Su-27 Flanker-B Russian Knights (81776) 1:48

[Mike]

Su-27 Flanker-B Russian Knights (81776)

1:48 Hobby Boss via Creative Models Ltd

 

 

The Su-27 and sibling Mig-29 were developed as a complementary pair of heavy and lighter fighters to combat the F-15 that was in development as the F-X at the time.  It first flew in 1977, but encountered serious problems that resulted in some fairly spectacular crashes, some of which were fatal, but with persistence and successive rounds of improvements it came on strength with the Russian air force in 1985, but was still plagued with problems that prevented it from being seen in operational service for a further five years, and it is known as the Su-27S or Flanker B by the NATO countries.  A navalised Flanker was also put into development, but that's a whole 'nother model.

 

It proved to be a capable fighter, and after the fall of the Berlin wall, Russia continued its development, with other variants incorporating improvements, and wholesale conversions leading to other marks entirely, such as the SU-30, Su-33 and Su-34 with side-by-side pilot seating.  The Flanker continues to impress the crowds at airshows thanks to the exploits of the Russian Knights and the Cobra manoeuvre that caused quite a stir when first seen.  Sukhoi had a number of export successes, and China also manufactured Flankers under license as the Shengyang J-11 after an initial delivery of Russian built airframes.

 

The Kit

This is re-box with new decals of the 2016 kit from Hobby Boss and arrives in a large top opening box with a somewhat worn Russian Knights Flanker flying across the front.  Inside you are greeted by a card insert with the two fuselage halves and their blended wings secured to it by coated wire, twisted around the nose, tail and wings.  The nose and tail are further protected by a wrapping of thin foam, while the delicate parts of the wingtips are surrounded by a detachable sprue for good measure.  Under the insert are fourteen more sprues of various sizes in the same grey styrene, two clear sprues, a small fret of what looks to be Photo-Etch (PE) stainless steel, or something similar.  There are also three black "rubber" tyres, and a decal sheet plus of course the instruction booklet and a separate glossy page detailing the painting and decaling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fuselage and wings strapped to the insert in the top of the box as a monolithic chunk of plastic is still impressive and has become the norm for kits of the Flanker family over the years, and having a look over it whilst perusing photos of the real thing, it seems to be ticking the boxes in terms of shape, although it's still tricky to be 100% about that when large parts of the airframe are still on the sprues. 

 

Construction starts with the cockpit, which is well detailed and has a multi-part seat, rudder pedals and control column, plus decals for all the main instrument panels.  The instructions switch straight to building up the landing gear, as the nose gear is held in place by the addition of the gear bay to the lower fuselage, so they must have decided they might as well get you to build the main gear too.  The gear legs are multi-part assemblies, and the nose leg has the characteristic slatted mud-guard and cluster of landing lights attached, the former in two parts that close around the nose wheel.  The wheels are all two-part hubs with those black rubberised tyres, which have tread pattern moulded in, although no sidewall detail is present.

 

 

The cockpit is installed from the underside in the upper fuselage, while the nose gear with the two exhaust trunks are placed in the lower half.  The trunking is blanked off at the front by a simulated engine rear, and a slightly chunky-looking flame holder for the afterburner.  That's it!  The fuselage can go together, and if the dry-fit is anything to go by, there should be little if any clean-up to do.  The leading-edge slats and flaps are separate, and adding them completes the wings, while the elevators fit to the rear at the side of the exhausts.  The twin stabs have separate rudders and asymmetrical detail at the trailing edge, which is as it should be.  You then have a choice of either open or constricted exhaust petals, which are both single parts per side.

 

The rear section of the engine pods are moulded into the fuselage, but the forward section is separate, with a detailed roof, and a built-in FOD (Foreign Object Debris) screen blocking your view of the intake fan for the engines, which are supplied anyway.  These fit onto ledges at the front of the fuselage-bound aft sections, with a cut-out over each main wheel bay, allowing you to fit the pre-prepared legs at this point if you wish.  Each main gear bay has two doors, which have their actuator jacks included, as does the nose gear bay, with the smaller rear door captive to the trailing retraction jack.  The nose cone is a single part, and has plenty of space for a nose weight if you think it will be necessary, although the instructions don't mention it.  The canopy is also added at this stage, which is broken down into windscreen section with a clear hemisphere for the windscreen mounted sensor added as a separate part, and the canopy which has opening equipment depicted, as well as the PE rear-view mirrors.  The canopy is correctly blown in front profile, which requires a three-part mould, so there is a seam on the top of the canopy that you will need to sand away and then polish back to clarity.  Add a few probes and sensors, and that's the airframe built.

 

 

 

 

Markings

You get two Russian Knights markings options from the box, both of which have the bright red, white and blue stripes and yellow/blue sunburst on the fins.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

 

 

The decals provide the more complex red stripes with the white accents that should permit a little leeway for painting of the base blue and white sections to complete the look.  Careful measurement and masking, coupled with sparing application of paint to avoid visible lips under the decals should result in an impressive model.  There are a trio of black & white photos on the rear of the instructions to assist, but there are a literal ton of photos on the internet if you should need them.  If you are a stickler for detail, you might want to invest in some Su-27 Stencils from Begemot (48009(1)), as you can bank on those being comprehensive, and the instructions will be a little easier to follow without the national markings on the same diagram. 

 

Conclusion

It’s a simple re-release in a new box with new decals, but the scheme will doubtless appeal to many.  Detail is good, and the shape also seems to be too, although the true proof of the pudding will be in the building.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of