different teams. On the large guided
bombs and the R-172s, the locating
method is stupidly delicate, with
a tiny groove on the weapon body
and a tiny “v” tab on the control
surface parts; you might as well
butt-fit them. On the (HUGE!)
tanks and the other missiles,
there’s a good old-fashioned slot
in the body and BIG tabs to fit into
them. Much easier, more positive,
and visually you can’t tell the
difference. Campaign for Real
And Large Locators (CRALL)! (I
think you should lay off the beer
while you’re modelling - Ed).
But what to actually use? The
KAB-1500s were interesting (I’ve
not come across them before), and
I was also very tempted by the
thought of an anti-AWACS mission
with those R-172s, but in the end,
I decided to go with a deep strike
package: the pair of Kh-59s as the
primary long range weapon (inner
wing pylons), the Kh-31s as radar
suppression (on the intake pylons),
a couple of R-27ERs for BVR targets
(middle wing pylons), and a pair of
R-73s (outer wing pylons), in case
it gets personal. Add a big tank on
the forward centreline point with
the ECM pods on the wingtips, and
there are a lot of pylons to fill!
I painted up a pair each of the
standard and extended range R-27s,
first priming them with another
Mr. Paint product, MRP-84 Fine
Surface Primer (Grey). I usually use
XtraColor XDBB Lt. Gull Grey Matt
Base under my gloss white finishes,
but having been provided with
the MRP I thought that I should
give it a go. Again, very impressed,
sprays well, dries very smooth and
very quickly, and took the white
enamel, thinned with lacquer
thinners, without complaint.
It was while I was adding the
clear seeker heads that I noticeda slight problem: four R-27 IR
heads are supplied on the clear
sprue, enough for the one sprue
of the air-to-air stuff, but not
enough to build them all!THE FINAL BITS
With the chosen load built up,
painted and attached to pylons,
it was time to get the last bits in
place. I fitted the weapons load
while I could still rest the airframe
on its back (so the glue could do its
stuff with gravity working for me).
While this set I added the refuelling
probe and cover, the exhausts,
the gun (with the tip drilled out
slightly), and a few more pitots
under the cockpit. The kit probe
is designed to be in the deployed
position, but without modification
won’t sit flush, so I modified it
with my snippers, drilled thehole a bit bigger, and stuck it in.
Then it was finally time to add
the vertical tails – would they
still just snap into place? Yes, they
would! A very impressive bit of
engineering, and I do like the way
it incorporates the underside. A
tiny comment on the aerial fit on
the top of the tails, with particular
reference to the odd shaped anchor-
like affair you see on these things:
I have seen pictures with the fit
provided (one on top each side),
but also some with an extra one on
the starboard side, under the two
bullet fairings. I went with just the
one each side but used the Eduard
etch parts in preference to the kit
plastic as they were a better shape.
And with the horizontal tails,
trailing edge flaps, and canardsfitted, it was a matter of attaching
the ADC sensor in front of the
cockpit (again, some pictures show
the fit here varies too). Before
removing the cockpit masks, I fitted
the nose pitot and a couple of tiny
little pitch vanes, and it’s done.CONCLUSION
The Hobby Boss Su-34 is expensive,
and yes, there have been mutterings
online about the nose shape, but I
think these are greatly exaggerated.
The completed Su-34 Fullback is
big, beautiful, fits together well, and
I had a lot of fun building it. And as
a small bonus, I have lots of spare
weapons for future projects. What
more can you ask for from a model?
My thanks to Creative models for
supplying the review samples, which
can be purchased from their website
at http://www.creativemmodels.co.uk14 • JANUARY 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
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