In late
2004 the British government invited aircraft from the Russian airforce to
take part in dissimilar air combat maneuvering exercises. Pictured is
Sukhoi Su-27B Flanker Bort No. Red 51 at RAF Waddington shortly after
arrival in the U.K.
Click on
images below to see larger images
I had seen
Flankers at RAF Waddington airshows in the '90s so when Trumpeter launched
their large scal e Sukhoi I decided to build one.
I bought the model in
November 2004 at the IPMS U.K. Nationals but didn't start work on it until
February 2005. The superb work of Massa Narita provided the inspiration once
again. He managed to build a marvellous model straight from the box but I
decided to spend a little extra and buy some aftermarket accessory sets.
Trumpeter are to
be commended for bringing this model to the market place and the kit
provides a sound basis for a Flanker build but there are issues.
I opted to use resin parts for
the canopy, nose cone, intakes, wheel wells and jet nozzles. Not entirely
necessary for a nice model but if an accurate looking Su-27 is your
aim, these parts are a must.
This is my second article
submitted to ARC. The build took very nearly two years to complete but I'm
pleased with the end result. I hope you enjoy the pictures. In part two of
this article I would like to go into a little more detail about what was
involved.
Guy
|