MiniHobby Su-37 Super Flanker - Completed!
Kommentit
2 13 December 2015, 04:55

Nice job, did you use a mask or do it yourself, credit wither way. What opinion on kit, I have it but was going to try and graft to Academy Su-27 to update it as suspected it may be troublesome as had never heard of brand. Did the plaque come with it, nice touch. Love your mounting mechanism on the A/C
13 December 2015, 05:23

Thanks Scott! I masked it myself, which was very tedious, took me about 4 nights to complete. The kit was a lot of work. This is only my 4th completed model, and I had heard that it was not very good at all. The intakes in particular are just horrendous. They don't even come close to lining up. There are many details on the kit that are wrong, some of the most obvious are the IRST not offset and the exhausts. The cockpit is really embarrassing as far as details are concerned, but since I closed it and added a pilot it was not so noticeable. The pilot is actually from a Hasegawa F-14 that I just painted to look like a Russian. Russian pilots are never in any kits, and I did not want to go aftermarket for realism since the rest of the kit was so inaccurate and I was not planning on fixing those errors either. But overall it turned out pretty nice and I am happy, and this was a good exercise for me to practice seam filling... with various degrees of success.
The stand was made from a wooden blank that I got from Michael's and painted black. I used armature wire and a 10-12 gauge ring terminal and screw to attach the Flanker to the stand. It is kinda rough, but it gets the job done and the wire is actually poseable, so I can adjust the flight angle whenever I want. The plaque was made by me in Adobe Illustrator, and I inserted it into a baseball card protector and used double sided tape to attach it to the base.
13 December 2015, 06:01

I think the expression is "Turned a sow's ear into a purse", I admire your perserverance
13 December 2015, 06:14

Thanks again Scott, and thanks to Robert and James as well. The finished product was worth the effort for me!
14 December 2015, 16:27

Nice job Michael, I particulary like the exchaust colors. Do you know how this kit compares to the Academy Su-27? Gary
14 December 2015, 19:30

Thanks Gary!
I spent quite a bit of time trying to get the shades of burnt metal, titanium, and the blued effect just right. In the end I used a lot of artistic license to finish it.
As far as the kit is concerned, it is a rather poor copy of the Academy kit. I have not yet built an Academy Flanker, but I do have some in my stash... and looking at both kits and what I have heard said elsewhere even the instructions are copied, right down to the part where the photoetch instructions are listed... however this kit does not come with any photoetch. LOL
14 December 2015, 19:35

The poor quality of my first set of photos is not lost on me... so I took some more pics today in better light here in my office, I will post them up shortly!
14 December 2015, 19:36

Your efforts made a great build out of it, she looks great!
14 December 2015, 19:59

Thanks Christian! Next up for me is a Hasegawa F-4C.
14 December 2015, 20:43

Great job Michael, I love it. I am getting ready to start an F-4J.
14 December 2015, 22:38

Thanks Clifford! What kit maker and scale are you going to build? Have you decided what squadron you will do?
15 December 2015, 01:10

It is the Monogram F-4J in 1/48. I am doing it in the colors of VMFA-451 Warlords. It will be the Bicentinal scheme aboard the U.S.S. Forrestal. I am adding a bunch of aftermarket stuff.
15 December 2015, 22:20