Skii

Thanks guys Fine detail 0000 brush and Citadel Mithril Silver

Some minor work done, not had much time recently - Airbrake raised, chipping started and other small effects

ew, poor 25 Blue Glad she's ok though, especially the chaps inside. Looks like there's going to be some more 'weathering' needed after this one

Thats a bit lovely Guy, the weathering and chipping along the wing root is fantastic. Wonderful stuff matey

Always, no exceptions.

Hi Tonio Its the ProModeller wash - brushed on and wiped off when dry. Ideal for a glossy airframe. It was thinly applied over the white areas so as not to be so stark, and more heavily applied over the dark blue and light blue underside. There is still a bit of residue to remove around the engines however. This is the first time I've used Phil Flory's ProModeller wash and I'm impressed with it - very easy to use and suprisingly easy to vary the starkness depending on coats. cheers John

Thanks again guys, there is a lot still to do, including chipping and weathering on the leading edges, as above the engine scorch effect was very simple to do, just darken the alclad with very thinned Tamiya flat black and then rub with a 3600 micromesh cloth - as easy as that ! Thanks again for the kind words fellas John

Thanks guys Hi Mark Dead easy - darken the alclad with a layer of very thinned Tamiya flat black, and rub the surface down with a 3600 micromesh cloth to achieve the heat scorched effect

Thankyou very much fellas, it'll be nice to see if this build inspires a few more Russian Knight flankers, I've fallen in love with the scheme which I think complements the airframe beautifully - the hard bit of course is pulling it off in model form! after spraying the engines and klear coating the rear elevators, I took advantage of the great outdoors to take some snaps of how she currently stands. Let it sheeee-ine !!

Cheers fellas Airframe washed, more weathering later on, engines next

1st coat of klear and decals - some rivet decals to add yet, but thats most of the decalling done :)

Thanks Mark yes it is deliberate http://www.airliners.net/photo/Russia---Ai...f5672d9ef776a11 although I'm thinking its a little over-done on the inside tail, easily fixed though

Managed to grab a few hours over t he last couple of days to do the vertical stabilisers. 1st attempt didn't go well, I used the very nice Begemot vinyl masks supplied with the decals, but made a pigs-ear of the paint job with lots of bleed under the masking - so it was all sanded back - this time using Tamiya tape, a compass cutter and good old fashioned dead-reckoning

Cooor you're not wrong ! Some of those shots are fantastic ! The close up showing the paint chipping and coaming details are a godsend. Nice find Ken, thanks :)

Excellent work Ken, I particularly like the finishing around the cockpit frame. No mean feat to scratchbuild this aircraft and get it to look so 'right'.

Thats actually a vent, which will be washed when I do the panel lines - similar case with the gun vents on the starboard lerx

Thankyou chaps Well - there is the tripes done, now I can concentrate tidying up the underside in preparation for the light blue

Thanks guys 3rd stage...

Many thanks Alla, I've looked at your progress so far and it is very impressive, I already have the Begemot decal sheet but I didn't want to use the giant decals as they would degrade the surface detail , in contrast I will be using the decals for the tailplane markings. cheers John

Beautiful Flanker , the panel lines are perfect - visible but only just. Superb!

Simply incredible work Guy, even the chipping on the pipes, amazing!

Thankyou chaps Hi Ken, yeah they are the cutting edge set, I've attached them as I might as well at this stage, although there is a little overspray I'll be cleaning them up when the engine painting starts She''l be sitting on her undercarriage as normal, airbrake extended.

Great photos Nazar, thankyou

If you say it looks spot on, I'm happy Cheers Ken - 25 Blue is the airframe I'm looking to replicate, so there'll be some weathering involved John

Thanks Matt & Rom , actually the masking is incredibly easy - the Tamiya tape remains straight - just allow it to travel up the hump following the same line as the wing demarcation - no bending or manipulating of the tape needed 2nd Painting stage....