TC`s build thread.

[tc2324]

Well..., what d`ya think??

Tail units are not glued yet and as always all C&C welcome....





Tomorrow is varnish night....

[tc2324]

Did you realise this almost became real - around the time the Eurofighter 2000 (before it was called the Typhoon) was going through a lot of ups and downs in the late '80s/early '90s -  there was talk of a single engined version as well as talk of countries pulling out altogether.  Into this environment Mikhail Simonov  suggested that Sukhoi could offer a westernised Su-27 or even Su-35.  Once again this would probably have involved western engines, avionics and weapons being fitted.  The 'green' airframes would be delivered to the UK and fitted out there.

Regards,

Greg

Did not know that Greg, prehaps my choice of scheme might not be that bonkers after all.... 

[tc2324]

I suppose the old saying is true, `the decal maketh the model`.

Just a few shots of the near finished product, (eyes were getting sore putting the smaller decals on so time for a rest), and at a later date I will post my usual diorama pics with back story......

[tc2324]

Ok, last post from me on this and the back story goes a little like this......,

By October 2012 the British Ministry of Defence had became concerned with the amount of military hardware being sold to a number of middle class countries and states by the Russian and Chinese governments. Items of main concern were the purchases of new Sukhoi Su-34`s and 35`s, as well as a number of Shenyang J-11`s, which were the Chinese built version of the Su-27. The capability of these aircraft was proved 5 months later during the two month border skirmish in March-April 2013 between India and Pakistan when Indian air force Su-30`s made a number of interceptions against Pakistani F-16`s and shot down 9 without loss. Most of the combat took place within visual range and at various altitudes.

While the threat of these types to the UK mainland was admittedly minimal, the shock purchase by the Argentine air force of 12 Su-34`s and basing them in the south of Argentina had an immediate effect in Whitehall. Royal Air Force military chiefs had always wanted the RAF to have its own `aggressor` Squadron as the cost of sending aircraft, men and materials to the US was starting to become prohibitive as well as taking a couple of transport aircraft away from other areas where they were more urgently needed. As soon as the idea got the green light from Whitehall various types were considered, but it took a surprise call from the Ukrainian Embassy who had heard the `rumour` about a new aggressor unit for the RAF, and an offer made. In September 2013 five Su-27 airframes, with engines and spares, were quietly packed aboard a freighter at a port in the Ukraine and 6 days later unloaded at Hull . These were then transported by road down to RAF Conningsby ready to be reassembled and flight tested. Over the course of the next 5 months each aircraft was reassembled and test flown by test pilots from Boscombe Down and on the 1st February 2014, after all five aircraft had been tested and proved certified for service, 74(F.AGR.) Squadron stood up at Conningsby. 74`s only task in service was to provide DACM training to RAF and NATO pilots using an aircraft, admittedly an earlier model but similar in size and performance, that was common in countries that may pose a threat at some point in the future. Coding the aircraft was a simple task and Tango, India, Golf, Echo and Romeo, (T.I.G.E.R.), all kept with 74`s recent historical tradition of flying with an all black tail. The camouflage scheme came about via a conversation between 74`s CO and the Squadrons engineering officer. It was well known that the `rebirth` of the Squadron was due to the Argentines purchase of the Su-34`s, so what better way of sending them a `covert` message by painting 74`s new mounts in the same schemes that the Argentines had on theirs. Officially of course, this was denied.

Here, in a mixture of RAF publicity black and white and colour photos, is  `Tango` at dispersal at Conninsby fitted with a TACTS pod and an inert AIM-9L Sidewinder drill round.







And a few downward shots without the backdrop... (apologies for the cr@p base, need to work on that...)

[John Howling Mouse]

Love all of it.  Your idea of using the wide-screen tv as a background sure beats my use of enlarged/matted photos!  Way less costly and gives you infinite variety.
If you move the tv screen back about 8 inches from the edge of your dio surface, you should be able to get rid of the vertical lines coming from the tv screen's
image refresh/resolution.  It is nearly a perfect effect!      

[tc2324]

Love all of it.  Your idea of using the wide-screen tv as a background sure beats my use of enlarged/matted photos!  Way less costly and gives you infinite variety.
If you move the tv screen back about 8 inches from the edge of your dio surface, you should be able to get rid of the vertical lines coming from the tv screen's
image refresh/resolution.  It is nearly a perfect effect!      

Cheers for the compliment John. Never thought about the model being too close to the screen which creates the lines so a big thanks for that tip as well.

[Cobra]

3 Words:TOP GUN GRADE!!!!!!!!!!!! this is a TOP GUN grade jet from the Get go!!!!!!!!!! Keep up the Great Work!!!!!!!! :cheers:Dan

[tc2324]

Getting the kit below ready for kick off and this one will have a distinctly Soviet feel to it...   (Well, my B-52 gotta have an escort... )



Now, do I do a `G` or an `E` version...?

[tc2324]

Was thinking about the scheme, I have a few ideas, first I was going to just do a similar scheme as I did with the `52` as the Soviets tended to like their aircraft `au natural`. But then I thought, well if it was made up of different bits of F-4, then some panels may not be polished, so I am also considering doing a `blotchy` type of mixed polished and non polished panels.

Then another idea hit me, what if they kept the colour schemes for the different F-4`s as thet found them? So one wing might be in a SEAC scheme while the other wing might be in a USN scheme and so on. I do like this idea but it may be a bit beyond my skills?

As always, I open the floor to you lot....

[GTX]

Some possible inspiration here.

Regards,

Greg

[pyro-manic]

Maybe replace the nose-mounted Vulcan with a Mig-21 style Gsh-23?

[lancer]

Oh yes!! I DO like that Flanker

[tc2324]

Without sounding like I`m trying to flog a dead horse, I wasn`t happy with the colour pics of the Su-27 from the other day and thats why most were black and white, so by using better light, I`ve redone a few shots. 









Now I`m much happier and can move on..... 

[tc2324]

And so it begins...   Cut and trimed a few things and put some Soviet air to air missiles together. Placed the two main sections together and found out they have a slight bow outwards. That will be fun later and require a few elastic bands.   As you may already gather, I`m not a big fan of cockpit detail, so put that together but left the seats seperate. I`m going to have a crack at painting them and the ejection handles.

[Taiidantomcat]

Nice start and those beauty shots of the Flanker are awesome