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Ludvík Kružík
I still miss this small helicopter in my collection of flying machines used in Czechoslovakia. The time has come for me to rectify that. 😉

Villiers de Vos
I will follow along.

Ludvík Kružík
Welcome Villiers! 🙂

Greg Baker
Oh. I built a 1/72 version of the Mi-1M... This should be interesting.

Ludvík Kružík
Hello, Greg. I know there's a Mi-1M kit in 1/72nd scale. Unfortunately, only this and a rather old kit from Special Hobby exists in 1/48 scale. In addition, this kit is an older version of the Mi-1A, which is different from the upgraded version of the Mi-1M. It has a different nose shape, different cockpit glazing and other minor changes. And since I decided to build the upgraded version of the Mi-1M, I will not avoid modifications to the kit.
To give you a better idea of the extent of the modifications to the kit, I've included a picture with the differences between the Mi-1A and Mi-1M versions color coded.

Greg Baker
Oh, neat! I didn't realize there were so many changes between the versions. This is going to look great!

Ludvík Kružík
Greg, thank you for your support.
____________________
I started building the model by making new transparent parts.

Alec K
Taking a seat, this brings back memories of ABC magazine 😜👍

gorby
Nice work moulding the new transparent parts.

Greg Baker
Yeah. Nice work on the heat-n-smash moulding for the clear parts. That can be tricky to do.

Ludvík Kružík
@Alec K
I used to buy ABC magazine regularly as a kid and eagerly awaited each new issue 🙂. I assume your mention of ABC magazine refers to the occasional modeling tutorial section.

@gorby, @Greg Baker
It's not too difficult to make new transparent parts by stretching warmed transparent foil over a pre-made template. Preparing the template is the most work. Stretching the warmed foil onto the template is just a routine that anyone can do after a few attempts.

Alec K
Correct 🙂👍👍

Robert Podkoński
How have I missed this? Taking a seat for sure! 🙂

Ludvík Kružík
Hello, Robert! Good to see you here. You haven't missed much so far. Up to this point I've been more concerned with preparation than building the model.

Ludvík Kružík
I want to try to use the sandwich construction in the production of new glass parts for the coptics. So I made (using the same process as the transparent parts) parts out of white plastic sheeting. These parts will have holes cut out for the windows. The transparent part will then be inserted between these two parts. The white outer and inner parts will form the embossed framing of the transparent part.

Jennifer Franklin
That looks great (as per usual 😛)

Ludvík Kružík
Welcome, Jennifer, we're glad to have you on board and thank you for your goodwill. 🙂

Ludvík Kružík
I came back from vacation and it started to rain. Ideal conditions for modelling. 🙂

So I'm back and continuing to work on the model. I need to glue the finished nose to the glued fuselage so the cockpit overlay fits exactly. That determines the workflow. First I have to finish the nose and the inside of the fuselage and glue all the parts that need to be glued to the fuselage halves from the inside. After gluing the fuselage halves together, I would no longer be able to get to these parts (or only with great difficulty).

Photos of the work progress will be coming soon.

Alexander Grivonev
Oh some modeling for big boys, not glueing perfectly fitting parts together and throwing on some paint! Following 👍

Ludvík Kružík
Welcome, Alexander! 🙂

Ludvík Kružík
I glued several parts to both halves of the fuselage. These parts are glued from the inside, so they have to be glued before the fuselage is closed.
I also started working on making new parts for the cockpit.

Landlubber Mike
Wow, this is incredible work Ludvik! Thank you for sharing your steps - I've learned a lot from your pictures and descriptions!

Villiers de Vos
Fantastic scratch build skills.

Ludvík Kružík
@Landlubber Mike
Mike, thank you for your interest. Welcome aboard!
I've had the idea for this rebuild in my head for a few years now. Mainly because I've been waiting to see if anyone would start making 1:48 scale Mi-1M kits. Unfortunately, to this day, no manufacturer has this kit in their lineup. So I decided not to wait any longer and start building a model from what I have available.
My rebuild is just beginning. Most of the work on the model is yet to be done. I'd also like to try some new techniques that came to mind while planning to build this model.

@Villiers
Thank you for the compliment. I appreciate it very much.

Ludvík Kružík
I didn't have much time today, so I didn't make much progress on the build. But every little bit of progress counts. 😉

J35J
Great progress and detailing! Following

Bruce Huxtable
Wow! You don't shy away from challenges! Watchinh with admiration, and hoping to learn lots too. Hoping you are not amongst the floods? Stay safe!

Ludvík Kružík
J35J welcome! I hope you like it here.

Bruce, I like a challenge like that. I like to experiment and enjoy thinking of and then implementing ways to improve my model.

I appreciate your concern for my safety. I live in a town in the highlands that wasn't badly affected by the floods. Only the river that runs through our town has increased flow, but it hasn't spilled out of its bed. Moreover, our house is 80 metres above the river, so even if the river had spilled out of its bed, it would certainly not have reached our house.

Bruce Huxtable
It sounds an idyllic location.....Opravdu, česka příroda je krasná....

Ludvík Kružík
Bruce, thank you for the compliment. I'm sure the nature is beautiful in England too. 😉

Ludvík Kružík
I'm slowly continuing to make small parts.

Alec K
Nice progress, this will be a beauty 👍

bughunter
Another big bunch of parts, not to mention some kit parts, come together to form one big model! Not to be missed!
I'm late, but I have an excuse. First I was on holiday, and then this stupid C-virus knocked me out.

Ludvík Kružík
Alec, thank you for your support and your kind words.

Welcome, Frank. I hope you're okay, and I'm really glad you're one of my guests.
It's definitely not too late. I still have most of my work ahead of me. In fact, you could say I'm just getting started.

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
Uhhhhhh … this is going to be another good one from you! I'm in 👍

Ludvík Kružík
Thomas, welcome. It's good to see you among my guests. 🙂

Ludvík Kružík
I'm struggling with time rather than the model at the moment. At least I managed to draw a new dashboard. After printing it in scale (1/48) on photo paper I will use it instead of the kit part.

John
Another Ludvik conversion build with all the accuracy and attention to detail.we've come to expect. It's looking good, can't wait to see the final result! 👍

Ludvík Kružík
Welcome, John. Please have a little patience. This project is quite demanding and I will need a lot of time to complete it.

John
Ok, I aimed that to "I can wait to see the final result" (but I'm still eager) 😉

Alec K
Wow, the dashboard looks amazing. I can only imagine how much time that took. Really interested how it looks completed 👍

Ludvík Kružík
Alec, I drew the dashboard in the evenings for 5 days (about 3 to 4 hours each day). Add to that additional time (about 5 hours) for test printing and subsequent corrections.

I am attaching a photo of a test black and white print of the dashboard after all the modifications are complete. I will print the dashboard for the model in color later.

Ludvík Kružík
According to the photos I modified the fuselage where the main landing gear is attached to it.

Guy Rump
Looking good, following. 👍

Jakub Biganovsky
Good morning.
Realy nice and fine work.

Robert Podkoński
These modifications are just perfect, Ludviku...

Ludvík Kružík
Guy, Jakub and Robert thank you for your comments, it's a nice encouragement for further work.

After today, the hull is glued together. Now I'm adjusting the shape of the transparent cockpit cover.

Ben M
I continue to enjoy seeing this one take shape. Quite the effort to convert it!

Ludvík Kružík
Hello, Ben. I'm glad you're interested in my project.

Greg Baker
This is looking good!

Ludvík Kružík
Thank you Greg!

Villiers de Vos
Starting to take shape.

Ludvík Kružík
Villiers, the completion of the fuselage is only temporary at this time. It's only to modify the shape of the transparent cockpit cover.
Once the cockpit cover is the correct shape, I will take the fuselage nose down again to continue work on the cockpit interior.

Ludvík Kružík
Work on the model continues with the production of the cockpit.

Greg Baker
This is becoming a scratchbuilding masterclass!

Ludvík Kružík
Greg, thank you for the compliment.

A small shift in the work on the internal equipment of the helicopter's nose.

Jennifer Franklin
Ludvik, I greatly admire your skill.

Rando
Ludvik, a modeling god. The detail and scratchbuilding is just otherworldly and I always learn so much from your build logs

Ludvík Kružík
Jennifer, thank you for your kind words.

Randa, thank you so much for your contribution. Although I don't consider myself a modeling god, your comment made me very happy. Thank you.

Ludvík Kružík
This afternoon I continued making details for the nose of the helicopter.

Ludvík Kružík
Little progress today. The cockpit got a floor, internal construction and a coat of grey paint. Now I can start to get the cockpit "settled in".

Alec K
Great job on that instrument panel, turned out great 👍

Ludvík Kružík
Thanks Alec! The dashboard isn't complete yet. I still need to add a few more details. But I'll add those after gluing the dashboard to the nose of the helicopter, because I would (very likely) break them off while gluing the dashboard to the nose.

Ludvík Kružík
Again, little progress. I'm prepping the seats for the helicopter crew.

Jennifer Franklin
The red on the seat and cushion pops, starting to look natural.

Alec K
This build made me cautiously open the MPM 1/72 version of this chopper. I closed it back up very quickly… 🤣

Ludvík Kružík
Alec, I don't blame you for making that decision. The MPM kit isn't very good. To build a nice model out of this kit requires a really large amount of work on virtually all parts of the kit. Plus the plastic the kit is made of is quite hard and cracks easily.

Alec K
Agreed. The original MPM kits are now almost in the same category as the original KP: collectors' items. To be sighed over, but not disturbed 😁

Ludvík Kružík
I'm continuing to work on the seats. I finished the backrest of the rear bench and glued the assembled bench into the cockpit.

Alec K
Nice progress Ludviku. The dash and the canopy look super 👍

Ludvík Kružík
Thanks Alec! 😄

Ludvík Kružík
The new cockpit cover is slowly starting to resemble its model. The inner frame inserted into the transparent part of the cockpit and attached to the fuselage already shows the future shape of the cockpit cover.

gorby
Excellent work on the canopy.

Ludvík Kružík
Thank you gorby, glad you like it.

Ludvík Kružík
After a short break I continue building the model. I have finished the instruments and controls in the cockpit and am now working on the details located on the inside of the canopy.

bughunter
Not much of this coarse kits are build. And among those is no model with details like yours! To scratch all little things needs time but is worth the effort. Your hard way to do the canopy frame is a good example.
I think the instrument panel will not very visible at the end but for more contrast individual decals for the instruments are an option. Tom Anyz offers greatly printed universal dials in black and white, e.g. Universal cockpit dials 1.00 mm - 1.80mm (ANYZ AN037, No)