Fighting Eighty-Four Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 (edited) Hey everyone!  Well, I haven't done an in-progress thread in awhile, but since this project is my first real conversion (and one of my favorite aircraft), I thought I would do one for this... Besides, I may need some support and may have some questions along the way. 🙂  So the base kit for this is the Hobby Boss Su-30MKK, and I will be using the Naza Model Art Su-30MKM conversion set. I also have Fishbone decals for this aircraft. I will also be using a L'Arsenal Aero Damocles pod, AMUR Reaver Thrust Vectoring Exhausts, Master Model Pitot, and Neomega seats.   So pull up a seat and enjoy the show! Edited November 22, 2018 by Fighting Eighty-Four Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flankerman Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 4 hours ago, Fighting Eighty-Four said: So the base kit for this is the Hobby Boss Su-30MKM  Don't you mean the Hobby Boss Su-30MKK ???  You are starting with an MKK (Modified (updated), Kommercial (Export), Kitei (China)).... and ending up with an MKM (Modified, Kommercial, Malaysia).  Happy Flankering  Ken   Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rom Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 Hi! I also have the nive Naza set. I would like to build the mkm prototype 04 with the colorful camo. Have fun! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flankerman Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, rom said: I would like to build the mkm prototype 04 with the colorful camo.  Rom, if it is the camouflaged '04 Blue' you mean - that was a pre-production Su-30MKI for India :-  Although - the photo above shows it fitted with MAWS and LWS - so maybe it also served as a development machine for the MKM ?  AFAIK, the Su-30MKM (for Malaysia) were only painted all over grey on the top surfaces (unless you know different?).  The MKM is visually different to the MKI (apart form the different avionics)  I made a 1/72 scale MKI & MKM a few years ago - using the Heller Su-27UB as a staring point......   Indian AF MKI at left, Malaysian AF MKM at right - the MKM has lots of 'bumps' - for the MAWS (Missile Approach Warning System) and LWS (Laser Warning Antenna) fitted.  Happy Flankering  Ken Edited November 22, 2018 by Flankerman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rom Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 You are right dear Ken! 🙂 but on the 04 we can see an antena on his top fuselage. As on the mkm... so im a bit lost between mki mkm... 🙂 cheers Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Whiskey Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 Ohhh this is gonna be awesome!!! I have the kit in my stash to build an MKI, just waiting on Cold War Studios to finish their upgrade conversion. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted November 22, 2018 Author Share Posted November 22, 2018 5 hours ago, Flankerman said:  Don't you mean the Hobby Boss Su-30MKK ???  You are starting with an MKK (Modified (updated), Kommercial (Export), Kitei (China)).... and ending up with an MKM (Modified, Kommercial, Malaysia).  Happy Flankering  Ken   Oops, that is definitely a typo. I did get it right in the title though! LOL  I corrected it, thanks for the heads up! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted November 22, 2018 Author Share Posted November 22, 2018 1 hour ago, rom said: You are right dear Ken! 🙂 but on the 04 we can see an antena on his top fuselage. As on the mkm... so im a bit lost between mki mkm... 🙂 cheers  Welcome rom! Yeah, it can be a bit difficult to discern all the different details between these Flankers. But specifically for the MKM, Berkut posted a fantastic pic that shows all the unique features of the MKM in a post awhile back, so I am going to steal it and post here since it will be rather relevant to this build and may be of use to anyone following along that is planning to build one of these in the future...  Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted November 22, 2018 Author Share Posted November 22, 2018 1 hour ago, Whiskey said: Ohhh this is gonna be awesome!!! I have the kit in my stash to build an MKI, just waiting on Cold War Studios to finish their upgrade conversion. Welcome Zach! Thanks, I hope I can do this awesome aircraft justice!  I too am waiting on the CWS conversion. I will do a Su-30SM some day with it, unless some manufacturer announces a kit in the meantime... which is probably not likely. LOL Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flankerman Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 Rom, we were both right about 'Blue 04'......  It was originally a pre-production Su-30MKI - as the picture caption in Yefim Gordon's Su-27 Flanker book says......  But then in the text he says..... "The Su-301-4 and Su-301-5 were further converted as the Su-30MKM prototypes"  So it was a Su-30MKI AND a Su-30MKM !!!!  Cheers  Ken Quote Link to post Share on other sites
paulsbrown Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018  But does it include the MKM/MKI style cockpit displays? I've been following the Naza conversion development and know his builds have the cockpits on FB but they don't seem to be shown in the package contents.  I had to scratch some for my 1/48 MKI prototype.  Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted November 23, 2018 Author Share Posted November 23, 2018 (edited) 13 hours ago, paulsbrown said:  But does it include the MKM/MKI style cockpit displays? I've been following the Naza conversion development and know his builds have the cockpits on FB but they don't seem to be shown in the package contents.  I had to scratch some for my 1/48 MKI prototype.  Sadly, it does not. I have been thinking about what to do there, but I am not much of a scratch builder. But I may see what I can come up with. Thanks for posting those pics of your work, very impressive!  Another issue is the Thales HUD. I can't seem to find any good pics of it. The best cockpit pics of the MKM have a red cover over the HUD. I wonder if it is similar to the one on the Su-30SM? There are lots of good pics of that one, and from what I can see from outside shots of the MKM it looks very similar. I do know Thales and Sukhoi did have some cooperation at some point... Edited November 23, 2018 by Fighting Eighty-Four Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted November 23, 2018 Author Share Posted November 23, 2018 (edited) Orrrrrr maybe I just put a red cover over the HUD like the pics. That might be cool! Edited November 23, 2018 by Fighting Eighty-Four Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Whiskey Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 Easy fix lol. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Matt Walker Posted November 24, 2018 Share Posted November 24, 2018 Did 04 Blue have Thrust Vectoring Nozzles? Â I hope to do this conversion in 48th also, at some point... Â M Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted November 24, 2018 Author Share Posted November 24, 2018 I have started preparing for the cutting of the fuselage for the resin shoulders for the canards. This is going to be fun. LOL I hope I don't screw this up!     I also am thinking about using the canards from a bad sprue (short shot) from my Kinetic Su-33, which was kindly replaced by Kinetic. It looks to be the same size and very similar riveting, although the shape is very slightly different. Does anyone know if there is a difference between the Su-33 and Su-30 canards? If not, I will use the Kinetic.   Also, here is a pic of the small bits included in the Naza set...  Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Janissary Posted November 25, 2018 Share Posted November 25, 2018 Looking forward to this build! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted November 25, 2018 Author Share Posted November 25, 2018 2 hours ago, Janissary said: Looking forward to this build! Thanks Janissary, it's good to have you here!  Well, got the cutting done and sanded strategically to fit the shoulders.     The left side is done and the fit is going to be quite good, should only need a little bit of filler up top and a bit more on the underside. Still working on the gun side, the shape is a bit more complicated on that side so I still have more sanding to do to get a consistently good fit top and bottom, but I will get there.    This has gone quite well so far, not the monster I was fearing LOL. Actually, this has been kinda fun to do, almost like a puzzle that I need to make fit.  So I do still need to do some cutting of the exhaust area for the AMR nozzles, and still need to figure out what I will do with the cockpit IPs and HUD. I might try to do some scratch building of the IPs.  Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Matt Walker Posted November 27, 2018 Share Posted November 27, 2018 So I inquired with Mr Naza bout buying one of his sets. $26US for the set, fine. $12 postage, okay, $6 Paypal fee OUCH!!! For a total of US$44. Haven't decided if I need it "that" badly.  Just an FYI.  M Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted November 29, 2018 Author Share Posted November 29, 2018 On 11/27/2018 at 9:28 AM, Matt Walker said: So I inquired with Mr Naza bout buying one of his sets. $26US for the set, fine. $12 postage, okay, $6 Paypal fee OUCH!!! For a total of US$44. Haven't decided if I need it "that" badly.  Just an FYI.  M Hmmm, I don't remember paying that $6 fee, but my memory sucks sometimes. LOL  Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted November 29, 2018 Author Share Posted November 29, 2018 Well, took a break from the cutting, sanding, and fitting and worked on the cockpit. It is mostly done, but have a few little areas to touch up. A couple things of note about the cockpit:  1. Well, my attempt at scratch building the IPs was an abject failure. I was so unhappy with what I came up with I just decided to go with the kit supplied parts, despite the fact they are not right. Much props to you Paul for pulling off such awesome IPs! It appears I will just never be very good at sctachbuilding nor scribing... 2. You might wonder why the pit is dark gray. Well, from looking at pics it appears that the Malaysian version has this color as opposed to the normal Sukhoi blue-gray. I just used Gunze Aqueous Dark Seagray, which looked close.  I used the kit supplied decals for the cockpit, but painted the MFD screens black because I am building a powered down aircraft. The decals show displays on. Still not sure what I will do about the Thales HUD, as it is different from what is in the kit, and I cannot seem to find any good pics of it. All the close up pics I have found have a red cover over the HUD, which I am considering trying to replicate.  Anyway, here are some pics of the cockpit so far:     Quote Link to post Share on other sites
paulsbrown Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 (edited) Cockpit looks great, nicely done! The fit of the canard shoulders look good and good to know too as I noticed on Naza's FB page he used the 1/48th Academy when designing the conversion. I still have some Sol conversions which I was thinking of using on a HB. Also, I got a set of etched metal Airscale Cockpit Details and Modern Cockpit Instruments decals which will make scratch building a new cockpit a lot easier, I wish I had them on my MKI. Edited November 30, 2018 by paulsbrown Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mr Matt Foley Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 Nice work so far. Kinda reminds me of my SOL Su-35/37 conversion from many years ago with the shoulders and all. The resin looks more refined by the photos. The pit looks great, with or without the correct layout. You're a brave man Michael......keep rockin the kit! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted December 4, 2018 Author Share Posted December 4, 2018 On 11/29/2018 at 1:12 PM, paulsbrown said: Cockpit looks great, nicely done! The fit of the canard shoulders look good and good to know too as I noticed on Naza's FB page he used the 1/48th Academy when designing the conversion. I still have some Sol conversions which I was thinking of using on a HB. Also, I got a set of etched metal Airscale Cockpit Details and Modern Cockpit Instruments decals which will make scratch building a new cockpit a lot easier, I wish I had them on my MKI.  Thanks Paul! I am thinking it is his older conversion that uses the Academy, the cut points line up pretty perfectly to the HB kit, so I would be inclined to believe that is the case.  Ah, I never thought of that. Yeah, that would make things much easier. I think for me though, I will wait until someone comes out with a kit some day before I try this again. If you do another I will be sure to follow along!  On 11/29/2018 at 5:51 PM, Mr Matt Foley said: Nice work so far. Kinda reminds me of my SOL Su-35/37 conversion from many years ago with the shoulders and all. The resin looks more refined by the photos. The pit looks great, with or without the correct layout. You're a brave man Michael......keep rockin the kit!  Thanks Matt! Yeah, the resin is pretty nice, actually. I am impressed.   Still plugging away at the kit, slow but steady! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fighting Eighty-Four Posted December 4, 2018 Author Share Posted December 4, 2018 Took a little time to work on fitting the AMR TV exhaust... I cut the nacelles back a decent amount to get the diameters to match. I am going to cut out a little bit more as I have a little more room to get it perfect. I am not going to cut all the way back to the panel line that it should go to, because the diameter of the nacelles won't match at that point (nacelle opening will be too big). So instead of doing major sanding and fitting at that point, I am going to just go to where they line up. This will result in the end of the nozzle being a bit further back then the actual aircraft, but that will not bother me too much and will not be too noticeable. The difference will not be too major as I have removed about 3/4 of the area that needs to be removed already. Sorry I kinda babbled there, so I apologize if that doesn't make sense... LOL       got the fuselage halves together recently, the fit of the HB kit is quite nice, but I do have a little seam work and clean up to do...      I have started working on the shoulders, so I should have an update soon! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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