Check out the unboxing video here!
It has been a rough year for heavily forested regions, having to fight numerous fires around the globe. One of the lesser-known air-attack aircraft — commonly called a “firebomber” — is the Beriev Be-200ES, a handful of which are in service in Russia and Ukraine. The Be-200 is doubly unusual for being a jet-powered floatplane capable of scooping up loads of water for aerial deployment.
Zvezda has released a 1/144 kit of this strangely elegant air-attack aircraft that includes decals for one firefighter and a more subdued naval support jet. All stripes and markings are supplied as decals, along with extensive stenciling. Exhibiting petite surface details, the kit includes a flight deck equipped with seats and instrument console — although you’ll be on you own for the instruments. Some detail decorates the landing-gear bays that mount the sturdy but crisp landing gear. Should you choose a more dramatic stance, Zvezda includes a two-part stand.
Assembly is simple, with the flight deck and nose gear bay fitting easily in the forward fuselage. Zvezda provides clear strip windows for the numerous openings. However, I prefer adding clear window fluid after painting to avoid teeny masking chores. I did cut the observation bubbles out of the strips and found they fit well. Likewise, the windshield fit perfectly. Before gluing the fuselage halves together, I placed a lead sinker behind the cabin bulkhead to keep the nose down. The lower fuselage needed a touch of sanding to eliminate a slight step.
The Be-200’s wing comes as a three-piece assembly with a full span upper and half span lower parts. I attached the upper wing to the fuselage, allowed it to dry, then slipped the lower wing halves in place. Even with the complicated contours, the parts went together seamlessly. I had to open the holes in the wing to accept the flap track fairing, and I left off the outrigger floats for separate painting. Make sure to assemble the horizontal stabilizer right-side up; the upper fin fairing will fit only with the horizontal stab in the correct orientation.
Zvezda molds the engine lip and intake as one piece all the way down to the fan blades, eliminating any chance of nasty seams. Beautiful! The exhausts can be pushed in place from the front of the nacelles, so I left them off until later. The nacelles mated well with the airframe, so I left them off until after painting and decaling, too.
Painting directions call out Tamiya and — I think — Zvezda paint options. After covering the entire model in Tamiya white (XF-2), I sprayed the lower surface with Tamiya blue (XF-8) and masked it. The side profiles are accurate enough to use as a guide to determine where the separation line between the gray lower and white upper surfaces. I sprayed the recommended Tamiya royal light gray (XF-53), but it might be a bit dark. A gloss coat prepared everything for decals, which went on hassle free. Even the thin red hull waterline markings went on with little trouble. I added the engines and landing gear after finishing the decals; don’t forget to paint the front of the retraction struts white to match the airframe.
I spent an enjoyable 12 hours building my diminutive Beriev. Zvezda’s kit is easy to build and provides all the markings needed in a friendly format. I’m most pleased with my elegant floating firefighter.