Zvezda 1/144 A-90 Ekranoplan Orlyonok

[Ran]

With the RUFE done and humming with its motor driven propeller its time for the next time.

I had a chance to drive to the storage and pick a couple of kits. The A-90 was not on my list but did catch my eyes when looking for something that can be built quick but also can be complicated/AMS'd to a diorama. I don't have any water/gel materials - this will have to wait till they lift the lock-down and the financial situation will be a bit more clear (no shopping as of now) - so it will be a kit only venture at this stage.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 1, 2020 by Ran

[TallBlondJohn]

Oooh! Ekranoplan!

 

And that's another item on the arm-long Hannants wish list. Thank god they don't do an injection Caspain Sea Monster.

[Ran]

This is a BIG kit - even at 1/144. Even the box is something else:

 

 

 

Plastic is soft. Gates are horribly close to the parts. Engineering is a mixed bag - as the fit is mostly good.

 

Started with some small parts - painting and gluing and some seam filling and polishing.

 

 

Then some more parts

 

 

Then the more tricky ones

 

 

Note zero locating pins on that one

 

 

I'm getting closed to painting. I would like to do the Soviet version but I'm looking for good reference on the paint scheme.

 

That's it for tonight.

 

Ran

[Ran]

It's a shame that with the Work-from-home gone, and work pressure back at the 3000psi range once again - I find little time to build and even less to write.

The A-90 is getting close to its completion so I better update the build report.

 

At the beginning of May I was just about ready to close the fuselage and really trying to decide on the paint scheme.

 

It turned out to be quite a time consuming experience - there are not too many color paint schemes, and some are clearly not a real paint scheme of an operational a/c.

I eventually decided to use MRP Light-Gray Blue MRP-049 and it took me some time to source it. With international mail practically shut down - it was not easy.

 

Before closing up I did have to take care of a couple of bits:

 

Secure the propeller shaft so I can glue the propeller blades afterwards. I glued a small sprue part to serve as stopper.

 

The 'nostrils' are an important part of the look of the A-90. I though a lot about how to go about gluing the parts and making these red-stripes.

Original idea was to paint with Red and then mask with a 1.25mm masking tape.

 

 

 

Closing the fuselage was easy but did require some preparation due to the awkward nature of the plastic and the location pins (you have to trim them)

 

The canopy is really a small part

 

The exhaust pipe had a nasty seam. I tried a trick I picked up on the net:

 

Only to find out execution means a lot - even when applying a trick. I wiffled that one up when cutting the plastic. I decided to let it be.

 

Examining for seams it was very clear my initial idea for the red lips won't fly. I had to fill up the seams and do a lot of sanding work. Spoiler - I found another way to do the strips)

 

 

My next move was priming - went really bad. I need to find a new primer:

 

Next came pre-shading. I've gone overboard here - and paid a price later on:

 

I painted some Tamiya White as preparation for a white stripe and then masked it with a 1.25 mask.

 

Finally it was time for the MRP paint. A first time.

Its a Lacquer so it sprays like a dream.

But it I could not get it to cover:

 

After several layers and almost all of the bottle - It finally downed on me - I was painting Lacquer paint over heavily acrylic pre-shade. The cover paint was eating into the pre-shade.

I let the layers dry a bit more and it became just a little bit better. All in all I ended up with a pretty bitten-up look - which is ok for me now.

 

The bottom part was painted MRP-40 Dark Gray as I did not want a pure black underside.

This came out OK - white stripe included.

 

 

 

So - what about the red-lips.

My final idea was to do them with a Gundam Marker - much much less hassle then masking:

 

 

That's it for now

 

Comments are welcomed

Ran

 

 

 

[jrlx]

Great effort, Ran.

 

I also found the nose area joins to be difficult to take care of. And you did a better job with the tail exhaust seam than I.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

[Ran]

It's done.

Actually it's been done since July 25th but with all the hectic WFT and then work back from office and the 2nd wave and what not - I failed to update.

 

So - the beast is decaled - these actually performed well.

At the end - I lost all the mojo with this build so I did not build the expected diorama. Maybe in the future.

 

Some pictures - more in the RFI (sometime in the future)

 

 

Comments are welcomed as always

[jrlx]

Looks good! Congrats!

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

[phildagreek]

Fascinating machines, your’s looks good!