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While I agree that the Canopy shape is a touch off , there really isn''t anything else to stop you building it, and to be honest , when the beast is complete , the canopy shape is the last thing ytou eye is drawn to - The sheer size of it more than compensates for any minor problems , trust me I on this...... :rofl:

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I think I am gonna build it soon. The only thing thats stopping me is confidence.

IMO, the canopy is not going to stand out like a sore thumb.

If you are really really concern about the accuracy, I can reccomend you to build it but DON'T glue the front canopy on. Just build the canopy in open position (I believe everyone's gonna to :rofl:) and place the front canopy piece on without glueing it on. When a AM canopy is released, you can just replace it.

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Alamo missile fins are way too long. The missiles under the intakes almost touch the ground.

Alamo A should have a span of 77cm, thats .947" in 1/32, the kit measures 1.52 ! Way off !

Because the missile body is to large a diameter, I'm Only removing about 1/8" each fin to make the missiles look in proportion.

The intakes themselves bulge down too much, should be almost flat on the bottom. This makes the missile situation even worse. I may just shorten the pylons.

And the canopy sucks...

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Alamo missile fins are way too long. The missiles under the intakes almost touch the ground.

Alamo A should have a span of 77cm, thats .947" in 1/32, the kit measures 1.52 ! Way off !

Because the missile body is to large a diameter, I'm Only removing about 1/8" each fin to make the missiles look in proportion.

The intakes themselves bulge down too much, should be almost flat on the bottom. This makes the missile situation even worse. I may just shorten the pylons.

And the canopy sucks...

Wow...the first time I heard so many negative comments on this bird. Still a beau nonethless

Is anyone near completion of that big sucker?

Some pics would be great if anyone has.

http://s102164210.onlinehome.us/forums/ind...showtopic=39202

Theres also an auction in ebay featuring this bird recently. It showed many closee-up pics of this bird built OOB. I remembered it went for US$510.

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(Tongue planted firmly in cheek)

More importantly, how long do we have to wait before someone comes out with an accurate upper fuselage replacement for the 1:32 Tamiya F-16, since they got those panel lines all wrong?! Enquiring minds want to know!

Sarcasm off....

Rafael, if a slightly mishapen canopy is going to spoil your building of the kit, put it back in the stash until the aftermarket catches up (if it does). Your other option is to do a bang up job on the kit, so that no one even notices the canopy. They'll be blown away by your detailing and paint job....and the size of the beast.

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The built Su-27 that was recently sold on Ebay is here. I personally don't like the end result that much, but the photos are useful for seeing what the details are like. There are dozens of them, so you can see all aspects of the kit. Note that he couldn't get the windshield to fit.

Completed 1/32 Trumpeter Su-27 from Ebay - Gallery 1

Completed 1/32 Trumpeter Su-27 from Ebay - Gallery 2

Completed 1/32 Trumpeter Su-27 from Ebay - Gallery 3

Completed 1/32 Trumpeter Su-27 from Ebay - Gallery 4

Completed 1/32 Trumpeter Su-27 from Ebay - Gallery 5

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Me too. while I have thew kit in hand, I shoved it to the side for a real kit! I just got my tamiya Viper and man what a difference!

The SU-27 kit is pretty decent overall, but that damn front canopy is just way off! I sticks out like a sore thumb, and NOT the end result I want on my built product.

So for you guys trying to draw comparision to the Tamiya Panel line issue, not even in the same league dudes. The Tamiya mistake is of the minor category and can easily (compared of course) fixed and is no where near the jacked shape that trumpeter did on thier SU-27 canopy!

I aslo saw the 32nd SU-27 build up on EBAY. I've seen a bunch of those (same seller) "Slap-Together" builds go for big bucks. There a few others on there as well selling some way less than professional build for big bucks. To be fair though, there are a few sellers with real professional builds, and I've seen those fetch up to 500-600 bones.

Rich

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Windshield is off,but that will not stop me to build it.I have two weeks Christmas break,and I might get Flanker out of the dark.

I've seen that Flanker on Ebay,and I reckon that camo colours are way off.I've seen MiG-21 built in Russian markings but all stenciling was in German from the same seller.It went for around US$300. :cheers:

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I just put up a post at Hyperscale showing some of the probs and a solution to at least the front canopy.

The F15's front canopy is a good match compared to the part supplied.

It has a god profile and almost fits perfectly.

WIth some filling at the front edge you end up with a far better looking front canopy and a much better looking Su27.

The F15 canopy from Tamiya is available for cheap from HLJ and R10.

It has good proportions and nice shape and when you cut off the IR pod from the other part iand put it on the Tamiya front screen t will look great.

A quick get out until hopefully we get a replacement.

Darren

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HI Mike

To order the canopy through Rainbow 10 is was 690Y.

Probably similar through HLJ.

If you have an F15E Bunker buster though there is a spare in that box as you get two sets of glass in the kit.

Still looking at what we can do with the main canopy.

Looks to high to me so i am thinking about trimming the frame on the base.

It will flatten it out a little and hopefully the canopy won't look so huge.

Seeya

Dazz

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"Good to see an accurate replacement is at hand! Whow's going to be carrying it?"

Well,,, I've been thinking of starting my own cottage industry. I was kinda waitin til I had a full kit to release, but that won't be for a few years at the pace I move. Especially with 1/32 interuptions.

I plan to use this as a practice piece. I'm planning to vacuform in .032 acrylic, chop it, scribe it, detail the insides of the frames, make RTV molds, and cast it in clear resin. If I can pull this off with the Su-27 canopy, I might just start the company early. If I can't pull off a resin canopy, my model will get the detailed acrylic canopy and I might consider releasing this as just a vacuformed piece in PETG. I'm guessing that PETG (Coke bottle material) is the plastic to use. I don't know for sure, never actually bought an aftermarket canopy as I've been out of the modelmaking game for several years now (I'm back !).

Does anybody have any experience with resin canopies? Does anybody even make them? Who makes the best resin kits? Best casting quality? Best tooling quality?

I'm reluctant to include a vacuformed canopy in the resin kit I'm hoping to release, as I don't want the consumer to have to deal with trimming it correctly and I want to include details both inside and outside the canopy frames.

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"Good to see an accurate replacement is at hand! Whow's going to be carrying it?"

Well,,, I've been thinking of starting my own cottage industry. I was kinda waitin til I had a full kit to release, but that won't be for a few years at the pace I move. Especially with 1/32 interuptions.

I plan to use this as a practice piece. I'm planning to vacuform in .032 acrylic, chop it, scribe it, detail the insides of the frames, make RTV molds, and cast it in clear resin. If I can pull this off with the Su-27 canopy, I might just start the company early. If I can't pull off a resin canopy, my model will get the detailed acrylic canopy and I might consider releasing this as just a vacuformed piece in PETG. I'm guessing that PETG (Coke bottle material) is the plastic to use. I don't know for sure, never actually bought an aftermarket canopy as I've been out of the modelmaking game for several years now (I'm back !).

Does anybody have any experience with resin canopies? Does anybody even make them? Who makes the best resin kits? Best casting quality? Best tooling quality?

I'm reluctant to include a vacuformed canopy in the resin kit I'm hoping to release, as I don't want the consumer to have to deal with trimming it correctly and I want to include details both inside and outside the canopy frames.

Well, good luck with the clear resin canopy. My understanding is that it is extremely difficult to cast a bubble-free clear resin part under cottage industry conditions. Clear resin is very unforgiving and requires complex molds and pressure casting. If you've been considering releasing a full resin kit, I believe you probably have the equipment or skills to do complicated resin casting, so you might give it a shot. I think the reason many companies will not dare doing clear resin is the potentially high rate of rejects.

Making high quality vacuform canopies, however, is well within the capabilities of any modeler with a good master and some free time. Most modelers with intermediate skills have no problem with vac canopies.

Meteor Productions (Cutting Edge) has invested significant time and research into casting technologies and in my mind there is no doubt they have the best resin castings on the planet. MDC in the UK and Aires are close seconds.

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I will echo the others, Zactoman......

Pleeeese release a replacement canopy for the Trumpeter Su-27.

I have no problems with vacform canopies, I make vacforms all the time - but appreciate that there are those who do.

Some of the vacforms issued by the likes of Falcon, Aeroclub etc are just awesome - scale thickness & crystal clear.

The problem comes with cutting them out and attaching them to the model.

Their very thinness then works against them.

How about making the framing out of resin - with a small internal 'step' onto which the vacformed canopy could sit ??

The modeller would still have the problem of cutting out the canopy - but if it was formed of thick enough acetate, it would be easier.

The big problem as I see it - is not the profile shape - you seem to have got that spot on (and it dramatically highlights the errors in the Trumpeter canopy/windscreen) - but the cross-section shape.

In cross-section, the Flankers canopy is pinched in at the base - where it meets the side framing. It is not a 180deg arch - but more like 190deg. Think of a horseshoe and you will get what I mean

There is no way you can reproduce that with a vacform - unless you can somehow make a two-part mould.

Gordon Sutcliffe (Mr Contrail) did just that with a radome for his vacform Tu-95 Bear many years ago - but it ended up with a large seam where the two halves of the mould were joined (as does Trumpeters canopy for the very same reason).

So in summary, clear resin will give you the correct shape, but is very difficult to get right, vacform is easier - but you might have to compromise on the cross-section shape.

But anything that fixes the Trumpeter kit gets my support.

Good luck with your enterprise - and can I have one of the first samples ????

Ken

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zactoman,

While I applaud your efforts, I caution you about using PET as a material for vacform purposes. As a manager for a plastics factory, I can assure you that PET is not easy to work with. PET is very easily subjected to contamination in the plastic, is a beggar to get bubble free (even in controlled conditions), and had very limited working time, as it cools VERY quickly.

You may want to stick with resin that dries clear.

Just a thought.

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zactoman,

While I applaud your efforts, I caution you about using PET as a material for vacform purposes. As a manager for a plastics factory, I can assure you that PET is not easy to work with. PET is very easily subjected to contamination in the plastic, is a beggar to get bubble free (even in controlled conditions), and had very limited working time, as it cools VERY quickly.

You may want to stick with resin that dries clear.

Just a thought.

I don't understand-how does this apply to vacforming? I vacuform clear canopies regularly, and when I can not find butyrate, I sometimes use PETG from a Coke bottle to make a canopy quickly. We're not trying to mold a canopy out of PETG here, we're just stretching a piece of heated PETG over a master; how can there ever be bubbles in such a setup??

I wouldn't suggest PETG for manufacturing avcuform canopies for sale, clear butyrate is a better option. But PETG can be vacuformed rather easily. Clear resin is a MUCH harder manufacturing option than vacuforming with PETG.

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