Scale aviation modeller international

I

n all its versions, the Sukhoi

Flanker is one of the most

beautiful modern airplanes

in service. Even though it is big

and heav y, its actual performance

never fails to amaze me.

Trumpeter has made one of the

best 1/72 scale Flanker families

on the market, with a near perfect

fit and amazing details in every

kit. I have built many variants

of the Trumpeter SU-30MKK,

Su-27, and Su-33, and I have

thoroughly enjoyed each one.

Since the shape of the MKK and

the MK are not much different, I

decided to modify Trumpeter’s

1/72 Su-30MKK Flanker-G

#01659 to an Su-30MK of the

Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU).

The Indonesian Air Force Su-

30MK is probably one of the less

popular Flankers, but I love its

camouflage patterns, so I decided

to give it a shot. My model was

going to represent  Su-30MK, TS-

3001 of the 11th Squadron (“The

Thunders”), Indonesian Air Force,

based in Sultan Hasanuddin AFB,

Makassar in South Sulawesi. For

this build I used Indonesian Air

Force decals from the Hi-Decal

Line, plus some extra detailing

add-ons, such as photo-etch parts

from Dream Model, which included

canopy details, cockpit details,

instrument panels, engine intake,

exhaust nozzles, and ladder sets.

THE BUILD

For the cockpit and instrument

panels I used pre-coloured photo-

etch from Dream Model; the details

on this set is remarkable, and are

easy to fit as well. I removed the

clear parts from Trumpeter’s HUD

and replaced them with thin clear

film, which looks more precise and

has a more accurate scale effect. 

After finishing the cockpit, I

modified the main wings’ flaps

to show them in the lowered

position, to give a more interesting

and realistic look to the model.

I attached both the upper and

lower fuselage with Tamiya

thin cement, and after some

putty and sanding, the fuselage

assembly was done and it was

time to move to the next stage.

I started by assembling the

nozzles, using Dream Model

etch set DM0544. I spent 4 hours

THUNDER

Indonesian

SPONSORED

FEATURE

Conversion of Trumpeter’s Su-30MKK to an Indonesian MK

by Kitti Tatsumaki

74 • APRIL 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

BY SACCO DE VRIES

SU-30MK

BY K IT TI TAT S UM A K I

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074-77-FEAT-AKInteractive-0418.indd 74 09/03/2018 16:08