Review Build Pak-Fa 1:48 HpH Models

[Mike]

After my review (available here) of this fairly new kit that I first saw at last year's Telford, it's now readily available, and although the price tag isn't for the casual browser, it is a superbly designed multi-media kit. It has a large monocoque moulding of the fuselage and wings that have faired over openings for cockpit, wheel bays, intakes, exhausts and a small grille aft of the cockpit. These need attacking with a motor tool unless you have the patience to chain-drill it all out, which I don't. I've been waiting for a nice sunny dry day when I had a bit of energy and some time to myself, a combination which is hard to find at the moment. Today I managed it, and took the battery powered Dremel out with a selection of bits and started hacking. A lot of dust was created in the process, and the orifices were tidied up with sanding sticks and diamond files of various profiles. I wore a respirator for the whole job, as although I was outside the dust from fibreglass is quite nasty, and even though I was quite careful, I still managed to get a few fibres stuck in between my fingers. The whole area was washed down afterwards, as was the airframe, just to wheedle out any dust that had accumulated during the process.

A couple of slips were made with the Dremel, but these have all now been made good with some CA and sanded back flush. Now for a couple of pics:

I've been breaking out the resin parts from their casting blocks and preparing those for use over the last week, and that's now pretty much done. You might see the big lines of glue/resin inside the cockpit area, and I think I'm going to have to take the Dremel to those before I can fit the cockpit in, as a quick test-fit revealed that they were in the way. I'm suspecting that the Dremel might see some more action in this area you know

[Shar2]

Certainly an unusual way of producing the fuselage. I see what you mean about the glue now, they didn't stint on that. Good work on opening the orifices, particularly the main bays.

[exdraken]

thanks a lot for posting a work in progress of this beast! that may convince me to to one as well....

will follow it in detail!

all the best ,

Werner

[Mike]

I'm currently adjusting cut-outs, testing fit of the main components and building up some basic sub-assemblies as required. Lots of preliminary work, with very little to show for it other than a nice pile of clean resin parts

More pics when it gets a bit more interesting

[Yso]

I love this plane! I hope other 1/48 kits will be released later, with fairly reduced price tags.

[Mike]

I'm sure they will in due course. I'm just debating whether to cut out the leading edge slats... they seem to be dropped on the ground. Should I?

I'm also sorting out the colour scheme, as the instructions just refer to colours. Using the instructions from the Hobby Boss kit in 1:72, I've come up with the following Gunze references:

Dirty White H57 Aircraft Grey

Light Grey Blue H308 Gray FS36375

Dark Grey-Blue H56 Intermediate Blue

I already have Intermediate Blue from the US Navy WWII set (numbered 366), but it looks a tad light, so I'll investigate this with Bob @ MDC

[nikosmeta]

Nice build so far. Why don't you try AKAN colors? They have the colors ready

http://www.hobbycolours.com/product_info.php?cPath=132_112_126&products_id=13644

regards

Nick

[Mike]

I'm certainly considering them, but it's quite expensive for just one set - I think €13.50 plus €9.50 shipping. That's a fair sum for (granted), 6 paints when I'll only use three of them for the time being... who knows? If the Christmas Fairy is kind, I might have some funds in the new year

[Mike]

Any recommendations for the interior cockpit colour? It's a medium grey, but other than that, I'm not sure

[Honza K.]

Any recommendations for the interior cockpit colour? It's a medium grey, but other than that, I'm not sure

Hi Mike, try to look here... maybe you find something... cockpit photos are in, I think...

http://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=41866&hilit=suchoj+50+prvn%C3%AD+vzlet

http://i052.radikal.ru/1003/64/4bf1c499544f.jpg

http://www.czechairspotters.com/photos/2011/2104.jpg

Edited December 2, 2013 by Honza K.

[_H_]

Coastal Craft do Akan paints in the Uk Mike.

http://www.coastalcraftmodels.com/

You'll need to email them but they're lovely people

Howard

[paulsbrown]

I have built the Zvezda 1/72 and the 1/48 HpH PAK FA T-50 kits and did a lot of testing of colors (I always use a 1/144 plane as a color test). The set you are considering is really better for the Su-35, the 79043 Dark Grey in the set is for the splinter Su-35 and not the T-50.

I ended up mixing 73036 Flanker Grey with 73049 Helicopter Grey Blue for the overall and from the set 73061 Dark Grey (lightened a little) and 73101Faded White.

I'm real happy with the outcome. Will try to put some photos up soon to clarify. Waiting on the Pit Road 1/144 to do the new scheme next.

pb

[Mike]

Thanks guys for the comments and tips. Paul - I'd love to see some of your pics, and could still do with some help regarding the cockpit interior colours. The frames of the canopy seem to be that wild Russian interior green/blue, although I have seen pictures of the cockpit itself that looks to be a more subdued blue/grey with the emphasis more on the grey with a hint of blue. The coaming is a piece of cake. Black... even I can do that one

[do335b6]

Be careful with the painting of the fuselage. I found almost any paint just pealed off making it very hard to do the splint camo.

[paulsbrown]

Cockpit color I used was AKAN's 73069 blue grey, it's a great color but needs to be lightened significantly. Didn't have any problem with paint peeling but considering how much wet sanding went on the surface kept the paint on fine. I did wrap the edges and fuselage with paper towels taped around for safe handling.

I will attempt to post some pics later today.

[paulsbrown]

[paulsbrown]

Clearly not finished, but nearly. The 1/144 F-15 color sketch in the first photo is the AKAN Su-35 paints set mentioned earlier, the second F-15 flipped over is the mix I mentioned and the third photo is the lightened AKAN cockpit color.

Hope this helps!

pb

[Mike]

Paul - much obliged for the photos I think you've got the colours pretty much down. Those exhaust tubes are looking good too. Any tips on how you did them?

Not had a reply from Coastal Models yet, and I think I've emailed them twice now

[paulsbrown]

Thanks Mike. Here's some engine shots, top and bottom. I had to add plastic card and sanded it down a lot as you can see so I rescribed and used foil duct tape to recreate some lost detail and added some inscribed to it to help. I'm still cleaning them up and will give the coppery part some thin veil to lessen it's contrast a bit.

I had several magazine and internet photos to work from to try to decipher all that metal.

Have you tried Armoryhobbyshop.com?

[Mike]

They look great Paul Armory is quite a bit cheaper than the other place, as they work in $. Thanks for the tip

[rom1]

Nice project Mike!

.. and nice model Paul!

[Mike]

This little (big) monkey beat me in 2013, as I was having trouble inserting and positioning the nose gear bay and the cockpit through their own orifices, so to speak   I was talking on a thread about a new HpH model, and it got me thinking about this again, and I wondered if I cut out the section of the forward fuselage where the cockpit opening is, would it make it any easier.  I had a good squint at the location of panel lines and decided on a route that only breaks away from actual panel lines for two short sections totalling around 1cm, so I set to work with my CMK Razor saw, assisted by some of the ET Model PE saws that I reviewed a while back.  It wasn't long before I was through in places, and with the help of some Dymo embossing tape to guide me down the angle change between top and bottom, I eventually removed the cockpit section, leaving the nose cone intact, ready for some nose weight in due course.  Opening up the fuselage showed up a lot of excess resin that had been used to bond the top and bottom halves of the mould together, which had to be Dremelled off with a big burr.  What it also exposed was the nose gear bay, which is nice, and it allowed me to sand and Dremel the cockpit aperture into a more regular shape so that the parts will fit better.  I made one slip near the nose end of the cut-out, which I'm gradually filling with CA, but other than that, I'm quite glad I did it.

 

 

Looking back at my efforts around the main gear bays, it seems I cut a little too much out of the front of the starboard bay, so I've made a section from styrene, which I'll glue in and dress off to match the other side.  I've been examining the fit of the intakes and trunking in the fuselage aperture, which from the start is shaky at best.  I found that Dremelling the lip and about the forward 10mm of the fibreglass lip has improved the fit on the starboard side, which I've recreated on the port side, although I've yet to test that side.  The nose gear bay aperture wasn't too bad, and now that I can access it easily, I've added a strip of styrene to the inside front to act as the bay's anchor within the fuselage, so that can soon be glued in, the gaps faired in, and then painted.

 

With the cockpit area now easy to access, I've been tinkering with the fit of the parts, starting with gluing the "parcel shelf" in behind the pilot, which sits flush with the lip.  A little filler will be needed where the cut-out varies from the shape of the part minutely, but it gave me a starting point for trimming the cockpit tub and sidewalls to fit together.  The sidewall inserts will also need some fettling to sit flush with the fuselage lip, and I'm just figuring out the correct sit of the coaming part, which on the face looks a little out of kilter, but looks like it must fit with a rising lip toward the rear.  I'll check it against pics of the real thing before I start getting serious about glue though.

 

Another dopey thing I'd done is paint the cockpit Russian Interior Green, which the T-50 clearly isn't.  It even says so in the instructions, so I don't know where I got that idea from I've stripped it all off in a gallipot of Isopropyl alcohol dropped into my Ultrasonic cleaner, which has also brought off the primer, but I'm not at all bothered by that.  Will I get to the end this time?  Who knows?

[adrianm2]

I do hope you get to the end this time Mike.

I`ve always found your build reviews very useful.

Following with interest.

Good luck

Adrian

[Mike]

Nice of you to say Adrian   I hope so too

[paulsbrown]

Good idea Mike. After building the kit from the outside in the first time I really wanted to do one with the bays open and everything drooped.

 

Not easy with the one piece fuselage. Luckily I asked HpH and managed to get one that hadn't been fitted together yet which will make everything much easier.