The ‘Final Word’ Flanker?
So when another big Sukhoi hits the market, does this add to the
Can the imposing Sukhoi Flanker be described as the ‘Final Word’
for fighters in service today? Similarly when it comes to ‘best of
the best’ in modelling terms, how do we decide on the criteria for
those benchmarks?
When there is a significant new release of an iconic aircraft, there
always seems to be a rush to declare it’s the ‘best/worst’ version
ever. How do we decide? With head or heart?
Over the last few years a number of Flanker variants have been
released by Hobbyboss, Kittyhawk and Kinetic, these followed the
venerable Academy range of kits, all competing to be regarded as
the ‘Final Word’.
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debate or is it indeed the ‘Final Word’ on the subject..?
Minibase will be new name to most modellers and adding to the
Flanker debate, there is a lot of online speculation regarding the
origins of the kit. The choice of the SU33 Sea Flanker as their first
release is an interesting one and should delight modellers as the
colourful markings, canards and potential wing fold options give
these naval Flankers a very distinctive look.
When it comes to that ‘best/worst’ opinion, you can open the box
and look at the kit or you can build it…let’s take the latter course.

The real Flanker is big, complex and daunting; to be honest these
were exactly the thoughts going through my mind on opening the
robust box. After you remove the rather nicely illustrated inner
sleeve you find a box crammed with sprues from A to L in sealed
bags, a very comprehensive instruction booklet, etched fret,
excellent decal sheets and individual boxes for the slip moulded
ordnance. You even get a metal pitot probe, although surprisingly
for such a comprehensive presentation there are no paint masks
included.
The thing that strikes you first is the incredible level of very fine
detail seen on the recessed panels and rivets, especially notable
are some of the tiny parts that go to make up the wheel well pipe
Our thanks to www.albionhobbies.com
distributors of Minibase kits in the UK.
work etc. without doubt these are some of the most delicate
injection moulded parts I’ve ever seen and hint at the complex,
involving nature of the build.
Initial impressions are of a stunning kit, but also intimidating in
equal measures. A quick introduction to the forty plus pages of
assembly instructions confirms these impressions as, again the
step by step illustrations are more akin to an engineering
workshop manual than an injection moulded kit..
To give an impression of what you get for your money, I intended
to build straight from the box, hopefully helping to find out if this is
the ‘Final Word’ Flanker…
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 EJECTION SEAT
Your first introduction to the highly
detailed instruction booklet is a double
page layout dedicated purely to building
the ejection seat…the multipart seat
builds up into a highly detail
representation of the K-36D with
separate head and back rests, this is all
augmented by a considerable amount
of etch to create the complicated
harness configuration. You need to be BASIC COCKPIT
really switched on at this point and pay In a similar fashion the cockpit tub compromises several individual
very close attention to the diagrams, elements in an attempt to realistically represent the Flankers office.
this is a fiddly and frustrating process, The dimensional effect of the myriad switches and knobs on the
but the end results negate any need for consoles are crisp and very effective. There’s extra detail around the
a resin alternative. pedal area and side panels. The kit also offers two instrument panels
each with a slightly different configuration- there is no information as
to which one is the most appropriate for your specific build though, an
internet search for further information may be of use before choosing.

COCKPIT PAINTING
The Flanker cockpit carries that faintly queasy Soviet Interior
grey/blue, there a few paint options available on the market,
but I went with Mr Colour Soviet Interior Blue.
Rather than using the kit decals I chose the Airscale Modern
Jet Cockpit Instruments set to replicate the numerous dials on
the instrument panel.

HEAD UP DISPLAY
At this point I thought I’d jump ahead of the
chronology of the instruction booklet and complete
the head up display unit. This is where we see how
those exceptionally small and detailed parts really
enhance the look of the build. If the intention of the
kit designers was to negate the need for
aftermarket resin, the base moulded elements
have achieved that goal.
WHEEL GEAR BAYS & INTAKES
Prior to building the base fuselage, there is an involved process of creating the nose
landing gear bay and main wheel wells. Once again there is a plethora of tiny valves
and pipe work to be incorporated, some of these items are minuscule so care needs
to be taken to remove them from the sprues- the instructions have helpful painting
guides, this is admirable but a bit ambitious as it is a real challenge to your
eyesight…
The large, twin intake nacelles are full length, single parts, there is interior detailing
parts for the louvre doors, turbine blades etc. that requires building up prior to
attaching to the underside fuselage part, the join is aided by male/female tabs and
recesses, meaning that the intakes simply click into place, requiring only a touch of
Tamiya Extra Thin Cement.

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FUSELAGE
The fuselage is split into upper and lower halves, when test fitted they
seem to join neatly at natural panel lines. Some care and attention
has obviously been taken when considering the engineering of the kit
to avoid any unnatural looking fit issues. The large Flanker nose is a
single part, which unlike some previous releases from other
manufacturers seems to have captured the dimensions and look
accurately. Copious amounts of weight were added to the front
section to keep the nose wheel on the deck.

WINGS
As is fitting for a naval aircraft, the Flanker can be configure with
folded or unfolded wings with highly realistic parts to replicate the
mechanism if you go for the stored option. There is also a complex
arrangement of flaps and ailerons, I found the T shape hinges a bit
tricky as the instructions indicate that they are to be ‘sandwiched’ in
place rather than glued, meaning that they are free to travel. I
decided to trim the ends from the hinges and glued them in place at
the desired angle.
The kit also provided wingtip options with jamming pods or R-73
pylons.

ENGINE NOZZLES
There may be some debate around whether the kit should include the
twin Saturn AL31F3 engines either to be displayed separately or to be
placed internally. What you do get though are several beautifully
moulded parts for the exhaust cans, again, the need for aftermarket
parts is negated by the quality of the kit moulding.

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 VERTICAL & HORIZONTAL TAILS
Here we see again some outstanding
moulding on the huge tail panes and the
foldable horizontal stabilisers. The twin
vertical tails locate via a tab and slot
system for positive location.

INITIAL SUMMARY
With the Sukhoi’s bulk now coming together, its worth a quick assessment of
Minibase’s Sea Flanker- the company have stated that they take a ‘no compromise’
approach- that is more than evident in the level of engineering and finesse
demonstrated by the moulded sprues, this also translates extremely well when it
comes to actually building the kit.

Although it’s already felt like an involving and detailed build, at this stage in the
process there is still quite a lot of fine detailing parts to be incorporated.

At this point it would be premature to say if this really is the ‘Final Word’ Flanker, but
I would have to say if there is a better one out there, it must be one hell of a kit!

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