I-185 Eastern Express

Fernando
Starting from the very poor Eastern Express kit, adding the various external parts available at the time. The internal open cockpit was completely scratch built from my sources. The colours were from the VVS faithful Akan range, but rather difficult to airbrush... The powerful M-71 engine was "simulated' from the resin P&W 2800 (Pavla) since the number of cylinders was the same... First time I was fitting an engine in a kit... But I think it was worth it!

Alex Rodionov
Nice result and detalisation for so difficult model.

Mark K
Very, very nice! A clean assembly of the kit itself is an achievement…

Cuajete
Very nice and unusual model. Well done!
Congrats!

Fernando
Thank you so much! Took me almost a year to complete with many stops and goes... Sometimes I choose a subject and then I want to improve it to the point that it takes so much effort... I still have to find the right thinner for the awkward Akan colours. They are acrylic but they clog the airbrush even with the Liquitex retarder. Any advice is welcome!

Alex Rodionov
What series of Akan's paints do you use? 6, 7 or 8?

Fernando
The AMT-7 blue for the underside is no. 73002. Also the other bottles start with a 7 so I guess is series 7?

Alex Rodionov
Yes. If first digit is "7" - 7 Series.
I don't use this difficult paint, but my friends do. They use Tamiya X20A + a bit of Tamiya's retarder.

Fernando
Tx Alex. I will try this mix. I bought the set from Hong Kong (!) because they offered the specific tints of the VVS and they claimed the accuracy based on historical research. Then I discovered how difficult they are to apply... 🙁

Alex Rodionov
That's true, Fernando.
Mr. Akanihin (Akan TM) - one of the most serious experts at VVS colors.