1/48 Trumpeter Su-15A

Gallery Article by Simon Talbot “Mingwin” on Mar 12 2010

 

I’m more than happy to show you my latest project, my first shown here at ARC. This wasn’t really an easy one, though the final look is correct, to my standards.  The kit doesn’t need any presentation and is well known for its flaws, but with a little work you can expect a decent representation of the flagon A.

Flagon A references are hard to find, and I wasn’t able to get good pictures… I did find the real plane that inspired Trumpeter “red 85”… but they surely just took a very fast glance at the subject…L  

(thanks for the few who had answered my topic related to this project)
To my knowledge there’s no decal set available for the A variant.  And since I hadn’t worked yet with PE extensively, I’d decided to build this kit OOB.

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This project was the opportunity for many many “Premières” for Me! This was in fact the purpose of this build.

This is my first airbrush job ever…after all those years! (got a Tamiya HG III) …learning to spray with a dual action tool is quite something…  I decanted spray paint for the first time too (Krylon black) …and discovered Alclad paints! (I’d wished for so long to try them, I’m a NMF fan!)  …use  RB rivet tool… rescribe nearly everything…(not to be that realistic, just because I had to use too much putty and sanding to make everything fit) …and couldn’t resist using the Tamiya weathering set I’ve got too… just to try it!
I use Future floor finish to set and seal the decals, and also several layers over the Alclad paint… prior to decals, and after.

I’m so grateful to many ARCer’s who share their knowledge on the Forums, and helped me to get better at my beloved hobby, giving me more and more satisfaction!
But the biggest issue with this build hadn’t nothing to do with the kit itself, nor the newly unmastered techniques…

Pépito, my girlfriend’s baby cockatiel, decided to strike many times at different stages of the build… can’t help it decided that I was is “mother” and always wanted to be on my shoulder! (pépito even managed to take flights in the hobby-room and attack the defenceless su-15… will I wasn’t there…)

So, except when I was doing toxic tasks, all the project was done with a baby parrot pinching my ears and scrolling down my arms trying to get on the top of my hands… and beyond… self-control is the skill that was mainly improve in the lasts months! …Do I need to tell you that this bird is adorable!

Don’t know precisely why, but Pépito seems to find a rival in the Flagon A…(more than some of my other current builds)

My su-15A is now hanging safer in the blue sky of my dedicated hobby-room.

Simon Talbot “Mingwin”

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Photos and text © by Simon Talbot “Mingwin”