Slavo Hazucha Quite a captivating story indeed! 👍 New cones definitely looking much more like the real deal! Should I ever stray into 72-scale territory, it would be along some of these (Tu-128, Tu-22M, Tu-160...) Very good to know what to expect in this foreign & hostile environment... 😄
Very much looking forward to the next episodes of the hammering & sickling here!😉
The kit itself is actually pretty simple and not terribly detailed, I would say almost "underengineered", but that is the problem. It is too simple and you need to get your hands dirty to make a proper representationof the real thing. There are some shape issues and many details are missing.
29 June 2020, 16:22
Slavo Hazucha I guess pic 91 would make even a well established private dentist rather proud 👍 😄
Andy Ball what do you use for close up work?, (I have incredible short sight, so I do most of my detail work without my contact lenses in), but still couldn't do those petals!
30 June 2020, 17:04
Alexander Grivonev Am too short sighted but my "normal" glasses do the trick. Didn't need assistance of magnifying glass yet...or electron microscope
Thomas Kolb Andy & Alexander, that is pretty much the only perk of being short sighted, so let's use it! Me, when I take out my contacts, I get instant electron-microscope vision, no need for magnifiers! Of course I wouldn't recognize my sweet wife from ten feet away and would walk into walls and fall down stairs, but hey, something's gotta give.
30 June 2020, 20:18
Spanjaard a blessing and a course😉 you just need to make the best of it 🙂
Rui S I'm finding so dificult to believe in this kind and level of detail on 1/72 scale? His this realy possiblel??? Amazing
3 July 2020, 00:17
Slavo Hazucha Hey, the hammer was falling with some force here, the comrades fulfilling the norm for 105% and the order of Lenin will be due shortly for all the valiant efforts!!
Stuff looks really great - particularly the details in the CCKPT! 👍 The Neomega seats also represent a mild improvement over the stock material😉 Pleasure to follow, as always when someone is taking on all the pain to compare and convert to proper scale instead of using the "Ferrari method" (in case you do not exactly match the rules, lie...) 😄 I was quite surprised how much the fuselage-wing transition actually helps for the true-to-original impression.
Keep up the good work, looking forward for the next updates! 👍
3 July 2020, 09:58
Treehugger Nice work on the thinning of the parts in photo 119. 🙂
3 July 2020, 10:08
Andy Ball you've nailed it in 119, (I suspected the same lack of realism from my build from the photo no.1 in my slide set). "Bravo" to your redesign....also, what's going on in no.120?....is this a special "for ladies-only" calendar shot of "hunky Soviet servicemen"?....the mind boggles!
@Slavo: I believe comrade Lenin was long deceased when these things were rolling from the production lines but comrade Brezhnev would have been pleased with the fulfilling of the five year plan!
@ Andy: LOL, I believe the photo was taken for the August 1971 issue of the highly secretive soviet "РLАУGIЯL" magazine, avalable only for the wives of members of the highest ranks in the classless communist society!
My primary source for drawings is this russian "aviation catalogue" website: www.airwar.ru
It is as the name, a catalogue for aircraft and flying objects of any kind. Many of the topics have drawings attached to them.
At the bottom there are two alphabets listed, one in latin and one in cyrillic (it's double listed, take the first one). These are links to airplane manufacturers. So if you are looking for "Grumman" you klick on "G" but if you are looking for "Tupolev" you have to klick on the cyrillic "T". Just browse a little, you will get accustomed pretty quickly.
On the websites of the individual aircraft you can find links to drawings near the bottom of the page, directly above the pictures. Look for this writing: "чертеж".
As I mentioned not all aircraft have drawings attached to them, but many do and you can find real gems there. Another tip is, if you are looking for the drawing of a particular version of an aircraft, e.g. F-14D Tomcat and you don't find any drawings in the F-14D section, there might be some in other F-14 versions links.
I took it to a print/copyshop and they made me some quality prints on DIN A2 paper.
4 July 2020, 13:54
Spanjaard it needs Russian language skills....or extensive use of google translate. But those pages can be pure gold! thanks Alexander!
4 July 2020, 20:02
Andy Ball @Alexander: It was one rule for the party chicks, and one rule for the tractor factory babes...
4 July 2020, 21:03
Slavo Hazucha It´s the Soviet airmen trying to become "one" with their aircraft... The best pilots always say their fighting jets are like an extension of the body...😉
7 July 2020, 10:14
Alexander Grivonev @Spanjaard: You do not "need" to translate the whole page, all what is written is some generic info about the aircraft, albeit very detailed and well researched. If you want to just download the drawings look for this word: чертеж😉
7 July 2020, 17:22
Spanjaard well, since you can navigate and get it automatically translated, it makes it easier 🙂
but thanks for the word 🙂
7 July 2020, 21:04
Alexander Grivonev Yeah, or just google the "word" + any aircraft type and you'll get some nice results 👍
Andy Ball great progress Alexander...I will share with you my current issue with Humbrol's Clear varnish....it's gone milky in places over my NMF and decals....grrrrr
Treehugger Andy, I would think that if you just leave it to dry, the white stuff willl clear up. I find the gloss becoming white if moist with water when applying decals. But, I never had any issue with the Humbrol Clear gloss ever being white, anywhere at all after it all dries up. I do make sure to not drench the model with water so I try to soak up excess water with tissue paper when applying decals.
I too would like to see some photos.
13 July 2020, 20:30
Andy Ball @Alexander G @Treehugger: I don't want to hijack this thread for my own: however I have loaded the offensive pictures on my thread "Fiddler-interceptor-take2", any help would be appreciated. Alexander's build is sublime.....thanks for sharing your labours of Hercules....
14 July 2020, 09:21
Slavo Hazucha As the US in the Cold War with the (perceived) Missile Gap, you discovered the Pylon Gap and prudently closed it, leaving no doubts whatsoever where this journey is headed! 😄 Wherever exactly that may be, it´s pretty far from the original Trumpeter kit! 👍 Looking really good & getting better & better...
14 July 2020, 09:43
Alexander Grivonev Hey Slavo, you can't even imagine. The best is yet to come, wait for the updates 🙂
Trumpeter was known for their "inaccuracy" issues and I sincerely hoped a new 2018 tooling would do this airplane justice. But the further the build progresses the more inexplicable errors I encounter. It is a fairly simple kit, but 80% of the construction time was spent to correct Trumpeter's f*ckups and it got really frustrating at times...
14 July 2020, 09:54
Alexander Grivonev Andy, i would rather label it as Sisyphos work, every time I correct something with the hope to start painting soon I find another surprise and start all over again 😄
14 July 2020, 09:55
Andy Ball "carve away your stone....then I can get working on my own"!!, I think the PRC and Trumpeter should award you with some sort of civilian honour!....
14 July 2020, 10:00
Treehugger Nice landing gear. One thing though, I would say, never, ever trust even fancy looking scale drawings. The only way imo you can be sure that stuff is accurate, is if you talk to the one making the drawings, or at least know who drew the drawings, and then getting a good idea if the drawings have been properly copied/reproduced to proper scale and without distortions.
14 July 2020, 10:07
Alexander Grivonev The drawings I used are from a very well known russian aviation magazine, normally they know what they are doing and during my research I found several sources confirming they are indeed the best ones. The inaccuracy issues I find originate mostly from walkaround pics where you see at the first glance that something is off, additional comparison with the drawing and some "sanity check"confirm the problem.
Generally you are absolutely right, you always have to take the drawing with a pinch of salt and never trust them 100%. The truth is always somewhere in the middle
14 July 2020, 10:25
Pierre Pierre that s .... just amazing of details and rework. definitively watching
14 July 2020, 21:45
Thomas Kolb Alexander, a question, where did you get your APU conversion set? I ordered mine from hobby.dn in Ukraine, but since I have been waiting for over two months now, I guess it got "archived" by Ukrposhta (stolen, contaminated at Chernobyl, ran over by a rocket hauler, eaten by zombies or something like that).
14 July 2020, 23:11
Alexander Grivonev You are welcome Pierre, watch out for updates in the next days 👍
14 July 2020, 23:21
Alexander Grivonev Thomas, I ordered mine in.....wait for it....Ukraine!😄
Ordered it through eBay though, almost 4 weeks ago. Of course not arrived yet. Contacted the seller who said there was a problem at the post office or alike. When I search for my tracking number "Ukrposhta" is telling me it is not found in the system 👍
Luckily I paid with PayPal so I can get my money back in case...
14 July 2020, 23:28
Steven Van Dyck You have to give it some time, guys. I just ordered some North Star (Ukrainian) figures and it took 2 months for them to arrive. Some customers waited for 4 months and got their delivery. Everything is getting here by train. They announced the problems on their site: northstarmodels.com/. The tracking only started after some time, like you said it was not found at first, and then stalled until one day the package was delivered.
15 July 2020, 11:18
Bernhard Schrock I'm stunned what you have done and corrected already. Great job Alexander alias very brave modeler 🙂!
I'm looking for next steps and hope that you will finish this model.
By the way: Picture 162, this is the reason why I will NO MORE build a Trumpeter kit.
15 July 2020, 11:25
Slavo Hazucha Let´s not be all too negative here... It´s all improvements on the original design... Doubled-up cockpit controls... Increased upper-angles visibility for the pilot... Streamlined stabilizer & rear section!!!
Trumpeter is trying to be pro-active and interpret the true intentions of Tupolev OKB instead of brainlessly reproducing the good, but here & there mildly compromised final product... 😄
For those who - ignorantly - reject these improvements, options remain open... surely you can use the redundant second stick to model the yoke type controls for the pilot! And do the rest... kind of yourself... 😄
15 July 2020, 12:37
Alexander Grivonev Bernhard is "stunned", right 😄. Mr. "No part is left unmodified" himself. If I reach half of your level one day, I will be happy!
Btw ordered Trumpeters newly molded Tu-22 and what do you know, even without drawings you see it is the same half-assed approach. Just awful. I'd rather go with the old Esci kit. The Trumpy "thing" goes back to the seller.
Lol Slavo, nothing to add there 👍 👍
15 July 2020, 17:24
Bernhard Schrock Eben die sehr elegante Lösung für Aileron Ansatz gesehen. Chapeau! Was für einen Füller/Spachtel hast du benutzt? P.S. wollte etwas Gescheites als dank für Dein Lob schreiben, bin aber so platt, dass mir einfach nix Angemessenes einfallen will ????
15 July 2020, 18:59
Alexander Grivonev Für solche Arbeiten benutze ich grundsätzlich 2K-Polyesterspachtel aus dem Automobilbereich. Je nach Bedarf gebe ich auch etwas Polyesterharz hinzu, um die Konsistenz zu verändern (mehr Harz=flüssigere Konsistenz). Stellt meiner Meinung nach sämtliche 1K Modellbauspachtel meilenweit in den Schatten, Plasto und co. benutze ich schon seit Jahren nicht mehr. Verarbeitung ist etwas "tricky", da der Spachtel je nach Härterzugabe maximal 10 Minuten verarbeitbar ist, trocknet aber dafür sehr schnell.
15 July 2020, 19:09
Bernhard Schrock Slavo: you are absolutely right! We should actually be grateful to Trumpeter because like this we can all be really creative 🙂
15 July 2020, 19:12
Bernhard Schrock 2K. Ok. Wie haftet er an der Oberfläche? Bröckelt nicht ab insbesondere beim Gravieren? Vor vielen Jahren benutzte ich sehr gerne den 2K von Tamiya. Weiße Basis und eine kleine Grüne Tube mit Härter. Leider wurde es ausm Programm genommen 🙁
15 July 2020, 19:38
Andy Ball Hey guys, If you want to see the "control-group" - that is how Trumpeter wanted it to look,straight from the box- have a look at mine! (Now feeling inadequate ????????)
15 July 2020, 20:19
Alexander Grivonev Andy, I honestly hope some guys from Trumpeter will see this WIP and feel inadequate or at least take notice. Kits like these are an insult to their customers. I am dead serious.
Bernhard, der Spachtel haftet sehr gut an der Oberfläche, schließlich wird er normalerweise beim Ausbessern von Karosserieschäden verwendet, u.a. an Türen, die dauernd zugeknallt werden. Alle Spachtelmassen sind von Natur aus etwas bröckelig, wenn die durchgetrocknet sind, dieser ist keine Ausnahme. Wobei dieser hier ebenfalls allen herkömmlichen Spachtelmassen den Schneid abkauft. Ein paar Lagen Grundierung oder Mr. Surfacer drauf und es lässt sich wunderbar gravieren 👍 Den 2K Spachtel von Tamiya kenne ich nicht, aber dieser kommt auch mit einer kleinen Härtertube. Meiner ist der Polyester-Feinspachtel von Presto, gibt es fast in jedem Baumarkt. Harz ist auch von dieser Marke.
15 July 2020, 21:18
Andy Ball So Alexander: what's a UV glue pen?, and thell me more about the Dremel in terms of its abilities?
Well it's a "pen" filled with the glue itself and a UV LED attached to it. You apply the glue, irradiate it with the UV light for 10-20 seconds and it is dry, solid and clear. It sucks as glue imho, but it is awesome for other applications in modeling like making clear lights (I will refer to it later in this WIP) or even as putty. I sealed the gap between the aileron and the fuselage on my Tu and it worked terriffic! You can sand or carve the material and, like I said, it is dry after 10-20 seconds.
Just google "UV glue pen", you'll find the right thing
Thomas Kolb Alexander, i once tried it as glue, but it was completely useless so I ended up tossing it into the trash. What a pity, I never thought of using it for modelling stuff!
17 July 2020, 10:37
Alexander Grivonev They are pretty cheap, you can order one at Ebay from China for 2€ incl. shipping.
17 July 2020, 10:52
Łukasz Gliński And it will arrive next year 😛 (or ... was it Ukraine?)
17 July 2020, 11:19
Alexander Grivonev Lol, I believe shipping from China is faster by now. But you should find it in any good hardware store or on Amazon, it will just cost a couple of Euros more.
17 July 2020, 12:30
Łukasz Gliński Just a hint: in case your spouse got an UV nail box, that you can just buy the glue itself and borrow the lightbox. Same stuff😉
17 July 2020, 13:12
Derek Huggett A small UV torch or a good sunny window sill will cure the stuff as well (it is actually a resin). Its also useful for casting small parts from home produced moulds or impressions. Just don't try to use it for anything too deep - the UV light has to reach it to set it! 🙂
17 July 2020, 13:24
Thomas Kolb No, it's Ukraine. Here is a recent picture of the Ukranian mail service (I think I can just see my resin kit in the postman's left saddle-bag).
Slavo Hazucha Yep, that's the picture showing the obligatory return to the depo after "confirming" the recipient cannot be reached... 😄
17 July 2020, 16:09
Andy Ball Oh my!, Alexander...I'm going (a) to steal your idea in slide 215, (b) praise your attention-to-detail on the rail having one too many slides 219/220...Mine, (once finished), will a teeny bit better for the attention to your detail...
BTW no updates until end of next week, I am on vacation now, biking across Europe👍
23 July 2020, 19:38
Slavo Hazucha Any hopes for updates in SEP? You have quite a project going on here - looking forward to some progress!😉
1 September 2020, 10:09
Andy Ball C'mon Alex...get those a/burners ON!!.....I've finished [my] the 'control group' (the subject Trumpeter wanted you to build ootb)
1 September 2020, 20:30
Alexander Wow, just wow! 😮 Your dedication to to correct all those numerous mistakes is truly remarkable! I hope I can achieve the same quality of scratch-building and such one day.
And going through your album was a joy as well. 😄
I took a longer vacation to travel with my bike across Europe, after approx 2000 km I have definitely enough of the saddle, it is time to trade it for the cozy workshop chair! Updates following soon!
10 September 2020, 14:05
Alexander Grivonev Gentlemen, I know it's been a while and I really wanted to finish this beast last year but life kinda got in the way. Nevertheless, we are back in business. Buckle up!
Spanjaard Stunning results. Waiting for the washes, this will look awesome
6 March 2021, 21:09
Andy Ball Great job Alexander! Glad you got your "sweet 17" over the line. Despite your reservations with the kit's accuracy I think it builds into one mean Soviet Mothertrucker.????
Slavo Hazucha Phenomenal work on the metal - obviously you know what you´re doing here 👍 Love the way you achieve such a great result with -so far- fairly subtle differences - top realism in real-time!
Also the "waffle pattern padding" in the cockpit turned out to really "sweet"😉
@Slavo: "obviously you know what you´re doing here" lol, I wish. That was my first proper NMF paintjob, I was sweating bullets to not mess it up and all the hard work before! Even snuck a little MiG-21 project inbetween to "practice"😄 Just glanced over your Japanese Starfi project, terriffic work and fantastic metal job as well👍 Gotta try out that oil paint weathering technique.
8 March 2021, 13:10
Konrad - Now what should I say... everything is said so far. The documentation is just terrific👍! Step by step a lot of details etc. I love it!
Looking really forward to the final steps!
8 March 2021, 13:40
Łukasz Gliński Interesting, the sludge wash I saw was wiped using wet cloth, not a dry one 😮
I should try it one day too, maybe on my vintage GDR Fitter 😄
8 March 2021, 14:06
Martin Oostrom 268 pictures take a while to browse. Worth every second. Great tutorial and performance 👍
Slavo Hazucha @Alex if this was your first proper NMF, then I am really looking forward to the 2nd and 3rd!😉 fortunately, the range of options is quite extensive... & thx for the Starfi mention, that was great fun indeed - and also my first larger-scale NMF apart from jobs on engines & co (not counting some childhood builds of East-German kits which provided "silver" color in a small metal tube 😄)...
Konrad, I like to document each of my builds extensively. You would be shocked to know this is just the tip of the iceberg😄 But I choose the best pics for you guys.
Łukasz, for the first "full body" wash the cloth is just a tad moist. But really minimal, you don't want to smear the soapy sludge around, you want to get most of it off. Since it is a water based wash it goes off rather easily. Here and there I "moist" the surface with my breath (like when you are cleaning your glasses) or put a couple of droplets of water on the cloth but that's it.
Slavo, I built a MiG-15 a couple of years ago in a NM finish (which was okay-ish) and except a couple of "youth sins" from 20 years ago there is nothing much to report. That was the first one where I gave a little more "effort"
8 March 2021, 20:09
Rui S I agree with Martin and all above. Excellent detailling/paint work and documentation 👍
8 March 2021, 20:56
Gary Victory Trully inspirational work. Fantastic attention to detail. Thank you for sharing your work
Alexander.
9 March 2021, 07:51
Mark D This is what you call scalemodelling, great work!
Palo M Engines are looking great! Will the laid back comrade dude with fashionable ear muffs be present in the diorama?
10 March 2021, 09:22
Alexander Grivonev Hey Palo, I did not plan to implement human figures into my diorama, but that would be actually a great idea! Just for the size comparison because it eludes sometimes how frickin huge this bird actually is. The hardest part would probably be finding a fitting figurine.
Mr. Schrock, what a shameless flattering attempt😄 never expected something like this from YOU
Danke Flugi, mit Deinen Werken bin ich vertraut und bitte bitte lass Deine Maschine heil! Freut mich, dass Dir meine Arbeit gefällt👍
13 March 2021, 23:22
Slavo Hazucha You really picked up some pace 👍 Pro-job on the sensors, the long antenna & all the little ones, static dischargers & co... It will end up more true to Original than the Monino exhibit... 🙂
Since it´s all storming towards a big finale here, I hope you stay on the wave and carry on to something new soon - since your skill-set would obviously be wasted on something like a GWH or AMK kit, I´d love to see you wrestle a Blinder or Bison to full submission & beautiful result!😉
Alexander Grivonev Palo🙂 Just a small last minute idea to mark this mess of a kit as "Complete"
Hey Slavo, a pace it was indeed. Was surprized myself how quickly things moved after the whole remodeling process. Concerning GWH or AMK, a Su-34 in 1:48 is a hot candidate in the nearer future, or do you like to see me suffer ?😄
If I build a Tu-22 it will be NOT the Trumpy kit. Got one, it is a disaster. Simply awful. I understand why there is no review of it. It will be degraded to be a spare parts donor for the Modelsvit kit if I won't manage to sell it beforehand.
I don't know if I'll ever muster enough nerves to tackle one of the Amodel monster kits but if it will be a Bison it's gonna be the VM-T version with the huge fricking d*ldo on the back because why tf not.
15 March 2021, 19:57
Łukasz Gliński Looking forward to seeing your dildo, ekhm Bison then 😛
15 March 2021, 20:37
Slavo Hazucha Motivating words about the Trumpy´22 - I was thinking about opening a line of Soviet jet bombers in the mid-late 2020´s, will better wait for the 30´s 😄
I am not aware of a 48-scale Su-34 apart from the HB & KH kits - I built the HB one, was my first project after 15+ years break in the hobby & my first proper scalemantes album 🙂, I got a bit over-zealous with the weathering in some parts...
If you consider doing one, the HB is a good start, prominently the nose is prototype, not series, but an easy fix (no need to actually buy a new one...), the Eduart PE are neat and in places actually correct... The kit is a loose blend of prototype-series, but nothing un-fixable, I did some basics, you´d probably explore corners I left aside untouched... Would not want to miss your take on this beauty! 👍
15 March 2021, 20:51
Alexander Grivonev Got the KH in my Stash, gonna go with this one. The HB seems to have quite some accuracy issues according to the reviews. Anyway, can't promise it will be this year. But the Su-34 being one of my favourite military planes for over 20 years and having no model of it is a no-no!
15 March 2021, 21:39
Alexander Grivonev Thanks guys for all your comments and likes, the airplane itself is finished, pictures are following soon! Working on a little diorama for it too, working on the airfield service vehicle r/n. WIP will be in a separate album.
Alexander Absolutely astonishing result! 👍 👍 👍 Very lifelike appearance and great weathering, not even including all the effort for correcting the kit which evidently paid off - looking very much forward to the diorama.
Alec K Wow is right! You are a NMF master. Really well done mate 👍
17 March 2021, 12:03
Alexander Grivonev Thx for all the comments👍. Decided to retake some pictures because I was not happy with the ones from yesterday. Added new ones, some aerial shots and something for size comparizon.
Slavo Hazucha This was a fantastic project to follow, and with a crowning result for all the efforts invested! 👍 Great show, top pics - I am a big fan of Soviet & later Russian aviation and this is one fine specimen, ticking the boxes in all departments! The tour of detailing and modifications was quite unique 👍
Great to put it against other models for size comparison - the lavishly sized Flanker is actually a downsizing effort in the Air Force - as would be the more relatable MiG-31 as well.
Looking forward to see it compared to a bomber some time soon😉
21 March 2021, 12:58
Reaper_lead Absolutely stunning! I feel like this project warrants an OOB build just to show how much better it looks. One question, is the wash/panel lining covered with a clear coat? If so, how did you get the metal paint to keep its shine?
26 March 2023, 13:37
Alexander Grivonev @Reaper_lead: Thanks, there are some really good OOB builds on this site. All in all the corrections are subtle but necessary to depict this airplane accurately. Especially the wrong intakes stick out like a sore thumb.
Clear coat: yes, I used the fantastic product which is called "Sealer for Metalizer" by Model Master/Testors. Sadly it is not produced anymore and you can hardly get any even if you are willing to pay much money for it. I myself have just half a bottle of it left and just reluctantly used it on this large model. What it does is to protect the metallic surface without ruining the metal effect, it is great.
27 March 2023, 07:07
John Ballman Very impressive. I should take up basket weaving so I can get my self-esteem back in check. Outstanding.
JB
27 March 2023, 08:05
Maciej Bellos Alexander, I had that Sealer thing... it just slowly evaporated from the bottle and I never got to use it...
27 March 2023, 08:14
Reaper_lead @alexander thanks for that tip, I just ordered myself a couple of bottles of the stuff. There's still a few hobby shops in America that are selling the stuff online
27 March 2023, 10:31
Carlo You are a fortunate man to be able to build a 1/72 version, I only managed a 1/144 Bonus Anigrand kit which was a nice size of this good looking jet.
Alexander Grivonev
Slavo Hazucha
Thomas Kolb
Andy Ball
Rui S
Spanjaard
Treehugger
Pierre Pierre
Steven Van Dyck
Bernhard Schrock
Łukasz Gliński
Derek Huggett
Alexander
Peppy 
Ben M
Konrad -
Martin Oostrom
Gary Victory
Palo M
Bernhard Pethe
Reaper_lead
John Ballman
Maciej Bellos
Carlo