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Brussels Airlines (Cityjet) Sukhoi SSJ-100 in 1/144


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Irish leasing specialists CityJet were the only European airline with a fleet of Sukhoi SSJ-100s. Between 2017 and 2019 they operated seven SSJs on a mixture of their own services and wet-leases to Brussels Airlines. Four aircraft were painted in full Brussels Airlines livery but despite positive passenger reaction Brussels terminated the leases early without giving any public explanation. Complex maintenance and poor availability of spare parts were probably factors. Matters can’t have been helped by the SSJs not being able to serve LCY forcing Brussels to continue using their elderly Avro RJs. Following the termination of the Brussels leases CityJet disposed of the SSJs and replaced them with CRJ 900s.

 

The Zvezda kit is OOB apart from a few small details from plastic strip. It’s a pleasant build, the only annoyances being the need to fill various sink marks without destroying the detail (thanks goodness for Mr Surfacer 500) and trying to detach the halves of the nose wheel leg from the sprue without breaking anything.

 

White paint is Halfords as usual. Blue is a mix of Revell 54 and 350, roughly 1:2, plus a few drops of black. Light grey is Humbrol 196 with a tiny spot of 42. Natural metal is mainly Tamiya TS-17

 

Livery decals are available from Drawdecal and Nazca. I had both sheets in my stash. Neither is completely accurate and the best that can be said is Drawdecal are less inaccurate so I went with them. I added Authentic Airliners windows. Detail decals are mainly from the “technical lettering” sheet by Revaro plus a few from the spares box and the kit sheet.

 

It has nothing to do with the build but when I was researching photos of Brussels SSJs I was amused to see EI-FWF apparently suffering from silvering decals on the fin proving that it’s not just a problem for modellers! 

 

Thanks for looking and as always constructive criticism is welcome.

 

Dave G

 

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I am one of those complainers I guess. Never had bad feeling after a Brussels Airlines flight. Except with the Sukhoi. First flight in one was delayed since the intended first plane was swapped for another after standard checks. And all Sukhoi flights were loud and noisy compared to the classic Airbusses.

Nice model though!

Edited by Steben
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Nice build, Dave...as usual. Love this little gem. And the Brussels livery lends her some extra beauty. Really like this one. Can't think of any constructive criticism...but I do have one wish, as I am sure you do as well...for some sunlight to make your photos brighter and show greater detail. Great work! 

 

Paul

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Very nice build.

The livery suits the SSJ very well,sad they no longer operate the type,although for understandable reasons.

I have 2 of them in my stash.

I guess I should take one of them out for an "in between " build

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Thanks for the comments everybody. They are much appreciated :)

 

14 hours ago, Steben said:

I am one of those complainers I guess. Never had bad feeling after a Brussels Airlines flight. Except with the Sukhoi. First flight in one was delayed since the intended first plane was swapped for another after standard checks. And all Sukhoi flights were loud and noisy compared to the classic Airbusses.

Nice model though!

 

Unfortunately I never got the chance to try one for myself but I read several trip reports which said they were noisy. The big issue seems to have been dispatch reliability which was badly affected by poor availability of spare parts. I suppose it was a brave effort on Cityjet's part which didn't really come off.

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Very nice build and an interesting back story too.

I'm gradually getting into the more modern airliners - having been a builder of what we would now refer to as classic airliners for a few years.

 

The Sukhoi is an interesting design - quite modern in appearance but falling short of what is required in order to be commercially and technically viable in the current economic climate.

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Very nice build, not seen one of these on  the forum before , great job.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Cheers Michael.

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Lovely aircraft you have built here.  I have always liked the Sukhoi SSJ-100 Superjet and followed its development over the years.  It is disappointing it was not picked up for use more broadly but it is a very competitive market for this type of aircraft.

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  • 4 months later...

I must have missed this one when you first posted it in May, but glad to have caught up with it now Dave.

Superb job as usual, and some useful tips on the paint mixes. It's a nice looking jet, I'm always amazed at how you achieve such a flawless finish. I don't suppose that masking around the nose was easy!

 

Chers

 

John

 

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Hello, 

 

I also probably have missed your firdt posting here. Glad it re-emerged as it is a very pleasant built. Love your result and thank you I learned some of these Sukhois were used in our "western european" skies.

 

Congrats

 

Eric B.

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