Italeri Flanker D 1:72

[JMac]

It's been about two months since I've had the time to sit down at my bench and really build something (the Ta-183 was just finishing up something I'd already had started).

Now things are starting to settle down; I've managed to finish up a course I was taking, and my home renos are at least insulated and the exterior is finished against a cold upcoming Alberta winter. So now I have some time to build again. I was looking at the stash and my shelf queens trying to decide what to do, and I decided to start on my Italeri Flanker D (shelf queens are shelf queens for a reason ).

I know this is not the best Flanker in this scale. A quick look online reveals that it has a long list of areas where the kit falls down in terms of accuracy...But I'm not concerned with the accuracy issues (I'm planning to add a Hasegawa Su-33 to the stash soon). I'm just looking to get the mojo flowing again, as well as dust off the chops, before I start into some bigger builds. As this kit is not very involved I'm still chipping away at some of my shelf queens and other started WiP (my Albatros DII and the CC-130 both visited the bench last weekend ;D ).

And to boot, I was kind of inspired and really enjoyed following along with Nick Sagan's Flanker builds here on SMA;
http://www.scalemodeladdict.com/SMF/index.php/topic,5236.msg85189.html#msg85189
http://www.scalemodeladdict.com/SMF/index.php/topic,7968.0.html

So last night, I managed to assemble and paint the cockpit, it took about 1.5 hours. Then I closed up the fuselage. I'll post some pictures of the build a little later tonight.

Jason

 

[jzsn]

Nice, can't get enough of flankers. Fulcrums too. Decided on a paint scheme yet?

 

[JMac]

Thanks Jzsn. Flankers are super cool. I'll be painting it up same as the box art.

This is where I left off last night…

Thanks for taking a look.

Jason

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[ScaleModelMadman]

Nice cockpit.

yup. ;D

 

[nicholassagan]

hey thanks for the shout out!! you might be pleased to know i've started another

anyway, i'm looking forward to your build! i had this kit in the stash and as much as it can be a pain, flankers sure are fun as heck to build regardless of kit!!!

BTW - if you want to watch a nice documentary on the flanker, this is it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7RkwKBe-Ng

 

[JMac]

Thanks Ken. ;D

Thanks for the link Nicholas, I'll check it out. I took a look at that 1:144 you're building this morning, nice little kit. I'm thinking I'll want to pick up the Haseagawa Su-33 you built and one of the new 1:72 Trumpeter Su-27's. I've only built a few of 1:144 kits, and I did have a Dragon 1:144 Su-27 on the go, but it ended up being one of the only two kits I trashed due to frustration. I still have a Dragon 1:144 Su-35/37 kit in the stash...

With my Flanker, I've gotten the wings on. I'm not terribly happy with how the front canards went on, they are just a butt joint to the LERX (no real location features between the two). I had a hard time trying to hold the model, the parts and apply glue, and still have every thing line up ok. The result is a small step on the underside, some putty will fix that up.

Otherwise, I've started seam filling and building some of the smaller assemblies. I hope to get those small assemblies and the intakes primed and/or painted this weekend (fingers crossed). Lots of missiles to put together .

For those who might be interested;
Also I've included a picture of the main problem area of this kit (as I understand it). I'm not going to bother correcting it. Another point of issue includes the wing span being too short. Italeri just added canard parts to their existing Su-27 kit. The differences between a Su-27 and Su-33 are more substantial than that.

Thanks for stopping by,
Jason

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[nicholassagan]

She's shaping up nicely! And yeah, those canards are a wicked problem on this kit. It's almost as if they just half-ass modified the tool from their Su-27...

 

[Quaralane]

Liking how the jet looks overall, here

 

[Junkie]

Me too. Looking cool Jason.

 

[JMac]

Thanks for the positive comments Nicholas, Q and Scott.

I'm moving right along;
This morning I painted and assembled the intakes and as well as painting some of the smaller doors / parts.

Jason

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[Quaralane]

Coming together

 

[JMac]

Coming together

Yep. But progress is a little slower now, I'm still filling in seams and building the smaller assemblies. If everything goes well I'm planning to prime the model this weekend, after I fix some sanded away seams.

I've also run into a bit of a snag with the paint scheme. The box art shows what I take to be the typical blue/grey scheme for a Flanker D, the painting instructions are for a kind of 3 tone black/grey aircraft. I think the black/grey scheme would look cool, but I can't find any reference pictures online. Not sure which one at this point...

I hope to post some pictures in the next couple days.

Jason

 

[nicholassagan]

I can share some references that might help you a little later today when I het to a computer. Basically its a light-medium-dark blue scheme...contrary to those Hasegawa instructions.

 

[JMac]

I can share some references that might help you a little later today when I het to a computer. Basically its a light-medium-dark blue scheme...contrary to those Hasegawa instructions.

Thanks Nicholas. I've been doing some cross-referencing of paints, and the Hasegawa instructions are a little off but not too bad, it's the Italeri instructions that are calling for using (roughly) metallic black, dark gull gray, and a light grey in the camouflage scheme (no blue). I've found/seen a few examples of Su-27's sporting schemes like(ish) that, and some similar aggressor schemes, but I can't find it on any Sea Flankers however... still, it might look cool...

When I actually looked at the Italeri paint instructions I thought to myself - "really?" - That's why I originally sent you the PM about the Hasegawa instructions.

I do appreciate any help, references, or suggestions. I'm still a ways from painting any of the camouflage colours, so I'll keep looking, and building.

Jason

 

[JMac]

I've been putting up dry-wall in our house reno, but I've managed a little bench time this weekend.

Most of the subassemblies are together. I'm just filling ejector pin marks. I finished seam work on the fuselage/airframe, and fixed up some of the raised panel lines that had been sanded away. Most of the smaller parts have been added, and the missiles are all put together.

Next - I think I'll do some priming.

Thanks for stopping in and taking a look.

Jason

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[JMac]

Now primed and including the canopy.

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[nicholassagan]

Cool! Dark star!!!

 

[JMac]

Cool! Dark star!!!

You don't mean the Dan O'Bannon, John Carpenter movie do you? ;D

 

[JMac]

The painting continues…Most of the camouflage is done (thanks to Nicholas Sagan for his help). Everything was painted with Vallejo Model Air and Model Colour paints.

I've still got a lot of details to paint…

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look.

Jason

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[Junkie]

Great work on that camo.