1:48 Su-30MKI (#04) Blizzard Camo Painting Masks

A heavy Indian Flanker with a restless finish

The Su-30MKI came about as the two-seat branch of the heavy Sukhoi for the Indian Air Force, and most of the machines come from license production at Hindustan Aeronautics. Ahead of the leading edge of the wing it carries front horizontal surfaces and its powerplants are fitted with vectoring nozzles, so it keeps its handling even in regimes where other machines have long since lost speed. The pattern covered here belongs among the most complex that have appeared on this type: the bands break above the wing roots, wrap around the engine nacelles and nowhere repeat on the fuselage.

The journey of the sheet onto the model

The base has to be dry, degreased and cured through. The individual parts are taken out of the sheet with the point of a scalpel, carried to their place with tweezers and only then pressed down - first by the center, then toward the edges, so that no air is trapped under the film. On the doubly curved transitions, of which there are plenty between the fuselage and the nacelles, it helps to warm the part slightly and let it draw into shape.

Removal and the result under the film

The film is pulled off at an angle, close above the surface, never straight up; a vertical pull lifts even a fresh coat and tears the edge away with it. The best moment comes shortly after the paint has set, while the layer is still flexible. What is left behind is a sharp division in the paint itself, and the surface keeps the same texture it had before masking - which is exactly the reason why masks rather than large-area decals are reached for with schemes broken up like this.