Michael Pinto
Mountain Home, Idaho
Speaking of flights of fancy, Michael says, “I like building real-life subjects, but I really love building ‘what if’ projects. I've always liked the look of the Flanker (Sukhoi Su-27), and I wondered what it would look like in American service. I call this one the F-27C. I used Academy’s 1/48 scale Su-27B with parts from Eduard prepainted photoetched-metal detail sets for the F-15, F-16, and F-18 to create a cockpit based on an old Monogram F-20 Tigershark tub. I also added a True Details resin ACES II ejection seat and added various antennas and fairings from my spares box. Some scratchbuilding with sheet styrene made this Flanker uniquely American. The missiles and HTS pod are from a combination of F-15 and F-16 kits. I painted a modified F-15C camouflage scheme with Testors Model Master enamels, and used Twobob decals to mark it as part of the U.S. Pacific Air Forces 90th Fighter Squadron. Stenciling comes from various spares, and I printed some custom decals to name this plane after a special someone and put my own name under the canopy. This was my first ‘what if’ project, and now I love making aircraft that no one has ever seen or will ever see.”