Scale aviation modeller international

where the author used cellulose

thinners and was happy with the

result. So I did the same. They

seemed to clean the nozzle, etc,

as it flowed through OK but it

didn’t clean the cup very well.

Then I did some more masking

and sprayed the MRP-205 Eggplant

Dark Grey (lovely colour!). It took

a couple of coats to make it even

enough, but given how well it

sprayed and how quickly it dried,

that really wasn’t a problem.

This time I used Tamiya Acrylic

Paint Thinner X-20A to clean

the airbrush and it worked a lot

better, so if you are using these

paints, acrylic thinners are the

way to go for cleanup. I was very

impressed by these paints and

will certainly be using them

again on my future projects.

MORE CONSTRUCTION

The Flanker family have what I

consider to be one of the more

complicated undercarriage setups.

The kit plastic represents this

complexity well and consists of

a lot of parts, which fit together

perfectly and join up where they’re

supposed to (not always the case

with other manufacturers’ kits

of the Flanker family). The metal

inserts should provide sufficient

strength; if not, though, I did have

the SAC set to fall back on, which

arrived, rather typically, just

after I had fitted the kit parts.

And so, with the main and nose

gear legs fitted (doors left off at

this point), some pitots (the large

ones on the fuselage side, behind

the cockpit, are a butt fit with no

locating aids at all. Seriously?),

antennas fitted, and a tiny spray of

the “Eggplant” to touch up (another

plus for this paint: a touch of glue

on the fuselage to locate the pitots

didn’t result in any paint wrinkles.

Very nice!), I moved on to decals.

The tails and wing control surfaces

were still left off at this stage (test

fitting showed that the vertical

tails would just snap on later,

apparently not even needing glue!).

TRIAL BY DECALS

The decals, hum... I have been

suffering from a bit of decal

silvering recently, so I was tempted

to gloss the whole thing first

because, while the MPR finish

appeared smooth, I didn’t know if

it was smooth enough. So I thought

I would do decals on some of the

ordnance to get a feel for them, and

then try a few on the airframe to

see how they behaved on the paint.

I started with the weapon

markings. I don’t know who printed

them, but the good news is that they

are very strong and conform really

well. It’s just as well that they’re

strong, though, as I struggled

with them; if they had been more

fragile, they would have been in

the bin. I don’t think I’ve sworn at

a set of markings so much since

I first encountered Propagteam,

which have, or certainly had, a

reputation for sticking where they

are first put and then not moving.

These didn’t do that but they

were very frustrating: they would

be sliding nicely over the (still

wet) backing paper and then they

would just stop moving and be

really difficult to get going again.

Then, when I’d get an image over

the edge of the paper, they would

either leap back onto the paper

or wrap themselves around the

underside. And they were pretty

keen on folding over on themselves

too. This was all quite trying, but

they ARE strong and that was a

good thing, and they do conform

well, which was also a bonus.

I now tried a couple of the

airframe markings and

they seemed to go down

without silvering, so

I took a chance and just

applied them without a gloss coat,

while wondering if I was going to

regret that decision. I’ve said before

(Every review, I think - Ed) that

decals are my favourite part of the

process and this was no different,

partly because the airframe decals

(mostly) behaved themselves (so

there was little cause for swearing);

and partly because, as they went

on, the model looked better and

better. They broke up the rather

dominant eggplant grey, added a

splash of colour, and made me feel

like we were on the home straight.

To be honest, there was still quite a

way to go, but it felt like progress.

I let the decals settle overnight

before fitting the wingtip ECM pods

and leading edge flaps, applying

a coat of satin varnish (very little

silvering, fortunately), and adding

the undercarriage doors (nice fit,

positive locators, actuators that

join where they’re supposed to),

and it was time to think about

what to hang under the thing.

12 • JANUARY 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

006-15-FEAT-SU34-0118.indd 12 08/12/2017 16: