1/72 Trumpeter Tu-16RR Badger-L

by Tom Berres

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         When Trumpeter released the ‘Badger’ in 1/72, I was shocked.  For years the ‘Badger’ and the ‘Bear’ represented the ‘Red Threat’ during the cold war, often shadowing NATO task forces at sea.  Finally, we had a good kit in my favorite scale.

          Although originally designed as a missile platform and bomber, many Badgers were converted later in life into reconnaissance platforms and for other missions.  In fact, the Tu-16 enjoyed a second lease on life due to its useful payload and range once it was supplanted by the Tu-22 ‘Blinder’ and Tu-22M ‘Backfire.’  Trumpeter’s releases represent the Badger-C and Badger-G bomber/missile carriers.  I wanted to build one of the later, converted, variants with exotic bulges and scabbed-on equipment.  For this conversion, I chose to make the Tu-16RR NBC Reconnaissance variant.  The Tu-16RR was equipped with two teardrop ESM fairings under the fuselage, a thimble nose ECM antenna, and a large ECM fairing scabbed onto the tail replacing the tail guns.  Additionally, there were pylons with NBC sampling pods under the wings, and some smaller electronic antennae at the air intakes and the nose. 

          After thoroughly inspecting the kit and dry fitting, there were several items with the kit that needed improvement beyond those already identified for a conversion.  I was dissatisfied with the air intakes and exhaust detail.  The port wing needed to be modified to represent a Russian Badger with its unique wingtip in air refueling system.  The main gear were set too far aft, and the door configuration was incorrect for a Badger on the ground.  The nose glazing was incorrect (it should be asymmetrical).  Finally, I was not happy with the kit’s thick, distorted clear parts—so those would need to be vacuum formed.  Fortunately, overall I was very pleased with the general fit and detail of the kit.  The thick, sturdy plastic of the kit was sure to make a good strong product despite the size of the aircraft.

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          Work started with the crew compartments and the forward gear bay.  The gear bay was detailed with styrene strip, rod, and tubing.  Detail was added to the forward landing gear.  The gear and bay were painted neutral grey.

          The cockpit was largely scratchbuilt, including the seats.  Ribbing was added using styrene strip.  The navigator and bombardier’s compartments also received a heavy dose of scratchbuilding.  A bomb sight was stolen from a B-29.  Reference photos show the interior of the lower forward navigator’s glazing obscured by metal.  I added this with 0.020” styrene cut to shape.  Similar detailing was performed in the tail and waist gun locations.  The remote gun aiming equipment—visible from the waste blisters and the dorsal bubble behind the cockpit—was stolen from the B-29 also.  The tail gunner’s compartment was detailed with ‘black boxes’ for the ECM tail.  The interior was painted zinc chromate green, with black and grey electronic boxes. 

          For the ECM tail, I cut away the tail gun mount to just aft of the gunner’s side windows.  I covered the cut with 0.040” styrene which was then trimmed to form a bulkhead.  I designed the new tail as a transition piece and the actual ECM cone.  I then created a ‘skeleton’ of the top and side profile for the transition and cone (see drawings). These pieces were glued to the cone bulkhead.  I crudely filled this skeleton with Milliput.  When the Milliput dried, I carved and sanded it to the proper shape for the tail fairing.  Then, panel lines were scriped into the final piece.  To compensate for the significant weight of the tail addition, I added excess weight to the nose in order to avoid a ‘tail-sitter’.  ECM/ESM blisters for the ventral fuselage were made similarly, although I used just a cross-sectional piece of 0.040” styrene to establish the proper shape, then filled with Milliput.

          Next, I tackled the intakes and exhausts.  Unfortunately, at the time [I built this kit in 2002] I lacked sufficient references, so I placed the compressor face about 30mm from the intake entry.  In reality, the intake trunk splits, carrying air above and below the wing spar to the engine which is buried much further aft in the cowling.  For the intakes, I made a Milliput master, forming the entry at the lip of the intake and then smoothing it to the proper diameter for the compressor face about 30mm from the lip.  I then vacuum formed copies of this master.  The compressor faces (stolen from the spares box) were glued to the intake trunks.  The exhausts were a little easier.  The turbine detail was stolen from a 1/72 B-52H.  The turbines were glued to styrene tube of the correct diameter.  The tubing was glued to the rear of the engine fairings leaving significant excess hanging out of the back.  With the engine fairings together, the intakes were pushed in from the front, again leaving excess out the front.  I used liquid cement to bond the intake to the fairing.  When the glue was dry, the excess material was cut away, and the intakes and exhausts were sanded flush to leave a smooth transition.

          The wings and main gear bays were the next major assembly.  The mounts for the main gear were cut away and re-positioned.  Detail was added to the bays, although little would be visible with just the small gear doors open.  Some detail was also added to the gear.  I drew an approximation of the top view for the port wingtip onto 0.040” styrene and glued it to the wing tip (see drawing).  I then faired the addition with Milliput.

          After major assembly, the model was painted with Tamiya white on the bottom and Polly-S metallics on the upper surfaces.  The starboard rear bombardier’s window was added using Micro Crystal Clear.  The pylons and sampling equipment under the wings were modified from various spares in the spares box.

          If you choose to use my drawings as a basis, note that they were originally to scale.  There is a reference cross-hair which was originally 1” x 1”.  You can use that to get the drawings back to their original dimensions.

          This is a relatively easy conversion.  I am disappointed with the error on the air intakes, but the work was a good learning experience on intake improvement.  With the myriad of references and walk-arounds available since I originally built this kit, you could easily build just about any of the of numerous versions of the Badger.

Tom Berres

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Photos and text © by Tom Berres