Zvezda KA-52 “Aligator” Ukraine War - build progress

★ Starfish ★
Looks good so far! I think the Tamiya colors look fine!

Cristian A Autor
Thanks Michael for the input, the more I look at the two Tamiya colors the more inclined I get to use them, also I already have them and they are of good quality.

Will continue to post progress.

Finn
Following

Shar Dipree
Looks good so far. Following.
How good and detailed do you think the kit is?

Cristian A Autor
Hi Shar, the details are good enough for a 16 EUR kit but the build is not easy, struggled a lot with the canopy and cockpit. It's not a perfect representation of the real Alligator as it is built after the initial variant / prototype (EOP above, no camouflage scheme and paint references for it, no countermeasure system under the back landing gear and the nose is a bit different as well). The panel lines are recessed, so hopefully weathering will go smooth.

Shar Dipree
Thanks Cristian. I wish you success.

Cristian A Autor
Thanks Shar, I wish you the same.

Sergej I
Following with interest

Ronan
Followiing too 😉

Ekki
Watching.

★ Starfish ★
That color looks awesome!

Cristian A Autor
Yes it does!!

Thanks a lot for encouraging me to use it. I was very close to buying this entire paint set instead:

HTK-CS86 Russian AF Helicopt.. 1, Hataka Hobby Orange Line , Acrylic Lacquer, 8x 17ml

Shar Dipree
Looks great so far.
What kind of mixing ratio did you use for the ak paint?

Oliver
following

Cristian A Autor
Hi Shar, around 40% paint + 60% thinner. I measure it in pipette drops - example 4 drops of paint, 6 drops of thinner.

CaptGPF
Following!

Guy Rump
Following as well. 👍

Cristian A Autor
Thanks, welcome Guy and CaptGPF. Alligator is almost ready

Mr D
Very nice, how has the Zvezda kit built been ??
I got the Zvezda Mi-8.heli to build soon.
Like the job you've done 👌😃👍

Cristian A Autor
Thank you Mr D! This kit has a few challenges:
-The cockpit fit in the fuselage
-The landing gear assembly is s bit weird
-The rotor assembly doesn't go straight as per the instructions
-The Vikhr anti-tank missiles position

I suggest taking all the time for dry fitting these parts before gluing. Overall a challenging kit in my opinion especially if you will want to make the modification I've done for the search and tracking system (EOP bellow the fuselage).

I'm glad it worked out at the end. I could compare this to the newer Zvezda kits I've built and they were much more easier 🙂

Mr D
Thanks for the feedback back Christian 👍.
Dry fit testing is important... sometimes easy to forget?
👍👍

Cristian A Autor
My pleasure 🙂 yes it's definitely easy to forget, but in this case the parts I mentioned just don't want to get in the correct position.

Looking forward to seeing this kit built by ★ Starfish ★, he's the GOAT

★ Starfish ★
@Cristian, I'm watching you, so now stop exaggerating! 😄

Ekki
Very good result! Well done!

Cristian A Autor
Hahaha @★ Starfish ★ really looking forward to seeing yours.. when you eventually get to it 🙂

Thanks Ekki, much appreciated.

In the following days I'm planning to make a final reveal album of the Alligator, stay tuned 🙂