Skyhiker Auteur
Cockpit completed today.

DerMattes
You really seem to like a challenge 🙂

Skyhiker Auteur
Lol, well I must admit Zvezda is not my favorite brand, but it wanted to be made.

Skyhiker Auteur
I've decided with this model not to get caught up in Advanced Modelling Syndrome by correcting the design but rather try to work with the kit. This presents it's own challenges seeing as I have to adjust and connect misaligned parts without damaging the raised panel lines. But I hope that even with this extra work it will still be faster to build than correcting the design.

Nicolas
👀

Jennifer Franklin
Following

Skyhiker Auteur
I have a sneaking suspicion that Zvezda mixed resins or other poisonous chemicals in with their styrene. I got a reaction in my sinuses, from sanding the plastic, which I've never had before. I really need to get better at taking more precautions with this hobby.

Jennifer Franklin
It is good to know that I have to watch with any Zvezda kits I may buy. That is a terrible practice on their part.

Skyhiker Auteur
Maybe it was from the debonder or maybe it's just a coincidence. I don't know. Zvezda is based in Russia, I'm not sure how controlled the plastics are there or how bad the black market is for chemicals. I doubt Zvezda would intentionally use toxic chemicals. If there is an issue I would imagine it to be with their supplier.

Cristian A
Oooh, a Sukhoi, I'm in 🫡

Skyhiker Auteur
Welcome Cristian

Melf Boyens
Zvezda (Star) from Russia is next to Amodel and Modelsvit from Ukraine my preffered choice for Russian jet fighter, i have, let me think, 100 kits from Zvezda bought in Russia and never experienced any problems on their polystyrenes. The usual wet decals got better recently, but still sub-standard (always auf Begemont on standby), but most importantly i get model variation that nobody else has, and some of their scales are pretty accurate. You also find their makes back in Revell or Italerie cartons. Amodel is horror and real sanding nightmare in terms of fit and accuracy. On this SU-30 i gonna watch and with excitment.

Skyhiker Auteur
A bit more progress today

Mr D
Nice Aircraft, l really like a Zvezda kit 👍
It's a sanction's issue with Zvezda supply! It's the government's that war with each other! the people suffer.
The SU-30 is a great looking aircraft, l really enjoyed the paint job on the little 1:144 l just finished.
Got the 1:144 Berkut in now Skyhiker 👍

Skyhiker Auteur
Mr D, It's unfortunate the crazy times we are living in. l bought my Zvezda kit on Kleinanzeigen when I bought someone's entire stash so it only cost me 5 euros. Sometimes you can still find good deals online.

Skyhiker Auteur
The Flankers really have very elegant and sleek designs. For jets they're beautiful.

DerMattes
Did the AMS hit you with those engines? 😉

Skyhiker Auteur
Lol, well the kit engines were just so wrong they need some adjustments.

Skyhiker Auteur
After priming the model and improving the engine details I spent most of the day mixing colors trying to find the correct tones for this plane. Eventually I figured it out.

Mr D
What colour scheme are you going for ?
The tricolour blue's and Gray?
Like the extra exhaust details.....will be much better now.👍👍

David Guzman
Following this project

Skyhiker Auteur
Mr D, yes I am re-creating one of the first Su-30s delivered, so it has blues and grey. It is not as vibrant as the later planes. I had to mix a few colors to get an accurate color tone. I posted a photo of the paint test. Good Russian colors are hard to find and I don't use laquers anymore for health reasons. If it doesn't clean up with water or alcohol I prefer not to use it.

DerMattes
You going for the Vallejo Model Air 71.334, 71.335 and 71.337 or similar blues and grey?

Skyhiker Auteur
I'm not sure. I don't normally use Vallejo because they're too rubbery, tough to spray and tend not to sand well. They do brush on quite nicely though. I posted an image of the color test. I generally use AK 3rd generation because of their accurate colors or Aquaous because they are just great paints that sand well. I do have a decent amount of laquers and enamels but I try not to use them to avoid the chemicals.

DerMattes
I did a Su-27 with the Vallejo colors, if you want to compare.

Skyhiker Auteur
Yeah, those colors are pretty close. Nice job on the 27. How did the paint work out for you? Like I said I pretty much gave up on Vallejo.

Skyhiker Auteur
Melf Boyens, it's good to hear you haven't had any issues with Zvezda kits since I have an awful lot of Russian planes to build and most of the kits are from Russia or Ukraine. I assume the problem I was experiencing was a reaction to the debonder. I just have to remember to wear a mask and gloves more often.

DerMattes
I hear that a lot about Vallejo and they work for me. The mecha primer is awful, but the colors are different. I think most of the problems come from differences in humidity and temperature, they seem to be sensitive on that or people overthin them because everywhere are the laquer thinning ratios mentioned, wthout context. I go for unthinned Model Air or only a drop of thinner and slightly under 25psi. But most of my tip dry and clogging problems went away after I switched to the H&S Evolution '24 and shaking the paint with a vortex mixer for ~30 - 40s.

Skyhiker Auteur
A vortex mixer is a good idea. I hadn't thought of that. I got a H&S Infinity Two in One this Christmas. With the biggest needle it might work but the 0.15 would probably be too small for Vallejo. I might try them out again with my cheap GANZTON airbrush first beforehand.

Mr D
Hi Skyhiker, I've recently been using lCM water based paints, l mixed some decent Su-30 colours for my latest build from ICM, they dry nice and hard too, need alot of thinning as they are very thick.
Your right.... Health first 😃👍

Skyhiker Auteur
I didn't know ICM made paints. Aren't they from Ukraine? I'll have to keep my eyes open for them. Ok I see they have a whole range:
3004 Palette of 80 colors, ICM , Acrylic, 80x 12ml

Skyhiker Auteur
I started painting today

Mr D
Some nice progress 👍👍 can see some nice shading there,
Yes they are from Ukrainia, they have definitely helped me out with colour matching, l first used them on my Yak3 as they did a soviet aviation pack.
Good luck on next paint stage 😀👍

Finn
Following

Skyhiker Auteur
Mr. D, I did add panel shading on this one, although I always try to layer over it enough to make it as subtle as possible. You would never find a real plane that has anything that looks like panel shading. Most people overdo this technique, but I think if you blend it in enough it can add some depth to the model without looking too strange.

Jennifer Franklin
I like that colour blue

Skyhiker Auteur
A bit more painting done in between my wife walking in every 10 minutes.

Skyhiker Auteur
A little bit closer today

Cristian A
Looks amazing, keep going

Skyhiker Auteur
Thx Cristian

Mr D
Looks great 👍. good job on paint 👏
I'm really glad l added a SU-30 to my collection as they look fantastic on Display.
Good luck on the next steps 👍

Skyhiker Auteur
Well I'm not convinced with the colors, the hue of the dark blue is too cyan colored. I may need to go buy some other paint.

Skyhiker Auteur
I went and bought a bunch of paint only to come home to find out they are all colors that don't look like the real thing. I tried Vallejo air and Hataka acrylics. I even bought a few 3rd generation general colors to see if I could get close since they don't make Russian colors. But all to no avail. I guess I will have to mix my own. At least I know I can mix a decent color if I have the proper primary base.

Jennifer Franklin
Thanks, Mr D, that was good to know.

Skyhiker Auteur
I'm not sure if you can see the difference but I adjusted the blue to a more accurate hue. I hate mixing my own colors because it takes time that I'd rather spend building. When you have to mix the same color later, even if you write down the formula the colors are always a little bit different and you have to spend time adjusting them. This is because the drops from the bottle aren't exactly the same amount every time and the paint isn't always mixed well enough inside the bottle. But sometimes there just isn't any choice. I was surprised how off some of the colors I bought as Flanker sets were. They worked together as a set but they didn't look anything like the real jets and simply weren't realistic.

Skyhiker Auteur
The decals are pretty yellowed and not accurate. I'm going to have to paint parts to make it presentable.

Jennifer Franklin
Skyhiker, I've been spending a ton of time on various YouTube sites, painting minis, visiting artists' sites, etc., trying to learn as much as I can. One suggestion coming from an artist's site is that when you mix your own paint, mix enough and then put it in a container so that you have some for later, like an empty paint jar. I wish I had known this for the Memphis Belle as I had to mix paints repeatedly, and I ended up with a patchwork of colours as I repeatedly tried to reproduce the same colour.

Skyhiker Auteur
I usually mix enough paint for the build and store it in jars but if I ever need to make repairs after its built, say if it gets scratched or something breaks off, I have to remix the paint because the paints usually dry out after a while. It's not a problem, but I just don't like doing it.

Mr D
It looks right now l think, I've looked at some early SU-30 photos and l think your there now.
I find colour go a little darker after the clear coat .
Nice job 👍👏

Jennifer Franklin
Oh, so you are way ahead of me.

Skyhiker Auteur
Today was put a layer of paint on.. wait forever watching paint dry... Put another layer on... Wait and repeat.

Skyhiker Auteur
Fixed the flag today

Jennifer Franklin
The flag is looking good.

Skyhiker Auteur
Several of the photos I have looked at have similar colors to the Hataka paints. Interesting this plane seems to have been repainted with more vibrant colors at some point. Colors aren't standardized in Russia like other air forces, hence the confusion.

Skyhiker Auteur
I will try using the Hataka colors for the SU-27UB that I have in my stash when I build it.