Scale aviation modeller international

building the nozzles, but hard work

always pays off and the result is

worth the effort. With the nozzles

done I turned to the canopy.

I started by removing the centre

moulding lines of the omega-

shaped canopy (a common issue

with injection moulded blown

canopies). I started by removing

the moulding line with a new

scalpel blade, very gently scraping

along the seam. Next, I started

sanding, working from 1000 grit

down to 4000, then used Tamiya

polishing compounds to restore

a perfect finish. If you work

slowly and with patience, the

moulding line will disappear

like it was never there.

Finally, I scratch-built the

RWR bulges on both wing slats.

These are located 3cm away from

the fuselage and can be seen on

Indonesian Air Force Su-30MKs

and RMAF Su-30MKMs.

PAINTING AND DECALING

I masked the canopy and started

the painting process by priming

everything, using AK Interactive

AK175 Grey Primer plastic parts,

and AK757 Black for the photo-

etch. This ensures that the

paints adhere well to the brass

and plastic and helps prevent

the paint from peeling off.

Sometimes, due to air pressure

or humidity, there will be some

annoying primer particles left on

“THE SUKHOI FLANKER IS ONE OF

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MODERN

AIRPLANES IN SERVICE”

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • APRIL 2018 • 75

1/48

Sponsored by AK Interactive

http://www.ak-interactive.com

074-77-FEAT-AKInteractive-0418.indd 75 09/03/2018 16:08