Flankerman Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 What you get for your money...... I have made a start on the ejection seats - 3 of them, with 13 parts per seat..... They are very accurate - and capture the look of the KT-? seats fitted to the Blinder..... Its just a pity they can't be seen once the fuselage is assembled.... (the seat looks better than this - honest! - the camera shows all the faults.) :bandhead2:/>/> Here's a photo I took at Engels in 2007 - showing how good Modelsvit's seat is... A couple more photos of the instruction sheet here. Ken Quote Link to post Share on other sites
janman Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 I want one! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mario krijan Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 Ken is back, again with nice project!!! Keep up :-) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flankerman Posted November 24, 2015 Author Share Posted November 24, 2015 It's a large model - bigger than I thought - span 322mm (12.6in), length 592mm (23.3in)........ (I taped it together to measure it - then found that Modelsvit has printed the size on the box ends)......:doh:/> The plastic is very shiny and brittle - and 'tears' easily - so care is needed when cutting the parts from the sprue - be warned! Also - every part has to be carefully removed, the attachment bits carefully paired down (without tearing) - and all edges made true. Lots of fettling - but normal for Modelsvit/Amodel. Ken Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kellyF15 Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 Yet another added to my list! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dragan_mig31 Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Must buy one :D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flankerman Posted November 27, 2015 Author Share Posted November 27, 2015 I'l post photos later - but I'm getting on with painting the cockpit. Probably due to their moulding size limits, the fuselage is in four halves - front and rear, leftand right. This facilitates making a new front end* - with smaller radome, trainer versions etc - but it does mean that there is a nasty join in the fuselage, just in front of the wing root. The instructions would have you complete the front fuselage section - followed by the rear fuselage section - then plug the completed front fuselage into the completed rear fuselage. There isnt much of a mating surface - and the thickness of the plastic varies slightly - so lining things up might prove difficult. Ignoring Modelsvit's instructions, I have cemented the front fuselage half to the rear fuselage half - on a flat surface - and reinforced the joint on the inside. No matter how hard I tried lining it up, there is still a slight step / ridge between the two halves - so it will need a lot of rubbing down and making good etc.... - but at least the join is easier to make 'invisible' before cementing the two completed full-length fuselage haves (left and right) together. A couple of photos shows it better than words...... I'm not looking forward to sanding that shiny, brittle plastic :woot.gif:/> * I have no idea if Modelsvit are planning further versions - but they would be remiss if they didn't. Ken Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flankerman Posted November 27, 2015 Author Share Posted November 27, 2015 In slightly better news......... The whole lower fuselage below the cockpits is open - with a separate part to plug it. By carefully cutting this part into sections - it might be possible to scratch some extended rails and display the seats in the down position - using the cut sections as 'doors' Watch this space. Ken Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flankerman Posted November 28, 2015 Author Share Posted November 28, 2015 Modelsvit provide a very comprehensive set of decals for all the instrument panels..... The pilot's and weapons system officers 'tub'...... .... it's just a pity that none of this will be seen when installed...... :crying2:/> Ken Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aigore Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Looking great there, Ken :D We modelers tend to put in work where nothing will be seen:P Quote Link to post Share on other sites
janman Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 We sure do! Although not a fan of instrument panel decals, these look quite pretty! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sebastijan Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 For a piece of something that will not be seen, these look really nice! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kellyF15 Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Im not sure why, but I ordered one..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flankerman Posted December 2, 2015 Author Share Posted December 2, 2015 (edited) A bit of progress - you have to do lots of interior assembly before the fuselage halves can be joined..... The complete cockpit has to be assembled and painted - as does the weapons bay and nosewheel bay..... These are the interior parts for the weapons bay (minus the delicate sway braces) - note the up/down sliding beam for the Kh-22 missile... The nose undercarriage parts - the instructions would have you assemble and fit the whole wheel bay - complete with the leg exposed and thus prone to damage...... Note how short the axles are - I may replace with a longer one - I'm also working on a way to fit the nose leg at the end of the build. In the meantime - the postman just delivered the Armory resin wheel set that I ordered...... .... excellent service from Armory BTW - ordered on 18 November, delvered on 2 December. :thumbsup:/>/> Here are the kit wheels..... .... perfectly adequate - but I just didn't fancy cementing all those wheel halves together. Ken Edited December 2, 2015 by Flankerman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flankerman Posted December 2, 2015 Author Share Posted December 2, 2015 The windows are not yet in place - and two of the 3 seats are just Blu-tacked on - but this shot shows how comprehensive the interior really is..... pity it won't be seen on the finished model ... a bit of touching up is still needed. This view is side-on showing the rails on which the seats are raised and lowered..... Bottom view with the lower insert - the doors outlines are pencilled in... By carefully cutting the insert into six parts - I reckon the seats can be displayed in the lowered position..... I'll give it a go.... Ken Quote Link to post Share on other sites
janman Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Okay, so the seat rails ARE included and not scratched by you, Ken? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flankerman Posted December 2, 2015 Author Share Posted December 2, 2015 No - they are in the kit. The kit provides 3 sloping bulkheads - with the rails moulded on them. So it should be quite simple to make the drop-down 'doors' - add some rails to them and attach the seats to those. Ken Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tom Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 The resin replacement wheels from Armory look much better. Tom Quote Link to post Share on other sites
janman Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 All right, that sounds good. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MoFo Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 The resin replacement wheels from Armory look much better. Tom Meh. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flankerman Posted December 3, 2015 Author Share Posted December 3, 2015 A bit more progress..... The anti-flash blinds are delicately moulded and fit inside the fuselage - with the clear parts being added to the outside on top of them....... To allow the nose leg to be fitted later in the build, I opened up one mounting hole to a U-shape - this allows the part to be slipped in place later. The sway brace is fitted and taped up to stop it rotating..... The whole nosewheel bay fits together very sloppily BTW. All the interior parts have to be assembled, painted and put in place before the fuselage halves can be joined - I had to do a lot of 'fettling' on the cockpits section to get the fuselage halves to join gap free..... The interior parts, from left to right...... 1.Noseweight (just in case). 2. Interior window blinds. 3. Pre-assembled cockpits. 4. Pre-assembled nosewheel bay. 5. Front spar. 6. Rear spar. 7. Pre-assembled weapons bay. 8. Tail skid bay. 9. Tailplane actuator slot. With a bit of luck - and some strong tape - the port fuselage half can now be added. Ken Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jennings Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 (edited) Hey Ken - have you noticed how many Tu-22s (and other Soviet types) lack the white part of the border in the red stars? Once I noticed it, I started seeing it all over the place. It's either not there, or it's worn away to the point that it's the same color as the natural metal under it. Edited December 5, 2015 by Jennings Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jennings Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 (edited) Looking good Ken! Mine's on the way. So I heard from Tom Cooper. While "St. Yefim" (as he calls him) swears that no KDs were delivered to Iraq, Tom has lots of evidence that they did, including how, when, and where they used the Kh-22 missiles against Iranian Hawk SAM sites, etc. He thinks photos will eventually appear. He claims to have one serial number for one of them (4514). I'm willing to go with his research, hoping a photo will eventually show up. Meantime, I scaled up a drawing from the Gordon/Komissarov book to 1/72, and found some 1/48 Fishbed markings that fit the bill perfectly! Edited December 5, 2015 by Jennings Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flankerman Posted December 5, 2015 Author Share Posted December 5, 2015 Some more...... All that nice interior detail - and this is all you can see once the fuselage halves are joined....... To get the nose halves to join I had to remove one of the navigators side consoles - after also reducing the diameter of two bulkheads - the cockpit section is just too wide to fit. Luckily, you can't see anything anyway..... The fuselage bottom has loads of cutouts - yet more joints... Great find on the Iraqi Blinders Jennings - who'll be the first with a resin Sirena pod ??? Re the stars - I don't think there was a white border on silver-painted airframes - at least not on all. Ken Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jennings Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 Actually it's unlikely the Iraqi Tu-22KDs had Sirena pods. That was just on the KD drawing I used to scale the markings. At least mine isn't going to have one. In any event, it would take 15 minutes to make it from a blob of Milliput. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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