The box of Trumpeter's new Tupelov strategic bomber is packed full with 376 parts. The light gray, injection-molded pieces feature excellent recessed panel lines and very little flash (though there are mold seams on the wing flaps).
Kit instructions include a 16-step, 16-page booklet and a color guide for Gunze and Humbrol paints. With the option of open or closed crew hatches, I left them open to reveal the cockpit's outstanding detail.
The model comes with a highly detailed weapon bay that accommodates an array of AS-16 Kickback cruise missiles attached to a rotary launcher. In addition, the kit offers 18 FAB-250 general purpose bombs attached to multiple ejector racks glued to the exterior. Two gigantic AS-4 "Kitchen" cruise missiles are attached to hard points under the wings. (I posed my Backfire with just the AS-4 missiles.) The kit also includes a centerline cutout for a single AS-4, but the instructions direct you to place cover plates over the cutout.
Major subassemblies include the wheel wells, weapons bay, vertical stabilizer, forward and rear fuselage, and wings. The forward and rear fuselage halves are molded for a top-to-bottom build, but this creates seams to fill. In addition, attaching the forward and rear fuselage as well as the intake trunk assembly also created seams that needed filling. Strangely, the instructions indicate attaching ordnance before completing the fuselage. However, I left off the wing assemblies until after all filling and sanding was complete on the fuselage.
I was disappointed that the wings can only be positioned fully forward; there's no provision for the swept-back position. Fortunately, the forward-swept wings were accompanied by the extension of the wing slats, flaps, and spoilers. I attached the intricate landing gear after the fuselage and wings were assembled.
One perplexing matter involved the clear parts of the crew hatches. With a very detailed cockpit, the crew hatches can be positioned opened. The windows to each hatch were supposed to drop into a recessed area that overlapped the actual window opening. However, the fit required the clear parts to be sanded down smooth, polished, then installed and masked before painting the hatch. The instructions, though, fail to warn you about this tricky facet of the cockpit assembly - a lot of work for such small parts.
I used Model Master and Xtracolor paints. The kit decals are well printed, go on easily with a dose of Solvaset, and offer markings for two Red air force aircraft.
The model took me about 30 hours to build, with most of my time spent on masking and painting. It is an enjoyable kit to build, and it looks great next to Trumpeter's other big Soviet bombers. Now, Trumpeter, how about a Tupelov Tu-22 Blinder?
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