1:48 Su-31 Engine With Closed Cowls (Quinta Models)

Su-31 engine with closed cowls

Under the cowling of the aerobatic Sukhoi sits an air-cooled unit with its cylinders arranged in a star. Because of it the front of the airframe is short and bulky, with a prominent ring around the propeller hub and with openings through which the heated air leaves. When the cowls are closed, this part makes up the silhouette that a viewer at a show judges first.

The set replaces the engine section of the model in the form with the cowl closed and adds details that an injection-molded part cannot manage. It suits anyone building the aircraft in a finished state, whether on a base or in a flying pose with the propeller spinning.

Paint it in sub-assemblies

• Finish and spray the engine section before you join it to the fuselage; later you will not reach it.
• Apply metallic shades onto a smooth, glossy base, as a matte base takes the sparkle out of them.
• Mask the cooling air ring with liquid mask, which holds better on a curved edge than tape.
• Build the shades up from the darkest one, and the transitions will then appear without sharp boundaries.
• Darken the outlet openings from the inside before you close the whole thing up; a brush will not reach in there later.

Once dry, check whether the mask has pulled the paint off an edge, and touch any loss up with a brush before the varnish. A closed cowling has the advantage that the inside only needs suggesting; so put your energy into the cleanliness of the gaps between the cowls and into the surface of the ring instead. The package does not include the aircraft model, paints or glue.