1/72 Italeri Sukhoi Su-34 Fullback

by Ben Montgomery (15 years old) 

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Hi, I'm 15 and I have been modelling since I was 7 when I was sent a model of the HMS Fearless for Christmas.  I have always liked the Su-34 Fullback (nicknamed Platypus, for the exotic nose cone), but never got around to building a model of one.  With two examples of the aircraft now in service with the Russian Air Force, being brought in during December 2006, I thought it was time to make a model of the aircraft.  After seeing the other examples on ARC I opted for the Italeri model ( because it was the only one I could find). 

Click on images below to see larger images

  

I was impressed with the quality of the model, and the price was appealing too (only £8.50) for a model that looks like it should be in 1/48 scale.  It is a nice kit, and all the pieces fit together well, with no major gaps between parts.  I did it in the standard blue scheme, with grey nose and leading edges.  The colours are not quite right, because I only had a limited paint range at the time.  I added my own pilots from an old Hawk model, and repainted them in orange jumpsuits and red helmets with a white russian star on top.  The undercarriage were painted with Humbrol 11 silver, and polished Aluminium for the hydraulic surfaces.  I especially liked the Kh-31 Krypton missiles that came with this kit, and painted them in an orange test scheme ( my reference was a photo on the net) underslung beneath the intakes. 

All the other missiles were painted in normal operational schemes (I think).  I had also considered buying the Neomega cockpit for my model, but as it would be on the ceiling most of the time, and I am not a "serious" modeller, I decided against it.

I am planning on building another Su-34 with a lot of scratch building and alterations on the kit, like having the canopy hatches open, and engine covers up.  Currently, I am making a base for the model, and am planning on entering it into this years Air Training Corps Modelling Competition in August.  The kit took about two weeks to finish, working on it in the evenings and weekends.

Ben

Photos and text © by Ben Montgomery