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Trumpeter 1/32 Flanker....Again


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Well im going to just jump in and give this beast the effort I can. About 3 years ago a co worker in the UK bought this kit for me for christmas. This is while i was stationed at RAF Lakenheath. Shortly after i rotated back to the states. then i bought the Aires update sets for it. Then i joined the Northern Utah Scale Modelers and met Chris. I had known about his Zactoman brand updates for the intakes, nose and canopy for a while but had never seen them in stock. Low and behold the man was a member of our model club. One night he pops into the club with a little white cardboard box. In it were all his updates for the kit. Needless to say they went home with me that night. With many many thanks.

Now almost a year after amassing all these nice resin and plastic goodies i feel i am ready to embark on what will be my largest aircraft kit. Heres an overview of what i have for starters. This will not be a fast or easy build for me. But im using it as a concentration device. lately i have been project hopping like a mad man. To stop this i have decided to pull all other projects out of my hobby bunker and concentrate on just this till its DONE.

I know there are alot of fans and followers of the flanker out there. Please feel free to toss any hints or tips you may have at me. from detail info to color info. Im not looking to make this kit perfect. Thats already been done by GeeDub (still cleaning up drool from that one) But i want this to possibly be one of my best works. Thanks in advance for any tips and advice you guys can give.

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Edited by HWR MKII
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I got most of the cockpit assmebled last night. Mainly the small Photo etch and the seat belts left to do on it. Ill hit that up tonight after work.

Still undecided as to the cockpit color. Some refs show light grey while others show a blue grey...

As far as decals i havent decided yet. I know Linden hill does some good stuff. Im not far enough elong for final decals to be an iissue yet.

Meeting chris was great though. He is a great person and answers any questions. Also got to see the YF-23 in person (Drool) I hope he finishes that one up.

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I know there are alot of fans and followers of the flanker out there. Please feel free to toss any hints or tips you may have at me. from detail info to color info. Im not looking to make this kit perfect. Thats already been done by GeeDub (still cleaning up drool from that one) But i want this to possibly be one of my best works. Thanks in advance for any tips and advice you guys can give.

As long as you promise not to call us rivet counters, say that we are wrong or making us quit ARC. :cop::shoot:

(sorry dude, i just HAD to say it....No pun at all)

I will closely follow this one, and cant wait to see pictures. :thumbsup:

A dude in IPMS norway have tried to push on me this kit since 2006. For free. But, my power to repel gifts are strong. :lol:

Also got to see the YF-23 in person (Drool) I hope he finishes that one up.

Great. Now i hate you.

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A dude in IPMS norway have tried to push on me this kit since 2006. For free. But, my power to repel gifts are strong. :thumbsup:

Umm can I have it please? I'll pay for shipping and promise to start it right away instead of pushing it to the bottom of the stash. :-)

Edited by loftycomfort
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As long as you promise not to call us rivet counters, say that we are wrong or making us quit ARC. :thumbsup: :lol:

(sorry dude, i just HAD to say it....No pun at all)

I will closely follow this one, and cant wait to see pictures. :thumbsup:

A dude in IPMS norway have tried to push on me this kit since 2006. For free. But, my power to repel gifts are strong. ;)

Great. Now i hate you.

Nah there are extremes of rivet counting i will tolerate. However. I dont think ill do much more accurizing than the with the parts at hand unless i stumble upon something easily fixed.

A great modeler once told me that if you arent having fun your doing it wrong. To me extreme rivet couting is not fun.I got all the resin bits mainly because i wanted them. The intakes and possibly the exhaust are the only ones i would say are mandatory. The kit parts are lacking severely here. The rest i got just because. Heck i wasnt even aware of the nose flaw until i saw the one Chris made. If there is an error in a kit that is plain to see with the naked eye i will fix it if possible. If its something you need a micrometer for then ill call it good enough and press on.

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Hi! Aha, gonna be one more great project! Yeah, it's a really big bird. I have mine somethere in my stash... Maybe some day...

Good luck with your great project! Sure, it will be very inspiring.

Cheers!

Alexander.

:thumbsup:

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I hope it will be eastern. I have a few PE parts to add to the cockpit side walls and main console then i can paint. I found tamiya XF-23 to be a decent match to RLM-78(im out of 78) so i will use this. With some washes and grime it should look proper. Ill have pics of it up in a little bit.

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OK first nights work. Not much but cleanup on these aires parts was not easy. I like how the tamiya XF-23 light blue looks in the cockpit. The guages will be remasked after i paint all the bezels and switches and give it a matt coat. Right now im basically just blocking in the major colors. I gave the panels a light wash to help pop out the details and make them easier to see when painted.

I can already see im going to have to pop off the throttle part. I had assembled that well before i got the ref links. I didnt see how off Aires instructions were for it. Oh well... Update. Throttle is now in the correct position. Aires has it depicted in their instructions as being lower in the cockpit and mounted just above the consoles. The references show it mounted just under the canopy sill lip I feel i have repositioned it properly. Alas imust work early tomorrow and have to head off to sleep.

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Edited by HWR MKII
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Ooh!,.......Goody, goody,....another big Flanker build to follow :yahoo:

You've made a super start on the cockpit tub. The IP looks great. :crying2: I like the colour too, spot on. Those resin bits are lovely are n't they? I'm positive that you'll enjoy the end results once they're in place.

A great modeler once told me that if you arent having fun your doing it wrong.
Sage words indeed and I'd agree entirely. It probably pays to not get too bogged down by total accuracy since this is a hobby and an aid to relaxation away from the stresses of the real world. Judging by what you've shown so far here and in other threads I know that this one will turn out fine ;)

As to colours, hmmm,.....next time you see Zacto, ask him if he has the Flanker DVD. If you are building a Russian bird a quick scan through that will put your mind at ease about the cammo colours. Pics on the DVD show Flankers in all sorts of colours. Some are almost entirely light grey where the other colours have faded, others have patches and touch-ups here and there. Most are dirty and weathered so you could go with pretty much anything and it would look accurate! :lol:

The most important thing is to enjoy the experience. With the additional stuff you're putting into the build the end result is sure to be a looker.

Now, where's that popcorn? I'm gonna enjoy following this.........

:monkeydance:

Edited by geedubelyer
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Thanks guys. I hope to get the basic tub painted tonight after work and move on to the seat. I have already test fit the tub and IP. After removing the material on the kit parts as the instructions show the parts fit like a glove. I still have to remove the bump at the front for the zactoman canopy parts. After this ill most likely move on to the itakes and get their assembly and attachment taken care of. It will have the FOD screens down.

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Well i seem to be Mr butter fingers tonight. I cant seem to keep parts in my hands for very long. So not too much accomplished. I did get the IP painted up a bit though. Some slight cleanup around the bezels and other small touch ups. But i think ill call it a night on this for now. I dont want to drop something on the floor and have it go zipping off to the carpet monster.

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Edited by HWR MKII
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Ok now youv'e gon and done it! i'll have to get mine out now! Big Flanker builds have been a little sparse recently!

Ive got the intakes, now do I get the cockpit and stuff? going on your work, looks like its going to be an expensive time!

BTW I only get to view lakenheath from the area outside the fence!!!

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Ok now youv'e gon and done it! i'll have to get mine out now! Big Flanker builds have been a little sparse recently!

Ive got the intakes, now do I get the cockpit and stuff? going on your work, looks like its going to be an expensive time!

BTW I only get to view lakenheath from the area outside the fence!!!

Thanks man. I have to say that the Aires cockpit set is definitely worth it. The detail difference is night and day. Heck the seat alone is worth it. Comparing the aires cockpit to the reference pictures Chris linked to the details are good enough for me. i see rows of buttons and switches on the resin where they are supposed to be on the real thing.

As far as Lakenheath...I left there in winter 06. I have a revell mudhen in my stash. Im just waiting for AB decals to get their madhatters sheet out. I also need some GBU-12s, a JDAM and a sniper pod.

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Thanks guys. Im thinking of jumping over to the intakes tonight. Or at least taking care of the cutting needed to fit them. When i dry fit my nose it fits almost perfectly. I think going along and knocking out the trouble spots of building first will allow me to progress better.

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ok i now have the intakes dry fitting well and the nose setting well in its opening. Some slight adjustments to be made to where the nose connects though. a slight step formed but it can be eliminated quickly once the fuselage is connected together. For those using the Zactomodels nose in the future its really easy to adjust the fuselage to fit. Just use a decent file and take down the fuselage seam where the halves meet. Not much material needs to be removed. On mine i taped together the rear of the fuselage but used the screw in the front. screw it doen. test fit and then loosen till you can fit the file in there. Remove some plastic and tighten again. Repeat until the nose fits. Any small lips or steps you see right now is from nothing being glued.

When pressed into position more firmyl the steps pop into place well and dont distort other areas. I have decided to change the way im attacking this kit. Instead of going step by step as normal im doing all the work i can to fit the aftermarket stuff now. This means fewer hiccups along the way when i really get going and fewer subassemblies broken. I believe all i have left to do now is bevel the nose gear door opening for the aires set and make sure theres clearance between it and the cockpit.

Oh one thing. How does this model sit weight wise? Will any weight need to be added to the nose or is that not an issue on this particular model?

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Edited by HWR MKII
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