1/72 Italeri TU-22 KDP

by Yuval Kizner

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Military plane Tu-22 crashed near Gomel.  Pilot lost his life saving the plane from falling on city”

(from official news)
In memory of colonel Viktor Oskin

 

 Information about this accident can be found here: (in Russian only)
  
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Campus/7109/AIRCRAFT/240792.html
   
I personally knew this pilot and great person during my service in the Soviet Army in 80s at Zyabrovka air-base, Belorussia.

Click on images below to see larger images

  

  

  

  

The base for this model is the very inaccurate Italeri kit, which - to my big disappointment - does not look like the real plane.

My model took almost a year to build, with a lot of effort and patience, trying to make each and every part look accurate in terms of shape and size.

I used drawings from publication ARMADA #16 and photos

 

Here is a list of some modifications and scratch-build items:     
  - Most complicated and labor intensive part of modification was adding 2.5 cm (1”) to center part of fuselage ahead of wings.

  - Nose radome was re-shaped and IFR-probe was scratch-build

  - All cockpit windows completely rebuild, and now all of them equipped with anti-radiation blinds.
 - All entry-hatches are repositioned to proper place
 - Engines are rebuild and placed properly
 - Vertical tail resized and reshaped.

 - Added trimmer control rods.

 - Scratch-build tail equipment container
 - sweep-angle of stabilizers was corrected and they were attached in realistic position.

 - Mid-fuselage received a lot of attention – I had to cutoff extra “fat” from sides and reshape wing leading edges, where they meet fuselage.

 - Wing’s aerodynamic fences are scratch-build, high-lift devices are separated and re-positioned in landing position.

 - Wings attached with proper 2.5 deg. anhedral, and wing-tips are scratch-build.

 - Engine nacelles re-contoured and heavily modified

 - Added SPO-3 Sirena and KDS-16 dipole ejector.
 - Completely rebuild undercarriage legs with hydraulic lines.

 - Special attention was paid to different antennas, navigational lights and sensors.

 

Whole model was re-scribed and riveted.

Only one kit’s flaw was not addressed: fuselage of real plane is area-ruled (Coke-battle shaped, but model lacks this “waist”).

Unfortunately, I did not have exact information about crashed plane, so I choose Tu-22 KDP of 341 IBAR VVS USSR , Ozernoe AFB.   http://wp.scn.ru/ru/ww3/b/653/1/0/1
   Model was painted with ModelMaster paints, pastel was used for weathering and tone-down. Wheels – “Equipage”. Decal – great “Thank you” to Andrey Kotkov (aka Kotey – owner of “Begemot” company).

 

Special “Thank you” to Eugeny Nesher for help and taking pictures, and to Alexander Muchin and Denis Saprikin for provided pictures and information.

Translated by Leo Dashevskiy aka Atlant.

Yuval

Click on images below to see larger images

  

  

  

  

  

  

Photos and text © by Yuval Kizner