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Tu-22 Blinder - 1/72 scale from Modelsvit


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Here's what you get for your money......

tu-22_01.jpg

I have made a start on the ejection seats - 3 of them, with 13 parts per seat.....

tu-22_07.jpg

They are very accurate - and capture the look of the KT-? seats fitted to the Blinder.....

tu-22_09.jpg

Its just a pity they can't be seen once the fuselage is assembled....

tu-22_10.jpg

(the seat looks better than this - honest! - the camera shows all the faults.) :banghead:

Here's a photo I took at Engels in 2007 - showing how good Modelsvit's seat is...

tu-22_12.jpg

A couple more photos of the instruction sheet here.

Ken

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Looking good Ken, hopefully got one arriving next week. great box art...though it's hard to find an angle the aircraft doesn't look good from ! Seats seem rather good too..

I see they also include the four SPRD-63 RATO boosters......these were very seldom fitted as they were found to cause significant scorching to the flaps and an aircraft could only use them five times before the flaps needed replacing. They were discontinued quite quickly as no training flights were authorised in their use even though they lessened the take off run by 3,280 feet. The height and speed restrictions on jettisoning them put a huge amount of extra pressure on the pilot who was already over burdened with work flying the beast !

Edited by general melchett
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What are the dimensions when it's complete?

It's a large model - span 322mm (12.6in), length 592mm (23.3in)........

tu-22_13.jpg

(I taped it together to measure it - then found that Modelsvit has printed the size on the box ends)...... :doh:

The plastic is very shiny and brittle - and 'tears' easily - so care is needed when cutting the parts from the sprue - be warned!

Also - every part has to be carefully removed, the attachment bits carefully paired down (wihout tearing) - and all edges made true.

Lots of fettling - but normal for Modelsvit/Amodel.

Ken

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I too have one on the way. I've even taken out my old ESCI model with the LM correction set just to whet my appetite (I'll compare it to the Modelsvit kit to see if I should even put any more work into it). What do you think about its accuracy, Ken? It should be accurate, as they had a museum example to crawl over, unlike ESCI, who only had fuzzy photographs and air-to-air shots to work with (although they still should have gotten the fuselage length and the engines correct - I mean the photographs they had to work from weren't that bad, were they?). At any rate, I shall be watching this build with great interest indeed. And who knows, I might just have a book about this lovely beast of an aeroplane in my future.

Regards,

Jason

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Yes, mine should also be arriving soon Jason, (having roundly whipped the post boy beforehand naturally). Being a favourite of mine I've managed to gather a fair collection of reference books now.......as you can see they've been well thumbed through over the years :wicked:

DSC_0099-001_zpspgiw0fop.jpg

But this week Mathew I'll mostly be using these..

DSC_0101-001_zpsqrzizsvp.jpg

The best by far being the big Yefim Gordon/ Dmitriy Komissarov book....a mine of info on both the Blinder and Backfire, (managed to pick it up at an airshow for a tenner which can't be bad)......a must have really.

Any further progress Ken ?..

Edited by general melchett
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Glad to see a WIP Ken, ordering mine today.... Sod it ^_^

Are engine necelles correct? I know there was issues with the ECSI kit being backwards and the fuselage being short

I'd be very surprised if they was wrong..

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I'l post photos later - but I'm getting on with painting the cockpit.

Probably due to their moulding size limits, the fuselage is in four halves - front and rear, leftand right.

This facilitates making a new front end* - with smaller radome, trainer versions etc - but it does mean that there is a nasty join in the fuselage, just in front of the wing root.

The instructions would have you complete the front fuselage section - followed by the rear fuselage section - then plug the completed front fuselage into the completed rear fuselage.

There isnt much of a mating surface - and the thickness of the plastic varies slightly - so lining things up might prove difficult.

Ignoring Modelsvit's instructions, I have cemented the front fuselage half to the rear fuselage half - on a flat surface - and reinforced the joint on the inside.

No matter how hard I tried lining it up, there is still a slight step / ridge between the two halves - so it will need a lot of rubbing down and making good etc.... - but at least the join is easier to make 'invisible' before cementing the two completed full-length fuselage haves (left and right) together.

A couple of photos shows it better than words......

tu-22_14.jpg

tu-22_15.jpg

I'm not looking forward to sanding that shiny, brittle plastic :analintruder:

* I have no idea if Modelsvit are planning further versions - but they would be remiss if they didn't.

Ken

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In slightly better news.........

The whole lower fuselage below the cockpits is open - with a separate part to plug it.

By carefully cutting this part into sections - it might be possible to scratch some extended rails and display the seats in the down position - using the cut sections as 'doors'

Watch this space.

Ken

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That's exactly what I'd do with it Ken. Normally 'steps' aren't a big problem with camo or grey finishes but on natural metal it's a different matter. I hate using filler but sometimes it's necessary. Good news about the forward fuselage, it would be rather nice to have the seats down....Is the plastic similar to the Bartini ?, if so it's not too bad to sand...

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The cockpit is amazingly well detailed - considering most of won't be seen when its all buttoned up.

I've just applied the half-dozen decals for the instrument panels.

Worth every penny I'd say, Mike - but then I'm ever-so-slightly biased......

Ken

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I just received mine today, Ken, and I have to say I'm fair chuffed about it. I was surprised (and pleased) by how small the box is (it's about the same size as the box for the 1/72nd scale Cyber-Hobby Sea Vixen FAW.1). I've already started clipping the pieces off the commendably small sprue attachments. As you say, the plastic does seem a bit brittle. Comparing it to the ESCI kit does make that kit, however impressive it is, seem more like an artist's impression than an accurate model of the real aeroplane. The stabilators from the LM 'accurising' kit match up well with the Modelsvit kit's stabilators. The noses are different, however. If nothing else, from the LM set I get three nice Soviet ejection seats.

Regards,

Jason

Edited by Learstang
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