1/72 Trumpeter Tu-160 Blackjack

by Ken Duffey

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The Trumpeter Tu-160 kit contains 609 parts moulded in grey plastic with fine engraved panel detail - all delivered in their usual packaging style with the sprues in individual bags and a separate internal box containing the rubber tires, white-metal undercarriage legs, etched-brass instrument panel and a clear sprues containing the canopy, side windows and other clear components.  

The fuselage is split horizontally into upper and lower halves - with a joint between the front and rear halves - which must be eliminated by filling and sanding.   

There is full internal detail - including the crew compartment (which includes a toilet!), fully detailed undercarriage bays and two large weapons bays - fore and aft of the wing spar.  Most of the crew compartment cannot be seen once the fuselage is assembled - so my detailed toilet is just a bit of fun - you can't actually see it on the finished model.  

No less than 300 of the plastic parts go to make up the weapons load of 12 Kh-55 cruise missiles - six each on two rotary launchers in each bay.

Unfortunately, Trumpeter have got the missiles completely wrong - they are 20mm too long - as is the spindle of the rotary launcher!

I replaced them on my model with some excellent Kh-55 & Kh-55M missiles from Amodel - so my Tu-160 is displayed with five Kh-55M's in the forward bay (with one about to be loaded) and two Kh-55 and one red-painted Kh-55M in the rear bay.

 

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The kit wings can be made to sweep - but not in unison - and anyway, they are best displayed in the fully forward position - with all the slats and flaps deployed - as provided by Trumpeter.  I added some internal detail inside the wings - so that I could have the upper-wing spoilers deployed. And yes - I do have a photo of them raised in the asymmetric configuration as shown on my model! 

Trumpeter's decal sheet is perfectly adequate and gives markings for two Blackjacks - but I used the superb decal sheets from Begemot - which provides decals for thirteen different Tu-160's - I also used their companion decal sheet of Tu-160 stencil data - there are literally dozens of decals to be applied, but the end result is worth it. 

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There is only one colour scheme for a 'Blackjack' - white!

In fact, the Russian Air Force nickname for the Tu-160 is 'White Swan'.

I used spray cans of acrylic car paint to give a superb gloss white finish on my model. Most White Swans look a little dowdy with fading paintwork - the exact appearance of each Tu-160 is all explained in Begemot's decal instructions - but my subject  - 'Pavel Taran' - has just recently emerged from an upgrade and repaint - so it is in pristine condition.   

Thanks are due to Trumpeter for kitting such a large aircraft - it sits nicely alongside their Tu-96Ms Bear and Tu-16 Badger in my collection of Russian bombers.

Ken 

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Photos and text © by Ken Duffey