1:72 R-73 - AA-11 Archer (4 pcs)

The R-73 for model fighters in 1:72

Four stores of the weapon that at the close of the Cold War changed ideas about air combat at close range. The set belongs on the wingtip pylons of models of the MiG-29 and the Su-27 and their later versions.

A maneuver nobody expected

The missile entered service in the middle of the nineteen-eighties and brought two things at once: control by the stream of gases from the motor, thanks to which it turns after a target right after leaving the pylon, and cooperation with a helmet-mounted sight. The pilot could thus launch the weapon at a machine flying markedly off to the side without having to turn the whole aircraft. When Western air forces got to know these machines more closely after the unification of Germany, the result was an unpleasant surprise and it accelerated the development of a new generation of comparable weapons on the other side. Characteristic are the forward canard surfaces and the fan of control surfaces at the rear.

Fragile surfaces and painting them

The fine forward surfaces are the most vulnerable part of the whole set, so handle the stores by the body, never by the edges. Remove burrs with a stroke of the scalpel away from the body. Leave the nose with the seeker darker than the rest and lightly glossy, and finish the body matte by contrast. With the four of them, watch that the control surfaces are rotated the same on every piece; mismatched orientation is the first thing a viewer notices on a finished model.

Who we recommend it to

• builders of modern fighters of Eastern design
• those interested in the development of weapons for close combat
• modelers putting together a complete combat load
• collectors in 1:72 scale with a focus on armament

The stores belong to a model of the machine, which you obtain separately. Glue, filler and paints are not enclosed.