1/32nd Su-27UB ‘Flanker C’ – “Red 64”
Evening folks,
I've put the finishing touches to Trumpeter's 1/32nd scale Flanker C over the weekend. I embarked upon this build as I have always loved the twin-seat Flanker and thought it would be a straight-forward build to be getting on with in the background and as a break from my longer term vacform and scratch-build projects when I needed it... I was wrong.
I was rather disappointed with the overall quality and fit of the kit to be honest - the fit was very poor in places, in particular the wing to fuselage join was problematical as the wing was much thinner than the attachment point at the root. The fit of the intake trunking was tricky (I think the forward sections are actually slightly larger in diameter than the rear sections) and the cockpit glazing was considerably wider than the fuselage and was difficult to attach - it's still far from perfect to be honest but passable from a distance. There were numerous mold-lines and flash to clean up in many places, and the nose cone section was also a poor fit. However, perseverance is the key, but there is more filler on here than I had anticipated, especially for a 'modern' kit of this nature.
There are some lovely aspects to the kit though - the gear bays are nicely detailed out of the box, jet pipes are pretty good and the airframe surface detail is lovely and comes out well after a light wash. And it certainly captures the mean, menacing look of the Flanker nicely.
Apart from some Eduard etch in the cockpit, the model was made from the box with Hannants' Xtracolour enamels being used along with the kit decals. All painting was completed freehand with a Badger 200 airbrush.
Happy modelling!
Tom
Beautiful build, my friend...I love the "look".
Great build Tom, fine stuff.
Great result!
I built this a couple of years ago. I think I posted it here at the time. I agree it’s a mixed bag of a kit, but the quality of your build makes up for the shortcomings, and is probably more than the kit deserves.
i love the russian camo theme...nice built...i dont dare to venture into 1/32 scale...1/144 to 1/72 is more of my field at the moment =)
Great result Tom, it certainly looks the part!
It looks like you pulled the rabbit out of the hat...given the problems described Thomas. With pictures alone this kit looks very good indeed. Pictures that a manufacture would want on the box. I appreciated you comments since there unvarnished and point out the weak points and yet they show that this kit can be made into a respectable kit.
Back in the day of hard copy and even more recently with the net some writers/modelers would embellish kits and make them into show stoppers. Of course if the person doing the work is close to being a master modeler...while the average modeler toils in the field of dreams of wanting to do that golden model ...they can at least go into a project with eyes wide open. Then crash and burn:). Maybe pull a rabbit out of the hat.
Two thumbs on a sharp build and lovely photos.
That is an awesome kick-butt model of some Russian hardware. Top notch quality and build. Professional finish! Just awesome! Must be a huge model in 1/32!
You've done a great job turning this sow's ear kit into such a superb model. I had one, but after test-fitting revealed it was definitely a product of the Trumpeter D Team, I sold it off to someone as determined as you were to have one of these (I even warned him, but that didn't stop him - don't know what the result was).
A great looking model! Nicely done.
Very nice! It's a big jet in 1/48, never mind that scale. Sounds like it put up a fight but you wouldn't tell from the end result. Lovely clean build!
Despite the problems, you have a good looking model there
Like it