None taken, I know I have a long way to go yet
Oh yeah. To be honest, I've been having a hard enough time finding reference material that I haven't been trying to do any particular version of the Hind. And I'm no helicopter expert. Later on during the modelling process, though, I came across this website, which has had better reference material than any of the "real" helicopter photos and blueprints I could find. This one's a Hind V, apparently:
http://www.precisemodeling.com/project_mi24.shtml
Also I should say that the exhaust cover meshes can be hidden on my model, to reveal the regular exhaust holes underneath. I just thought the "Afghanistan ones" (as I've been calling them) looked cooler, and that's the important thing right? :p