Lipetsk Training Center - Sukhoi Su-27SM - WIP

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November 7, 2018
Box Art
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November 7, 2018
Zvezda has made some fantastic releases in the last years and this kit is no exception (at the first glance that is) Very nice, many parts, clean and crisp detail
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November 7, 2018
Additionally i went fore some Aires nozzles, an Eduard PE set, PE pitot tube and static dischargers and canopy masks
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November 7, 2018
First fitting of the fuselage parts. Yep, looks like a Su-27!
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November 7, 2018
Then the eyeroll moment, the wings are totally warped!
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November 7, 2018
Looks like it is making some kind of a wave dance
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November 7, 2018
The problem was eventually solved by heating the parts with a hairdryer and bringing them in shape. The plastic is rather soft and....well, plastic
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November 7, 2018
All parts cut from the sprues and sorted
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November 7, 2018
I sort them in groups and building steps, this gives me better overview over the building process
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November 7, 2018
The upper fuselage half comes in two separate parts, this modulation makes it easier for the kit maker to produce different versions of a model..
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November 7, 2018
for the modeler it means additional headache though. It is almost impossible to glue the parts perfectly to each other, let's see if i am going to need putty here
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November 8, 2018
The canopy did not convince me on the other hand, first of all it is quite foggy and scratched
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November 8, 2018
Second, it is also warped inwards pretty significantly!
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November 8, 2018
To bend it back i used the hairdryer trick, here it worked surprisingly well too, even the usually brittle clear parts could be bent easily after heating
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November 8, 2018
I tried to sand and polish the canopy first but no matter what i tried it always looked misty and foggy in the end! So instead i went for the "dunking in Future" method and it turned out pretty well. I think i'll even go for a second coat....
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November 8, 2018
The overall fit is pretty good (after bending it in shape)
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November 9, 2018
Aires nozzle set and kit parts in juxtaposition
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November 9, 2018
Some material has to be milled from the kit parts to provide a good fitting
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November 9, 2018
Eventually the fit turned out to be pretty good
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November 9, 2018
Comparison between kit part and aftermarket
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November 9, 2018
The resin parts combined with a kit fuselage part
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November 9, 2018
I don't think i'm petty, but to my eye the rear part of the aftermarket nozzle is too long! Wasn't the idea behind aftermarket parts to correct kit flaws in the first place?
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November 9, 2018
The afterburner flame stabilizers are provided as a PE part
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November 9, 2018
They are shaped in a certain way, i used the kit part to bend the PE one
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November 9, 2018
Here again, to my liking the kit part looks more like the real thing...(even though they are installed other way round here)
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November 9, 2018
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November 12, 2018
Eduard delivers some really nice colored PE parts for the cockpit
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November 12, 2018
Looks really good and crisp, even in 1:72
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November 12, 2018
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November 12, 2018
Landing gear doors, even the hinges are provided as separate parts
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November 12, 2018
Main wheel wells upgraded with Eduard's PE
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November 12, 2018
To prevent any chance of tailsitting a large screw was superglued into the nosecone
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November 12, 2018
Fits like a glove...
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November 12, 2018
Fuselage halves joined, nose mounted. I use superglue both as glue and putty for the seamlines in this case
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November 13, 2018
Actually i wanted to use as little putty as possible to save the surface detail and panel lines...
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November 13, 2018
But hey, there go my plans...:/
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November 13, 2018
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November 13, 2018
While quite understandably with the modified engine cones...
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November 13, 2018
...this could have been prevented by fitting the lower wing part better (by removing the protruding ejection markings for example)..
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November 13, 2018
...like I did on this side! The massive gaps had to be filled though.
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November 13, 2018
Nose required some plastering too.
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November 13, 2018
The transition between the two upper fuselage sections i managet to fit without putty
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November 13, 2018
K-36 looks all right with some nice Eduard add-ons!
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November 14, 2018
I did not want to go total autism on it but I thought some rivet detail won't do any harm...
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November 14, 2018
..because there were absolutely none projected by Zvezda and you clearly see some prominent rivet rows on photos of this beauty
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November 14, 2018
Flame holders installed, still some painting to do
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November 14, 2018
nozzles look all right but the transition to the fuselage requires some putty too..
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November 16, 2018
Some rivet detail on the slats
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November 16, 2018
The nozzles themselves needed some alignment too..
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November 16, 2018
...so did the transition between fin and fuselage
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November 16, 2018
less on this side but quite a gap though
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November 16, 2018
to protect the surface detail on the fin a strip of tape is placed a millimeter above the gap
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November 16, 2018
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November 16, 2018
Like I said i wanted to use as little putty as possible :/ Maybe I should rethink my approach on modeling...
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November 16, 2018
Also notice the massive sinkhole at the back of the fin right before the pointy part...this will require some putty too
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November 16, 2018
I love this trademark look of the Sukhoi!
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November 16, 2018
The fit of the nacelles is pretty good..
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November 16, 2018
..the gap between front and rear part is too wide though
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November 16, 2018
sigh...
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November 21, 2018
also filled some sinkholes at the back of the fins while at it...
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November 21, 2018
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November 21, 2018
Now the fit of the nacelles is very smooth, but quite some surface detail was lost in the sanding process...
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November 21, 2018
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November 22, 2018
Ready for primer!
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November 22, 2018
Some Eduard PE detail here and there
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November 23, 2018
Primer applied!
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November 23, 2018
I've tried countless primers and basecoats and I found my holy grail.
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November 23, 2018
It is thin and preserves surface detail very well, at the same time very robust and adhesive. Gives a nice silky smooth finish for the following paint.
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November 24, 2018
Restoring some panel lines and rivets
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November 24, 2018
Some stiff tape is a good aid for that
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November 24, 2018
Riveting action on the upper half, let's see if any of this is going to be still visible after the painting...
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November 24, 2018
Lower sides of the engines suffered pretty bad, there was a bit more to do.
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November 25, 2018
HUD "frame" is provided as a nice PE part
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November 25, 2018
The canopy and windshield became crystal clear after the "Future" treartment
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November 25, 2018
Ready for paint! All the armament already assembled
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November 25, 2018
Some PE for the missles...
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November 25, 2018
...and the pylons
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November 25, 2018
landing gear recieved some refinement too
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November 27, 2018
Ok, the boring stuff is over, now the fun part begins! The two tone camouflage is held in pretty bright blue colors, so the preshading was held in a dark blue color
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November 27, 2018
Followed by white mottling "inbetween"
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November 27, 2018
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November 27, 2018
I like to mix my own colors (which often holds the chance of failure) but I enjoy it nontheless!
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November 27, 2018
First attempt was 10 parts white XF-2 with one part blue XF-8, the upper sample. But the result was too dull and grey, so I went with X-14 instead which is brighter and more saturated. Definitely a step in the right direction..
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November 27, 2018
I dilute the paint more than usual and work in thin layers. This way I can control the coverage better..
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November 27, 2018
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November 27, 2018
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November 27, 2018
So far so good!
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November 28, 2018
So, like I mentioned the base blue was definitely too pale so I mixed a darker shade and thinned it down even more so the paint became very transparent and acts more like a "filter" than a coat of paint
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November 28, 2018
This ensures all the preshading is still visible. Seems a bit too dark on the picture, the exposure is a bit low because of the white background but looks all right in real. Definitely better than before!
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December 3, 2018
Masking time for second color!
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December 3, 2018
I use Tamiyas flexible tape and Airbrush masking film for more curved patches
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December 3, 2018
The outline is drawn onto applied masking film...
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December 3, 2018
...masking film placed back onto release paper and outline cut out...
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December 3, 2018
...mask placed back onto surface.
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December 3, 2018
Time consuming, but necessary!
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December 3, 2018
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December 3, 2018
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December 4, 2018
The second camouflage color is done in a similar manner, panel lines were kept darker. But this time the paint was diluted less and applied more dry to prevent accumulations at the mask edges
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December 4, 2018
Favourite part: pulling off masks!
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December 4, 2018
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December 4, 2018
Applying masks for the white surfaces
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December 4, 2018
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December 4, 2018
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December 4, 2018
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December 4, 2018
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December 6, 2018
Masking to paint the white nosecone
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December 6, 2018
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December 6, 2018
wheel wells painting
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December 6, 2018
Future glosscoat applied
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December 6, 2018
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December 17, 2018
Decaling time!
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December 17, 2018
What i like to do is to "sand" the applied decals with a fine sponge in order to get a more used and faded look. Left side already treated, right to go
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December 17, 2018
All the work protected by another coat of "Future"
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December 17, 2018
Next step was the weathering. I use AK enamel washes
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December 17, 2018
Applying finely on all the panel lines and surface details
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December 17, 2018
And wiping it off with a soft cloth
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December 28, 2018
After a coat of semigloss varnish the masking for the natural metal areas for the engines begins
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December 28, 2018
Some apply the natural metal finish first, i prefer it like this
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December 28, 2018
I use AK Xtreme Metal metallics, great range of metal effects
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December 28, 2018
Basic painting with different shades
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December 28, 2018
Underside
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December 28, 2018
Then i went into detail
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December 28, 2018
Quite a few layers of wash and detail painting later
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December 28, 2018
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January 2, 2019
Installing the seat and completing the cockpit
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January 2, 2019
Last shots before closing the lid!
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January 2, 2019
I'd rather have my 1:72nd scale models "streamlined" and with a closed canopy and airbrakes etc. to preserve the basic shape of the real airplane as good as possible. Open canopies are reserved for 1:48th!
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January 3, 2019
Missiles received some love too, here the R-27 heatseeker version
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January 3, 2019
X-31 in various metal shades
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January 3, 2019
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January 3, 2019
R-73 short range heatseeker
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January 3, 2019
R-27 Radar version
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January 3, 2019
Finally, R-77 with PE fins
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January 5, 2019
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January 5, 2019
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Comments

48 7 November 2018, 10:20

Aris Grey
Following 🙂

7 November 2018, 22:34

Peter Hardy
It's Russian, it's fast and it's a jet ... and it's my all time favouritist hairyplane! It will be done in a Maritime camo of course? Don't mind me Alex, i'll Be in the back seat learning cryllic writing!

8 November 2018, 07:34

Peter Hardy
PS, I'll go buy a hair dryer now!

8 November 2018, 07:35

Alexander Grivonev
"i'll Be in the back seat learning cryllic writing!" It's a one seater, Peter! ...Hey, that even rhymes😄

8 November 2018, 08:08

Alexander Grivonev
As for the camo, there are two options for the serial jets in the AF, a two tone blue and a three tone grey/grey blue camo. I am still indecisive which one it is going to be..

8 November 2018, 08:19

Peter Hardy
If I was 40 kilos lighter I'd sit on your knee! Either camo will look awesome!

8 November 2018, 08:50

Ekki
Watching.

12 November 2018, 19:15

Aris Grey
Great progress!

12 November 2018, 20:49

Spanjaard
since Peter is taking the space in the cabin, i will take a seat outside, but will certainly not miss this one!

12 November 2018, 23:34

Alexander Grivonev
There are no seats left outside either, Spanjaard but i can hang you on one of the pylons, there are plenty of them 😄

13 November 2018, 05:35

Alexander Grivonev
The place in the burner can seems cozy too, at least when the engine isn't runnng...

13 November 2018, 05:37

Cuajete
Well done so far.

13 November 2018, 19:50

Spanjaard
well, if that is the only place you can offer 🙁

14 November 2018, 10:12

Aris Grey
Pro riveting.. you nerd 😛 (Love it)

14 November 2018, 10:20

Treehugger
Ah, that nose weight trick was interesting. I will remember that.

14 November 2018, 10:28

Alexander Grivonev
Spanjaard, it's warm and cozy in there what do you want else? You can have a blanket if you want 😄

14 November 2018, 10:59

Alexander Grivonev
Aris, if you count them I reassure you there are a few missing😄 Treehugger, you are welcome!

14 November 2018, 11:01

Bryn Crandell
Amazing work so far. The burner cans do make you question whether they were worth it for this scale. The Cockpit looks amazing. As for the rivet detail, I'm definitely not worthy. Truly amazing.

14 November 2018, 13:19

Patrick Hagelstein
Sieht schon super aus! 👍

14 November 2018, 15:14

Bart Goesaert
pretty nice work on this one...

14 November 2018, 15:36

Alexander Grivonev
Thanks mates!

Bryn, thing is i never installed aftermarket burner cans before so I just wanted to try. Are they worth it? They do look better than the kit parts but considering them being not correct in their proportions you could wish for more for 13€. Again, to my eye the rear part of the nozzle seems to bee to long. Maybe there are different versions of these nozzles and I am mistaken and would love to stand corrected, but my research has shown it to be the case. The riveting, i must say this is a significant effect for such little work. What did I spend on a fin, 15 minutes? It's not that I am superhuman, you just have to try for yourself to see how easy it is! I did it with a simple Trumpeter rivet maker tool.

cheers
Alex

14 November 2018, 18:11

Martin Oostrom
Alex, can you quit this site? You are making me feel totally inadequate! Keep up the lessons 👍

16 November 2018, 07:30

Alexander Grivonev
Lol, what is making you so uncomfortable 😄 I feel inadequate posting this avoidable plastering orgy...

16 November 2018, 09:31

Holger Kranich
Looks truly nice so far!

16 November 2018, 10:45

Agustin Prellezo
Good work! I will resume my Zvezda flanker just now!

21 November 2018, 20:50

Alexander Grivonev
Thanks mates!
Agustin, I defintely am going to build this "SKM" Flanker one day, always liked the black/grey scheme, yours looks fantastic and I see you did your research homework and even added the refueling probe! Anything else you changed compared to the "SM" model? Would love to see more WIP pictures 👍

22 November 2018, 06:03

Alexander Grivonev
BTW I decided to build the training version from Lipetsk airbase with the two tone blue camouflage. I've got enough grey airplanes in my shelves!

22 November 2018, 06:13

Łukasz Gliński
Very nice progress in here, how come I missed it?

25 November 2018, 21:41

Bart Goesaert
Looking good so far...

26 November 2018, 10:04

Alexander Grivonev
Thanks mates! Made some updates

27 November 2018, 06:13

Patrick Hagelstein
Bwoaaah!!! Ich liebe deine Farben! I realy love your approach to getting those colors right! The preshading, mottling and choice of color is spot on! 👍

27 November 2018, 06:49

Alexander Grivonev
It's far away from "spot on", Patrick😢
The blue is definitely not "blue enough", paint tends to be more pale and dull when applied with an airbrush in comparison to the sample applied manually on paper, which looked ok colorwise. I already reworked that, pics following tomorrow.

27 November 2018, 18:34

Patrick Hagelstein
I see what you mean; the colors in the cover picture are more vibrant. But still, the execution of the preshade, mottling and misting the main color looks really good.

27 November 2018, 18:41

Alexander Grivonev
Thanks! It's not misting actually, I put down quite wet coats but with very diluted paint.

27 November 2018, 18:45

Michael Phillips
This is some really fantastic work, and the step by step pics are wonderful! I know how difficult it can be to stop progress to take pics.

Looking forward to seeing what comes next!

27 November 2018, 19:32

Roge Lamas
Fantastic job! You made a good job rescribing the panel lines 🙂

27 November 2018, 21:11

Alexander Grivonev
Thank you mates!
Yeah Michael it is definitely distracting handling a camera when you are mid-process but these happen to be the most telling and interesting pictures of a WIP👍. The pictures are far from perfection but I try to progress myself, next step would be to install a nice "photo corner" with good lights, a nice uniform background and the camera steady.

28 November 2018, 05:53

Igor Zdorovyak
airforce.ru/content/7-fotografii-su-27/

28 November 2018, 06:02

Alexander Grivonev
Spasibo Igor, I will check that out!

28 November 2018, 06:09

Alexander Grivonev
Happy New Year everyone!!

1 January 2019, 04:13

Peter Hardy
U2 Alex!

1 January 2019, 11:34

Łukasz Gliński
Nice exhausts Alex 👍

2 January 2019, 11:28

Alexander Grivonev
Thanks! The bird is also finished already. Did not have the time to do proper pictures, New Years celebration and such....but definitiely following this week!

2 January 2019, 18:06

Augie
Good god thats good man, you have very good eyes lol

3 January 2019, 20:34

Alexander Grivonev
Lol no, don't you see I am wering glasses? 😄
Thanks Augie!

3 January 2019, 20:38

Augie
I do so need to get mine re-checked lol!

3 January 2019, 20:47

Bart Goesaert
nice work on the missiles, little gems on their own...

4 January 2019, 07:20

Peter Hardy
How old is the photo Alex? The one of you I mean!

4 January 2019, 07:21

Alexander Grivonev
Thanks mates!
"How old is the photo Alex?" One week! Why 😄

4 January 2019, 09:26

Cuajete
Fantastic missiles!

4 January 2019, 13:11

Alexander Grivonev
Thanks Cuajete! i thought i'd give them a little more attention than I usually do for my 1:72nd stuff. The more I am glad that the effort payed off!

4 January 2019, 13:46

Ronny Verlaek
FANTASTIC job.

4 January 2019, 14:02

Alexander Grivonev
Guys, finally made some proper rollout pictures, enjoy!

5 January 2019, 20:44

Alexander Grivonev
The missile loadout btw is pure fantasy, I just wanted to have at least one of each missiles attached

5 January 2019, 20:50

Augie
Beauty 🙂

5 January 2019, 21:45

Daniel Klink
Beautiful colorwork! Looks great 👍

5 January 2019, 21:47

Peter Hardy
And enjoyed they were! Wow!

5 January 2019, 22:05

Alexander Grivonev
Thanks Augie, Daniel and Peter!

6 January 2019, 11:28

Ronny Verlaek
Awesome work ... nice nice nice ...

6 January 2019, 15:49

Bernhard Pethe

Nice plane, great model 👍

6 January 2019, 16:37

Agustin Prellezo
Beautiful!

6 January 2019, 17:41

Mike Daniels
Very nice.

6 January 2019, 18:18

M M
Outstanding work.

6 January 2019, 19:08

Roge Lamas
Fantastic job!

6 January 2019, 19:10

Johne 69
Wow very good 👍

6 January 2019, 19:16

Cuajete
Very nice work... Fantastic painting work. Congrats!

6 January 2019, 19:30

Bart Goesaert
wonderful result... congratz...

7 January 2019, 08:38

Ekki
Excellent job!

7 January 2019, 22:03

Alexander Grivonev
Thank You mates!

9 January 2019, 17:26

Martien Lourens
A blue beauty. Fantastic work.

9 January 2019, 20:47

Alexander Grivonev
Thanks Roland, thanks Martin! Yeah i am really happy with the colors too, was quite a challenge to hit the correct shades!

10 January 2019, 05:58

Spanjaard
truly beautiful Alexander. amazing job again.

10 January 2019, 06:08

Neuling
Beautiful colours!

10 January 2019, 16:47

Konrad -
Great mate! Perfekte Arbeit 👍

10 January 2019, 17:10

Alexander Grivonev
Appreciated, guys!

11 January 2019, 23:33

Bryn Crandell
Final result is absoulutely stunning. Well done!

17 January 2019, 20:22

René K
wow nice flanker! und das in dem maßstab! daumen hoch!

27 January 2019, 10:25

Pierre
Nice job, your explanations are a pleasure to follow.

27 January 2019, 10:54

Julian Herrero aka Yuri
Good work and extensive coverage ,,,,, Congratulations ... I was looking for some buils of the kit ,,, and you have made me buy it ,,, thnkas for all the information

23 August 2022, 16:08

Ronan
Very nice build and painting job , a great model 👍

24 August 2022, 06:13

Alexander Grivonev
Thx guys, much appreciated!

26 August 2022, 11:43

Michael Kohl
Beautiful clean build.

26 August 2022, 12:00

Sergej I
Love the demarcation clean lines between two colours. Also metal paintjob is superb! 👍

26 August 2022, 12:44

art81
Nice 👍

26 August 2022, 13:23

Daniel
This is super high quality, great colors, great Metallics, stunning work 👍

26 August 2022, 15:40

Alexander Grivonev
Thx, I liked the blue camo too 👍

27 August 2022, 09:47

DerMattes
Schöne Su-27, das Cockpit mit den PE Teilen sieht top aus! Die Triebswerksteile kann man sich aber wohl sparen und bei den Kit-Teilen bleiben, lese ich so raus?
Hab den Kit selbst (von Zvezda und Revell), bin gespannt wie die Unterschiede zur Revell/Hasegawa Variante sind.

20 March 2023, 07:44

Bernd Grün
Very nice build and paint job. I love the engine section. It looks perfect.👌 Congratulation!

20 March 2023, 08:19

Tyson Tu
Amazing work! Shows me how much more I can still learn 😊

20 March 2023, 13:22

Alexander Grivonev
Thx mates!

@Der Mattes: Die Düsen aus dem Kit sind brauchbar, Aires ist feiner detailliert aber meiner Meinung nach in der Form nicht ganz korrekt. Zvezda/Hase da hat Zvezda auf jeden Fall die Nase vorne, schon allein wegen der Tatsache, dass die Hasegawa Formen 30 Jahre alt sind.

20 March 2023, 13:28

Alexander
Amazing work in building, correcting, and painting - as always 😉
👍

27 March 2023, 13:35

Alexander Grivonev
Thx Alex, there was not much to correct honestly. The Zvezda kits are really good, probably best Su-27 family in 1:72 (from the 2014 tooling)

27 March 2023, 15:21

Album info

Sukhoi Su-27SM work in progress

Su-27SM - Lipetsk Training Center

169 images

1:72

Completed

1:72 Su-27SM Flanker B exhaust nozzles (Aires 7320)

1:72 Su-27SM Flanker B S.A. (Eduard 73509)

Sukhoi Su-27SM Flanker-B

Военно-воздушные силы России (Russian Air Force 1992-2015)
4 AF Training Center Red 04
2013 - Lipetsk

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