Zvezda 1/144 Tupolev TU 160 Blackjack under construction

[yak face]

Heres the excellent Zvezda Tu 160 Blackjack , I picked this up for about £14 at cosford. Ive been after one for a while and though i'd love the trumpeter 1/72 ,its a bit big and pricey (3 ft long and £90!!) so opted for the 1/144 . Its still a good size in this scale being 15" long with a 15 1/2" span at fully spread. The kit comes with a well detailed cockpit for 1/144 ,although not a lot will be seen once the fuselage is together and canopy on , so i havent worried about belts on the seats etc. just giving it a basic paint job. From what ive encountered so far it looks like its going to be a nice build , the fit of the parts is very good . heres the cockpit pics ,cheers tony

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[takeslousyphotos]

That must be a big bugger in real life......... Good start.

Peter

[yak face]

Currently the largest combat aircraft in the world peter , longer and wider than a B52 , and quite a bit heavier too. I think there was only the XB 70 valkyrie and the B36 peacemaker that were heavier/ larger.

[john i am]

Comrade nice choice of aircraft and good work on the pit I will watch this with interest :goodluck:

[papa 695]

A nice start Tony

[Guest]

Nice work Tony. Loving the detail at this scale.

Andy

[mossiepilot]

Looks nice so far Tony.

Tony.

[flyjoe180]

Prepare lots of display space Tony. Looking forward to more progress soon.

[Guest]

You've picked a beautiful aircraft to aim your talents at Tony. Look forward to seeing the finished model. Cheers Derek

p.s. Just in case you hav'nt come across this website, some nice useful pictures http://www.flankerman.fsnet.co.uk/tu-160.html

[colin m]

I find some russian aircraft can look a bit 'odd' but this looks so sleek, it could be a western design. Nice choice of model Tony.

[yak face]

Not a lot of progress due to the unseasonal (ie. good) weather weve been having lately . Heres where I am at the mo, the wings on the kit dont pivot as on some other kits but instead you have to decide which degree of sweep you want to depict , fully spread,fully back or in between. Ive opted for the middle setting so have glued the wings and now I can get the fuselage together and get things moving. cheers tony

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[yak face]

Fuselage all together ready for the joints to be seen to, and the engine nacelles and intakes have been assembled. This kit has the option of having the bomb bays open and comes with a fully detailed interior plus 6 cruise missiles on their carriers. I'm not going to have these open as i like to see the clean lines of something as great looking as this , so these will be glued shut . So far the fit and finish of this kit has been excellent , i'm really enjoying it. cheers tony

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[Dave W]

Some good progress on your Russian B1 Tony.

[yak face]

Joints sanded , engine nacelles and intakes glued its starting to look like a blackjack (or as dave rightly says ,a B1 ) One of the jobs im not looking forward to is the wheels , not only is there 6 each side on the main gears but Zvezda have decided to do them all in 2 halves!! Lots of tyre seams to clean up ,not to mention the painting!

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[Guest]

Looking good Tony,

This would be a ceiling hanger for me - not only cos of the size but the f******* wheels!!!! I hate 2 piece wheels at the best of the times!!!

Stuart