From Russia With Love GB (Su-27SM)

[JudgeDredd]

wow...that was much trickier than I thought. The pit (being 1/72) wasn't very detailed. I've done what I could. There was a couple of bits of after market resin I could put on the sides (though they had to be chopped and filed a bit to fit.

I also chucked some white tack on the seat to make it look like a cushion. I've put some dots of button colours etc - but it's all I've got really.

I didn't realise how bad my "hand shake" was until I started doing those wee details!

[JudgeDredd]

And in the fuselage

[GDS_Starfury]

http://hlj.com/scripts/hljlist?Word=su-27&DisplayMode=images&Dis=2&Sort=std&qid=015ANG06OKC2V&set=1&q=1&Scale2=72

[JudgeDredd]

Thankfully none of those after market kits are for the Revell  ^-^

So I tried to put the top front part of the fuselage (the top comes in two parts...front section and rear section) and I could not for the life of me get the lugs to fit.

This had to be something to do with the front wheel well or the cockpit, because a dry fit of the top fuselage (both parts) fitted fine yesterday. It appeared to me it was the cockpit. The front wheel well had a lug at the rear - only one - and so that could not be out of place. Having said that, I don't think I did anything wrong with the cockpit either...I fitted it snug to the rear of the opening on the top fuselage as I could - as the instructions showed.

However, I did notice last night that the cockpit at the front was not making contact with the fuselage. This was because of the after-market hud I used. It was either ill fitting or I placed it slightly forward. Whatever the reason, this meant the cockpit was not making contact at the front with the fuselage.



This in turn would have a knock on effect of the cockpit sitting screwey and therefore the snug fit between the cockpit and the front wheel well (the cockpit sits in front of the well but it looks like it should be very snug) was knocked out.

So - I had to removed some plastic from the cockpit and the wheel well in order to allow them to fit.

Now - this was my first time using my rotary tool EVER. First bad move. Second bad move was having it on high speed when I made contact with the plastic to shave some off. I was caught by surprise at the amount of plastic it was removing...and now I have some holes in the back of the cockpit. However, it is the back of the cockpit, behind the seat and so unseen!!

Lesson learned, I turned down the speed and went considerably slower over the front part of the wheel well.

Both sanded down somewhat meant the top front section of the fuselage could meet successfully (although very snug) with the lower section. Nightmare avoided for the most part!

[JudgeDredd]

Top part of the fuselage is on!  :banana:

It was a tough fit. Tight (due to my error above) and not a great deal of places where you can put pegs to hold it (sloping airframe).

But she's looking good I think. I do love the shape of this aircraft

[undercovergeek]

the russians sure make sexy looking planes

[JudgeDredd]

Absolutely. I love 'em.

[Staggerwing]

They also made some pretty weird ones back in the day. The recent ones are much more photogenic.

[JudgeDredd]

Wings are on

[JudgeDredd]

Slowly but surely taking shape



This is a Revell kit and they are cheap for a reason. They are a bit more difficult to build (less lugs etc) and also can be a poor fit. For the most part, this has been ok, but there are some parts that have required considerably more glue and pressure than other sections.

There have been sections that have required some Tamiya Ultra Thin (thank god for that!) to be spread along the joins as you can see from some of the images

All that will be covered by paint anyway

[JudgeDredd]

It's entirely possible I will not get this finished.

In fact, it's entirely possible I'm going to kick airbrushing to the kerb.

I went to use AK Xtreme Metal Gun Metal on the engine nacelles(?) and absolutely nothing was coming out. I turned up the air pressure to 30, 40 and 50 and eventually the tiniest amount was coming out...and then nothing again.

I really do not know what I'm doing wrong with airbrushing...but every time I go near it, I end up rage quitting.

For the record, I watched this video

and the guy makes it look soooo simple. No mixing or thinning...just in the cup and go...and yet, here I am struggling again.

I used to think I was over thinking things. In fact, my previous airbrushing attempt (the cockpit etc) went quite well and I thought (using the "consistency of milk" theory people had told me about) that I had nailed it. But seriously - if this guy is putting the paint into his cup with no thinning and sprays so easily - then what am I overthinking? There really isn't anything to it.

Prior to trying the paint I had some thinner in the cup (a tiny amount) which I blew out until the air coming out was just air...so there was no blockage in the brush!

So - I am desparately sorry if this does not get completed. Time was short. I knew that. But I was fairly confident I could get it done as it would be all I was doing for the next week. Unfortunately, I hadn't taken into account my ridiculously recurring airbrushing issues!

I'm going to keep trying and I will probably get it done...but it depends on how this airbrush (or my technique or whatever the issue is) plays up.

[JudgeDredd]

And yet - I went back, stripped the airbrush and cleaned it, put it back together, turned down the air pressure to 20 again and poured neat AK Xtreme Metal in and it sprayed - easy peasy!

I just don't get it. I have to strip my airbrush almost every single time (at least down to removing the needle)...not only is it very time consuming, but it's also expensive - I think I use considerably more cleaner than most people!

Anyway...paint went on absolutely fine. I wonder if it was blowing the thinner through first of all that maybe helped congeal the paint or something.

[JudgeDredd]

These were annoying. There was a rather thick sprue in the middle of the engine nozzles

Cutting them out left rather thick pieces to be cut and sanded.

[JudgeDredd]

And painting (after some rage!)

The insides were painted using AK Xtreme Metal Gun Metal


And the outside section was painted using AK Xtreme Metal Steel


When it sprayed, the AK Xtreme Metal paint is sublime looking.

[JudgeDredd]

I forgot about the wee fiddly bits that come with this model

Here's some sort of sensor (IRST - Infra Red Search and Tracker)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infra-red_search_and_track



As for other sections, I decided to go with Tamiya X-7 Red