Russian Su-30MK Flanker G Fighter

Trumpeter has produced a slew of Flanker models in multiple scales and variants. I suspect that Trumpeter is producing so many Flanker kits because the Sukhoi-Komsomolsk KnAAPO Su-30MKK is China’s most advanced operational fighter and Trumpeter is a Chinese company. (The Chinese are going through an ultranationalist phase.) The Trumpeter 1/144 Su-30MKK Flanker G is an excellent 2014 kit in matte medium gray plastic with excellent fit, no flash, crisp engraved panel lines and a cockpit with ejection seats. The parts trees are individually bagged, except for the two duplicate weapons trees in one bag. (Trumpeter uses a heavy gauge polyethylene, and although this protects the trees very well, there’s a lot of waste plastic and a large box for a six inch long model.) The upper fuselage with wings is already removed from any sprue with attachment points well sanded. The accuracy and detail these new Trumpeter 1/144 kits is the best I’ve ever seen for such tiny models. The landing gear parts are very delicate and fragile, but that’s to be expected for a 1/144 scale fighter. There are two trees of air-to-air ordnance: four each R-27R (AA-10 Alamo long-range SARH), R-27T (AA-10 Alamo medium-range IR), R-73E (AA-11 Archer short-range IR-homing) and R-77 (AA-12 Adder long-range active-radar-homing) AAM. The model has only ten hardpoints. (By the way, the 60 parts count is misleading because of the huge number of missiles; 40 parts are missiles, missile fins and pylons.) It would be better to attach the centerline missiles before the jet intake trunks, instead of the other way around as in the instructions - its a tight work space with the trunks in place. I wish there were some air-to-ground weapons, since the MKK is a fighter-bomber and non-American ordnance is hard to come by. Assembly is otherwise straightforward. The fuselage top (which include the wings) and bottom halves fit well; once they’re joined, its mostly just fin and missile attachment. The most difficult are the jet intake assemblies; there aren’t many registration aids.