1/48 Su-27UB Blue 52 Polar Flanker

[Junkie]

Re: AIR 1/48 Su-27UB Blue 52 Polar Flanker

Look great from here. Nice Illustrat'in

 

[Grendels]

Re: AIR 1/48 Su-27UB Blue 52 Polar Flanker

Looks good!

 

[nicholassagan]

Re: AIR 1/48 Su-27UB Blue 52 Polar Flanker

Not sure about that sliver of white showing on the 2's slope (or the 5's bottom right)...but that's easy to adjust.

 

[Grendels]

Re: AIR 1/48 Su-27UB Blue 52 Polar Flanker

If you look at your original photos, those slopes are there.

 

[nicholassagan]

Re: AIR 1/48 Su-27UB Blue 52 Polar Flanker

got the slopes, its the sliver peeking out from behind the slope...but these will be pretty faded anyway so im not too concerned

 

[nicholassagan]

Re: AIR 1/48 Su-27UB Blue 52 Polar Flanker

Finally opened up the box! I have 2 UB kits stashed into one so I had to parse out everything. Both kits have all the requisite aftermarket, too. I’ll be utilizing the Eduard kit (the other is the Zhengdefu knock-off).

Getting into a little more detail, here are all the aftermarket components I’ll be using, including the Eduard Brassin included in the kit: Eduard Brassin cockpit and seats, Eduard Brassin wheels, Eduard interior and exterior photo etch, Eduard Brassin Archer, Aphid and Alamo missiles*, Eduard mask, Aires exhausts, Aires wheel bays, Quickboost flaperons, Quickboost antenna, Quickboost radome, Master metal pitot, RUST photo etch vents, Master brass static discharge vanes, Fairy Hobby vacuform canopy, and Begemot and Linden Hill decals.

*I’ve only seen one reference of this bird carrying armament and it was 2 Alamos on the intake pylons. It’s a unique arrangement so I’ll only need some of the Brassin sets, but all the pylons will be used.

Lastly, I like to be organized with my stash for the most part. I tend to keep a lot of decals in my file cabinet for easy reference, etc. In some instances I do put decal sheets in the kit boxes. This is one of those times. Lo and behold I discovered not only did I already have the Linden Hills sheet that I was hunting for, but 2 other sets as well. Between the kit decals, the Begemot sets and the newly discovered sets, I’ll be, well….set.

 

[Junkie]

Re: AIR 1/48 Su-27UB Blue 52 Polar Flanker

Holy jumping full meal deal with second helpings batman. This is a project of a project.

I'm pumped.

 

[Grendels]

Re: AIR 1/48 Su-27UB Blue 52 Polar Flanker

That is a lot of aftermarket!

 

[adampolo13]

Re: AIR 1/48 Su-27UB Blue 52 Polar Flanker

Day - Um! Hurry and up and get building! That's a lot of aftermarket.

 

[MandoMan531]

Re: AIR 1/48 Su-27UB Blue 52 Polar Flanker

Boy do I love me some Flanker. This should be good!

 

[Cash]

Re: AIR 1/48 Su-27UB Blue 52 Polar Flanker

There is a lot of goodies to work with good luck man.

 

[nicholassagan]

Re: AIR 1/48 Su-27UB Blue 52 Polar Flanker

Yeah thanks gents. Now I'm on the hunt for RIVET line diagrams, which are damn near non-existent. I got a hookup and will be drawing my own diagrams, too, for others to reference in the future...

 

[nicholassagan]

Re: AIR 1/48 Su-27UB Blue 52 Polar Flanker

Really like the look of the larger drop shadow on the numbers so I reworked my decal design.

Also, a follower on ARC Forums informed me about some of the craft history:

“"For info, the SU-27 Ub in first photo, is not the same aircraft, after merged at Kilp-Yavr in 2001, it’s become 54 blue, your plane are ex-54 blue from Afrikanda.

Note that after 2006, the forward part of plane, until the end of the canopy, have been repainted, and the planes have received new red star, like you can see with the photo off Alexey Zemlakoff taken in 2009, before the withdrawal of regiment to Besovets AB.

If you don’t have, this is photo taken near 2003 (I think)""

 

[cargoman5126]

Re: AIR 1/48 Su-27UB Blue 52 Polar Flanker

I think you might have cleaned out the aftermarket on Flanker details dude... LOL... Looking forward to see this one , with all of that stuff it should be something else... ;D

 

[nicholassagan]

Re: AIR 1/48 Su-27UB Blue 52 Polar Flanker

AND not pictured is the resin combing, of which I have both the Aires and Wolfpack versions. The Eduard PE and kit plastic are crap.

 

[Neo]

Re: AIR 1/48 Su-27UB Blue 52 Polar Flanker

WOW thats like a AM festival!

 

[Junkie]

Re: AIR 1/48 Su-27UB Blue 52 Polar Flanker

Good work revisiting that graphic until your happy with it. Looks top.

 

[nicholassagan]

Re: AIR 1/48 Su-27UB Blue 52 Polar Flanker

I even edited it since I posted that image, too! The drop shadow behind the top hook of the 2 is now present

Also, there really aren't any references or diagrams that feature the rivet lines very well at all. There ARE plenty of profile shots, etc, and walk arounds. So today I spent a little time making some Photoshop files and examining said walk arounds and drawing on all the rivet lines in red (and corrected panel lines in black). I'll definitely have some panel lines to correct but there are a TON of rivet lines, too...

Once I have them all drawn out I'll make a PDF available for anyone who wants one.

Here are my sources:
http://scalemodels.ru/modules/photo/viewcat.php?cid=430&orderby=date+ASC&show=12&min=0
http://scalemodels.ru/modules/photo/viewcat_cid_429.html

 

[nicholassagan]

Re: AIR 1/48 Su-27UB Blue 52 Polar Flanker

Finally dug into the bits!!! First step was to wash all the resin to make sure the primer will stick so the parts were soaked overnight in a bowl of water with Comet then laid out to dry in the sun. There is a LOT of resin for this build. Like a LOT.

All the parts are really well detailed. The Quickboost flaperons do need rivet work done, something the kit parts actually have. I’m still going to go with the resin parts because the hinge edge has more detail.

Eduard included two really well detailed pilot helmets and they’re a nice touch. I think I’ll rest them on the seats.

The Aires exhaust nozzles are incredible. There are even raised rivets on the outer layer of feathers! Although comparing them to the walk around images, a couple more minor rivet lines need to be added.

One thing Eduard does NOT include in the box is a resin combing, rather they rely on a poorly shaped and detailed photo etch piece. I took a good look at the Wolfpack piece from the stash and compared it to the Aires piece from the single-seater pit and the latter won out.

Lastly, I found a reference of Blue 52 with a single Alamo C mounted on the intake pylon, so again Eduard’s Brassin saves the day. AMAZING detail…almost like it’s a mini kit itself…

Speaking of armament, the kit pylons are crap so not only will I be using the ones provided in the Brassin sets (I’m pulling from other Alamo and Archer sets) but I’ll have to mix and match PIECES of the kit pylons because Eduard doesn’t supply matching “pre-pylon” mounts. Regardless, I laid out all the pylon upgrades according to design along with the placement of the Alamos.

The Eduard cockpit parts and Aires nose wheel bay have these blocks on them that need to be cut off. Normally I wouldn’t worry about it but even with the barest of dry fitting it’s apparent space is needed.

Radome wise, the shape of the resin part is spot on but alignment with the kit parts is off. Some fix its will need to happen there for sure.

As a tool use note, I’ve been using the really thin photo etch saws to cut the resin off the pour stubs, but it’s a bit flimsy so I slid the saw into the blade handle with an old blade as support.

Lastly, I took a good look at all the main plastic parts and examined where new panel lines need to be scribed or old ones filled, where I need to make cuts to fit the resin parts and piled up all the parts that need rivets. I measured the distance on the kit rivets and while they may not be scale accurate, I figured I’d at least match as best I could with the new lines.

This is where the trusty RB Productions Rivet-R tool comes in handy, specifically the 1mm rivet wheel set (one for long lines, one for corners).

The last couple pics here are the awesome Master metal pitot and the AMUR photo etch grills.

 

[Scrach]

Re: AIR 1/48 Su-27UB Blue 52 Polar Flanker

Sweet Jeebus, do you ever have a project in your hands. More than I could pull of by the end of this BSC. Good luck and have fun; I'll be watching.