Ordinarily, with the holiday rush in full swing, we tend to add blog posts that have something to do with products currently available. This year we are making an exception, largely to help newcomer Calibre Wings get some traction as we enter the new year and put them on a more equal footing with some of the more entrenched players.

Earlier today, the Company release several first test shots for their upcoming 1:72 scale Sukhoi Su-24 “Fencer” attack aircraft. While unpainted and still showing areas where plastic is being used as opposed to metal, the imagery does give collectors an idea as to how far along they are with this project as well as their commitment to quality and craftsmanship. Noel Lee, managing director for Calibre Wings, also had this to say about their newest tooling:

1) There will be air intake covers and nozzle covers, these will be made from soft PVC.

2) The pitot tube looks bent because the PVC used during this test shot was too soft. We may change the pitot tube to a hard plastic if the subsequent harder PVC still proves to be unsatisfactory.
Due to the length of the pitot tube, it may not hold the shape very well if it was not a straight forward hard plastic. But I am trying to have it PVC, to prevent any accidental breakage.

3) The ordnance will be shown later since at this point of the test shot, the “giove vane” (if I got the term right) pylon is not yet adhered due to the lack of mounting holes on the underside of the model.

4) You can see clearly the differential between the M & MR versions on our test shot, which was previously not visible during the Nuremberg prototype.

5) The wings are sagging at the moment, again, due to the 1st test shot, there are areas that supports the wing that is not yet enough filled with material.

6) The ejection seat is wrongly sized and will be re-done to be made taller to fit the seated pilot

7) We are considering the use of magnets to adhere the landing gear “cartridges” (gear down and gear up) instead of using press fit.

8) The removal of the air intake covers requires the removal of the entire front section of the air intake piece.

9) The canopy will be provided as separate pieces for open position and closed position. This is due to constraint for having a more uni-body front fuselage and hence there is no space for assembly of a movable canopy.