Lootenant Aloominum Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 This aircraft, which is sometimes categorized as a Caspian sea monster, is indeed a monster. The only larger models I own in 1/72nd scale are an Avro Vulcan and a Lockheed AC-130. It depicts the VVA-14, which first flew in 1972, in its early incarnation before the fuselage was lengthened and another pair of engines added, among other modifications. It is not literally a space ship, of course, it just looks like one. It is a surface effect craft that could also fly at altitude when required. The parts have no pins and sockets, so lining things up is more tricky than with a conventional western-made kit. Because of that, I found that I often left the model for a day to let the glue dry. Handling it, it was too easy to knock things out of whack when they are held in place just by a small glued area. The tailplanes and ventral fins are examples. In contrast, the wings, tailplanes, and outrigger wheel pods (on the hull sides beneath the wings) are ‘plugged in’ Airfix style and are therefore more robust. Parts fit varies from good to OK, with some exceptions described later. The ejector seats are highly detailed. I omitted everything from the back cockpit because you cannot see any of it through the side windows. The kit does not include crew, but I put a jet pilot (Airfix I think) in the front cockpit. Black and white film of the crew boarding the real thing shows them in light colored flight suits. I used flight test orange. Construction of the side sponsons (whatever they are called) is tricky in that their two halves meet only at their ends for a short bit of gluing. What is more, one half has to bow outward (under compression) which puts the glued contact areas under sheer. I found it best to glue one end and tape it up, then the other end. Then the upper halves of the sponson bases go on. These go the other way up to my first instinct. The clear instruction diagrams are a great help with that. The lower halves of those long plates that form the undersides of the sponsons are almost symmetrical, but they differ slightly, so take care to get each on the correct side. Tip: Do not glue the engine assembly to the body until after painting and decaling (applying the transfers). Painting and decaling the engines is tricky otherwise, only partly because of the fins in the way. On the other hand, the whole thing is such a weird shape that I found the engine block — glued to the body — was an indispensable handle with which to hold the model when painting it… I used some filler on the gear doors, which I built closed. The outrigger doors are very fiddly and I used much filler. However, I expect that if you build it wheels-down, all would be OK. Also I used filler on the join of the nose cone (crew compartments) to the main body and various other places. Canopy paint masks are included with the kit. The canopy, which consists of three transparent parts, needed some filling and filing to obtain anything approximating to a smooth contour with the fuselage. The wings seem to me to have too much dihedral when compared to photos of the real thing. Bending them down a bit before the glue set solved that, then fill in the resulting gap… Some photos of the real thing show it with the ventral fins, some without. I lost one when it broke off unnoticed by me. It must be in my room still, but I know I will never see it again. I brush-painted it in acrylics. To highlight panel lines, I used pencil on the matt grey and Flory Models ‘dark dirt’ on the gloss white. I then coated the whole thing in satin varnish. 36 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMCS Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 Excellent skills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxhandybread Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 Brilliant stuff! I watched a video about this very cool aircraft on YouTube just the other day ( ), and was wondering whether a model of it existed.. great to know that it does, and you have done an amazing job on it! Fascinating subject matter and a top notch finish. photography against the mossy green background is also weirdly spot on! 10/10 👍 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k5054nz Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 Beautiful work! That looks fantastic. My wife would disagree but that's because she's no fan of the design, rather than a reflection of your skills! Also I've seen recently on Facebook that a team is restoring the real deal at Monino to make it more presentable as it's become somewhat forlorn over the years. Good news and interesting to follow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roginoz Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 What a nice build, @Lootenant Aloominum ! I built the same kit a few years back, and I can't help thinking how much better it looks "wheels up" ! You've prompted me to get another kit to build thus and improve on my original effort. The model is also available in 1/144, I believe Ken Duffey @Flankerman built one. MicroMir or Anigrand, I think......... Rog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 16 hours ago, Lootenant Aloominum said: sometimes categorized as a Caspian sea monster, is indeed a monster. VVA has nothing to do with KM known as "Caspian Monster", totally different machines. KM in turn is often confused with "Lun", that is also a different craft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 17 hours ago, Lootenant Aloominum said: This aircraft, which is sometimes categorized as a Caspian sea monster Nice, but the Caspian Sea Monster was a very different machine Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 Wow, brush painting in acrylics is an adventure in itself! Great result and a very interesting machine. Regardless of the above comments, I find it very reminiscent of the Caspian Sea monsters and your build sent me down a YouTube rabbit hole I was happy to get lost in 😊👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lootenant Aloominum Posted January 3, 2022 Author Share Posted January 3, 2022 That video has some awesome graphics. Yes, I cultivated that moss in a corner of my otherwise spotless back yard just for that photo shoot. 😆 Here is Flankerman's build on this forum in 2014: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234969434-bartini-vva-14-172-scale-kit-from-modelsvit/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vultures1 Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 Brilliant work on a challenging model - well done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electric Indigo Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 Very impressive build of one of the craziest concepts that actually lifted off the ground IRL. I hope the best for the restauration of the craft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 Excellent work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GiampieroSilvestri Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 Beautiful Beriev VVA-14! Saluti Giampiero Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamS Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 Oooo, that’s really nice. All a bit Thunderbirds. Going to get me one of those - hope it turns out half as good as yours. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheyJammedKenny! Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Great job on this! The design looks like it dropped out of a parallel universe, which in fact it did: a universe called the USSR! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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