the Hobby Boss kit that are unique to the MI-17 version and fill the holes that are for the MI-17 as well. You will need to enlarge the exhaust holes to a circular shape from the oval in the kit.

Here is where the Pavla exhaust will fit beautifully. Also the tiny holes in the middle part of the exhaust should be 5 holes Instead off the three provided but these can be filled and redrilled. Cut out and fill in the rear “disco light” apparition at the rear of the cowling and then use some photo etch to replicate a new vent here. I used the one from the Eduard set. This entire fix took about an hour."

I should mention that don't have the HB kit so cannot verify this, but it seems that one should be forewarned that there could be a fit issue. It is not uncommon for short run resin parts like this to be of different sizes as temperature and humidity when the parts are molded can result in some rather substantial size differences. I had the folks at CMR show me bits for their Buccaneer that were very much different sizes from each other so this is a problem with all resin.

Just to add to this, here is some information provided by a person that actually flies these aircraft:

"I strongly do not agree, that easier is to sand off Mi-17 unique things and make bigger and round exhausts.
The main reason why Pavla did their set is that Mi-8 is powered by TV-2-117 and Mi-8MT/17 by TV-3-117 which is significantly shorter! (maybe about 30 cm or so). So it is not only exhausts. It means you are absolutely not right.
Please, look here:
http://www.flankers-site.co.uk/modl_mi-8.html
You can see that Pavla fits and you see that difference in cowlings."

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