Electric Indigo

That's great sculpt and very impressive paintwork! Also a great movie btw.

Good point about Fujita, but I think the recent work of Katoki of Katoki, i.e. "improving" classic designs, is often underrated because of the subtlety of his approach. While his early designs for the MG line were instantly recognisable for their chamfered blockyness, he now has a wider range of forms that allow him to reconcile more radical designs like the Xi Gundam or the Zeta with the engineering aspects of bringing these MS into the form of a plastic kit. If you put the Zeta kits in a row, IMO you can see that the latest iteration is actually closer to the crystalline appearance of the original Nagano/Fujita lineart. Nagano IMO has gone all the way from the Renaissance of FSS's pure aesthetic to Gothicmade's Mannerism, i.e. inducing complexity with the intent to overwhelm the spectator.

A very precise build, and I love the colors. Any intent to build the 1/48 kit?

I loved Kenki's artwork in Dengeki Hobby's Advance of Zeta, but for me the original masters are Kazumi Fujita, Mika Akitaka – and Katoki. His Sentinel work blew my head off.

The surface texture is just delicious!

Very cool color scheme & weathering. I just noticed that the design of some of the Iron Blooded Orphan Gundams took some inspiration from Shinkawa's Tiger.

A really nice build:

They wanted to make sure you catch all the detail from the other corner of the room...

Beautiful work! The surface texture is just perfect. The ground clearance looks a bit concerning...

Amazing modeling & photography! I did not expect the Revell kit to look that good.

Two masterpieces in a row! Beautiful work on these beautiful planes, it's a joy to look at all the details.

Perfectly executed with just the right amount of weathering! The resin cockpit is a nice highlight, and I'm impressed by the surface detail of this 30 year old kit.

I wonder if the antennas were more nerve-wrecking than the camo application, but you succeeded on both!

It's a really good kit, isn't it? I was tempted to build it gears down because the landing gear parts looked so fine.

That's a small masterpiece! And of course I love the splinter camo.

A masterpiece in all aspects! Thank you for sharing.

Great job on what looks to be a great kit! Love the colors & the photography.

Thank you all for your interest! I'm more than happy to give something back to this inspiring forum. For those who want to take a shot at the scheme, I found the most photos on the Ukrainian spotters site, like here: http://spotters.net.ua/file/?id=1858 You'll see that there's a wide range of shades of the colors across the photos, so there's room for your personal preference. My receipes for this build are (all paints are Tamiya acrylics): Light green (base pass): Light Blue XF23 - Flat Green XF5 - Light Grey XF66 - Black XF1 -> 2:1:4:1 Light Green (weathering pass): Light Blue - Flat Green - White X1 -> 8:2:8 Sand (b): Desert Yellow XF 59 - Light Grey XF66 -> 3:4 Sand (w): Desert - Light Grey - White X1 -> 6:4:5 Dark Green (b): Medium Blue XF18 - Deep Green XF26 -> 4:1 (Could have used a bit of black) Dark Green (w): Medium Blue - Deep Green - White X1 -> 4:1:2 - @exhausted It's a dilemma, right? I hope that buying Modelsvit kits can balance the Karma a bit. @hovering As soon as I saw the Chriss Foss pattern on the rudder, I was hooked

Amazing surface texture, you nailed the look of a well-worn Raptor. How did you achieve the metallic effect?

Excellent finish on this rare beauty, you really make the kit shine. The first time I learned about the XF5F was in Howard Chaykin's re-imagined Blackhawk comic.

It’s funny how one can be totally indifferent towards a certain aircraft and then one specific paint scheme sparks the inspiration. I noticed the (mid-90s) splinter scheme on the painting instructions of an ACE decal sheet I saw online and was intrigued, then somewhat disillusioned when I saw the real colors in an Airliners.net photo, then intrigued again after I finally found some pics of the aircraft in service. Of course everyone likes the signature digital camo of the Ukrainian Air Force, but for me the older splinter scheme is just too cool. The new Zvezda Su-25 seemed to be the perfect opportunity to implement this project, and I was delighted that Zvezda brought their A-game to this kit; it's miles above the competition. Cockpit interior details are very basic, but with a closed canopy and the awesome pilot in there, it won't be noticed, and the coaming & HUD are excellent. People who build this with an open canopy will want to use aftermarket parts anyway. The surface details are great, even if the thumb-sized mushroom rivets of the original are clearly under-represented on the model and the execution of panel lines is a bit uneven in certain areas. Part fit and engineering is perfect, and lastly, you can't beat the price, which is about 40 Euros around here. Fuselage construction is a multi-part affair, and I think it’s best to glue only limited sections while ensuring a proper fit. The decals (from Begemot?) are a dream to work with. There's a gazillion stencils to apply, since every panel seems to have it's own ZIP code on the original. The Ukraine markings were taken from a sheet for the Su-17 that I had around. The kit comes with a comprehensive and well-detailed weapon set. Unfortunately, Zvezda decided not to include the clear parts for some of the missiles, so I had to improvise for the S-25 seekers. I added and air duct and mirrors in the canopy and the target camera from an Eduard kit on the HUD, everyhing else is OOB state. Colors are custom mixed Tamiya acrylics and Vallejo Metal Color for the dull aluminium. Thanks for watching, and C & C are welcome!

You're a hero for your work on the Revell/Matchbox Victor!

The Eduard '21 is such a nice kit. Great job on the balanced weathering!

It's out in Japan:

Congratulation on finishing this monster of a kit! Re. the safety handle – shouldn't it be folded back into the headreast when the plane is parked?