BIG Russian Jet Groupie GB

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.

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!

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.

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?

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

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.

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.

Sure that's what fillers for!

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):

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.

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 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.

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!

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.

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

Porkbits

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

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

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

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.

The construction footage looks like my basement! ;-) Love the gray camo.

Awesome vid, thanks for posting.

Done with the intakes, which were a pain (as all intakes are, regardless of kit). Next--tackle the North Star burner cans. Those are entire build themselves. Yikes.

I have the Academy /48 Flanker, I wouldn't mind seeing those.

Abort! Abort!

Well, this afternoon I tried to assemble one of the burners and made a mess of it. Luckily, I was smart enough to know this might happen so also bought the Aires set, which I'll use instead. They're not as detailed as the NS set, but better than the Academy cans, so will do fine.

In any event, kudos to anyone the skill get everything in the NS set lined up properly. There are about four layers of turkey feathers for each burner….!

And I blunder forward…..

After seeing the North Star SU-27 engines, I would say, don't give up! If you can save them do! Those look like a project of weeks alone true, but I would say clean them with nail polish remover to get the glue off, flatten them and start again! Man those things look awesome!

Man, if you can get them to look like the photos, they are awesome, but….I think the biggest problem is that the photoetch is made out of really thick brass that doesn't bend readily or adhere easily to the CA I have (I'm used to working with Eduard's PE, which is very thin and malleable, almost to a fault). Makes it really difficult to attach the PE to the resin parts (ie, the burner can bases).That's a problem when you have to wrap the PE in a full circle around the burner can ends. :-( You get one end of the PE down and BOING! the other end pops up. Not to mention that the turkey feathers have to be aligned perfectly, or the layering effect of the subsequent feathers is all mis-matched.

And not to mention the instructions aren't entirely clear. Sometimes the illustrations don't jive with what I'm seeing on the PE, so I made a couple of minor mistakes that caused a cascading series of issues which ended in a mess.

Any suggestions?

Hmm, well if the photoetch is too thick to wrap could you push it so it over laps itself so it would essentially be too small, I imagine you would have to use a lot of pressure, then test fit it when it is too small around the ridge and it should ( in theory) sit around the resin part. if it does leave it and apply the glue where it is liberally in the gaps? Perhaps that is a way to get it to adhere. Worth a try if you're gonna throw them away or not use them. I saw it's a product of Latvia, where I was in the summer! Amazing country. I found a Backfire Bomber near RIX!

Phew! Survived the holidays over here, and finally got back to the bench after a few weeks.

Dean, thanks for the encouragement…I ordered another set (or two) of the NS cans and gave it another shot. See below for the results. Not perfect, but I think looks better than the kit or Aires cans…? Hopefully I can get the second one built without too many problems.

Hope all is well! This build is going to take months, I think…..

YES! Now those are good looking engines, how did you do it in the end? I have no idea how the Resin exhausts would look, but I imagine the photo etch is definitely better for thinness for scale.

I'm good thanks, I have to say I had a look at the close up photos and I can't find fault they look great. Anyway, it's not a race take your time they always turn out better that way, this GB started in 2012 so I think it's no rush now, as soon as I get my a**e in gear I will get my SU-27 or Mig-21 started, though my next build may well be a F-105. However I look forward to seeing more.

Thanks! In the end, the trick was nothing more than perseverance and patience. :-) I just took things slowly, attaching a small segment of the feathers at a time, letting the CA dry, then moving on.

Now that I know what I have to do, I'm hoping the second can will be easier to complete and will be a little more symmetrical.

Aires cans look like this:

In any event, glad at least one of you guys is following along. I need the moral support. :-)

F-105….would love to see that.

Haha yes it's the Hobbyboss 1/48 kit, I should be starting in in Feb after my night school course ends. You know I never thought I would say this, but by comparison the resin parts look shabby and lacking detail. The North Star option was worth the effort definitely.