Do Soviet helos need a grey underside?

[Nick]

Struggling to work this out for my Mi-28 Soviet GroupBuild project. I've got plenty of ideas regarding the brown/green camouflge for the top and sides but it's the underneath I can't understand.

Some Soviet helicopters have a light grey underside obvious in photos. In other pictures the camouflage appears to extend all the way around. What would the general rule be for a late 80's attack helo?

[chrisonord]

I have done some of mine grey underneath and some air superiority blue underneath but ... this is whatiff, so why not a wrap round lizard type camo?
Chris.

[RotorheadTX]

In the Havoc images I have, only the aircraft that debuted at the Paris Air Show has the blue/grey underside; all the others show a wrap-around camouflage scheme.

[Army of One]

With some of the research I did for my current project IMHO think you could get away with either or......

[Nick]

I think you guys are right. It's probably something simple like what the Regimental Commander wants them to have that month!

An all-round camo scheme is much easier.

[Mossie]

I'll stick me tuppenth in & say that operationally, Soviet helicopters nearly always had a seperate underside colour, especially in the eighties.  It's only in recent years that that's changed & it's mostly on demonstrators, not aircraft in the field.

Tying down colours on Soviet aircraft & helicopters particularly is difficult.  If there was a standard, it was very complex.  Different types would receive different colours.  Even between type, the indivdual shade might vary.  On the undersides, it's generally a pale blue (which can look grey in certain conditions) or a deeper azure shade during the eighties.  A pale grey is sometimes used, but is less common.  As far as the model goes, you could go with pretty much any colours as being a new type, it might well wear a different shade to others.

If you want to go with wraparound though, go for it!