1/48 PLANAF Shenyang J-11B Flanker

[Luke1199]

同志们好! With my Beaufighter almost wrapped up it's time to start a new build and I'm very excited to finally get my hands on this kit. 

 

 

 

I'm a huge fan of the Flanker and the J-11 was China's license built Su-27 for use by the PLAAF, with over 400 being built.

 

 

The J-11B features a range of upgrades over older J-11s, such as weight-reducing composite materials and Chinese domestic avionics. Block 2 airframes also use domestically produced WS-10 engines.

 

I'm especially excited for this kit as it offers a PLANAF scheme for aircraft '24', the aircraft which I use as my profile picture.

 

 

 

 

 

This specific J-11 is noteworthy for it's interception of a US Navy P-8 Poseidon in August 2014 off the coast of Hainan island in southern China. The US claims the J-11 made a series of dangerous manoeuvres, flashing it's compliment of missiles (2 x PL-8s and 2 x PL-12s) as it passed by the P-8's nose.

 

 

 

 

It's also claimed the J-11 performed a barrel roll over the US aircraft, though the Chinese deny these allegations. Clearly Hobbyboss didn't get the memo though as it's depicted on the box art 😅. 

 

This wasn't the first interception to cause a diplomatic storm however, as a J-8B collided with an EP-3 Orion in 2001 during an interception, leading to the loss of the J-8 and its pilot. The damage caused by the collision forced the EP-3 to land at Lingshui Airbase at Hainan, where the aircraft remains- though heavily gutted.

 

 

 

The kit itself is essentially the Hobbyboss Su-27, it even says so on the fuselage- though it comes with the Chinese PL-8 and PL-12 missiles. It also has open and closed exhaust nozzles and some rubber tyres. This build will all be out of box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The decals provided offer a PLAAF and PLANAF scheme.

 

 

 

Looking forward to making a start on this, though the F-5 GB starts tomorrow so I've also got my Tigershark to work on.

 

Thanks for looking in! 

 

[Luke1199]

Cockpit decals placed, nice detail on them. I despise this part of building models to be honest, I wanted to try some 3D decals but Quinta Studio only do Su-27 decals and the J-11B uses MFDs as opposed to dials. 

 

 

Thanks for looking in!

Edited July 16, 2022 by Luke1199

[Luke1199]

Hi all, managed to finally get the cockpit assembled and fitted to the aircraft. Like I said, not my favourite part of building kits but the large decal for the control panel sat surprisingly well- not that you can really see it once it's in the aircraft.

 

 

 

 

 

Fuselage halves were put together last night and left overnight to set, can't fault the fit really as i think sanding and filling will be down to a minimum.

 

 

 

Now the cockpit is done it should start to fly together, though one thing I'm finding very frustrating is the way the sprues connect with the pieces. 

 

 

 

Unfortunately the flaps, leading edge slat, vertical and horizontal stabilisers are all in two halves but have these thick joins to the sprue which means A LOT of sanding is needed to get the fit right. I've had this issue with Trumpeter kits too in the past, nothing drastic but can be pretty time consuming. 

 

Thanks for looking in!

 

 

 

[Luke1199]

Well, we have a Flanker!

 

 

Some minor filling still required but overall can't fault the fit at all, a prime and a spray up next though I think it may use an entire bottle 😅

 

One thing I was wondering, the instructions say to paint it XF-14 which is J A Grey, is this right? I'd have thought a more basic grey would be more accurate, like a Sky grey or Royal light grey?

 

Thanks for looking in!

Edited July 21, 2022 by Luke1199
spelling

[Luke1199]

Back to this kit after finishing my F-20 for the F-5 STGB. Primed and painted it, also began painting the smaller details like the black on the vertical stabilisers, nose etc. Just some on the horizontal stabilisers left to do.

 

 

 

 

The instructions have the airbrake underside as grey but some photos of J-11s have a tan or green colour so I went with tan.

 

 

Now onto the undercarriage, also have to paint the metal along the engines towards the rear of the aircraft which is a little daunting.

 

Thanks for looking in!

 

[Serkan Sen]

Impressive progress so far. I have a question regarding to the console and instrument panel decals. Wouldn't it be better to remove all raised details and apply the decals to the flattened surface? I have several Hobbyboss Flankers and they all have decals for instrument panel and cockpit details. But it seems that the decal won't fit perfectly to the raised details.

Serkan

[Luke1199]

6 minutes ago, Serkan Sen said:

Wouldn't it be better to remove all raised details and apply the decals to the flattened surface?

Cheers Serkan, short answer yes it would.

 

I had some decal softener I wanted to try out to see if I could get a more 3D looking cockpit but if I had to do it again I'd just sand the detail off the panels and save myself the headache.

[Luke1199]

Been working away on some of the odds and ends. Firstly the landing gear and airbrake, all together now with no issues- tested the fit on the aircraft and it all looks spot on. 

 

 

Also painted the small black sections on the horizontal stabilisers.

 

 

 

And finally been working on the bare metal engine section at the rear, mixed some titanium silver with burnt iron to get a colour close to what's seen in the actual J-11s- I may run a dark wash along the panel lines on this section too to try and make it look a little more scorched.

 

 

Hardpoints are next to be painted, a few touch ups needed around the cockpit and then its a gloss and the decals on. Thanks for looking in.

[Serkan Sen]

33 minutes ago, Luke1199 said:

And finally been working on the bare metal engine section at the rear, mixed some titanium silver with burnt iron to get a colour close to what's seen in the actual J-11s- I may run a dark wash along the panel lines on this section too to try and make it look a little more scorched.

Painting the engines is the most hardest/painful part of building a Flanker. I have built many Flankers and none of them has a perfect result:

 

[Luke1199]

33 minutes ago, Serkan Sen said:

Painting the engines is the most hardest/painful part of building a Flanker. I have built many Flankers and none of them has a perfect result:

I'm finding that out the hard way haha, one thing I have definitely learned is to do this part before adding the vertical & horizontal stabilisers in the future- i see you've done that in the first image. 

 

Its all a learning process though. Thanks for posting yours, its useful to see how others flankers have turned out! 

[Silenoz]

Nice bunch of Flankers Serkan. Soon my turn too, but a bit smaller... if it works out.

 

That J-11 is coming along nicely.

[Serkan Sen]

57 minutes ago, Silenoz said:

Nice bunch of Flankers Serkan. Soon my turn too, but a bit smaller... if it works out.

Many thanks. Except the first one all them are in 1:72 scale. What is the scale of your build?

[Luke1199]

Unfortunately disaster has struck and I've stood on the front of the canopy after its fallen on the floor. The break is clean so I'll try and fix it with clearfix, if all else fails I can always just glue the two halves separately- the crack will be noticable but its better than no canopy.

 

Edited July 29, 2022 by Luke1199

[Silenoz]

That is a bummer... and obtaining Hobby Boss/Trumpeter replacement parts can be a nightmare....

 

http://part.trumpeterkit.com/ there's a link here to a replacement part service

 

Been waiting 2 years for a replacement canopy that was squashed in the factory and placed in the box...

 

@Serkan Sen1/72? Thought these were bigger, but luckily... mine is 1/144 😉

[drake122]

Pretty sure that windshield is not salvageable... maybe cover it up with a tarpaulin? Real aircraft are sometimes pictured like that.

[Serkan Sen]

This is really very strange that just falling the windshield on the floor causes such damage without stepping on it. As already suggested the first step is to ask the company or distributor for a replacement/spare part. If the spare part is not available you can try to form the windshield from clear polycarbonate sheet using vacuform techniques. Or you can search internet for 1:48 vacuform canopy replacement.

If I need to duplicate a missing or damaged part I repair the existing one and make a silicon mold from it. Then I cast the new parts using PU or epoxy resin depending on the part type (opaque or clear).

Serkan

[Serkan Sen]

Here is a clear resin cast example from my Su-27IBK what if build (originally Italeri Su-34):

 

Serkan

[Marklo]

18 minutes ago, Serkan Sen said:

Here is a clear resin cast example from my Su-27IBK what if build (originally Italeri Su-34):

That’s really good what resins are you using?

[Serkan Sen]

35 minutes ago, Marklo said:

That’s really good what resins are you using?

I still have half liter 2:1 uv resistant epoxy clear resin that fully cures within 12 to 48 hours. But there are some PU 1:1 crystal clear fast curing resins especially in UK which I haven't tested yet.

Serkan

[Luke1199]

Soldiering on despite the canopy because I want to wrap this build up and start my J-10, the exposed metal has been painted on. The inside of the nozzles need another coat of paint before they're glued on.

 

 

I've started on the hardpoints and weapons, the kit comes with a full armament of PL-8 and PL-12 missiles.

 

 

Though quite hilariously the pins for the hardpoints under the intakes are too far apart for their holes. Not an issue but a bit of a blunder nonetheless.

 

 

Thanks for looking in!

[Luke1199]

Some small touch ups today, like the plating around the cannon. Glossed and the decals are slowly making their way on. 

 

 

The top half is done, just the bottom to go. Once this is done its just a case of adding the gear and weapons. 

 

 

There is a serial number on the tail of the actual aircraft which the instructions don't seem to have on. After doing some digging I'm fairly certain its 81284, there are a few companies making diecast versions of the aircraft and thats what they feature on the tail as you can see below.

 

 

Thanks for looking in!

 

Edited August 3, 2022 by Luke1199

[Serkan Sen]

Looks very good. Nice finish.

Serkan

[Luke1199]

Right, this should be the last post before I post the RFI hopefully tomorrow.

 

Hard points and landing gear are on, the gear seem relatively sturdy but the rear left may need some superglue if it doesn't harden up more overnight.

 

And the landing gear doors are also on...

 

 

Just the missiles left to be sprayed white and hooked up to their racks, it can carry a decent armament of 10 air-to-air missiles.

 

 

Thanks for looking in and thanks for following along!

[exdraken]

Very nice Flanker!

In a slightly  different  guise

 

 

[Silenoz]

Looking nice, however the paint looks a bit grainy on the detail pictures.

 

Just a question. Can you give some dimensions of the external bulges on the intakes (the one in front  and the one at the landing gear?) These aren't present in my kit.