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I thought you might wanna see the camouflage schemes on the SU-30's in this video, I think it's one of the best yet, if not the best, this video shows the construction and testing of the SU-30.

Some of that is just controlled crashing…! :-)

Well actually it's more of a compilation, as some of the footage was in the last video.

Porkbits

Sweet video! Those maneuvers around the 3:20 mark…what??!!  I'll say it again: what a BEAST. :-)

Sweet video! Those maneuvers around the 3:20 mark…what??!!  I'll say it again: what a BEAST. :-)

Here's a video for you PB it's got some great footage, plus some great schemes going on.

Also for anyone who has any Russian aircraft to build come and join in, I remember there were a few kits that never seemed to get finished. Rules are, it's Russian and a jet! Simple. Any scale, any country, but please be something you actually have to finish, decal and paint stages don't count. Plus any aftermarket stuff is fine as well.

I thought so too, It's funny but no matter how many times I see the Flanker, of whichever type it constantly looks great, like the DB9!

I agree re: panel lines. I used to wash them, but then switched "sides," and don't do them now. I've also seen some great builds ruined by really dark, trench-like panel washes. Ah, well. Luckily, Academy did a good job of keeping the panel line detail restrained.

Generally speaking, seems like Flankers are well maintained relative to other Russian AC, so I'm not going to weather mine. Clean build!  

As for the Eduard kit, unfortunately I think it's out of production and has been sold out most everywhere since last year :-( You might have luck on your side of the pond or on eBay, though.

PS--Nice pics! The Venezuelan scheme is awesome.

Also notice that there's virtually no visible panel lines! None even. It's crazy how we spend such time trying to highlight something that is often invisible! Not in every case but many. If you look closely you'll see some here. I remember seeing an online build somewhere I forget the forum, and the guy did a brilliant 1/32 SU-30, painted it perfectly and then ruined it completely by highlighting every single panel line and smearing it to make the detail stand out, it to me was ruined, considering the effort he went to all the way through the build. It was a Venezuelan SU-30 they have great paint schemes as well. 

I agree, the shape of that aircraft is stunning, I had a look at the review online and to be honest I am wondering whether I would be better buying the Eduard kit plus a new nose, or to keep my kit (well I wont throw it away) and buy separate parts or just get the nose and build OOB plus perhaps new decals. I like the Ukraine and Uzbekistan paint options.

LOL. Yes, it is. And also sandpaper. Lots of sandpaper.

Well, here she is buttoned up. Man, what a piece of art that airframe is (the design, not my work on it):

Sure that's what fillers for!

Yeah, If I can actually pull off using all this stuff without any major disasters, it should be a looker. :-)

The nose was the biggest issue I read about, too. The Pisco and Armory noses are apparently the best replacements, but they've been OOP for a while, so had to settle for the Quickboost. A couple forums noted the QB nose fit isn't great, so we'll see.

Lol, sometimes the answer is in front of us. Considering everything you have for this kit it should be fantastic looking when finished, I saw an online review of that particular kit and it had raised the fact that the nose was not corrected and that the instrument panel was not the right colour.

OOOOOooooh, right. Duh! Thanks, I'll try that. :-)

Why not use the plastic burners as a guide? You know, where they need to be made into a perfect circle could you slide the photo etch around the end of the plastic to make it easier?

Doh! I hate when I do stuff like that, but I like your thinking re: buying the Mig-21 F. :-) I have a couple of Eduard MiGs somewhere in my stash that I'd like to get to soon. They're suppose to be great kits.

Yeah, probably too much aftermarket, but I wanted to go all out for this build since I love the Flanker. I'm a bit worried about the North Star cans, though; they're photoetch and I'm not sure how I'm going to bend them into a perfect circle. I always end up mangling PE at least a little.

Wow, that's a lot of stuff, I can't wait to see it. I am slowly collecting parts for my Mig-21, so far I have the canopy mask, and the wrong Eduard PE detail set for the cockpit! Note to self, read the purchase before confirming it lol, I bought the 1/32 Mig-21 F PE set rather than the MF set. Oh well it's an excuse to buy the Mig-21 F!

Yep! Comes with a bunch of PE and also some resin bits (cockpit tub, ejection seat, etc). And of course, because I'm a masochist I also bought a bunch of my own aftermarket stuff including Eduard's wheels and Alamo A and B missile set, Quickboost nose cone, North Star burner cans, and some custom made vinyl masks for the camo (made by Kenny Loup in Louisiana).

Yikes.

I wanna ask, the Eduard Flanker, is that an Academy 1/48 Flanker with a bunch of extras?

Doh! Sorry, Dean, meant the Su-34 Fullback. :-) I wouldn't mind doing an Su-30 at some point, though.

Got the Flanker fuselage together this afternoon. Phew. No major fit issues that some sandpaper can't fix. Will post pics soon.

You know Academy makes a 1/48 SU-30 PB right?

I have personally made this kit and it's great, I gave it away last year though, Hmm I think I want another though, I also want a 1/48 SU-33/J-15 I really hope the Trumpeter or Hobbyboss guys are going to make one of these! I doubt I could count on any other manufacturer to make one, as the Wolfpack conversion set is extortionate! 

Thanks, Dre! I decided to go with a neutral gray for the wheel wells. Will post some pics when I get the airframe buttoned up. Slow and steady...

Great photos, Dean.   I think you could get away with red gear doors and light grey wells for the early Su-27B & C's, and then start using other colors for the later models and upgraded/overhauled versions.  

That new dark grey/blue scheme is neat (and easy).

Ooooooooo! Those are nice. I like the darker gray.

(still hoping for a 1/48 Su-30)

Well to be honest I had heard there was no one specific camouflage scheme on Russian made aircraft, hence all the variations. I could be wrong as the Russian Air Force has introduced a new paint scheme which though simple, is pretty awesome!

Lol! Thanks again for the photos. This is why building these Russian jets is so maddening--there aren't a lot of standards, even within the same AC type. But like you said, that just means I can do whatever I want.

:-)

Will have to ponder some more…..

Thanks, well the thing with many aircraft is there are variations, even on the same type, if you noticed on the shots I posted the landing gear themselves were dark grey while the wells and doors were lighter grey, whereas in this photo the landing gear is much lighter and the doors darker, I think one thing you have with Flankers is variety.

 As in here the doors are clearly red on the landing gear and the finish is gloss.

Here the J-15 Flying Shark or as we call it, Flanker, well Sea Flanker to be specific has also got the red doors.

Here also a Flanker with unusual for Flankers, (or any Russian built aircraft,) white wheel hubs.

Here is the guy who designed the badge for the tail art on Red 32, Linden Hill decals made a copy seen here!

This is a decent photo, shows clearly another variation.

This is the SU-35, still a Flanker, but it has white landing gear and red doors, with grey interior!

Basically, paint it whichever way looks best to you, not many aircraft have this many variations!

Then there's the other part to paint lol.

I hope to see some more photos PB! Of your model I mean.

Awesome, thank you! Great shots. Gray it is. Although I might have to guess on which shade…as you can sort of see in this photo, the nose gear door looks to be darker gray, almost black, although could be because of the lighting:

In any event, glad you'll be able to help when you can. :-)

Grey is correct, on Russian examples the inside of the landing gear doors was red, however the acutal wheel wells are grey, in fact on most Soviet aircraft I have ever looked around the inside of the landing gear wheel wells was grey, never have I ever seen interior green, as even when I looked inside the landing gear of the Mig 15 in Germany a few years ago, the wells were grey, Mig 29 in Latvia the same etc.. Never heard of green inside a Soviet airforce plane. But the landing gear doors can be grey also, some of them have been lighter, and some darker, have a look at these photos, also in case you wondered that silver tank is filled with alcohol inside the front landing gear door, must be part of a de-icing system. I have seen people call it a hydraulic valve for emergency opening but this is not true. 

If you click on the images I have found you get some good detailed close ups. P.S. I don't mind lol, though being busy this time of year, I may take time to get back to you, due to work etc.