MPM 1:72 NAKAJIMA "KIKKA"
'In The Box Review'

 

Reviewer: Ken Duffey  (taken from rec.models.scale newsgroup)

Someone was asking about the new Amodel kit of the Sukhoi Su-15TM Flagon, so I though I'd do a quick Out The Box review.

Kit number 7263 contains 55 parts moulded in light grey plastic with engraved panel detail. There is a bit of flash evident and most parts require a little cleaning up. A one-piece canopy is provided. It is a little on the thick side, but is perfectly usable.

The cockpit comprises a floor, two side consoles (with a little raised detail, but not much), a simple instrument panel with engraved detail and a rear bulkhead. A reasonably accurate, 4-part KS-4 ejection seat is provided - as is a control column.

The cockpit sits on top of a 4-part nosewheel well and the whole assembly fits inside the fuselage halves. The 2-part nose radome is separate and the rear end is finished off with a lower section (to capture the double curvature) and a one-piece tailcone complete with pen-nib fairing. Inside the fairing are fitted two exhaust tailpipes each with afterburner petals and a turbine face.

The intakes have an inner boundary layer plate, a raised ramp and the outer wall - which IS canted in at the bottom when viewed from the front - but only just!

The nosegear is made up from a 3-part leg with separate twin wheels and the main-gear has a single piece leg and wheels that have readable manufacturers data on the tyre itself!

The wings comprise a one-piece upper section containing wheel well detail and two lower inserts. The drooped outer wing leading edge is well captured and separate flaps and ailerons are provided. They even include separate actuating rams for raised or lowered flaps.

The horizontal tailplanes are moulded in one piece each side - including the anti-flutter weights - so care will be needed when cleaning them up. The fin is in two halves - the join where it meets the spine will require some filler. The smaller intakes on the rear fuselage are provided as separate parts.

Armament comprises twin UPK-23-250 gun pods, 2 x R-98 missiles (AA-3 Anab) and 2 x R-60 missiles (AA-8 Aphid).

I thought I had better check against some drawings in a Polish monograph that I have and was horrified to see that it was seriously short in length !! Then I placed it over some other plans - and according to them it is spot on! Never trust a single source!*

For the record, the length of the real thing is 21.41m (including nose probe) which works out at 29.73mm in 1:72 scale. The span is 9.3m. The drawings I consulted were Polish Aircraft Monograph number 1 - ISBN 83-86208-03-01 and Czech Zlinek magazine number 3/92.

Humbrol paint numbers are quoted throughout and the comprehensive decal sheet gives no less than four marking options - three natural metal and one camouflaged.

These comprise the inevitable "Red 17" from Sakhalin that shot down the Korean Airlines Boeing 747, "Blue 38" from 431st FAR, Afrikanga AB, 1978, "Blue 28", a Ukrainian machine from the 62nd FAR, Belbek AB, 1993 and "Red 01" in a 4-colour camouflage pattern from Bezrechnaya AB, 1991.

So there you have it - it isn't Hasegawa standard, but it is the BEST Flagon in this scale currently available - and Amodel continue to improve with each new release. I can't wait for their La-250 Anakonda.

Just to remind you, my photos of the real thing are on Linden Hill's website at :- http://www.lindenhillimports.com/Su-15.htm (be sure to check out 'Part 2')

* Footnote: Yuri Rambelli wrote in response to above review: "According to my references, the drawings from Zlinek magazine should be the more accurate. The same plans were also on a Belarus magazine called "Aeroplan" - don't remember the number, but I got it from Aviation Usk a couple of years ago."

Ken replies: " I suspect that the Polish monograph artist took the published Su-15 length as EXCLUDING the nose probe - and therefore made his fuselage drawing too long. The opposite happened with the Su-27. The published dimensions were INCLUDED the nose probe - and as a result, some of the kits were too short because the designers thought that the length was just to the radome tip.

By the way the 'Aeroplan' drawings appeared in issue number 8 (4.94) and are credited to V. Rudenko. His name appears in the Zlinek mag - though not against the drawings. They are essentially the same drawings though - but the Zlinek ones are tidier and do not have as much fussy rivet detail.

Ken hosts an excellent VVS and Flanker related site at http://www.flankers.co.uk/ - highly recommended site to visit!

 

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