BIG Russian Jet Groupie GB

Now now t3chdad I know we al get frustrated with kits sometimes but I think your Trumpeter Flanker should hold with glue.

That's an evil looking nail gun....   play safe with it.

Those engines look absolutely beautiful!  I can't wait to see what you do with the cans.

Porkbits

400 feet??? Holy crap, t3chDad, I hope your "friends and family" discount isn't too large. ;-) And here I'm proud because last year I figured out how to remove the blades from my lawnmower. Anyway, hope you can get started on your build before to long.

I'll have my brother-in-law, nephew and my son helping so it shouldn't be that bad. This is nothing compared to the computer support I provide everyone.  I need the exercise anyway.  On the bright side, look what I got for the project...

Those engines are looking good, PB.   Happy top hear that AKAN paints don't lift like MM acrylics do.

And yes, now is the time for yard work.

Looking good PB! Just keep layering so that you have a nice messed up effect!

400 feet??? Holy crap, t3chDad, I hope your "friends and family" discount isn't too large. ;-) And here I'm proud because last year I figured out how to remove the blades from my lawnmower. Anyway, hope you can get started on your build before to long.

Yes, snow is finally gone but now that means yardwork. Yay?

In any event, after digesting all of your great advice and screwing up my courage, I tried Alclad on the ventral side of the engines (figured if anything went really wrong, at least it would be hidden). Since from what I've seen in photos the engine surface is lacking a lot of panel detail, I tried to add some of my own. I think one of you suggested layering and mixing color, so that's what I tried. Just had some fun with it.

I decided to take a risk and primed only with Future over the base color, even tried Tamiya tape for masking and aside from only one tiny lift-off, didn't encounter any problems. I was masking like a madman and the finish held up.

Here's the result:

....the Northstar engines should add some nice detail whenever I get around to painting them:

Thanks!

PB

It certainly is, had I seen the KH Mig-25 I would be £60 poorer, thankfully I'm ok lol.

Temptation is a harsh mistress, mate.

Living in the city is so good lol. I was looking at an Eduard Mig 21 BIS yesterday in the model shop and I was gutted because I want it, but when you're saving and you already have the 1/32 Trumpeter kit it's not a thing to buy lol, why does this hobby do this to me!

Yep, it's that time of year..  for yard work.   I spent the bulk of my after-work hours last week and over the weekend doing heavy duty tree clearing and pruning.  

Well, I got my LHI order with paint and decals...now there's no excuse for not begining my 1/72 Trumpeter Su-27 Ukraine Blue 56 build.

...accept for a new 400' fence I'm building for my in-laws starting tomorrow.  

Thank you! It is very vibrant. If I were going to weather I'd definitely fade it with some white.

PB- that's a great camo job.   That blue might be more vibrant than the MM enamel version.

Sweet! Glad I could help.

Too bad you didn't start sooner so I can see how you paint the engines. ;-)

I received my Ukrainian decals from the Ukraine today.  I just placed an order with LHI for the two colors Porkbits pointed me to as well as a couple of sheets of full aircraft stencil decals for 1/72  Flankers.

It's just about time to get this build started!

I always knew the paint Russian planes had was of a really high quality, just look at Russian conditions, very low to very high temperatures. I remember reading that the Serb mig 29s took 2 weeks to be get all of the paint stripped from each one because the paint was so good.

I think so. From the Linden Hill site:

"The paints are mixed in-house in AKAN's Moscow studio, according to precise specifications as laid  down by USSR/Russian state entities. All base paints are sourced from manufacturers within the EU. AKAN possesses Russia's most complete archive of military paint specs ever compiled, and even acts as consultant to the country's military, aerospace companies and museums in such matters. AKAN's research clearly debunks the western myth that the Soviet aviation industry applied whatever paint came to hand in respective factories, something we were able to learn first-hand when we visited AKAN's studio ourselves in August 2011 and 2012."

Whether or not true, can't say, but there you go. :-)

AKAN has been a godsend for me since I love Russian a/c. As you know, nailing down the "right" colors can be really hard. Many of their colors are also pre-faded.

PB

Me neither that's a good thing to know, so you're saying the colours are matched with the actual paint from the aircraft?

Mmmm....butter....

Thanks for the info.  I did not know about the AKAN paints.

Thank you, Dean and T3chDad. :-)

For the base coat (light blue), I used AKAN 73033, the blue for the splinter camo is AKAN 77202, and the gray is Model Master Acryl dark gray (FS36176) (for F-15).

If you haven't used AKAN acrylics, I highly recommend them. They're purportedly matched from factory paint samples and spray like butter (bad simile?). You can get them from Linden Hill Imports here in the States (www.lindenhillimports.com --sorry, can't link because this PC doesn't display rich formatting options for posts). AKAN has a whole line of Russian/USSR/Ukraine colors for both WWII and post-WWII planes.

(apologize if you knew all this about AKAN already)

PB

That looks awesome!  If you don't mind me asking, what are the colors you used?  

I still haven't started my Blue 56 yet.

Looks fantastic PB well worth the time taken!

That's exactly what I do! But always end up with a step that I can't *quite* get rid of. Ah, well, guess that's why I keep practicing....one kit a year and by the time I'm 70 I should have it down. 

Well, after 30 minutes of picking and pulling got all the tape and masking off and pretty happy with the results. Just some minor touch-ups here and there:

Cheers,

PB

use it as a last resort, when sanding i always use straight lines, but when the seam is gone I decrease pressure and then go in circles which eliminates any sanding marks, then use a primer, it usually works every time.

Thank you, Dean. I just gotta push through these last bits. Glad you like the finish on the nose, but it probably helps that I took the photo from a couple of feet away. Up close you can definitely see some sanding flaws (divots, ridges, etc) but I figured if I put enough Future on it, all the bad stuff would be covered over, right? (thus the really glossy finish). :-)

The basic things are still the hardest for me--I have an awful time with seams, drives me nuts. I think it's partially because I haven't found a good putty/surfacer yet. One of these days I'll try Mr. Surfacer, lots of people swear by it.

Will check out that vid!

The painting looks great and the finish on the nose is absolutely brilliant, I always think it's a good indication as to how well a model is finished, if the nose has a brilliant smooth gloss finish it will be well made as getting such a finish is not easy, despite being probably the most basic thing to paint there's nowhere to hide mistakes and flaws on that part, maybe I'm just weird lol but it's how I see it. Also PB the alclad is the most rewarding part, when all is done you'll be glad you put in the extra effort! Also PB the SU-27 documentary I posted has an episode dedicated to all the variants of the SU-27 and has a lot of footage of SU-35 it's episode 4 I think you'll like it, well everyone on here probably will.

You've wrassled it this far, just a bit further to go.

Thanks Dre, and T3chDad. :-) LOL, Dre. It does look like a big ole Easter egg.

Well, I cranked up the Maiden, grabbed my brush, and then dove in. I'll let everything dry then see how my masking held up (after the kids are in bed).

I wish I was on the home stretch with this one, but I still have to tackle painting the engines, which could be the biggest challenge yet. No free lunches with this build, it seems.

Between the blue and yellow masking, you've got the Ukraine's colors covered.  

But seriously...looking good.

I kinda like that Easter Sunday scheme, PB.   Good luck and fun on the camo painting- I'm hoping that the kit has worked out all of its issues and that it will let you finish it without further hassle- you earned an easy finish on this one.