Aircraft of Socialist Ceylon

[anthonyp]

I think I hijacked his idea for my own interests  

I kinda, sorta took his ideas, and ran with them.  He's coming up with the Mig-26 and Mig-28, which takes a lot of creativity, but I thought some good ol' Russian hardware would look nice in Shasper's markings for Socialist Ceylon

This is a 1/72 Minicraft/Hasegawa Mig-27.  I built it based on Shasper's Mig-26 and Mig-28 F-5's and their paint schemes.  It's armed with the kit's AA-2's and two Kormorans, that I figure would be Chinese copies.  I honestly couldn't remember Shasper's backstory for Ceylon when I wrote up these descriptions, so forgive me if they don't exactly jive with his.  The decals are based on Shasper's markings.

Backstory:

Mig-27 People's Republic of Ceylon Navy

The Ceylonese go from being staunch Soviet allies to estranged oddball nation and back again over the last 50 years, resulting in an odd mix of equipment.  The Mig-23's and 27's originally supplied to the island nation went without spares for a good long time in the 80's, resulting in the use of non-front line soviet equipment such as the Mig-26 and Mig-28 (copies of the American F-5).  The Mig-23's and 27's did continue to fly, though, but Soviet weaponry was hard to come by.  The Ceylonese looked to China for solutions to their problem.  Chinese C-800's (Exocet copies) and C-799's (Kormoran copies) were bought in quantity, and they equipped the Mig-27's that flew for the Ceylonese Navy.  These were supplemented in the last few years by Su-30's flying for the Air Force.

More pics can be found here.

[anthonyp]

Here's a 1/72 Italeri/Zvezda Ka-29, which is a difficult kit to build.  I've got another in the stash that I probably won't build with the rocket pods, as they just annoyed me.  The paint scheme and decals are again based on his.  The background story is mine, because, again, I couldn't remember his backstory while I was writing this.

I've got a few more on the bench.

Backstory:

Ka-29 People's Republic of Ceylon Navy

When the manic relationship with the Soviet Union was at one of its many peaks, the Ceylonese benefited from in.  The Kamov Ka-29 was the fruit from one of these happy times.  It, along with a host of other Soviet equipment, were acquired in a 1987 deal with the Soviet Union.  They initially flew out of naval bases, but were reassigned to ships as they were delivered from Soviet yards.  The Ceylonese received three Sovremenny class and one Udaloy class ships as their largest vessels before the collapse of the Soviet Union, and a couple Karas and Krestas, as well as an almost complete hull of a light aircraft carrier immediately after the fall.  These ships would go to replace the ships sunk by the US Navy in the mid-80's.  A number of other frigates and corvettes entered service as well.  This particular Ka-29 flies off the one Udaloy class ship that entered service.

More pics can be found here.

[Son of Damian]

Love the color scheme!!!  B)    

[Archibald]

I'm astonished by your rate of production, anthony! I thought I was the only guy producing models like a factory . Nice model and beautiful camo!  

[Shasper]

You got the story about right Comrad Anthony. Good Stuff!

No Apologies necessary

Shas B)

[Brian da Basher]

Wow Anthony you're a one man Whiff-machine! Churning them out like a factory! I really like that cool Ceylonese camo scheme you've come up with!

Brian da Basher

[anthonyp]

Actually, this camo is based on the one that Shasper came up with a couple weeks back.

Glad ya like them!

   

[Shasper]

This is what the dude's talkin about:



Besides, those are fraud! the Ceylonese dont put the circled stars on the wings!    


Shas B)

[anthonyp]

This is what that dud's talkin about:

"dud's"?  Ah, say, you insult me, sir!  I challenge you to a duel!  

(White glove slap to the face)

Xacto knives at fifty paces at dawn!

And you were the one who said the black circles were the way to go    B)

EDIT:  Oh, wait, I see what you're saying now!  Well, just look at it this way, you'll get a LOOOOOOT more play out of that decal sheet I sent you if you put them on the tail only    

[John Howling Mouse]

Wow....I mean really: wow!

anthonyp, I do believe you could market a whole new service since, at the speed you can complete a model, you could produce a real-time concept model of anything that would take some of us (read: me) a year or more to build!

Those paintjobs are phenomenal.  Would love to see the JMN reactions to them.

   

[anthonyp]

Here's my secret to a successful, fun build:  Randomness.

Me?  Plan?  Not usually!  The Mig-27 up above actually started off as a Portugese fighter, then got turned into this when I couldn't find suitable decals prior to painting.  The Ka-29 went from Ceylon Air Force, to Chinese Navy, to Japanese MSDF, and back to Ceylon (albeit Navy) before the glue was dried.

I'm telling ya, the best way to enjoy building is take a kit, look at it, imagine what it would look like in service with Nation A, throw that thought out, and start building the thing.  I might go back to Nation A part way through the build, or I might come up with Nation B, C, or N and decide to go that way with it.  It's just fun to let my mind run nuts with this particular hobby.

Would you beleive I just came up with another idea for my Defenders of the Great Lakes series while typing this response?  I need another 1/72 F/A-18A...  This is in addition to the three others I have on the bench for VFA-209 already!  They can all be summed up in one word:  Aggressors!!

[Shasper]

SWEET!

Shas B)

[anthonyp]

I also forgot to mention that I've got a Mig-21 and Su-30 on the bench for Socialist Ceylon.

   

[anthonyp]

Holy thread revival, Spat-man!!

Actually, why create a new one when I've got this oldie but goody just sitting here, not doing anything.

As my opening shot in a renewed offensive on the site's bandwidth allowance, I offer the following two models.  

The first of many (even by my standards).

Mig-21 People's Republic of Ceylon Air Force

The mid-60's was a golden time for Ceylonese relations with the Soviet Union.  As a result, they acquired a number of export Mig-21's.  The supply quickly dried up, however, when the progressively manic relationship took a downturn.  A total of 55 Mig-21's of various models entered service.  They were upgraded in the 80's and again in the late 90's.  Today, about 20 are still in service, though they are quickly being phased out in preparation for service entrance of the Chengdu J-10 from China.



For more pics, click here.

This model was a Fujimi 1/72 Mig-21.  I forget which model exactly, though I think it may have been the "Asian Mig-21" version.  It went together like a dream, especially compared to its short yellow hangar cousin in the next post.

[anthonyp]

Su-30 People's Republic of Ceylon Air Force

Even though Russia is no longer communist, they still deal with their old allies.  2001 saw a brief high for Ceylonese/Russo relations again, in which time a deal for 18 Su-30's was signed.  A total of fifteen were delivered before the remaining three were canceled due to the newly strained relations between the two countries.  The delivered Su-30's make up an elite squadron, capable of undertaking all manner of missions.  They are regularly armed with anti-shipping missiles, though all but one are marked in the markings and camouflage of the Air Force.



For more pics, click here.

This model was a 1/72 Nakotne (or however you spell it) Su-30-ish thing, which I think was a poor copy of a Zvezda model.  Went together ok, but the shape is off, seams royally suck (I just gave up on them), and the instructions really leave something to be desired.  I think I even glued the nose on sideways, though you can't really tell from the pics.