Jump to content

Trumpeter Su-27 Flanker B, Kazakh AF


jgrease

Recommended Posts

Guest Peterpools

John

Just catching up on your Flanker and your doing some amazing work on the build, as it's never an easy feat wrestling all the resin AM parts to fit. Beautiful work on the front office ...  looks tremendous

Keep 'em coming

Peter

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you all for the kind words. I've put the Flanker aside again- the repetition of putty and sanding is obnoxious. I will return to it in a week or so. I'm distracting myself this time with Italeri's Sunderland Mk.I- the simplicity of the build is quite therapeutic. Again, thanks for the support.

 

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Progress has been made on the giant Flanker project. First, I've attached the leading edge slats to the wings. I wound up cutting off the PE slat holders when I realized that it was going to take three arms to get the slats attached to the wings using the kit PE. By not using them, I was able to more easily attach the slats to the wings without drama- I wasn't looking for poseable slats any way. While I was at it, I also glued the flaps in one position, having the same realization regarding poseability. No photos of that affair for now - when I make more progress with that I will advise.

Next I turned my attention to the intakes. I have the intake bodies trimmed and cleaned up for installation. I've also got the turbine faces ready for paint as well. So my attention turned to the Eduard intake screens. The hardest part is getting the ribs for the screens bent 90 degrees without trashing the thin attachment points:

64db82369f3618a1d69de1c421aa1d85.jpg

What you see here is three pieces sandwiched together: the ribs, the screen and the screen framework. When I get the nerve up to build the other one I will take photos of the individual parts before assembly.. Here's a couple of test fit photos:

0a472466dc470c3f68b0c8d6e0709f5a.jpg

And:

f1726ca8fd8e15f1a175751dccdc1778.jpg

Again, taking photos while holding it takes three arms. The photos don't do it justice, but the finished product loos pretty good in person. Can anyone help with colors? Every photo I have of the Kazakh Su-27s looks like a pale green intake, but I'm really not sure. Also, are the screens the same color as the intake? That would sure make painting a little easier. Anyone who has answers or can point me in the right direction would be doing me a great favor. Well, thanks again. I should have more in the next day or so.

 

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I've got some more for today. I finished the Eduard intake screens (never again!), and I've installed them into the appropriate intakes. Here's a shot of the screen and some other PE detail after attaching to the top of the intake:

9f460746519594529df344b048e0fb66.jpg

First off, the screens were really hard to form. The individual ribs are connected to the crossmember, so as you try to fold each rib by bending it 90 degrees, the crossmember wants to bend as well. It would take both ends being held flat while the ribs are turned to keep everything lined up. The best I could do was to try and flatten the crossmembers after bending the ribs. After that, one has to glue a plastic rod into the groove provided on the top crossmember. If I ever did another Flanker this size, I'll make FOD covers. So after gluing the screens to the upper intake pieces, I glued the intakes together:

0c9b2ca49e3a007bd7b2da90fd267ca9.jpg

I am going to paint the entire intake trunk a pale green, since this appears to be the standard color. I will paint the turbine faces separately and then glue them in after everything is painted.

I've also picked up another tube of epoxy for the nose. The Zactomodels nose is a good chunk of resin, and I want to make sure it doesn't come off after I get it attached. I'll do that after I finish attaching the various PE bits to the fuselage later this week.

I've also taken the liberty of coating the static dischargers (I think that's what they are- please correct me if I'm wrong) with some CA after they repeatedly bent during movement of the fuselage on my bench:

d16eb6e3a209a5ae733d3f352ea630d3.jpg

And here's the current state of the fuselage- leading edge slats attached as well as flaps. I've secured them in place:

cc7c5fe24ead5941d51aff3e8b1cbdc4.jpg

And all of the wing attachment points got a last coat of putty the other day:

c1b312cc8b0816ced4eca6557d756847.jpg

So that's where I stand. My next update will probably be the addition of the intakes to the fuselage along with the nose. Thanks again for looking in. I realize I'm not creating the buzz that some of the more prolific builders get, but I appreciate the interest. Please feel free to comment or correct anything I've done.

 

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Okey dokey. Almost a month and a half, but I have returned to the Flanker. I was starting to get bored with it, shuffling the pieces around on the workbench, but after distracting myself with another project, I'm back. So I started today by spraying the engine faces and the rears of the intakes with Testors buffing Magnesium. After giving them a quick buff (nobody is ever going to see them behind the screens), I installed the engine faces directly to the fuselage, as opposed to the directions, which wanted them attached to the ends of the intake tunnels:

imagejpg1.jpg

After that, I installed the intakes to the lower fuselage. The fit wasn't very good no matter how you look at it:

imagejpg2.jpg

imagejpg3.jpg

When I had finished getting best fit possible (I have to be honest- I'm not going to spend a week sanding and re-puttying and sanding again), I puttied using Squadron Green Putty wherever the intakes meet the lower fuselage. Then I filled the larger gaps along the inside of the intakes with Elmer's White Glue:

imagejpg4.jpg

After applying the glue, I used a Q-tip soaked in window cleaner to get rid of the excess. I left that to dry, and if gave the cockpit area a nice coat of paint. I'm not 100% happy with it! but it's as good as I can get it without sanding off all of the detail:

imagejpg5.jpg

So that's where I'm at. I guess my next update will come after I sand down the putty on the intakes. My plan after that is to install most of the remaining Eduard PE. Thanks again for looking. See you soon!

Edited by jgrease
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Nice model, I've been looking at a lot of photos of Kazakhstani Mig 27's and came across quite a few Su 27's, and some if not all their UB's have been painted in the new scheme.

 

http://survincity.com/2010/06/military-aircraft-in-kazakhstan/

 

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Kazakhstan---Air/Sukhoi-Su-27.../2191887/L/

 

http://pavon.kz/uploads/368/a756983f137ea6789b8756a9b17099cf.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...