Zvezda 1/144 Tupolev TU 160 Blackjack under construction

[Guest]

It's coming out nice.

Looks like a lot of work with those wheels

Francesco

[flyjoe180]

Your Blackjack is looking good Tony, best of luck with those wheel seams.

[yak face]

Work has been progressing quite slowly due to me wanting to get the tiger meet puma finished but I'm back on it now. The (many) wheels have been painted , what a pain in the eyeballs that was ! and ive partly assembled and sprayed the undercarriage legs. The front leg is made up from about 7 pieces (not including the 2 wheels!)and looks very nicely detailed. The body has had its first coat of white and I'm just checking now for anything that needs sorting before the second coat , it really lives up to its russian nickname of 'white swan' doesnt it. here are a few pics , spot the not so deliberate mistake - theres only 11 main wheels! after i had took the pictures i just happened to find an unpainted wheel in the corner of the box -DOH!! cheers tony

[ATTACH]69010.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]69011.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]69012.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]69013.IPB[/ATTACH]

[Guest]

What scale is the chair? 1:1??!!!

Wow, that plane is really huge considering the scale.

I was waiting for this update, great work!

Francesco

[yak face]

Just had one of those forehead slapping moments , looking at reference pics to see where the natural metal area starts on the engine nacelles , and I see the wheels are in fact silver NOT green! Just goes to show the importance of good reference and not trusting the instructions blindly . The instructions said green for the wheels and show the natural metal area on the engines to be a lot bigger than in photographs of the actual aircraft . The funny thing is , Zvezda are a russian company so you would have thought their info was accurate ?! Anyway , all wheels are now silver , just need to do the tyres again ! tony

[Ian M]

I actually rather like the shape of that. very sleek. It puts me in mind of the Bone, which I guess is its counterpart.

Love to see them together...

You are doing a great job and I look forward to seeing her in paint.

Ian M

[yak face]

Cheers Ian , yes its almost identical in layout to the B1 but about 1 1/2 times the size . As for the paint , this is just about it, a further coat of white then the metallic areas and maybe a pale panel wash to break up the monotone colour . The trouble with weathering in this scale is its too easy to overdo it , maybe just a pale grey wash? cheers tony

[colin m]

It seems strange how loads of new planes were 'Swing wings' but then all of a sudden, they weren't so popular. Looking nice Tony.

[flyjoe180]

Modern wing shape development means designers aren't required to use complicated, expensive and heavy variable wing mechanisms any more to create aerofoils that are effective at both supersonic and subsonic operation. In the age of stealth a bulky frontal area is not desirable. Nice work Tony, I didn't realise the Blackjack was larger than the B-1.

[yak face]

Paintwork nearly done , just a few panels to pick out in different colours and a wash. The undercarriage is done (but excuse the dust on the pics , believe me it wont be there on the finished article!) and looks quite nice. I have put the undercarriage on and discovered a schoolboy error - i forgot to put in any nose weight!!! result , the nose wheel just lifts off the ground a mm or two , the multi wheel bogies stopping it totally sitting on its a**e ! After trying in vain to kick my own a**e, i racked my tiny brains and came up with the idea of making the front u/c doors out of sheet lead . They are featureless and straight , and the kit ones are about the same thickness as the lead sheet so it should work. heres some pics , cheers tony

[ATTACH]69902.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]69903.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]69904.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]69905.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]69906.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]69907.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]69908.IPB[/ATTACH]

[Guest]

Excellent job here.

What color did you use for the gear pistons?

Francesco

[yak face]

Thanks francesco , the oleo pistons were done with Revell aqua colour aluminium , thinned slightly with water, it gives a nice shiny finish , cheers tony

[Ian M]

BIGGER than a Bone. Dude!

Sorry about the paint comment, I did not realise it was painted white.

I would think a pale grey wash would do it. I Imagine that she would of been kept quite clean. A 'plane that size would carry a lot of extra weight if it got to dirty...

Ian M

[flyjoe180]

That landing gear looks fiddly, rather you than me. Nicely done Tony.

[papa 695]

Looking sweet Tony