1/144 Kiev by Dave Wooley

Post by **Dave Wooley** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 11:28 am

Hi Neptune Yes you a quite right .I think it would have been more cost effective if the Indian navy had gone ahead and built their own carrier. However as pointed out in earlier posts on this thread there are parts of the GRP hull of KIEV that need serious attention . But I thought I'd best get the ball rolling before this thread falls of the board. Interesting photos of the progress of Vikramaditya but why cut away the bulb at the bow?
Dave Wooley

Neptune · Post by **Neptune** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 12:51 pm

The new sonar will most likely have a different shape, so better cut it out and reshape to optimize the design. She'll most likely get an Indian sonar like the Talwar frigates.

Indians are building their own Air Defense Ship at the moment. The first one should be ready by the time Gorshkov enters service. They plan to build three of them in the next decade. Gorshkov will enter service in 2008 to replace Viraat. The first ADS would come by about 2010 or 2012. Then the second to form a three carrier Navy and when the third enters service Gorshkov will retire. SO Gorshkov is in fact a stop-gap measure to replace Viraat. Indeed an expensive one, but they have most likely learned a lot from its design before they started building their own ADS. ADS would be about 37,000t if I remember correctly.

Good luck with your Kiev though, they look better than Gorshkov! I love that heavily armed bow (and Gorshkov will only have a very limited number of aircraft (16 MiGs)).

Post by **Dave Wooley** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 2:02 pm

Neptune wrote:The new sonar will most likely have a different shape, so better cut it out and reshape to optimize the design. She'll most likely get an Indian sonar like the Talwar frigates.

Indians are building their own Air Defense Ship at the moment. The first one should be ready by the time Gorshkov enters service. They plan to build three of them in the next decade. Gorshkov will enter service in 2008 to replace Viraat. The first ADS would come by about 2010 or 2012. Then the second to form a three carrier Navy and when the third enters service Gorshkov will retire. SO Gorshkov is in fact a stop-gap measure to replace Viraat. Indeed an expensive one, but they have most likely learned a lot from its design before they started building their own ADS. ADS would be about 37,000t if I remember correctly.

Good luck with your Kiev though, they look better than Gorshkov! I love that heavily armed bow (and Gorshkov will only have a very limited number of aircraft (16 MiGs)).

Thanks Roel Although I have quite a good amount of photo information I'm sure I'll end up scratching my head over some hidden part of the ship.
Dave Wooley

Post by **Dave Wooley** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 7:42 pm

Ok here we go. But what�s this you make think?, "Why isn't he building the hull up first" Building an aircraft is a rather strange way to start construction of a 7ft beast of a model. The reason for this is simple . I�ve been trying hard to track down kits of the Yak 38 at 1:144. I can honestly say with some confidence such kits do not exist, But no carrier is complete with out an air group, so it became a priority to rekindle the art of scratch building aircraft in timber. The last time was building the KA 25 helicopters for Moskva some 10years ago. This time it took me about an hour to make this rough prototype, now ready to tidy up and paint.
This first picture shows the Forger or Yak 38 embarked on the Kiev

Fuselage carved in Jellutong

I�m hoping all goes well and at least the follow up Mk2 version will be better but lets see how this one goes. Kiev need about 10 plus a number of KA25s to give the flight deck that busy look. You may say �why not cast all the rest in resin and save time� .At the moment I can make them from scratch quicker than I can cast them!. If only the Kiev�s had embarked the Yak 141 , they are available in 1:144 scale!

More to come
Dave Wooley

Dan Linton · Post by **Dan Linton** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 10:51 pm

Hi Dave:
Seeing your Yak-38's in your hand took me back years to when I
had Aeroclub's 1:144 A-7's (3 of them, but very expensive) and
decided to vacuform A-7's ( I did 3 of them) but each took as long,
if not longer, than carving them out of basswood. Eventually, I did
22 A-7's out of basswood with a thin vacuformed canopy. And like
yourself, I started with the airwing, having it finished long before the
ship, USS Nimitz was complete. I will certainly follow each step you
take with great interest. It tempts me to save my shekels to buy
a Kiev, or even Kuznetzov, in 1:144.

take care, and happy modeling,

Dan Linton

middle_watch · Post by **middle_watch** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 11:40 pm

Neat model aircraft. Saw them many times but oddly enough never saw one fly, we picked the Minsk up on her maiden voyage in the Atlantic and followed her for weeks, but though they ranged the aircraft everyday and reved the engines not one ever took off, even when we provoked her by buzzing her flightdeck with our stringbag Wasp. The rumour at the time (1979) was they were a bluff and could not operate as VTOL aircraft at all.

Going to be some model with a handsome airgroup!

ARH · Post by **ARH** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 4:20 am

Hi Dave, Thats a fine piece of work, were looking forward to this build, see you tomorrow.

Post by **JIM BAUMANN** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 4:32 am

So you turn you hand to aeoromodelling also...

Good start!

JIM B

Neptune · Post by **Neptune** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 12:51 pm

He actually got started?????

Good luck with this one Dave! I wouldn't put that many Yak's on deck though. They actually only carried 12 at max! So most of the time you can find 4 or 6 on deck and that's about it. Most of the airgroup were Helix/Hormone helicopters.

kalkurap · Post by **kalkurap** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 3:41 pm

Just found this excellent line diagram of of Gorshkov, thought you might find it useful if you ever decide to build the Vikramaditya. You can choose to view a much larger picture too.
http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NAVY/Gall ... temId=2358

Post by **Dave Wooley** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 4:41 pm

Thanks Kalkurap super drawing. I must admit I was tempted with the Vikramaditya and the Mig29 are available in 1:144 . but Kiev it is . Thanks again for the information
Dave Wooley

Post by **Dave Wooley** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 5:00 pm

The Gellutong fuslarge is sand sealed and along with the styrene flying surfaces is given an under coat of grey matt. The canopy is the last part to be fitted.

A Yak 38 Forger seen at a Russian aviation museum

The Blue used on the 1:144 model was Humbrol 48 Mediterranean blue , Although some photos indicate a matt finish as the one above yet others show a gloss surface. The underside was painted in Humbrol 80 grass green

As there are no 1:144 Yak 38s manufactured the decals were a little problematic. what you see is a combination {cannibalized} from the Revell Yak 38 1:100 scale and a 1:144 Mig 23 .

The results are reasonable and it's given me encouragement knowing that the Kiev will now have a Yak 38 air group .

The undercarage is a combination of , nose wheel from scratch and the old Mig 23 providing the rest , with a little modification to suit that on the Yak. I think more work needs to be done but the next batch will have to wait untill the Kiev is built. The plain fact is I needed to prove to myself that all the searching for a 1:144 kit was not in vain and I could turn my hand to a scratch built version. Next photo session the hull !

Dave Wooley

ARH · Post by **ARH** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 5:09 pm

A nice piece of work Dave,

Jefgte · Post by **Jefgte** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 5:32 pm

Yes, a nice scratch

Bravo

Jef

kalkurap · Post by **kalkurap** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 8:28 pm

Nice work Dave. Looks like a lot of work to get the smooth finish, and add all the details. I would run out of patience before I complete the first one, let alone the entire air wing!

Bill Waldorf · Post by **Bill Waldorf** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 9:21 pm

As usual, Mr. Wooley's work is top notch!! Great job on the a/c. If this is an indication of how the ship will look, it will be impressive to say the least!!

I salute you, sir.................

Neptune · Post by **Neptune** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 3:04 am

Hi Dave looks nice!
I would however try to change the aft engine exhausts a bit. The flat roundel looks a bit rough. Maybe you can drill a small hole through it?
Maybe that's an idea for the next ones.

Good luck with that hull, can't wait to see the ship come alive!

Regards
Roel

Post by **Dave Wooley** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 5:14 am

Neptune wrote:Hi Dave looks nice!
I would however try to change the aft engine exhausts a bit. The flat roundel looks a bit rough. Maybe you can drill a small hole through it?
Maybe that's an idea for the next ones.

Good luck with that hull, can't wait to see the ship come alive!

Regards
Roel

Agreed This is only Mk 1 version just to get the feel of the shape. Although even that need tweeking a bit . Good point
Dave Wooley

Neptune · Post by **Neptune** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 8:01 am

oh yes, another question,
you have decals for this one, but where will you be getting them for the other aircraft? Do you have that many MiG-23's on the shelf???

Are you going to build all guns etc. from scratch too?

Regards
Roel (highly annoyed that he still can't proceed with his own projects)

Post by **Dave Wooley** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:19 am

Neptune wrote:oh yes, another question,
you have decals for this one, but where will you be getting them for the other aircraft? Do you have that many MiG-23's on the shelf???
Are you going to build all guns etc. from scratch too?

Regards
Roel (highly annoyed that he still can't proceed with his own projects)

No more Mig 23s , but there is a company that provides decals at 1:144 scale { Post war Soviet era ] and goes under the name of "True North Minatures". Many of the fittings including the turrets for the 76 mm twins will be made from scratch. The only part not from scratch will be the hull only modified as you will see in the next posts. Plus the top sail and head light arrays these come as PEs .There is a grp deck but it's far to heavy . Believe it or not this was made as a kit for Static display, a shade on the large side for putting into a glass case in the dining room or is it?
Dave Wooley

The Ship Model Forum

1/144 Kiev by Dave Wooley

1:144 Yak-38

Line diagram of of Gorshkov