Zvezda 1/144 Beriev Be-200ES Completed

[Dave Ward]

Calling this finished, just as well, I was running out of interest.....................

A nice little model - in 1/144 it's a bit small - it'd be better in 1/72!!.
Fit was pretty good - unlike a lot of airliner kits this has a complete set of windows, which complicates the masking for the 3 colour scheme - I brush painted the grey & the blue, It could have got messy, using the airbrush. The decals needed careful application, doing one side at a time - thankfully, they were pretty tough & resisted podding & poking & no reaction to Decal Solutions
I have come to the conclusion that I won't be making anymore 1/144 jet airliners, I don't get much satisfaction out of building, or completing them as I have in the past. ( Luckily I only have a Revell Boeing 737 in this category in the stash ).
Thank you for dropping by - I'm still thinking on what my next build will be.....................
Dave

[Jim R]

Hi Dave
We see few modern passenger jets build and very, very few as unusual as this.
It's turned out well.
Jim

[Dave Ward]

Jim,
not really a passenger plane - it's used as an emergency response aircraft - water bombing seems to be the most usual occupation. It can carry external loads for dropping emergency supplies ( like life rafts, I reckon ). The Russian military use them as well as the emergency agencies
Dave

[Jim R]

Thanks Dave.
Very interesting and unusual anyway. Certainly not a run of the mill military plane like we often see.
Jim

[outrunner]

Turned out very nice Dave.

Andy.

[colin m]

You got me there Dave, I have never seen one of these before. Nice job.

[adt70hk]

Well done Dave. As others have said, very different.

Andrew

[yak face]

I always love to see something unusual dave , and this certainly fits the bill! As you say it would have been nice to have it in 1/72 but it still looks great . Cheers tony

[flyjoe180]

I saw a Beriev A-40 Albatross that came to New Zealand in 1992. It had quite a presence about it, I remember it being rather large and it made a water landing on one of Auckland's harbours. Your later Beriev looks great Dave, a point of difference from usual topics.

[Dave Ward]

I've never seen a flying boat in action, only a few floatplanes. I can remember, as a young kid seeing the Saro Princess that was in storage at Calshot, on the Solent - at least, just the giant tail. My grandfather lived just along the coast, and we'd gone to Calshot to see the Queen Elizabeth ( or Mary! ) sail by.
I found one picture n the 'net.............

I can only remember seeing the tail! - Mind you, I was probably only 5 or 6 at the time!
Dave

[stillp]

Big, that Princess:

Pete

[Dave Ward]

Saunders Roe took the flying boat idea to the obvious conclusion

Saunders-Roe SR.A/1
Planet Models do a resin model of this, and Formaplane did a vacform - nice, but expensive!
Dave

[Tim Marlow]

Nice work on an unusual subject Dave. Something came to mind when looking at it. How do they fill it for water bombing? Does it fill up when stationary or do they scoop the water in when moving?

[Dave Ward]

Nice work on an unusual subject Dave. Something came to mind when looking at it. How do they fill it for water bombing? Does it fill up when stationary or do they scoop the water in when moving?

Tim,
it scoops up water on the fly! It doesn't actually land, it skims the surface & scoops fill the tanks in a matter of seconds!

Round about the 2 1/2 minute mark it fills up...............
Dave

[Del640]

I really like that, well done!!