Yuri

Well, I don't think I'll order from them, as I'm on the wrong side of the pond and shipping costs/import duties increase prices a lot. Anyway, I used to order from the "old" Squadron years ago, when there simply wasn't so much choice available for certain items. Now things are different and it's probably more that 10 years that I don't order anything from the States. Anyway, good to read that Squadron is back in business. Good luck to the new management!

Finally got my first dose of pfizer yesterday. No particular problems (just a little achy arm), however my cellphone now works far better :)

You mean the lack of chaff/clare dispenser on the tail? Yes, of course, but I don't plan to make such a early Flanker, just a late '80s one. Thanks!

Vaccines dramatically improve cell phone coverage 🙂

Here in Italy we are behind schedule (they are behind schedule with vaccines delivery in all continental Europe), so maybe I'll get my dose this summer. Now they are focusing mainly on medics, paramedics and elderly

Hi all, having almost finished working on the old Airfix Su-27 (started in the mid 90s and retrieved from the boneyard a few monts ago during lockdown) I would like to build another Flanker, this time with less workload.... I have the Trumpeter kit, but I'm not 100% satisfied by its shape... I was wondering if it would be better to start from the Zvezda kit. Unfortunately this is a model of the later SM version, while I want to model a soviet era Flanker. Unless they release also this version (from parts breakdown seem likely.... but, when?) I was wondering how much wor

They were lucky, both on the plane and on the ground. That big engine cowling part just in the front yard is scary

I never never never use a snap off blade, because a 30 years old, one inch long scar in my middle finger reminds me that these blades can indeed snap off when you don't want them to...

Me too. I always have the habit of touching my face, eyes and so on quite often during the day, so when I'm building or painting something I wash my hand wery often

My first modeling rule: do not talk about modeling rules 🙂 Jokes apart, I model when I want... or better, when I need to. It's not another job, so I'm not forcing myself to go on if I'm not in the mood...

Hi, always looking for generic Soviet stars (and bort numbers) for my 1/72 planes. I saw that begemot makes a 1/72 decals sheet with stars in various sizes, however I'm a bit puzzled by the description, as they say they are 1955 style that were used until the '70s. The only change I saw in the stars was when Russia in 2010 added the blue trim, I assumed the post WWII stars were always the same until then. And in fact I can't seen any difference between those on the sheet and those used in the '80s and '90. What am I missing?

I prefer to finish building the whole fuselage before painting, so if there are some seams to fill and sand I can do it with no problems. In fact the tall fins of the Flanker are a bit of a headache when you have to mask and paint. For my first Su-27 I painted the engine cowlings after the camouflage (a bit tricky, but it can be done), but I've seen a build review where they first painted the cowlings, then the camouflage (with the fins already in place). Think, I'll try that on my next build

As others said, back in the early days of internet it was THE STORE. Despite the shipping costs (I live in Italy) it was one of the few places where you could find almost everything. I must admit that I haven't ordered anything from them in the last 10+ years as other internet/mailorder companies have surfaced in Europe in the meanwhile and it's easier to order from them, but it's sad news anyway....

Very interesting photos, thanks!

Well, with Takom having an 1/72 MAZ-537 it would be an interesting diorama... Answering to Craig, I don't think it's for preflight inspection, as the similar Tu-22M Backfire is usually parked with the wings fully swept to save ramp space, so there must be a different reason to park the Tu-160 that way. As I said it's probably a matter of center of gravity that would make the plane unbalanced with the wings fully swept

I have always believed that a parked Tu-160 cannot be displayed with the wings fully swept. In fact all the photos of parked Tu-160 show the wing fully forward and most sources say that it simply cannot sweep the wings on the ground or it would tip over. Well, trying to save some shelf space (the bird is huge!) I figured out it there was a way to display the plane on the ground with the wing swept anyway... maybe with a support under the tail during maintenance? Then I came across this video. Look after minute 4:30. The plane is pushed into an hangar with the wings fully swept. Loo

Uhm.... difficult to build a model of what he flew without a photo... not only to identify the model, but also the bort number! Anyway.... was he an air force or a navy pilot? Because the Su-33 was only used by the navy. The other Flankers with canards are probably not blue...

Can't wait.... Started the KP kit last spring, but gave up halfway..... for some strange reason seems I have bad luck with the Mig-23: many kits started, never managed to finish one..... let's hope that finally an accurate (an easy!) kit will solve the problem :)

The funny thing about russian stuff is that "standard" is not really as you would presume. I suspect some flankers are left with the protective primer (some sort of yellowish and dull zinc chromate paint), others are painted some sort of grey either at the factory or during overhauls... For my flanker I used a fs26440 grey, that has a slight yellowish hue. Correct or not, there must be (or have been) some flanker painted that way, somewhere :)

Hi, I finished the general camo on my Su-27 (a standard Flanker B) and it's time to paint the details. I can't decide what color to use for the wheel wells, the "square" section of the main wells (where the wheel lies) seems more or less the same light blue-gray color as the underside, while the rest of the wells and the front one seem some kind of medium gray, with maybe a slight brown or green hue. I was thinkit about Gunze H325 or something like that. Any hint?

Well, looking with Google Earth some former bases have been totally dismantled, some converted in solar farms (but with some of the shelters still in place) and some other still remain, it would be worth a tour when (if) we survive the covid... Talking about the diorama instead, I won't build the whole shelter (too big), but only the facade as a background. I plan to use eulithe (poliurethan rigid foam) for the front wall and pvc foam for the doors, while the "hill" behind the front wall would just be a piece of xps modelled with a hot wire (for just a some cm of depth) and covered

Hi Rob, interesting page (took a look also at yours, by the way, always interesting). I think the correct shelter for a MiG-29 would be the AU-16. I also have the Rote Platze book quoted by Lothar and used the same 3view drawings to guess some measures. According to the book, the AU-16 should be 15,8 meters wide and this should bring the doors to a total width of 19 meters, more o less. I even used Google Earth to measure some of the visible doors of some of the surviving shelters in former soviet bases in GDR and a 19 meters width seems accurate.

Yes I know that kit, but apart from the fact I don't like lasercut cardboard, I only need the facade (mainly the doors and little else) so I didn't want to buy a full kit, but I could make it with plasticard and so on. Btw, nice kit Floggerman

Hi, I'd like to build a typical soviet hardened aircraft shelter (you know, the ones that were scattered around air bases in eastern europe covered with earth a trees on top). I don't need the full shelter, just the facade (with doors closed) to display an aircraft in front of it. Do you know where can I find scale drawings or at least measurements? Thanks

Is it just missing the option to depict the flap lowered or even the hinge line detail? In the first case it's not a great deal.... in fact I hate drooped flaps, especially if like in this situation the plane is usually parked with the wings fully swept back to save ramp space. Anyway it's true.... Trumpeter has a great level of detail, however sometimes they make some blunders....