INTERMEDIATE BUILD
Su-34 FULLBACKINTERMEDIATE BUILD
Su-34 FULLBACK32 Airfi x Model WorldINTERMEDIATE BUILD
Su-34 FULLBACKS
ukhoi’s Fullback has drawn
much public attention of
late for its missions over
war-torn Syria and striking
‘eggplant’ camouflage option.
With its unmistakable Su-27
Flanker lineage, the Su-34 (known
initially as the Su-27IB and then
the Su-32/FN) was designed as a
replacement for the Su-24 Fencer.
It combined the manoeuvrability
and long range of the fighter with
an all-new side-by side cockpit and
lengthened tail boom, or ‘stinger’
as its more commonly known. It’s
capable of being equipped most
Russian air-to-air missiles (AAMs)
and air-to-ground munitions, along
with the corresponding designator
and datalink pods, and carries
countermeasures equipment in
the tail boom and wingtip
pods (displacing the AA-11
Archer AAMs to the
outer wing pylons).The distinctive nose shape has
led to the type being nicknamed
‘utkonos’ (platypus) by Russian
pilots, while its considerable
combat capabilities have been
demonstrated in Syria, where it
has dropped both free-fall and
guided munitions.Accommodation
The sturdy box was near to
bursting with more than
30 styrene runners,
22 of which were
dedicated to
weapons (see
panel),with single-piece upper and lower
combined fuselage/wing halves. All
parts were well moulded, with not
a sink mark in sight.
For 1/72 scale, the cockpit
was rather well appointed, with
separate seat rails, rudder pedals
and control columns, along with
side panels and a rear bulkhead...
an access door was supplied as
a separate piece. Everything was
prepared and painted at the same
time, with interior components
receiving a light blue-grey shade,
mixed from Tamiya XF-23 Light
Blue and XF-2 Flat White. One
exception was the ejection seats,
which were airbrushed satin black,
before the integrally moulded
seatbelts were highlighted with
XF-18 Medium Blue. The instrument
panel featured moulded consoles
and dials, and the kit decals were
applied over
these without
any issue,
conforming to the uneven
surfaces perfectly.
An enamel wash then
accentuated the detail, while the
instrument panel coaming was
sprayed matt black and then
dry-brushed with matt light grey,
after which the clear panel forMike Williams makes his AMW
debut with Trumpeter’s 1/72
Su-34 Fullback fighter-bomber
More than 20 parts formed the well-appointed cockpit and nosewheel bay. To ease the
build, all were assembled as far as practicable before receiving paint. The completed cockpit mirrored the
functional layout of most Russian aircraft,
and required just careful detail painting and
the kit decals to bring the interior to life.pl typuS
PUTI 'S