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Phantome's 1/72 Zvezda Su-27SM Flanker


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So much hype around Zvezda's Flanker kits that I can't resist giving them a shot, especially if there's a group build involved ;)

 

Note: this is the SIXTH straight Russian/Soviet aircraft that I build. I've probably not had a similar streak before for a single country. This kit comes after a 1/48 Eduard I-16, two Trumpeter MiG-29s (S, and SMT), a Zvezda MiG-29S, and a KP MiG-23M.

 

First impressions out of the box: huge aircraft! lots of pieces! Accuracy of this kit seems very well regarded by the BM community so I won't contest that. I do spot some issues:

 

1) Lack of cockpit detailing (decals, although they are admittedly quite nice)

2) Lack of ANY rivets. C'mon Zvezda, a few would have been nice. This is a huge aircraft and with such big panels, it could have used some rivets here and there.

3) The canopy while not terrible (like some Revell kits) isn't super smooth. I had a similar observation with their MiG-29S.

4) Wheel well detail is very poor, especially for the front: Zvezda basically didn't bother with this.

 

Anyway, let's get started. I used AKAN for the unique Flanker cockpit color which looks spot on

 

IMG_20170610_204630.jpg

 

The cockpit decal is quite nice although detailing would have been better. The sparse wheel well detail is somewhat evident too.

 

IMG_20170610_230815.jpg

 

 

 

Edited by Phantome
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I decided to go all out and build the fuselage. The fit was fantastic. Everything locked into place with mostly no alignment issues and with minimal filler to be needed.

 

The one downside was that the fuselage front did not align perfectly with the rest. This is unfortunate but I suspect will not be too obvious once painted.

 

Btw, fuselage interior bits were painted with basic Russian gray (the type used for the MiG-23/25/31 fuselage). Not sure if it's 100% accurate but pictures suggest a medium gray for these bits.

 

IMG_20170617_170249.jpg

 

Btw, I'm having Photobucket issues right now and manually copy/pasted the pics, can everyone see them?

Edited by Phantome
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Great to see another Flanker in the mix Phantome.

 

5 hours ago, Phantome said:

Note: this is the SIXTH straight Russian/Soviet aircraft that I build. I've probably not had a similar streak before for a single country. This kit comes after a 1/48 Eduard I-16, two Trumpeter MiG-29s (S, and SMT), a Zvezda MiG-29S, and a KP MiG-23M.

There is just some captivation with Russian aircraft which is difficult to resist ...

 

Cheers, Peter

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11 hours ago, Basilisk said:

Great to see another Flanker in the mix Phantome.

 

There is just some captivation with Russian aircraft which is difficult to resist ...

 

Cheers, Peter

 

Well, they sure make them beautiful these days! The Flanker and Fulcrum are gorgeous aircraft, far more pleasing to the eye than any Western ones except perhaps the Rafale (that's just my opinion).

 

Not that they always have been... the MiG-23 is quite unsightly :P

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4 hours ago, Valkyrie said:

This will be fantastic to watch you build a Flanker, your two MiG 29s I followed were spot on! 

 

Thanks! It was quite a pleasure building those two kits and I'm happy to see they got very good comments.

 

From your signature, it seems you've also caught the Russian bug... ;)

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Progress is going far quicker than I expected, here's a couple of pics from this weekend (I did the cockpit and fuselage a few days ago but only posted yesterday).

 

And that's largely because, the fit on this kit is near magical. Seriously. There were some very minor gaps in one of the wings but which were easily filled with acrylic putty.

 

Most impressive was the fit of the intakes. Usually these can be tricky and have some alignment issues. Each one is a three piece affair but they came together great, with no misalignment or gaps.

 

I am somewhat concerned about the panel lines: they are VERY thin and shallow. I'm afraid that a coat of primer + paint will complicate a wash. As a result, I have given it only a very light Vallejo primer coat.

 

IMG_20170618_174044.jpg

 

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And now for the controversial bit... the paint. I want to do Red 04 which is one of their training aircraft from Liptesk. These came in the two-tone bright blue scheme that is not the standard Flanker camo.

 

I am a fan of Akan paints but unfortunately, they do not have the colors for this specific scheme. So I tried to approximate. I noticed that the Ukrainian digital Flanker blues were very similar to the SM's so I bought these.

 

My impression after painting: the lighter blue is still too dark. Nevertheless from some angles, the real aircraft does approximate this. Oh well. I'm still happy :)

 

Metal bits were painted with Vallejo metal color which I used for the first time. They are absolutely magnificent. I used Steel following by a highlight of Dark Aluminum.

 

The darker blue was sprayed freehand. Post-shading was done with a lightened version of the blue following by Tamiya smoke after everything else was painted. It was a very quick paint job.

 

Anyway... decals to follow next week

 

 

IMG_20170620_183315.jpg

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1 hour ago, Phantome said:

 

Thanks! It was quite a pleasure building those two kits and I'm happy to see they got very good comments.

 

From your signature, it seems you've also caught the Russian bug... ;)

Yeah, I think it's an illness, quite a few on here have it, it's spreading and some severe cases too ha! I'm blaming you for the MiG 29 spree

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1 hour ago, Phantome said:

And now for the controversial bit... the paint. I want to do Red 04 which is one of their training aircraft from Liptesk. These came in the two-tone bright blue scheme that is not the standard Flanker camo.

 

I am a fan of Akan paints but unfortunately, they do not have the colors for this specific scheme. So I tried to approximate. I noticed that the Ukrainian digital Flanker blues were very similar to the SM's so I bought these.

 

My impression after painting: the lighter blue is still too dark. Nevertheless from some angles, the real aircraft does approximate this. Oh well. I'm still happy :)

 

Metal bits were painted with Vallejo metal color which I used for the first time. They are absolutely magnificent. I used Steel following by a highlight of Dark Aluminum.

 

The darker blue was sprayed freehand. Post-shading was done with a lightened version of the blue following by Tamiya smoke after everything else was painted. It was a very quick paint job.

 

Anyway... decals to follow next week

 

 

IMG_20170620_183315.jpg

Im not sure I can wait till next week. Brilliant. I am ordering the Ukraine Akan pack too, they are good paints

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1 minute ago, Valkyrie said:

Im not sure I can wait till next week. Brilliant. I am ordering the Ukraine Akan pack too, they are good paints

 

Look into their Su-39 set, those may be more accurate blues. Also the lighter blue seems very close to Vallejo light sea blue. I'm not convinced the digital camo blues are the most accurate for a Lipetsk Flanker... but they still look good

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Decalling sesh finished.

 

Ok, I have real issues with Zvezda decals. They are unbearably annoying to apply: super thin and curl easy. If one of them bunches up it's well near impossible to straighten it back again even if putting it in water. You basically need to slide them off the paper directly on the model to be sure that there won't be a disaster although this is not always easy depending on what part of the aircraft it is. On the positive side, register is great and they snuggle into panel lines without any solution (I still give it a brush of Microsol to be sure). Also, zero silvering.

 

But my main gripe with these decals is... Zvezda did not add missile markings to this kit :(

 

Not only that, they did not add decals for the wing pylons; only pylons under the intakes and the fuselage have decals and in the latter case, you won't even see them.

 

The red star on the fins look a bit too big, as is the BBC POCCNN marking. There is a pair of smaller stars on the sheet but no corresponding blue star outlines.

 

My suggestion: get the Revell rebox while it's out there. Has easier decals to apply and has full missile and pylon markings.

 

IMG_20170622_123346.jpg

Edited by Phantome
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The other thing that I added was the landing gear which were rather iffy.

 

The front landing gear is incredibly delicate, since the wheel guard is a separate piece and it's all that holds the wheel in place. You need to glue it and leave it overnight or else the landing gear will buckle under.

 

I also could not get the rear landing gear to attach straight. Flanker landing gears are at a 90° angle but Zvezda added a stub to the hole where the landing gear fits which ends up slanting it a bit. Perhaps I did not do it correctly but I had the problem on both sides. Not sure why Zvezda didn't just keep it simple.

 

On the plus side, Zvezda definitely go the right Flanker nose down "hooded cobra" profile. Every other Flanker manufacturer in 1/72 seems to have had trouble with this.

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Awesome work, I like this rare scheme and you make it look quick and easy! Great detail behind your builds helps us be prepared and not fall into the trap of ruining a kit. Not built a Zvezda yet but I am hoping to get some done. Not be long till your 27 is done, be quite a collection you will have. Shame bout the decals, I'd have expected Zvezda ones to be spot on. 

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5 hours ago, drake122 said:

I thought those decals are by Begemot? The Su-33 they released has Begemot decals in the box, they are superb!

 

I believe they are as well. For some reason I've found the ones on their aftermarket decals to be less thin and much easier to handle.

 

That said I don't want to sound like the Zvezda decals are unusable, far from it! Just be... careful with curling. If you have the time and patience to slide them all into the model you'll be fine. I do like the fact that they snuggle perfectly, look painted on after drying, and have leave no silvering at all. My main gripe was the lack of missile and wing pylon decals, I do think this was inexcusable for a kitmaker renowned for their attention to detail. Thankfully we have the Revell option ;)

Edited by Phantome
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On 6/28/2017 at 1:51 PM, Basilisk said:

Wow, three days past and the kit is almost done - and looking great on top of that :clap2:

 

Cheers, Peter

 

I actually started it a week before I posted the first pair of pics, just hadn't had time to upload them!

 

I'm fast but not THAT fast. Although despite the kit's size, it's been a breeze to build and the camo scheme is very uncomplicated too.

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Here it is with an enamel panel wash. My fear that the panel lines would be quite thin proved true: there were parts where the wash was barely visible or just didn't stick. :/

 

IMG_20170624_174542.jpg

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Finished!

 

Despite the issues mentioned above (and re-stated below), looks awesome when completed. Highly recommended kit although I would suggest getting the Revell boxing.

 

IMG_20170625_193402.jpg

 

The hooded cobra appearance is perfectly captured.

 

IMG_20170625_193452.jpg

 

Lots of stencils and camo pattern hides the fact that the panels are thin and makes the wash less visible.

 

IMG_20170625_193605.jpg

 

Somewhat visible here is the angle on the landing gear which shouldn't be.

 

IMG_20170625_193423.jpg

 

The underside is the most disappointing bit. Hardly any stencils, hardly any detailing on the wings. Undercarriage bays have almost zero detail. And no missile decals.

 

IMG_20170625_193632.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Phantome
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Indeed an awesome model, build to perfection :clap2: I think your panel lines look just right on the finished model - much nicer than some of the overdone washes in deep and wide panel lines which are so popular lately (at least that how I feel about).

 

Cheers, Peter

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