to the nose of the fuselage, which adopts a
more traditional technique for construction,
consisting of two halves, containing the
cockpit and nose wheel bay. For ease, the
nose wheel bay was fi rst painted and all detail
painting completed before construction. The
nose wheel leg was left out, as dry-fi tting
revealed it could be added at a later stage with
the minimum of modifi cation. Again detail here
is exemplary.
The cockpit is typical of today’s modern
aircraft, being dominated by large Multi-
Function Displays. I have heard Zvezda’s
representation being called bare and
minimalistic. In truth it is and that’s because
the real thing is! There’s no getting away from
that, but what is there, is well depicted with
decals for the MFD’s should you wish to show
them powered up.Working from photographs, I decided upon
MRP-240 Air Superiority Blue as the base
colour for the cockpit. Upon closer scrutiny of
my reference photographs, I saw that the side
consoles and some of the side wall panels are
in a slightly darker blue. This was replicated by
adding a few drops of MRP-124 RAF Marking
Blue to the base colour, in order to darken it
a few shades. The consoles and instruments
were then masked off and sprayed, before
detail painting commenced of the various
buttons and switches. A light pin wash, using
Mig’s Starship Filth Oil Brusher, was then
sealed with MRP-125 Semi Gloss. Before a
very, very light dry brushing of silver in the high
wear areas.
Offering up the completed nose section
to the main fuselage, revealed no fi t issues,
but did highlight a need for some preparatoryIssue 170 - http://www.modelairplaneinternational.com 511:48
The missiles are moulded in one piece, this cutting
down on construction and clean-up.
The ejection seats even include plastic seat cushions
and straps!
The cockpit tub is neatly
moulded and detailed.The upper wing/fuselage is a superb moulding.
Surface detail is delicately incised.
The instructions
are well-drawn and
comprehensive......As are the painting
guides. Note the number
of different schemes
on offer.Close up of the canopy - one with MDC, one without.