Trumpeter 1/72 Chinese J-11B
By Chris Banyai-Riepl
Overview
The Sukhoi Su-27SK was license-produced by Shenyang in China, where it was given the designation J-11. Disagreements between Russia and China led to the suspension of that license production, but China did not want to abandon one of the better fighters in their air force. At the same time, though, the Su-27SK was falling behind technologically and China needed a more modern design.
Building off the J-11 design, Shenyang enhanced the original design through the addition of composite materials and new avionics/electronics. The latter include a new planar array multimode radar and a Chinese IRST on the nose. The aircraft also has a glass cockpit and an onboard oxygen generator system, as well as new engines. These changes resulted in the J-11B, which was the main reason for the aforementioned disputes that led to the suspension of the original J-11.
The Kit
Modelers have been wanting an accurate 1/72 Su-27 for quite some time, so when this kit was announced, many were excited, but not too hopeful as every Su-27 kit in the past has had serious shape problems of one sort or another. Well, with this kit those worries can be put to rest as this is easily the most accurate 1/72 Su-27 kit out there. Molded in the typical Trumpeter gray plastic, the kit is specifically tooled for the Chinese J-11B, which means it features the radome stiffeners, the Chinese IRST, and the WS-10 engine exhausts, as well as a full collection of Chinese weaponry and pylons for under the wings. However, in the box there are also the standard Su-27 radome and the Russian-style exhausts, so one could build a stock Su-27 from this kit (but without weapons, as the Russian pylons are different) without too much effort. Of course, it would be easier to just wait for the Su-27 release.
So, starting with the interior, the front office in this kit is not too bad, with a very good representation of the ejection seat, complete with belts. This fits into the one-piece tub, which has a separate control stick and instrument panel. There are two panels included in the kit, the glass cockpit version for the J-11B and a stock round-dial version for regular Su-27s. Both the side consoles and instrument panel are detailed via decals, which some will probably want to replace with aftermarket resin to get raised detailing.
The fuselage and wings are molded together and are split into upper and lower halves. For the most part the fit on these looks quite good, but I would strongly recommend shimming up the outer wing pieces, as pressing those parts together will result in a massive step. Some plastic strip stock on the edges should take care of that. For the upper fuselage, the dorsal airbrake is separate, while the lower fuselage features separate air intake assemblies. These include separate parts for the ventral vents, separate engine faces, and separate intake ramps. These will look quite nice when finished. Also on the underside are the separate ventral fins.
Moving to the landing gear, the nose gear strut is nicely done, with a two-piece fender arrangement that sandwiches the nose wheel inside. This fender is the later style with just a single hole (earlier ones had three). The main gear are simple, but well detailed, and capture the look and feel of the Flanker's legs nicely. As noted earlier, there are two styles of nose and two styles of exhaust cans, so be sure to use the right ones here. The leftover nose could also be used on your old Hasegawa kits, if you can ignore the rear fuselage problems.
For weaponry, this kit is really a treat. You get PL-8, PL-10, PL-11, PL-12 and PL-21 missiles, and lots of them. For the PL-12 and PL-21, there are eight each, while the PL-8, PL-10, and PL-11 you get four each. There are two centerline stations, two intake stations, six wing stations, and the two wingtip stations, so you could use up a significant number of these weapons on this model. Even with a full loadout, though, you will have missiles left over for your spares box.
For decals, you get the choice of an operational aircraft or one finished in pre-delivery primer. For the latter, the decal sheet includes two number sets, 523 and 524. All the various antenna sections on the airframe are painted in dark gray, while the airframe itself is painted in a mix of Middle Stone and white. There are no other markings on this option. For the operational aircraft, the camouflage is a medium gray over a light gray, again with the antenna panels painted in dark gray. There is a tail number of 10320 provided, but there are also four sets of individual numbers, which will allow the modeler to build a different aircraft. National insignia are in six positions on this scheme. The decals also include a good selection of stenciling for the aircraft, and a separate decal sheet with stenciling for the weaponry. Overall, the decal options are quite good.
Conclusion
This is a very welcome kit from Trumpeter, and one which many 1/72 modelers will snap up. Whether building as a Shenyang J-11B or going the extra step to build it as an Su-27, it will put an accurate Flanker on your shelves. My thanks to Stevens International for the review sample.