jrlx Posted December 21, 2019 Author Share Posted December 21, 2019 24 minutes ago, Johnson said: I look forward to following the rest of the build, have a great Christmas Jaime! Thank you for your interest, Johnson! Have a great Christmas too! Jaime 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 Nice to see this one back Jaime 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrlx Posted April 21, 2020 Author Share Posted April 21, 2020 On 20/04/2020 at 09:21, CedB said: Nice to see this one back Jaime Thanks Ced! I've been silently and slowly working on it since the last post. The main painting is now done. Due to the usual lack of time, worsened by the COVID-19 lockdown (working in a Telecom company, I'm one of the few who's having even less free time now...) I still haven't updated the thread. I've also been working in parallel on a 1/260 B-1 Excalibur (!) by Academy. A nasty little kit... Cheers Jaime 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumblestripe Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 Fascinating and rather incongruous "vehicle" the Ekranoplan. Did you know that one can be found on Google Maps? Preserved Ekranoplan - Moscow Museum of the History of the Navy of Russia It looks like it might be possible to have a look inside as there is a walkway leading to the vehicle but unlike the "Tango" class submarine B-396 there are no internal photographs. The website for the Museum is in Russian only it appears there is an English tourists website at https://www.moscovery.com/russian-navy-history-museum/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 Looking forward to seeing your progress Jaime, when you have time 1 hour ago, jrlx said: I've also been working in parallel on a 1/260 B-1 Excalibur (!) by Academy. A nasty little kit... Oooh, a B-1! I guess a 1/72 model of that would be enormous, but 1/260 sounds weird eh? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrlx Posted April 21, 2020 Author Share Posted April 21, 2020 4 hours ago, Rumblestripe said: Fascinating and rather incongruous "vehicle" the Ekranoplan. Did you know that one can be found on Google Maps? Preserved Ekranoplan - Moscow Museum of the History of the Navy of Russia It looks like it might be possible to have a look inside as there is a walkway leading to the vehicle but unlike the "Tango" class submarine B-396 there are no internal photographs. The website for the Museum is in Russian only it appears there is an English tourists website at https://www.moscovery.com/russian-navy-history-museum/ Thanks for the links @Rumblestripe. There are many pictures on the internet of this museum's A-90 and one operational A-90 from the 1990s. I've linked to one or two in previous posts to illustrate a few details. The colour scheme I've chosen is an earlier one from the Soviet era, but very similar to the one used in the 1990s. 3 hours ago, CedB said: Looking forward to seeing your progress Jaime, when you have time Oooh, a B-1! I guess a 1/72 model of that would be enormous, but 1/260 sounds weird eh? @CedB this B-1 is as big as a 1/72 Spitfire. The kit is an old Academy attempt and the scale is very weird. The fit is terrible but it looks like a (simplified) B-1 in the end. I expected it to be a quick build in order to experiment with the black primer technique but it turned out to be very laborious. The "Excalibur" name instead of "Lancer" is very strange and I couldn't find any reliable source to explain it (though there are some spurious explanations). Here's the kit box art: When I have some spare time, I'll post a WIP thread for this as well. Cheers Jaime 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 15 hours ago, jrlx said: The "Excalibur" name instead of "Lancer" is very strange and I couldn't find any reliable source to explain it Interesting… This thread on BM from Shaun says that the Lancer was renamed Excalibur when the RAF procured it to replace the Vulcan but I think it's a WHIF? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alt-92 Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 30 minutes ago, CedB said: but I think it's a WHIF I still think the 617 Sqn markings look smart on that though.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flankerman Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 The A-90 in Moscow was towed up from Kaspiysk on the rivers Volga and Moskva and placed on display as if in 'flight'...... I photographed it over the years as it was made ready for display.... 2007 - not long after its arrival - still in its original colours... You could photgraph it over the fence.... In 2009 it was on display (but not open to the public) - painted in its original 'civilian' colours - albeit slightly incorrectly.. ... from the opposite bank.. In 2011 it was supposedly open - but we couldn't get aboard due to 'safety concerns'... (note the ship in the background) In 2012 it was beginning to show signs of neglect... Remember that ship in the background..?? - in 2017 I went on a river cruise down the Volga from St Petersburg to Moscow - and where did we berth in Moscow - right opposite the A-90 - I was overjoyed and took these from our ship... Great work on the Orlyonok Jaime - it's coming along nicely.... FWIW - the Revell/Zvezda kit is totally inaccurate around the cockpit and nose intakes - fixable, if you are interested... http://www.flankers-site.co.uk/modl_a-90.html Happy Ekranoplanning - and stay safe Ken (sorry if I've butted in too much)... 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrlx Posted April 22, 2020 Author Share Posted April 22, 2020 4 hours ago, CedB said: Interesting… This thread on BM from Shaun says that the Lancer was renamed Excalibur when the RAF procured it to replace the Vulcan but I think it's a WHIF? 3 hours ago, alt-92 said: I still think the 617 Sqn markings look smart on that though.... I believe the RAF version is a What-if. The story I've read elsewhere is that "Excalibur" was a brand of condoms and the USAF thought it better to change the name to "Lancer". Possibly spurious. It seems the air crews didn't like "Lancer" and called it "Bones". 1 hour ago, Flankerman said: Great work on the Orlyonok Jaime - it's coming along nicely.... FWIW - the Revell/Zvezda kit is totally inaccurate around the cockpit and nose intakes - fixable, if you are interested... Ken, thanks for the pictures and appreciation! I'm afraid I'm almost finished with the kit, I won't be able to make any modifications to the front area now... By the way, great work on your A-90! I'm doing the same scheme (nº 21, with the eagle on the fuselage). Cheers Jaime 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrlx Posted June 27, 2020 Author Share Posted June 27, 2020 Hi again, After a long period with limited time to post here in BM, I'm finally able to get back to updating this thread. In the meantime, I managed to finish the build but I still have to take proper pictures of the finished model. So, in the last update I was preparing to take care of the seams of the nose air intakes. I did this by first applying generous doses of Perfect Plastic Putty (PPP): IMAG6621 I also applied PPP on the exhaust of the back propeller engine: IMAG6622 and around the main landing gear: IMAG6623 After cleaning the excess PPP around the nose intakes, this was the result. It was an improvement but, in retrospect, I should have tried harder: IMAG6624 IMAG6625 IMAG6626 I should have also improve the rear exhaust a lot more. Just applying PPP was not enough: IMAG6627 The area around the main landing gear, on the other hand, looked good enough: IMAG6628 I also installed the windscreen, which had been painted with black primer on the back side: IMAG6629 and masked it: IMAG6630 The joins along the fuselage were then sanded, polished and PPP applied to take care of seams. After that, I glued the wings and tail plane in place: IMAG6640 The wing-fuselage joins required serious attention: IMAG6655 IMAG6656 After treatment with PPP, this was the result: IMAG6658 IMAG6659 IMAG6660 The joins between the tail plane and fin also needed care: IMAG6657 Result after PPP: IMAG6661 IMAG6662 One of the antennae on the top of the fuselage had to be repaired, because it was broken on one of the fuselage halves. This was done with thin plastic sheet (possibly 0,25 mm-thick): IMAG6663 The excess plastic was removed: IMAG6664 That's all for now. Thanks for looking. Cheers Jaime 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted June 27, 2020 Share Posted June 27, 2020 Nice work Jaime, there's certainly a lot of filling going on there! Big, isn't it? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrlx Posted June 27, 2020 Author Share Posted June 27, 2020 6 minutes ago, CedB said: Nice work Jaime, there's certainly a lot of filling going on there! Big, isn't it? Thanks Ced! It's indeed quite big at 40 cm long and 21,5 cm wing span. And the scale is 1/144, half my usual 1/72. Cheers Jaime 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrlx Posted June 27, 2020 Author Share Posted June 27, 2020 Hi again, Continuing with the update, the model was primed with Alclad Black Primer and Microfiler but some additional seam treatment was needed, as can be seen in this picture: IMAG6689 The area around the rear engine exhaust was painted Alclad Burnt Iron and masked: IMAG6694 The inside of the exhaust was painted Alcald Gunmetal and also masked: IMAG6695 I decided to try with this model the black base technique, using black primer, which should provide more realistic look. The first step now, to provide some tonal variance, was applying a light grey mottling on the inside of the panels: IMAG6696 IMAG6697 Next, I painted the model with the camouflage colour, also a light grey (Gunze H306). The paint was applied in a mottling pattern again, so the first mottling was a bit redundant. Probably I should have applied the camouflage colour as a continuous, very thin, transparent layer, to let the underlying mottling provide the tonal variance. I tried this with my B-1 "Excalibur" build, which I still have to post. So, here is the result after painting: IMAG6701 IMAG6702 Thanks for looking. Cheers Jaime 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted June 27, 2020 Share Posted June 27, 2020 Painstaking work on a design full of awkward recesses and joins. I didn’t realise how big it is - in 1/72 it would be pretty much 3 ft long. Caspian Sea Monster indeed! Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flankerman Posted June 27, 2020 Share Posted June 27, 2020 It isn't the 'Caspian Sea Monster' Adrian - that's the much bigger 'KM'....... Note the 1/144 scale Tu-95 'Bear' for size comparison....... It is quite big in 1/72 scale..... my scratched A-90 next to my Modelsvit An-124 at Telford 2015.... There was a plan to carry the A-90 piggy back on top of the An-225 - to carry it to any corner of the world, where the A-90 would separate to fly to its destination - a kind of Soviet 'International Rescue'.......... Great work so far Jaime - it's looking great... Ken 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrlx Posted June 27, 2020 Author Share Posted June 27, 2020 @AdrianMF, @Flankerman thank you both! And thank you @Flankerman for the interesting size comparison and model picture. Great models Cheers Jaime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrlx Posted June 27, 2020 Author Share Posted June 27, 2020 Another update. The rims of the nose air-intakes are red. I had to mask the area before painting. For that I used 1 mm-wide strips of Tamiya masking tape. First, I masked around the external edge of the rims: IMAG6709 IMAG6710 Next, I masked around the inner edge, which was a bit difficult to do: IMAG6711 The inside of the air-intakes was protected with a mix of masking tape and blu-tack: IMAG6712 To make sure no spills would stain the rest of the painting, I completely protected the model with kitchen cling-film: IMAG6714 The painting started with the application of white matt paint, which serves as a white primer before the red colour is applied: IMAG6715 Finally, the red was applied and the masking removed after letting the paint dry for a day: IMAG6716 Some touch-ups with very diluted Grey H306 were done and then I painted the wheels with Tyre Black by paintbrush: IMAG6717 Thanks for looking Cheers Jaime 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted June 27, 2020 Share Posted June 27, 2020 Nice work Jaime - that tricky masking really paid off! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrlx Posted June 27, 2020 Author Share Posted June 27, 2020 39 minutes ago, CedB said: Nice work Jaime - that tricky masking really paid off! Thank you Ced. It was really tricky. I used the flexible 2 mm-wide Tamyia masking tape, cut along its length to make 1 mm-wide strips. It's very flexible and bends nicely along complex curves. Cheers Jaime 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrlx Posted June 27, 2020 Author Share Posted June 27, 2020 Next step: decals. A gloss coat of Microgloss was applied to the model before the decals. Here's the setup for the job: IMAG6722 There weren't too many decals to apply and they didn't present any special problems. Here's the end result: IMAG6725 IMAG6726 IMAG6727 Decals also had to be applied to the leading edges of the propeller blades. These were a bit more tricky to apply: IMAG6728 Here's a detail of the vertical fin ensigns: IMAG6732 A new coat of Microgloss was applied before proceding to the weathering phase. The weathering relies mostly on a dark grey wash, for which I used a Vallejo acrylic wash. Here's the setup: IMAG6733 End result: IMAG6734 A final Alclad Flat coat was applied to the model: IMAG6737 IMAG6738 IMAG6742 Detail of a wing. The texture of the surface, which is not smooth, contributes to the effect of the wash: IMAG6739 Detail of the tail: IMAG6740 Detail of the front section: IMAG6741 Cheers Jaime 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted June 27, 2020 Share Posted June 27, 2020 Very, very nice Jaime. An excellent result. It’ll be a great addition to the collection. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrlx Posted June 27, 2020 Author Share Posted June 27, 2020 4 minutes ago, CedB said: Very, very nice Jaime. An excellent result. It’ll be a great addition to the collection. Thank you very much Ced! Very kind words Cheers Jaime 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrlx Posted July 2, 2020 Author Share Posted July 2, 2020 Hello again, While trying to remove the masking from the nose air-intake grids, an accident occurred: I applied to much force and the starboard grid unglued and let itself loose inside the fuselage: IMAG6744 I stopped and let the model rest for some time, while thinking about a possible way to recover the grid. It should be noted that the diameter of the piece is larger than the diameter of the opening, so it doesn't fall to the outside of the model. Since the masking tape was still covering the external face of the grid piece, I decided to "fish" it with a blob of blu-tak on the tip of a toothpick, with some CA glue on the blu-tak: IMAG6745 First, I had to make the piece slide to the opening, with the masked side facing up. Then used the toothpick and blu-tak to "fish" it. IMAG6746 Since the blu-tak became glued to the masking tape, I could adjust the position of the piece on the opening and finally glue it in the correct position using TET: IMAG6747 Here it is, recovered and in place. Of course, I damaged the painting around this area: IMAG6755 After repairing the painting, here's the model ready for the next steps: IMAG6762 Next, I unmasked the front engines' exhaust areas: IMAG6757 ... the metallic areas on the tail: IMAG6758 and the tail engine exhaust: IMAG6759 The front engines' exhausts were glued in place: IMAG6761 The propellers were also unmasked after being coated matte on the hub and semi-gloss on the blades: IMAG6760 There are still a few steps before finishing but I'll leave them for another post. Thanks for looking. Jaime 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 Wow, great save on the grid! Good tip… The unmasked detail looks great too, especially those props - good job! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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