Jeff

Looks very nice. Look forward to buy it!!!

Dear all, It is my pleasure to inform you the Ascensio decals are avaliable on EBay.com Just go to ebay and search Ascensio I think they create some unique decals for the current operators of the Tu-154m (which is gradually phase out even in Russia due to high fuel consumption). Thanks, Jeffrey

Maybe the guy who do the mold ran out of money ... I also curious what its status since it's been listed as pre-order in modelimex for a several months now.

So, how stealthy is the PAK FA? From the frontal and side cross section, it seems to me the RCS is even lower than the F-22. The only thing that bothers me with the PAK FA is the intake seems to expose the blades of the engine. Maybe they have some RAM coating or zig zag edge along the length of the intake tube to solve that problem.

Dear all, Is there anyone here who order from Armory.in.ua? Armory doesn't have paypal to process your orders. In fact, the only payment method is western union. Since I never use western union but there are Wester Union booth in Hong Kong, do you know the specific information that i need to perform money transfer to Armory using western union? What kind of currency is it using? Does it accept Euro or USD? Thanks all, Jeffrey

What his e-mail? I also want his missiles and especially the nose set for the su-27 and mig-29 1:48

I am still waiting for the Ascensio Decals. Does anyone has them to sell? I am willing to pay a premium price for these decals to complete my tu-154m: 2 x ASC023 Ту-154М Владивосток Авиа new http://www.airliner-models.ru/catalog/asc/asc023.JPG 2 x ASC026 Ту-154М Алроса http://www.airliner-models.ru/catalog/asc/asc026.JPG Jeffrey

By the way, compare to the 1:72 ICM flanker kit, how accurate is the 1:48 su-27 from academy? Is it a few millimeters shorter?

I can only think of three primary reasons for Russia to develop a "heavy" fifth generation fighter such as the PAK FA: 1. Provide morale boost for its nation particularly in the area of science, research and technology, fostering young people to become scientists. 2. Remind the world that Russia can still develop new weaponry that can influence global affairs. 3. A product that can be sold to other countries making money at the same time influence global affairs. Except the above reasons, I think a LFI is more suitable for everyone's need. For example, make a Yak-41 and reduce it's RCS

Most of the 4.5 to 5-th generation fighters takes long time (+12 yrs) from prototype to production because with the end of Cold War, noone really wants an expensive plane flying around when a F-18F or F-16 is sufficient to provide national security (also consider most threats now come in the form of terrorist attacks and gurellia wars). That's why you see the U.S. upgrade their A-10 to better support their ground troops for the war in Agfanistan. If there is a major war, it will be nuclear and SSBN serves their purpose. If Cold War still exists and ballistic missiles are flying over our hea

Well, it's possible the China may beat Russia in the first flight of J-XX being very soon stated by some chinese officials... China has tons of money to develop the J-XX. Rumour has it that the AESA of the J-XX is ready (sindefence.com).

Hey, I didn't see Russia is inferior in aero design or whatever. I like Russian aircraft and building scale models of them. However, I am worried the brain drain in Russia will put a major drag on major technological developments like the PAK FA!

This is exactly what's in my mind and try to say. Given a scenerio without AWACS support, for a stealth aircraft, how can you detect your enemy without revealing your position? You cannot use active radar since the enemy will pick up the direction of the source of transmission and become aware of the vacanity of the stealth aircraft. Another difficulty is how to obtain BVR missile lock in a stealth aircraft on the enemy. Noone exactly knows how the F-22 or F-35 does it, but certainly it is a major obstacle.

Talking about the Mig-1.44, I wonder why the program was abandoned. My gut feeling is that it can achieve 50% level of stealth of the F-22 and having a RCS similar to the latest Mig-21 bison. This will give the 1.44 enough advantage to engage the F-22 in close distance.

This is actually the main worry of the PAK FA program. Nowadays, at least in the West, the design of airframe and stealth uses heavily on computer technology for analysis and simulation. I seriously doubt Russia has the same depth of experience compare to the West using these modernized approaches of designing the airframe. In addition, the science and mathematics that Russia are very good at in Soviet times are now gone, as I said before, with the Russian scientist working abroad to earn better living. So, I also doubt they can fall back to the on hand approach of designing the airframe.

The time when all fighter aircraft becomes unmanned is the time I will stop building my aircraft models :( Let's hope this is not the case as recent news reported the communication link of the unmanned fighters can be "jammed".

I must also say that it is a big mistake for Russia to kill the Yak-41 program as it is very similar to the F-35. With the end and lessons of cold war, noone really wants to deploy a 100,000 ton carrier with no real enemy (It will be nuclear war if the level reaches the need to deploy a super carrier). That's why I think the non-catapulted light carrier combined with the Yak-41 / F-35 fighter provides extreme flexibility to fight small battles (read terrorism) that is a major threat of most countries. Edit: I think Sustainability is the keyword on fighting future wars.

The PAK FA is delayed and first flight is expected in 2010 (pending no 'further' delays). I have little confidence the Russians can overcome almost 20 years of technological gap jumping from the design of the Su-27 to a design similar to F-22 and F-35. Remember, except for the new variants (or repackaging I would say), there is no new design of military aircraft after the collapse of Soviet Union, and most brilliant scientists do not serve for the Russia scientific complex anymore since one must make a living elsewhere abroad. There is not enough budget for the military, and remember the de

I have the Amodel 1:72 Fiddler. You can purchase it in aviationmegastore.com

To me, it's pretty obvious the rear gun of the Tu-22M3 is an out of date design for defense arnament. I think it's more feasible to put a more powerful jammer instead of a gun for self defense, just like the TU-160. Originally, I thought the rear gun has some sort of radar "guided" capability to shoot down fighter planes in rear quarter without the operator "chasing the target". In the rare case of a gun fight with a fighter, the remote control turret is almost useless. Consider the limited field of view provided by the camera to the operator and a fast maneuvering target, the chance of ch

Deal all, I just wonder if the rear turret in the Tu-22M Backfire series is remote controlled by operator, or it's rear-radar guided turret to attack fighters in the rear perimeter? In addition, is it feasible to add a powerful rear-radar to guide the guns to defeat incoming air-to-air missles or aircraft just like what was installed in surface vessels? Would this be a better option than a powerful ECM? Regards, Jeffrey

Any news for the RVResin 1:72 Mig-23ML? I think it will be nice if they release the Mig-23MLD, the latest variant.

I spotted this kit Hasegawa SP044 in Universal Models (Hong Kong) last week as one of their "discontinued" kits. I found it in their main branch, Nathan Road Mong Kok, contact info is: http://www.universal-models.com/ (852) 27711930 I am not sure they ship international though.

The model competition in Hong Kong that I visited in recent years really lack models of airplanes. Most people enter with tanks, cars, gundams and ships. I remembered last year there were only 5 aircraft built done. Maybe in HK local markets people prefer tanks and gundams, and most sponsor there are only interested in selling their stuff.

Dear Leo, Really appreciate your update. I actually want to purchase the following: ASC026 Ту-154М Алроса ASC027 Ту-154М Уральские Авиалинии new ASC002 Ту-154М Кавказские Минеральные Воды (KMV) By the way, since the Tu-154M is going to gradually phase out, do you know the largest operator in Russia for this type? The last time I heard Aeroflot is already phasing out the Tu-154M by this year end. I will definately wait for your good news regarding these decals. Jeffrey