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Sukhoi Su-27

Italeri 1/72 Sukhoi Su-27 by Carmel J.Attard

MANUFACTURER: Italeri

KIT NUMBER: 1413

SCALE: 1/72

TYPE: Injection moulded with three decal

options

PARTS: 84 grey styrene and 4 clear parts.

HISTORY

T

he Su-27, also known as

the Flanker, is a beautiful

Russian modern fighter

that is in service with several

air forces. A twin-engine air

superiority fighter that entered

service in the mid-80s era, it was

developed during the 1970s with

the intention to create a fighter

able to compete against the US Air

Force’s FA-18s and F-15s and the

European Air Force’s Typhoons.

The new fighter design was also

intended to perform the long-

range air defence role against

possible intrusion into Russian

airspace by US strategic bombers.

The Flanker is agile and

manoeuvrable, despite its size,

and is considered to be one of the

best fighters of the period. The

two Satum AL-31 engines give the

fighter a maximum speed of Mach

2.35. It is armed with a 30 mm

gun, has no less than eight pylon

stations mounted under the wings,

and the fuselage that can carry a

wide range of air-to-air weapons.

THE KIT

Apparently this is a reissue of the

Italeri Sukhoi Su-27 tooling, first

released 27 years ago. This time the

kit has renewed box art, depicting

a Su-27 of the Russian Air Force

flying in loose formation with

another Su-27, both carrying an

assortment of guided weapons.

There is an easy-to-follow

instruction sheet, containing nine

stages of construction, which

has been revised to include three

pages in full colour showing

four-view drawings for each of the

three brand-new decal options.

There are parts plans for all three

sprues, which contain 84 light grey

injected styrene parts and four

clear ones. Colours are suggested in

both Italeri acrylic paint numbers

against the FS equivalent.

The kit contains smooth

surfaces, with some very fine,

soft detail, and has mostly raised

panel lines. The main kit options,

besides the choice of decals, are

to have open or closed air brakes,

undercarriage, and cockpit canopy.

The transparent parts are very

clear but the tiny clear part of the

HUD, positioned over the coaming,

and the infrared sensor that goes

in front of the windshield base

are somewhat basic. Control

surfaces like flaps and leading

edge slots all come fixed in place.

CONSTRUCTION

The instructions are

straightforward and fit of parts

generally good. Assembly starts

with the cockpit, ejection seat,

and instruments, which are

very basic and not up to modern

standards. I replaced these items

with a complete resin cockpit

layout issued by Pavla, (set C72009).

This also contains a highly-

detailed ejection seat, which

replaces the three-part ejection

seat in the kit. The resin cockpit

interior, console, instruments,

and seat all require painting

56 • OCTOBER 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

KIT REVIEWS

056-65-Reviews-1018.indd 56 14/09/2018 15:22