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Tupolev Tu-16K-10-26 (Badger-C mod) - 1/72 Trumpeter

pigsty

By pigsty
in Ready for Inspection - Aircraft

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pigsty Very Obsessed Member

pigsty

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What a lovely, elegant old thing.

 

This is one of Trumpeter’s earliest kits, and it shows.  It’s no.13 in their range; I bought it in 2003.  It has a number of good points, the most important being, it’s a Badger.  There’s never been one since and the few that came before it in 1/72 were ropey old things.  The kit breaks down intelligently and allows for variants with glazed or radar noses, and lurking on the runners and the PE fret are odd aerials that suggest some of the EW versions too.  Not all are there, though - perhaps more will appear on smaller runners in a new boxing, as the missiles for this one did.  It has three, an AS-2 and two AS-6 in old money, as well as some bombs for the basic bomber version.

Badger06

 

The missiles allow you to build a K-10 (Badger-C) or a K-10-26 (Badger-C mod), although the box just says K-10 and you have only one set of decals anyway.  According to the illustrations in International Air Power Review 9 they’re for a K-10-26, but as that would have been converted from a K-10, it may not be a problem.  I heard bad things about the decals and used some from a Trumpeter Backfire kit instead.  They don’t seem much better, but they did at least respond to some Mr Mark Softer.

Badger07

 

I asked about this kit last autumn and you can see the results in the Cold War forum.  Having scared myself silly, I decided to ignore almost all of the problems as they were beyond my skills.  So I’ll mostly tell you about it as it comes, which isn’t all that good either.

 

Apart from the mistakes, this is also a scruffy kit.  There’s flash everywhere, including places that you wouldn’t imagine could have it, like panel lines.  Who knows, this may mean there are other versions in reserve.  Shapes are mostly OK but fit is very patchy, especially the separate control surfaces.  I’ve used card and filler everywhere - along the fuselage, the engines, the wing roots, the ailerons, the tailplanes, the pylons, the missile.  I will say, though, all the joints in the mid-section are nice and robust - it’s no problem to hang the long wing off a separate engine nacelle.  And the anhedral practically sets itself.  Panel lines are engraved, but very variable.  Some run out, many are too shallow, and some are missing while others are spurious.  But at least they mostly line up where parts meet.  The plastic is good to work with, softish but not flaky.

Badger08

 

NeOmega helped me out with a couple of prominent errors.  One is the engine area.  At the front, Trumpeter give you D-shaped intakes that sit right next to the fuselage; NeOmega’s have the right shape and sit proud as they should.  However, they don’t fair smoothly into the engines, and they aren’t deep enough.  The Badger has a prominent spar across the duct that neither the kit nor the replacements allow for.  One fix is intake covers; you’ll just have to promise not to look too closely into mine.  At the back, NeOmega supply much better exhaust pipes, but no help with the incorrect exhaust fairings.  I should have done what General Melchett did all those years ago, and just removed everything aft and rebuilt it.

 

The other error is on the left wingtip.  NeOmega give you one fitted for in-flight refuelling - the world’s most hair-raising technique.  The kit misses this out, possibly because Chinese-built H-6s appear not to use it.  Unfortunately the resin part is too shallow for the wing profile, so it needs a lot of fairing in.  It also doesn’t fit the wingtip lights, both of which need a lot of trimming.

Badger10

 

It’s odd that after twenty years, no-one has gone to town on this kit as they have with others from Trumpeter.  But then, think of the cost.  (I’ve just looked up Badgers - the 1/144 version is now £3 more than mine was when I bought it!)

 

I’ve done a few small changes of my own because they’re obvious and fairly easy.  One is the flap cut-outs and strakes, installed to allow the flaps to clear the missile fins when lowered.  The next is the ventral missile mounting.  Trumpeter would have you mount the AS-2 outside the airframe.  An easy fix is to use only the bottom half, or thereabouts, to show it correctly recessed.  But as I wanted to use an AS-6 under the wing I fitted the bomb doors, filled all the lines, and scribed in the blanking plates that cover the recess when it’s not in use.  If you install the bomb bay with a couple of extra bulkheads inside it, this is fairly easy to do.  I also closed the tops of the turrets to hide bits that shouldn’t be on show - though these are only a partial fix; put sealing strips below the rear guns; and added “gear down” indicators to the maingear fairings.

Badger09

 

The cockpit is a problem because it’s all too small and sits too low.  As it’s black and hides under heavy glazing frames, I fitted it just to fill the space.  For no obvious reason Trumpeter give you seats in two sizes; the smaller ones up front are far too small for the PE seatbelts that this box includes, so I didn’t bother.  In fact, I did without a lot of the PE, as it was out of scale or buried - I’ve used the external aerials and the torque scissors for the nosegear leg.

Badger11

 

A fair bit of counterweight is a good idea; there’s plenty of room in the radar nose.  The instructions put weight behind the nosewheel, but it works better further forward, and the nose-to-fuselage joint is well up to it.  Also at the pointy end, you can insert the nosewheel bay between closing the fuselage and adding the nose, which is easier than placing it in one fuselage half and getting the other to align properly.

Badger13

 

The basis for the paintwork is Halfords Peugeot Aluminium, with other metallic shades to break it up a bit.

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Mig88 Very Obsessed Member

Mig88

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Despite everything, you've done a fabulous job indeed. It looks fantatsic. Well done!!

I have one in 1:144 in my stash... I only hope it comes out as well as yours whenever I get round to it.

 

Miguel

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Pete in a shed Very Obsessed Member

Pete in a shed

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An amazing amount of work has gone into this build and it really shows. An absolutely brilliant outcome Sean.:clap:. Ive got the Chinese/Russian glass nosed one to do sometime and I shall be looking out for all the things you've mentioned.

Cheers

Pete

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bentwaters81tfw Blabber Mouth

bentwaters81tfw

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I'm waiting on some intakes before I can start mine, it's nice to know the pitfalls before I begin.

Incidentally Soviet military aircraft are not NMF, the are painted with silver lacquer, and therefore are uniform in appearance, apart from staining.

I know it looks a bit boring, but it would have saved you some work. Outstanding job all the same.

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pigsty Very Obsessed Member

pigsty

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18 hours ago, bentwaters81tfw said:

Incidentally Soviet military aircraft are not NMF, the are painted with silver lacquer, and therefore are uniform in appearance, apart from staining.

I thought so too, and I was prepared to go for the uniform look, but my Aerofax book on the Badger is packed with pictures that show all sorts of finishes.  It's interesting how the metallic surface throws the light around differently, depending what angle you view it from.  You can see it very clearly on the inner wing, where the pitch is so great, and if you turn the model at different angles to the window, the pattern changes again.  But I'm reasonably confident that the stuff in the book can't be explained like that.

 

Plus, there's artistic licence ...

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