This one was given to me by Chris (Stringbag) in a bit of a flurry of inter-modeller generosity between us late last year.

I started mucking about with it immediately because I've never built an airliner before, and not built a full resin kit before either. The agricultural nature of it also appealed to me, with the fuselage sticking out of a rough hole in the blister pack that contained the other parts.

Apparently, there was criticism of the nose when the kit was originally released, so the designer released an updated piece that needed the modeller to chop off the top couple of inches from the nose of the beast. Not too difficult to do as it happens, but the pieces weren't exactly of the same diameter. Cue shedloads of sanding til I got to this position:



I then compared it to the real thing and decided I hated it, so out came the large aggressive sanding sticks.



Which (I think) compares a lot more favourably with the real thing:



The wings were a bit rough too, covered in nasty bubbles that needed filling. I used this technique that came upon me in a flash of lucidity. The wing fences were also falling off, having been moulded integral to the wing in wafer thin resin. Off they came, and I made some new ones from brass sheet, installing them in razor saw cuts into the surface of the wing for strength.



The flying surfaces were similarly 'orrible, so I chopped them off and made templates for new ones, including the hinges. The same was true of the tail, so that got the same treatment:



The original kit engines weren't set up properly, and the outer surface came away with light finger pressure. I put in a request for some replacements from Bra.Z, but in case I got no reply, I covered the originals with putty as a contingency measure. I got an almost immediate reply from the owner, and soon afterwards I got a pair of MUCH better engines, which featured in the bubble filling tip mentioned earlier.

I installed pins to all the joints of the major parts, and did a quick mock up (before I attacked the nose again):



Here's another shot after the rhinoplasty, with a bit of primer shot over the main surfaces:



Not much to show for all that work, as I'm not even back to square one yet. Next job is a rescribe to reinstate all those lost panel lines in the fuselage. Wish me luck!

Cool looking jet! Looking forward to this one!

Keef

Tis a bit innit Keef? It was that film clip someone posted earlier in the week, plus some chiding from Stringbag that made me change my mind and dig it out.

Film clip? I missed that!

K

Not now you haven't

Oh yeah... I think I lied about the decals. There's a red scheme on the sheet, but it's the blue Aeroflop scheme I'm doing

Don't have any time myself, but I'm good at the "chiding" game. LOL

You're not fudgin' kidding!

would like to see it in Interflug colours ... but Aeroflot is ok, too

You're obsessed!

you're right

Brilliant! Thanks Mike. Now, what was that all about....??!!

Personally, I like the Czech OK jet scheme....!!

K

Mike

I look forward to seeing your diorama based on the film clip

Cliff

Now there's a thought Cliff - I think he should do the bit where it stops for the zebra crossing.....!!

K

but how does he place all those brown Ladas ... there was only one

... but definitely approaching square zero at speed

Nice rhinoplasty.... and no, I *didn't* have to google it (smug).

Superb work, enjoying your deviation from the basic kit Mike.

Sorry there have been no updates on this - scribing isn't very entertaining in pictures

I've done the majority of the re-scribing on the fuselage, but because the primer was getting thick, it was difficult to see whether the lines were ok, so I sanded off the primer back to bare resin to check. I took the opportunity to blow some Alclad white primer onto the airframe too, to expose any defects that need sorting before I can complete construction. There are many. They are legion.

Still - most of it's there now, and just needs tidying up. I removed the door and emergency exit (?) windows over the wings, as one of them was in the wrong place, and there are decals included with the set anyway, so why bother leaving them there?

looks great! Can't await to build my own TU-134 and TU-154







...in Interflug colours

Blimey. stop press, Mike has done somthing!

Oh don't be ridiculous. You expect us to believe that?

well I think he's doing pretty well - cut him a lil slack here....
tho since aeroflot's early TU's were pretty smoky, I expect there to be some weathering.....
(the film wasnt bad either:))

nah, its the same as when i was over 8 weeks ago!

Micha

Future release

http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AZM14406

Garry

Hi Garry!

Hopefully, I can show you two Tupolev kits tonight

I have this kit on my table now, look out for a review at the weekend! Oh, and it has nice Interflug decals too!

I've got the kit yesterday too


yes ... as I already wrote last night on the last-purchased-thread ... here it is:

Looks great .although I can't see me doing it as I'd need to cut out all the windows