1/32 Trumpeter Su-27 Flanker

Gallery Article by Terry Chan on Oct 9 2009

 

A few months ago I started a poll on the ARC forum to ask the members which kit I should build next.  Out of the 4 or 5 choices I listed, the 1/32 Trumpeter Su-27 Flanker was one of them as a "filler" selection.  I didn't expect it to be the people's choice, but lo and behold, it was.
 
A big and imposing model such as the 1/32 Flanker deserves some accessories.  Hence I threw in the following aftermarket items to jazz it up:
 
- Aires cockpit
- Aires jet exhaust
- Zactomodels nose cone
- Zactomodels windscreen and canopy
- Zactomodels jet intakes
- Zactomodels Alamo and Archer missiles
- Linden Hill decals
 
Construction started with installing the Zacto Models http://www.zactomodels.com jet intakes.  The set gave me the option of either displaying the full intake trunk or covering it with a FOD cover.  I chose the full trunking, which meant an inside seam needed to be filled.  Fortunately, the trunks were relatively short with a large diameter, so getting rid of the seams was fairly easy.  Installing the intakes necessitated some cutting on the lower fuselage half.  This was done with a Dremel tool and the resin intakes were attached with CA glue.
 
Next up was the Aires cockpit.  Just like its competitor from Blackbox/Avionix, this set was not easy to install.  It got in the way of the nose gear well and needed to be sanded paper thin in order to fit.  In fact, I did sand through the cockpit tub's resin where the ejection seat was installed.  This was ok because the hole was eventually covered by the seat.  The Aires pit is superior to the Avionix pit in terms of level of detail, and was well worth the effort to get it to fit.
 
With the intake trunks, cockpit and kit's wings assembled, I was ready to close the top-bottom fuselage halves. There were some big gaps in the wing root area that needed a couple of layers of filler. The Zacto nose cone was also installed. Again a few layers of putty was use in order to achieve a perfect joint.

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The Zacto canopy set included a vacform canopy and a slew of tiny resin parts.  This set not only corrects the inaccurate shape of the Trumpeter parts, but also offered a great enhancement in terms of details.  Working with vacform canopies is not my forte, but I'm glad I didn't screw up too much this time.
 
Next up were the Aires resin exhaust cans. These cans were quite expensive, but the significant enhancement it offered to the model was definitely worth the price and effort. I carefully sanded off the casting blocks. The interior of the cans were painted white, then given a gloss coat and a black wash. I then sprayed random streaks of Tamiya smoke to simulate dirty, burnt ceramic material found inside jet exhausts. The exterior of the cones and the engine areas on the fuselage were painted with various shades of Alclad. Weathering and heat-staining was achieved with airbrush filtering, Tamiya blue, Tamiya smoke and a dark wash. 

The other major components - landing gears, vertical fins and such - were assembled per the instructions without much drama. I elected to glue the "working" landing gears solid to avoid movement-inflicted damages. When all the major parts were glued and some masking was done, it was time to start painting this big bird.
 

I had the vision of a highly weathered, severely sun-bleached Flanker model, and this was my way of achieving that look.  I primed the airframe with white hobby primer out of a rattle can.  Then I did pre-shading with black on the panel lines.  Another coat of white covered the pre-shading, but still let the majority of it show through.  The main light blue color was a custom mix of clear gloss, clear flat, blue, white and light gray.  The clear gloss and clear flat made the mixture translucent.  When sprayed over the airframe, most of the pre-shading and white still showed through, hence creating a sun-bleached look.  The grey patches of camouflage was achieved with the same technique.  The darker blue was actually just clear blue misted over the main light blue.  I sprayed a layer of Future floor wax in preparation of applying the decals.

I chose "Red 01" scheme with a big cobra graphic and snake fangs on the radome because it looks the "baddest".  Since the decals were brightly colored, they didn't go very well with the weathered paint job.  After I applied the decals, I weathered them by lightly sanding them with 2000 grit sandpaper.  This took away the glare of the bright colors (ie red stars became red-pinkish stars), and also simulated chipped markings and stencils.  Finally I misted the basic light blue over the markings to blend them into the paint job.

The exquisite Zactomodels Alamo missiles and Archer missiles (not installed on photos shown) were then installed.  They were another significant improvement over the kit missiles and well worth the price.

After finishing my Flanker model, I took it to my local hobby store in Toronto for display.  Within a week, I received a handsome offer from a collector.  It is now the properly of said collector.  I was greatly thrilled by his appreciation of my work, and I wish the model will give him years of enjoyment.

Terry Chan

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Photos and text © by Terry Chan