1/48 Kitty Hawk Su-35S Flanker-E - Putin's Arrow

Gallery Article by Michael Phillips on Sept 25 2018

 

      

Hi all!
I present to you another completed project, the 1/48 Kitty Hawk Su-35S Flanker-E, "Red 08" in the unique Eggplant Dark Gray scheme of the Russian Air Force, circa 2014.

This is really a great kit that has excellent fit almost everywhere, with the wing joins being the notable exception. The kit is not without other issues, however. The exhaust nozzles are molded in the straight position which would only be correct for a powered up machine, not drooped at rest. The stinger tail has flare boxes on the top, which is only correct for the prototypes and early production aircraft. Luckily for me, I wanted to do an early production Eggplant Gray aircraft so the stinger tail is correct OOB for my build. If one wants to do a current in-service aircraft, this would not be correct.

Click on images below to see larger images

Aftermarket used were the AMUR Reaver thrust vectoring nozzle to fix the droop issue, and Begemot Decals. The Begemot Decal sheet includes all the needed stencils for both the aircraft and weapons. The weapons are all OOB, and they are very nice, although I am no expert on the real ones, so I cannot comment on accuracy. But they look pretty accurate to me. I think this kit includes pretty much every Russian missile, bomb, and rocket pod currently in use. This will be a nice addition to my weapons bin ( The KH Fitter was the same way, so I am set with Russian Ordnance for a while!) I used copper wire for the static wicks, some thin scrap parts for the 4 straight probes near the nose cone, and a piece of scrap clear sprue to simulate the interior of the IRST.

So, one of the things I really wanted to concentrate on this build was the metalwork. The real aircraft have an amazing array of colors from the heat-stressed titanium, and I am quite pleased with how that turned out. It does look a bit exaggerated in some pics, but in person the look is about perfect. The AMUR Nozzles are quite nice and are easy to remove from casting blocks, clean up, paint, and assemble. Very happy with these.

I really enjoyed building this kit, and recommend it to everyone. That being said, the GWH Su-35 is no doubt a better kit, and I will be getting that one as well to do a blue camo in-service jet. But for someone wanting to do the splinter camo prototype or an early batch Eggplant jet, I would say get this kit. Hope you enjoy!

Kit: 1/48 Kitty Hawk Su-35S Flanker-E
Decals: Begemot 48-039 Su-35 "New Generation of the Flanker"
Aftermarket: A.M.U.R. Reaver Thrust Vectoring Nozzles
Paints: Gunze Mr. Surfacer Gray 1200 (main aircraft primer base) and Mr. Surfacer Black 1500, Akan Sukhoi Cockpit Blue-Gray, Mr Paint MRP-205 Eggplant Dark Gray, MRP-196 Light Blue, and MRP-032 Green for Wheels, Gunze Aqueous H305 Gunship Gray and H308 FS FS36375 Light Ghost Gray , Tamiya Rubber Black, Clear Blue, and Clear Yellow, Gunze Mr Color GX2 Gloss Black (gloss black primer for metalwork) and Alclad II Hot Metal Violet, Airframe Aluminum, Gold Titanium, and Jet Exhaust. Future Gloss coat for decals and Future+Tamiya XF-21 Flat Base 10:1 ratio for final matte coat. Mig Ammo Medium and Deep Gray panel washes.

Michael Phillips

Click on images below to see larger images

 

Photos and text © by Michael Phillips