Flankerman

It's a collaborative venture between developer Y. Berbenitskiy, resin casters Prop & Jet and various other designers, with the decals being printed by Begemot. It is extremely well cast with no hint of any air bubbles - with a fully detailed interior. It went together very well - the only trouble I had was the seams between the front cowling and the nacelle on the wing - which required some sanding down to eliminate the joint - probably my fault for not lining them up properly. The decals are superb and went on without any fuss and no hint of silvering. The canopy and rear sighting blisters are vacforms - another area that might cause problems (I messed up one of the sighting blisters) - although two sets are provided. All in all a well designed and presented package - although a bit expensive. It is only available by mail order from Ireland - and can be purchased by contacting the developer at:- abmrarity@gmail.com Ken

It isn't the best model I have ever made - but I'm calling it finished..... The ABM resin kit of the Beriev R-1...... Powered by 2 X Klimov RD-45 (RR Nene copy) turbojets, it was Beriev's first attempt at a jet flying boat. The Beriev OKB had lots of trouble getting the R-1 to become airborne - suction formed under the planing step and it took a long time to cure the problem............ Making it's first flight in 1952, only a single R-1 was built and the project was terminated in 1956.. This is a superb resin kit from newcomer ABM - but due to my failing eyesight and fat fingers, I haven't done it justice. The beaching gear is scratchbuilt. The R-1 next to its slighly more successful big brother - the Beriev Be-10.... More photos here. Ken

I've already got my FIVE 1/72 scale tank kits ready - (2 X T-80 + 3 X T-72 IIRC) to represent the 'Self Loading Cargo' used for the various record flights. Ken (sorry for going off-topic)

Some (slow) progress........ I spent a lot of time trying to eliminate the joint between the front and rear parts of the engine nacelles - lots of sanding/filling to get it smooth..... Once I was happy with the joints, a final coat of primer was applied, the surfaces were gently sanded smooth and the top coat of light grey applied. The decals are printed by Begemot - so quality is assured - and they went on without fuss - although I did cut the red cheat line into three parts to get it reasonably straight... All I need to do now is cut out and fit the vacform transparencies, fit the wingtip floats and attach a homemade beaching gear.... Ken

In case anyone is following..? More... The engine intakes are assembled and cleaned up - the starboard one is glued in place, the port side is left off to show how the Klimov VK-1 turbojet is fitted.. The VK-1 centrifugal-flow turbojet is a superb example of resin casting - whoever made the master has done a brilliant job... Unfortunately all that work is hidden away inside the nacelle....... The wings are now attached to the fuselage - the fit is great, the joint just needs a smear of filler..... Georgiy Beriev's finest....... Ken

Jackman.... nothing spectacular - just filler and sanding - the resin is thick enough to take it. In the meantime.... a little more progress.... Part for the engine nacelles - note the exquisitely detailed Klimov VK-1 turbojet (a licence-built RR Nene).... It will be hidden inside the depths of the long nacelle - but it is superb nonetheless. Parts for the cruciform tailplane removed from their pouring stubs... ...and assembled....... The flaps and ailerons cleaned up and attached...... The wing fitted (but not yet glued) to check for fit..... More later... Ken

So.... as is usual for these types of colour conundrums, the answer is......... They were ALWAYS clear laquer-coated NMF............ EXCEPT when they weren't..... Ken

A little more progress.... The fuselage halves are glued together - there's a bit of a mis-match at the rear end... ... probably my fauly - but nothing a bit of filler can't sort out..... The wings have been removed from their pouring stubs.... ...and a test fit looks good.... More to come... Ken

Some progress..... The two hull halves have a raised flange along the planing bottom - part of the resin pouring stub. This has to be removed - I used a razor saw and craft knife - taking suitable precautions with resin dust. ABM provide a detailed interior - with a pilot's cockpit made up from a floor, bulkheads and side panels. Ejection seats and a rear gunners seat are included along with a control column, instrument panels, navigators sight and oxygen bottles. The oxygen bottles are fitted into two mounting brackets - all very delicate - and decals are provide for the instrument panel and side consoles... I added seat belts from tape - but not much is visible once the interior is installed.... These are the navigators, pilots and rear gunners stations once assembled - please excuse the dust particles - I didn't notice them when taking the photos (my eyesight is failing) A closer view of the cockpit...... Various small resin 'boxes' plus a map case and fire extinguisher are installed inside each fuselage half - with decals provided for the 'Black boxes'.... Again - excuse the dust - I really should have blown it off.... The interior sub-assemblies installed inside the port fuselage half... Close up of the nose area.... That's all folks... Ken

Have you checked the spine on the dust jacket ??? Mine says 'Tupolev' in front of 'Su-27' - a misprint by the publisher Crecy..... Yefim Gordon pointed it out to me at SMW Telford when he signed my copy of the book. He was not amused...... Ken PS - the book weighs a staggering 3.1 kg !!

This new resin kit from ABM represents the sole prototype of the Beriev R-1 jet-powered flying boat. Beautifully cast in flawless cream coloured resin, this is resin casting at its best. It is a comprehensive kit - excellently packaged - with fantastic service - 7 days from order to delivery (over the Christmas period). The box art depicts the R-1 flying over (presumably?) Beriev's base at Taganrog.... The comprehensive instructions are on two A3 sheets folded into a four-page A4 'booklet'.... Note that the colour references are generic - Green, Leather, Steel Grey etc - with the whole airframe in 'Ghost Grey'. The parts are superby cast in a cream coloured resin with no hint of air bubbles or casting flaws.... The wing is one piece incorporating the main engine nacelles...... The intakes and jet exhausts are separate - with a nice representation of the Klimov VK-1 (RR Nene) turbojet to go inside the intake.... The decal sheet is by Begemot, so quality is assurered - two copies are included...... Note the decals for the instrument panels - an alternative film negative is also included for items 1 & 2. The canopy and clear parts are vacformed - with two copies being supplied in case of accidents. A few more photos are here. This really is a quality kit - reflected in the price - but IMHO it is worth every penny. I'll be starting it soon.... Ken

IIRC, there were 15 T10M/Su-35 built - 701 to 712 plus a 'pre-production' batch of 3. Of the above, 711 became the TVC equipped Su-37 'Terminator' (later reverting to a 'Su-35' without the TVC engines). The 3 'pre-production' Su-35's (Bort Red 86/87/88) went to Akhtubinsk for service trails - later they plus 2 of the earlier batch were repainted in 'Russian Knights' colours and coded 1/2/3/4/5 - although they never flew a public demo with the team. Ken

That is an aerodynamic shaped 'wedge' - to divert the slipstream away from the IRST glass to keep it clean. It isn't just on two-seaters. Another small detail....the MKM also has four 'bird slicer' IFF antennas in front of the windscreen.... Great progress BTW Ken

Great progress - looking good so far. Can I just point out that the raised circle below the IFR probe recess is way too prominent and needs sanding back a bit. The raised circles (there's another one on the starboard side) are actually pop-out lights to illuminate the probe during flight refuelling - and they are pretty much flush with the surrounding skin surface. Keep up the good work. Ken

A little more..... The first coat of Halfords Grey Plastic Primer shows all that nice detail........... ....especially the excellent etched decking - most realistic..... Ken