1:48 Su-30 Flanker-C Prototype Splinter Camouflage Paint Mask set

A prototype still looking for its shape

The Su-30 was not designed on a drawing board from scratch. It grew out of the two-seat Su-27UB combat trainer, to which the designers added equipment for long patrol flights, air-to-air refueling and controlling a group of other machines. The first examples were therefore conversions and carried finishes that never appeared on production aircraft: test schemes of straight fields and sharp breaks, with which it was checked how the machine blended with the background. For a modeler this is a rewarding chance to build a well-known type in a form that nobody else will have on the shelf.

A splinter pattern on a complex shape

The camouflage fields break across the leading edges, the transitions from fuselage to wing and both fins. The pre-cut film holds these transitions and takes care that a break carries on onto the next piece at the right angle, which is the first thing to drift when working with tape by hand. On an airframe of this size there are dozens of connecting edges.

What to avoid

Think the order of the shades through in advance. With a multi-color scheme it pays to go from the lightest to the darkest, because a dark tone covers a light one easily, whereas the other way round means several extra coats and a thickness of paint on the edges. Builders nevertheless start with the dark one, because it is the most striking and gives the quickest sight of a result. Then they find that the lighter field shows through, they cover it over and the edges thicken so much that the pattern loses its sharpness. So write the order of the shades down before you open the first bottle.