GWH’s new 1/48 Su-35 ‘Flanker-E’ – The Russian Beasty
This is my (somewhat late due to box and kit complexity intimidation) attempt at GWH’s new and monstrous Sukhoi Su-35S ‘Flanker-E’ in 1/48th Scale. With the characteristic metal heat staining, subtle three tone camo scheme and huge armament this was one I’d been excited to try and I feel it came out really well in the end.
The detail on the kit is excellent and the fit (which is often a nightmare with Flanker kits) is absolutely flawless – amazing engineering! However, the instructions are badly presented and the decals are almost un-usably thick despite being nicely printed. As a result of the latter I bought aftermarket decals from Begemot which were beautiful and thin, albeit fragile. I also bought a Russian Air Force acrylic paint set from AKAN which sprayed very oddly with a gritty texture and tendency to pool badly, but actually dries nice and thin with decent coverage.
Build video here:
11 additional images. Click to enlarge.
Pedro L. Rocha said on June 3, 2019
Impressive, in both size and quality
Justin Bronk said on June 3, 2019
You’re too kind Pedro, thank you!
bob mack said on June 3, 2019
beautiful piece of work
Justin Bronk said on June 3, 2019
Thanks Bob!
Craig Abrahamson said on June 3, 2019
Good-lookin’ build….I like it.
Justin Bronk said on June 3, 2019
Haha, I’m glad you do! Thanks
Greg Kittinger said on June 3, 2019
A beautiful build! I’ve picked up a set of those AKAN paints to do the Aegean Ghost scheme on a Phantom – if you have an tips, PM me what you learned using that paint. Thanks!
Justin Bronk said on June 3, 2019
Hi Greg, basically don’t bother trying to thin them – they spray acceptably from the bottle provided you shake v well first, and don’t react well to Mr or Tamiya thinners… I found relatively high pressure from ~20cm works ok. Be careful of pooling, if it forms ripples they stay after drying but otherwise it dries to hug surface detail quite well. Needs primer first. Coverage is good even though when wet it sometimes doesn’t look ideal at first. Mask shapes, it doesn’t do fine lines even with a good airbrush. 😊
Richard Mcstay said on June 4, 2019
Nice build mate, everyone loves a flanker!
Cool colours and a great job on the exhausts.
Justin Bronk said on June 4, 2019
Thank you mate! Really chuffed you like the engines as they took a whole day on their own 😁
david leigh-smith said on June 4, 2019
Agree it’s Richard, the exhausts are beautifully done and the general painting shows a subltle and light touch that nails a lovely tonal variation.
‘Liked’.
Justin Bronk said on June 4, 2019
That’s really very kind David, you’ve made my day! 😄