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and the lower ventral fin; these are

both a straightforward assembly.

The wings are also

straightforward, although

I found a touch of filler was

needed in a couple of seams. The

control surfaces are supplied

as separate parts and fit well; I

left the flaps raised and ailerons

neutral, as that is how they

appeared in my reference photos.

At this stage I added the bomb

rack fairings, but left the racks

themselves off until later.

As I usually do with jets,

I also left off the all-moving

tailplanes until after painting.

This usually makes any masking

and painting needed around the

rear end somewhat easier, and

given the colour scheme that

was certainly true in this case.

NOSE

The nose is a simple three-part

main assembly, with two main

halves and a panel with the various

camera windows. Two variants

are supplied, depending on which

kit decal option you choose. The

instructions specify 25 g of nose

weight, and for this I used De

Luxe Materials’ Liquid Gravity.

This resembles very small lead

shot (although it is not lead; the

packaging indicates it is “non-

toxic”), with individual pieces so

small that they do flow like a liquid.

Having assembled the nose

and coated the inside with a layer

of PVA (white glue), I simply

poured in 25 g and a bit more for

luck, then finished off with a bit

more PVA. It took a while to dry,

but the end result was solid, and

at the end of the build the model

sat firmly on its undercarriage.

The camera ports are each

represented by a slightly indented

disc covered by a clear window. I

simply painted these black, but

if you wished it would doubtless

be possible to scratch-build an

interior and cameras. At the

time of writing I could find no

aftermarket camera bay available

specifically for this aircraft,

but if you have the references

and the skills you could really

improve this part of the model.

ODDS AND ENDS

With all the main assemblies

drying, there is plenty to

be getting on with.

The wheels are simple two-part

assemblies, and the nose wheels

are each a single part. None have

moulded flat spots, but a few

minutes work with a file sorted

that out. I painted the centres

with Tamiya XF-5 Flat Green and

the tyres XF-85 Rubber Black,

then used a dusting of light grey

pastel chalk to add a used effect

to the tyres, and highlighted

the centres with a dry-brush of

aluminium and a thin black wash.

Two alternative para-brake

housings are provided, depending

on which decal option you’ve

chosen. If you choose to build

another subject, you’ll need to

check which is appropriate.

The kit provides three types of

bomb racks: two of these fit under

the fuselage, and one example of

the third type goes under each

wing. As the parts are on sprue H,

which is duplicated, you’ll have

two spare fuselage bomb racks

(useful for the spares box!)

The racks are a simple

assembly, but take care to fix all

the mounting plates (Parts H2-

and H2-8) the same way round.

The racks are different because of

the way they fit to their particular

location, so before setting them

aside I labelled them with a

small piece of masking tape.

The bombs themselves were

painted dark grey. To mount

them for painting, I did what I

usually do if there is not already

a handy mounting hole: I drilled

a hole which will be hidden when

the bomb fits to the rack, and

mounted it on a cocktail stick.

I then checked the build

sequence again, and looked for any

more painting needed. The fuselage

side panels incorporate the outer

side of the wheel wells, so these will

need to be painted steel inside; you

can clearly see where – it’s where

the interior detail is moulded.

BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER

By this stage I had a lot of sub-

assemblies, and it was time to

bring it all together. In reality, I

had started the bringing-together

earlier, carrying on with some

sub-assemblies while waiting for

the main assembly to set. A good

stock of clamps and tape helped me

considerably by holding assemblies

in place while the glue set hard.

The cockpit module and intake

assemblies were first cemented to

the forward structural bulkhead,

part F11, then the intake trunking

was fitted to the rear of this. It

does all slot together very nicely,

but I’m not convinced I got

the fit 100% right, as we’ll see

shortly. I’m just pleased I was still

testing at this stage and hadn’t

glued the intakes in place.

The main wheel wells are fitted

to the lower fuselage panel (A14),

as is a small vent (F1). There are

two more camera ports under

here as well. Given the location,

I’m a bit puzzled how the Soviet

designers got a camera in the

space available; there’s not much

room for additional details as they

sit under the intake trunking.

Now it’s time to fit the cockpit/

intake assembly to the front of

the lower fuselage, and here I had

a problem. I suspect I may have

misaligned something slightly,

Aligning the wings

Coming together.

Rear fuselage panels on and glue drying.

10 • MAY 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

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