Four 1/72nd scale Flankers

My current builds are 3 Trumpeter Flankers, a single seater Su-27 (Kit is J-11B) to be finished in Uzbekistan AF, Su-27UB to be finished in Kazakstan AF, an Su-30MKK in Venezuelan AF markings and finally an Su-34 in VVS colours, for which I am using the Olimp upgrade/correction set. Trumpeter kits all have sink marks in the outer wings were they are one piece (especially the single seater) and need shimming before closing the wings as well. Another mistake is the blow-in suction louvers at the bottom of the intake trunks, which have twice the number. Otherwise good fit till now, even the dorsal airbrake on the one fitted. Su-34 has had the undercarriage bays removed and replaced with resin set.

If anyone is able to find another photo of the Uzbek Su-27 (sand and brown camo) I'd be very very satisfied, as they are very rare.






And here's what they should represent when done:

Very interesting build
Fantastic colour schemes

Prosit

Cyril.

Wow Gordon ..looking foward ...

WOW.....interesting subjects as always Gordon...
in nannu

Great choice of aircraft and colour schemes, looking forward to seeing them done.

Some progress. The Su-34 wings did not fit very well, maybe I should have sanded more off the lower edges of the resin u/c bays. I sanded as much as I could on the top and in fact broke one of them as it became too thin. The intakes fit very badly, and I placed plastic card and putty to smooth them out. I will give some undercoat to see the result better. The instrument was sanded flat as the detail is totally wrong, and replaced with decals from spare decals of other kits to resemble the real Su-34, though not much will be visible when closed.





The Trumpeter kits all suffer from a step where the nose cone meets the fuselage on the lower side. Another common problem is the intake trunks to engine bay joint, still requiring sanding and more putty to smooth out. The sink marks on the lower wings are also evident, mostly on the single seater. Although Trumpeter is better than Airfix, it surely isn't a quick build kit. Decals for the UB and 30MKK are those supplied with both kits.

Good job Gordon.

Once they are smoothed down the paint will cover everything.

Prosit Gordon,

nice job mate.

Great Job Gordon

Keep us posted.


Alex

Awesome Gordon, they are going to look just fab when they are done.

I have been preparing the armament for the 4 Sukhois. And they can carry a lot:


The long burn R-27AE which are carried by all types of Flankers are from the Airfix kit as Trumpeter's are all the R-27RE/TE type. The LGB and missiles from the Italeri (lighter grey plastic) also need some corrections. The HE bombs are from Trumpeter's Il-28 and Tu-16 kits, but I need to replicate the MER used to carry them, and it's not simple (here on an Su-24 fencer):



I also tried to reshape the Italeri KH-31R Anti_Radar Ramjet missile (which can be deployed from the Su-30 and Su-34 only out of these 4), which is too big in all dimensions, and not found in many kits. Although not perfect (what is?), it is much better than before. The body is a piece of evergreen tube, and the fins and nose cone taken from the kit.



And also more filling and sanding on the Su-34:

Full load Gordon...

One of the most beautiful birds of prey! Prosit Gordon just in time for Victory Day!

Ivan

I have found that the pylon is included in a Dragon/DML set of Soviet armament set.....but it is only available from the US with high postage, but I will buy it.

flankerland , just brilliant .
flanker family is one of most brutal looking and in a same time is very elegant.
i will watch this closely .
good choice of camouflage markings.

stevan

I airbrushed various shades and mixes of Alclad on the engine and exhaust areas and I am satisfied with the effect achieved. However, it is difficult to photograph, either the effect does not come out at all or it is too much! In real life, they seem better,




I also continued the Su-34, which does not have the bare metal engine areas, but fitting the etched brass around the canon wasn't easy. The fins are from an Italeri Su-27 (rescribed as these have raised detail) as those in the Su-34 kit are the taller ones used on the Su-27IB prototype and on Su-27UB's.

Good work Gordon........

skyhigh wrote:Good work Gordon........

Make that x2 please

I have cut off the wingtip pylons from the Su-34 and decided to finish this off with the ECM pods, and later make the very dark grey model with pylons. I also added the fairings below the cockpit added to production examples. I still have to rescribe the upper panels of the u/c bays as these were the size of Su-27, for a single wheel. The circular panel just aft of the cockpit is also too far forward and will have to be filled in and rescribed as well. I filled in the nosecone, as this a fibreglass cone in front of the radar and does not have any panel lines!




Su-27 with fins dielectric panels sprayed and masked:


I received the 2 DML Modern Soviet Aircraft sets, which contain the multiple ejection racks, but in one set the part(s) is defecctive, so I only have 2 MERs:

Some progress finally on the camouflages:




I need to respray the wingtip rails as they are in the upper mid blue colour not lower one. And the Uzbekistan Su-27, again needing some touching up before glossing for decals:




And finally, trying to salvage another Flanker (Can't have enough of them, I have half a dozen decal sheets) mainly from Italeri parts. Wings were modified, intakes and nose cone from another kit. I cut and narrowed the cockpit area to match up with the size of the nose from a Trumpeter Kit. I have a vacuformed canopy for it and bits left over from the Trumpeter kits. I sanded all the raised detail and started engraving the panel lines and access panels.

Wow very colorful.......  

Prosit Gordon, what a lovely set of fighters. Let's see them done, they look magnificent.