+++ FINISHED! +++ Soviet Ekranoplan: A-90 "Orlyonok" (Zvezda, 1/144)

[jrlx]

3 hours ago, CedB said:

Wow, great save on the grid! Good tip…  

 

The unmasked detail looks great too, especially those props - good job!

Thanks Ced!

 

When I unglued the grid I thought it would be impossible to repair it but after shaking the model for a while, to see if the piece could be moved nearer to the opening, the solution occurred to me.

 

Fortunately it was doable.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime.

[jrlx]

Hi again,

 

As said earlier in this thread, the model comes with black round decals to simulate the fuselage windows but I decided to create (hopefully) better looking windows using Revell's Contacta Clear Glue for transparent parts. Previously I drilled holes on the fuselage on the locations of the windows, which were blanked on the inside with pieces of plasticard:

 

Now was the time to apply the glue on the window holes. For that, I built a rig with Lego so that the fuselage sides would rest horizontally:

IMAG6763

 

The glue was applied with the tip of a toothpick and left to dry:

IMAG6764

 

The glue tended to sink in the centre of the blob, so I had to apply several layers of glue. Each side took at least two days to cure and become transparent:

IMAG6765

 

The excess glue which was not flush with the fuselage was cut off with a nº 11 blade. To restore transparency in these cases, a fin layer of glue was brushed on and, after curing, all windows received a coat of Alclad Aqua Gloss. It should be noted that the backs of the windows had been left with black primer on before applying the glue:

IMAG6767

 

Next step was applying a bit o black pigments to some areas which got a bit dirtier. I used some pictures for reference:

 

Anyway, I didn't want to overdo it, so I decided to just apply the pigments to the nose intakes, front exhausts and the tail area. Here's the setup:

IMAG6768

 

The nose intakes were stained:

IMAG6769

 

... as well as the intake ramps:

IMAG6773

 

The front exhausts were also stained, which cut a bit of the metallic shine of the parts but just in a subtle way:

IMAG6770

 

The same was done on the back exhaust but is barely noticeable due to the dark colours:

IMAG6774

 

The effect is more visible on the tail area:

IMAG6771

 

IMAG6772

 

Next, the intake ramps were installed. I had to cut one of the locating pins in each of the parts, otherwise they wouldn't easily fit:

IMAG6775

 

The cannon turret was also installed, as well as the antenna radome:

IMAG6776

 

Finally, the propellers were glued in place:

IMAG6777

 

The last step was installing antenna wires between the antenna radome and the first blade antenna on the fuselage top:

IMAG6778

 

So, the model was finished. Here are some pictures of the final result, before posting proper pictures in the RFI section:

IMAG6779

 

IMAG6780

 

IMAG6781

 

IMAG6782

 

IMAG6783

 

IMAG6784

 

That's it! Thanks for looking!

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jrlx]

The final pictures are now in the RFI section here.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

[Johnson]

A wonderful build Jaime of an amazing flying boat. 

Thanks for a great thread.

 

Cheers,

[jrlx]

1 hour ago, Johnson said:

A wonderful build Jaime of an amazing flying boat. 

Thanks for a great thread.

 

Cheers,

Thank you very much Charlie! Much appreciated!

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

[Marklo]

Weird but very good.

[jrlx]

12 minutes ago, Marklo said:

Weird but very good.

Thank you very much!

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

[Ran]

Hi there @jrlx

 

A nice looking Orlyonok.

Which I had noticed this earlier - would have helped me with mine

 

 

I still have a couple of steps - so your build will be used as inspiration

 

Ran

[jrlx]

@Ran thank you for your interest. I hope you can find something useful in my build to help you with yours

 

Cheers

 

Jaime