Subject: Re: 1/144 Minicraft Tu-22M3 Backfire Part 2
From: "Steve Bamford ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "ayshapiro2" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 22:21:40 -0700

Hi Dmitriy,
I just wanted to let you know your article went on ARC today.  Thanks for sending it in.   

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com
 
Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

---- Original Message ----- 
  From: ayshapiro2 
  To: [email-masked] 
  Sent: Sunday, August 15, 2004 9:36 PM
  Subject: 1/144 Minicraft Tu-22M3 Backfire Part 2

  Hey Steve,
      
  This is part 2 of my article. 

  Thanks,
  Dmitriy
  1/144 Minicraft Tu-22M3 Backfire Part 2 

  by Dmitriy Shapiro
  --------------------

        Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 01.jpg here 

  Markings:

      As far as I know, The Tu-22M3 is used only by the Russian Air Force, Ukrainian Air Force, and Indian Air Force. I couldn't find any decals for the Indian or Ukrainian Air Force, and I do not know how to make decals, so I stuck with the ones I had. Theses were pretty simple, with only 6 beautifully make Russian stars. Before putting on the decals, I gave the whole model a coat of Future so there would be a gloss coat for the decals. When that was dry, I applied the decals, and then put SolvaSent on each one to seal it in. It was kind of tricky to apply the decals because the decal guide didn't have pictures that were clear enough. I'm glad I had some reference pics for this. The model was given another coat of Future and I let it dry for 2 days.

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  Weathering:

      This was my first project where I tried weathering. I didn't do weathering before because I did not have the products needed, and was too lazy to go buy some. I finally decided to weather this bird because after all of the reference pictures, I just could not leave it clean. I took my bike and rode down to Michael's and got myself some Conte Paris Crayon Pastel Pencils. There are two pencils in a package, and they cost only about 3 dollars. The tip of the pencil was enough for the Tu-22M, so it will last you a long time. I used a water bottle cap for mixing the solution. I used a hobby knife to make the chalk pastel powder. All of this went into the cap until I had a desired amount. A drop of water was then added. I mixed the powder and water, and then added a drop of dish soap to finish off the solution. I mixed everything for about 20 seconds until I got the desired solution. I then took a medium sized brush and carelessly brushed the solution onto all of the panel lines and parts that need detail. One way to make sure the mix goes into the panel lines is to brush the solution across the panel line, not parallel to it. I let this dry overnight so it would settle into the panel lines. 

      The next day, all of the black areas were still wet, and this is how its supposed to be. I started out by taking a little bowl an filling it with water. I also had 3 napkins, scissors, and some newspaper. What I did first was take the corner of the napkin and fold it up so I have a thin area. I dipped this part into the water and let go right away. Then, I pushed it onto the newspaper so all of the water would come out. What you want is a damp piece of napkin, not a wet one. I took this piece and started taking off the solution making sure I don't get anything out of the panel lines. At first, I just mixed the solution on the whole part I was working on, and the next time I started taking off some. I kept doing this until I was left with some dark panel lines and some dirt on the part. When the damp piece of napkin is dirty, I just cut it off, threw it away, and then started with a new piece below it. I kept doing all of this until all of the panel lines looked good to me. I still had some of the mixture in the cap that was completely dry. There were still areas that needed more dirt, so I took the cap and added a drop of water and a drop of soap. I mixed this up and went over the panel lines that needed more dirt again. The same process was done until I was satisfied. This was my first time trying this "Chalk/water/soap" mix and I think it worked out great. I used The article in the Tools and Tips section to do this: http://s96920072.onlinehome.us/tnt1/001-100/TNT026_Chalk_Washes/tnt026.htm

  With all of the weathering done, I decided to put on the final coat of Future on the model. This time, I mixed 1 part Tamiya Flat Base with 12 part Future to give the model a satin look. I tried brushing it on for the bottom, and found out that this takes off some of the weathering. I decided to spray on normal Future on the top and then brush on the Satin Future mix. After spraying it on, I had some areas where Future was built up and a lot of the weathering areas were wiped out, and made the aircraft cleaner. I just let this be and brushed on the Satin Future mix when the first coat was dry. In the end, the whole model had a nice look that was not too glossy and not too flat.

        Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 02.jpg here 

  Final Construction:

      The final construction was pretty easy and didn't take that long to do. I started out with the landing gear. There was minimal detail there, so I used some electrical wire and styrene strips to simulate the wires and boxes on the landing gear. The landing gear was painted white and the wires were black and silver. I drybrushed Tamiya Smoke to weather the landing gear. The landing gear bays were also weird with some electrical wire and was painted Tamiya Sky Grey. The wires ranged from Red, White, Silver, and Black. The main landing gear doors had to be cut to make them fit and be accurate. The front landing gear doors are perfect fit.

      The second part was attaching the parts that hold the scratchbuilt AS-4 missiles. This was one of the easiest parts, but you have to watch out for the back, because if you put glue on the back part, it will stick to the wing, and that's definitely not good. I used a lot of glue on these parts, because there were a lot of gaps. I then attached the AS-4 missiles using super glue. After all of the little antennas were attached, I let the model dry overnight. Then, I gave the areas that had new parts attached some Satin Future and let this dry for two days.

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  Remarks:

      And finally my model was done! After over a month of work, it was completed and I was very proud.

      This was the first time I tried some new techniques, as it always is with my models. This was the first time I tried scratchbuilding, which I think turned out awesome. It was also the first time I used super glue, and I must say it is the best way to attach really fragile or really large parts. This was my first time using weathering, and I'm glad I did because its the one of the easiest and best ways to make the model look realistic. This was the first time I tried major surgery on a model, which was fixing the whole tail and replacing a part of the wing that was broken off. It was the first time using Tamiya Flat Base, which turned out pretty nice. In the end, I used a lot of new techniques that I will surely be using in the future. 

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      This model was finished in a little over a month, and I thick it deserves all of that work. On the 16th annual IPMS Central Valley Scale Modelers Show and contest on August 15th, 2004, this model won 2nd place in the Junior Aircraft section. It was beat by my 757, which I think is unfair, because personally I think the Tu-22M was much better. But hey, I cant change it now!

   Dmitriy 

  Photos and text © 2004 by Dmitriy Shapiro