Now with all painting work
completed a coat of gloss varnish
was applied to seal the work
and prepare the surface for the
decals. The kit supplies five decal
options in the kit but I had no
doubt about my choice. In my
opinion there is only one airline
that best represents Russia and
its giant planes – Aeroflot.
The kit decals reacted very well
to Mr. Mark Softer and conformed
perfectly into the delicate details.
The large fuselage strip scared
me but it was really easy to place.
There are literally hundreds of
stencils to be applied on wings and
tail planes, but I’ll confess that I
used only a small part of them and
think my model still looks good.
With the decals in place I
airbrushed a coat of acrylic gloss
varnish to seal them and prepare
the surface for the incoming
washes. My choice was Aclad’s
Aqua Gloss varnish, which is
quite easy to apply and provides a
hard shiny surface. I then applied
three different washes from
Ammo: a light grey to accent thepanel lines on the white parts, a
medium grey on the grey areas,
and a blue-black wash on the
metallic parts like the wings and
the tailplanes’ leading edges.
I know that the An-124 is a
civilian aircraft, but I don’t like
shiny finishes on any models.
Even airliners get weathered
somehow and gloss paintings
usually get faded and matt with
time. So I decided to give the model
a final semi-gloss coat using
Model Master acrylic varnish.
Final assembly started with
the landing gear and I confess
that I was surprised to see how
the 20 wheels aligned perfectly to
the ground. Next came the cargo
doors, with special attention to the
rear one because its attachment
to the cabin floor is quite narrow.
I only fully secured it after the
installation of the four hydraulic
actuators. The front ramp and
the upward folding nose section
didn’t present any problems at all.At last, it was time to attach the
pre-painted wings and tailplanes,
but as I had already test-fitted
everything, this was just a matter
of sanding the attachment point to
remove any paint accumulated on
these areas and secure the parts in
place with slow-drying superglue.
The engine nacelles were next
and the final touch was painting
the position lights in red and green
using Ammo Crystal paints.CONCLUSION
There is nothing small on this 1/144
scale Ruslan, but it was a really
enjoyable build. Revell’s engineering
is very precise, which makes it easy
despite its size. Before working on
this little giant, my last civilian aircraft
was built some 30 years ago, but
now I’m seriously considering give
them a new try on my workbench!
My thanks to Revell for supplying
this kit, which is available from
model shops across Europe.“THERE IS NOTHING SMALL ON THIS
1/144 SCALE RUSLAN, BUT IT WAS
A REALLY ENJOYABLE BUILD”
WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • JUNE 2018 • 71
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