Jump to content

Recommended Posts

The Tupolev Tu-143 Reys (Reys = Flight) is a short range (60 - 70 km) unmanned Soviet tactical reconnaissance drone used by the Soviet military and its Allies in the 1970s and 1980s. Currently Russia appears to be using these as target drones while North Korea and the Ukraine are using them operationally. While doing some background research on this drone, I came across an embarrassing incident for the Russians when one of their Tu-143 Reys crash-landed in the yard of a nursery school in Prague! As the Czechs were friendly at the time, the Russians had some s'plaining to do as to why they were operating a short range recon drone over their friendly hosts. :whistle:/>/>

I will be starting with the Decarli kit of the Tu-143:

Tu%20143%20REJS%2072_004_MJI07232016%20Large.jpg

Here's what comes with the kit:

Tu%20143%20REJS%2072_003_MJI07232016%20Large.jpg

As I am well underway in another GB here on ARC, I will move this along as modeling time allows.

Have fun modeling!

Mike

:cheers:/>/>

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi Darwin

Yup, those red stripes will be a challenge with this model. After pouring over a bunch of photos of the Tu-143 Reys, most if not all of the ones I have seen have the red stripes. It looks like this is the typical operational scheme, so I'll get a good lesson in detail painting!

I suspect that the kit will take longer for me to build than it might appear from the parts count. There are some molding problems and pinholes in the resin that suggest it will require a few sessions of filler/sanding. The resin is a bit soft and scratches easy so this might be a problem during assembly. I am also now planning on scratch building the trailer as the main part really suffers from pinholes and a few of the little pieces are broken anyway. We will see how this goes!

Have fun modeling

Mike

:cheers:/>

Link to post
Share on other sites

Wow Sebastijan, that is very cool!! I have seen some photos of the Tu-143 in it's launch truck and that is very impressive. This would be an interesting kit for one of the armor modeling companies such as Dragon or Trumpeter. Hopefully, my build will look like the Tu-143 that you remember.

Have fun modeling!

Mike

:cheers:/>

Link to post
Share on other sites

Let the games begin! When I cut the main fuselage off the resin pour stub, the bottom of the aircraft had some large, flat areas where the fuselage should be more circular. As I needed to start to fill in the pinholes, my first step is to use Apoxie Putty and reform the bottom of the fuselage. Here's the fuselage after the putty is dry but before sanding.

Tu%20143%20Reys_006_MJI08232016%20Large.jpg

Tu%20143%20Reys_007_MJI08232016%20Large.jpg

Nothing too exciting yet!

Have fun modeling

Mike

:cheers:/>/>

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...

Time to get this build rejuvenated! I have been away from my bench for most of the past month or so, so I don't have a lot of progress to report. Here's how the bottom of the drone looks after numerous putty sessions. I decided to fill in the landing gear bays with putty as I'll have the vehicle sitting on a trailer (more on that later).

 

Tu%20143%20Reys_29_MJI09222016%20Large.j

 

Tu%20143%20Reys_28_MJI09222016%20Large.j

 

Have fun modeling!

Mike

:cheers:

Link to post
Share on other sites

Let's backtrack a little and cover the trailer that I plan on using. A multipart resin trailer does come with the kit but it would be a real challenge to build. The straight (?) pieces used for the main body and axle supports had a lot of pinholes in them. I also had one of the axle supports broken off when I received the kit as they are thin and fragile. I decided to scratch build my own trailer using a few parts from the kit. The main pieces are plastic rod that I glued together and then puttied to duplicate the weld area. I added a small piece from the spare parts box as a hitch. The axle/wheel supports are cut from thin plastic strip and you can see them on the green mat. The wheels and Tu-143 support pieces are cleaned up parts from the kit. The small yellow circle is one of four paint masks I punched out for covering the wheel hubs when I paint the tires.

 

Tu%20143%20Reys_020_MJI08302016%20Large.

 

Here are the small axle support pieces with some axles added using plastic rod. BTW, the kit has you gluing the wheels directly to the small support strips. Can't see how that would work in real life!

 

Tu%20143%20Reys_024_MJI08302016%20Large.

 

Here is how the parts looked assembled. It is on to the paint booth for the trailer.

 

Tu%20143%20Reys_25_MJI09222016%20Large.j

Have fun modeling

Mike

:cheers:

Edited by Mike J. Idacavage
Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...

Back to the Tu 143. Like a lot medium quality of resin castings, I am having fun with multiple rounds of putty, sanding, washing. priming and repeat. It is moving along so here is the drone that is almost fully assembled during this phase:

 

Tu%20143%20Reys_31_MJI09302016%20Large.j

 

Tu%20143%20Reys_35_MJI09302016%20Large.j

 

Tu%20143%20Reys_34_MJI09302016%20Large.j

 

Have fun modeling

Mike

:cheers:

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...

Well, it is the proverbial "1 step forward and 2 steps backward" for this project! I was trucking along and gave the drone a final primer coat. It looked good as you can see in this photo:

 

Tu%20143%20Reys%2072_46_MJI11062016%20La

 

Then it is off to give it the final light gray color coat. I used the Humbrol light gray recommended in the instructions and it came out a gray green. Yuck! I had spent some time stirring the Humbrol pot but evidently it was not enough. Perhaps I can overcoat it with a thin coat of a different light gray? Before I did that step I decided to rescribe a few panel lines that were disappearing. Bad idea! I managed to snap of the thin rudder and also one of the wigs while rescribing it.  :crying:  Ah well, such is life!

 

I decided to reboot this project and have stripped off most of the paint from the model and wing, rudder. I have now glued them back on and after some sanding/rescribing/etc. I will start the paint process over again. At least I have a month to go!

 

Have fun modeling

Mike

:cheers:

Link to post
Share on other sites

I am back on track with some progress to report on the drone. I repaired the broken pieces, cleaned up the seems and reprimed the model. It looked passable, so I gave it an overall coat of Soviet light gray from an old tin of White Ensign Models paint. It does not look a lot different than the Mr Surfacer gray primer! (it is a bit lighter and does match the photos reasonably well).

 

Tu%20143%20Reys%2072_47_MJI11272016%20La

 

Tu%20143%20Reys%2072_51_MJI11272016%20La

 

Tu%20143%20Reys%2072_52_MJI11272016%20La

 

Tu%20143%20Reys%2072_53_MJI11272016%20La

 

Now it is on to painting the red stripes! I plan on doing this in small sections so this step will take some time.

Have fun modeling

Mike

:cheers:

Link to post
Share on other sites

My plan is to go old school and paint the stripes on. It will be an exercise in masking but I am a little more comfortable going this route rather than getting a red decal to match and then consistently cutting and applying them to a 3D surface. I will post some in progress shots when I have something to show. At least I have another 3 weeks in this GB to complete the process!!!  :rolleyes:

 

Have fun modeling

Mike

:cheers:

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...

Now to add some color to the drone. Here's how it looks after some of the red striping and other sections have been added. I am painting a few areas/stripes at a time and then moving on after that section dries. It is a bit slow but hopefully it will allow steady progress.

 

Tu%20143%20Reys%2072_55_MJI12022016%20La

 

Tu%20143%20Reys%2072_57_MJI12022016%20La

 

Have fun modeling!

Mike

:cheers:

Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, I hit another little speedbump as I race towards the finish line. This was not totally unexpected as I was not confident that I would be able to pull off the masking of the red stripes/areas without at least some problems. I managed to get a bit of bleed of the red paint on the right side and bottom with some of the red paint spray going where it should not be. :doh:   I was using a low tack masking tape in some areas and this tape managed to lift at the wrong time. Not a major problem as I will now mask off the red stripes and touch up the problem gray areas. Just another learning experience in the life of a modeler! 

 

Tu%20143%20Reys%2072_63_MJI12072016%20La

 

Tu%20143%20Reys%2072_65_MJI12072016%20La

 

Tu%20143%20Reys%2072_67_MJI12072016%20La

 

Have fun modeling!

Mike

:cheers:

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi Darwin

 

Good question! As far as my internet research shows, the Tu 143 Reys has only been used as a recon drone. It appears to have been optimized for the reconnaissance role so perhaps it is not very efficient as a weapon? Later variants have been used as target drones and a recent variant under development does carry a weapon pylon.

 

Have fun modeling

Mike

:cheers:

Link to post
Share on other sites

I can almost see the finish line for my GB! I now have the Tu 143 paint job cleaned up. I have also added the small canards/fins at the front of the fuselage and the model is wearing a gloss clear coat in anticipation of adding the decals. Here's what it looks like as we enter the final week of this GB:

 

Tu%20143%20Reys%2072_74_MJI12252016%20La

 

Tu%20143%20Reys%2072_73_MJI12252016%20La

 

Hopefully, the next post from me will be the one with the photos of the completed model late this week.

Have fun modeling

Mike

:cheers:

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...