Zvezda KA-52 “Aligator” Ukraine War - build progress

1
July 28, 2024
Russian Air Force Pilot training facility 🙂
2
July 28, 2024
Primed and painter the cockpit and interior, did some work on the pilots
3
August 13, 2024
Pilot training completed 🙂
4
August 13, 2024
I did a modification, moving the EOP (Electro Optic System) from the top of the fuselage to the bottom under the nose as the real helicopter nowadays.
5
August 13, 2024
The fit of my kit was very difficult for the cockpit, the recommended placing of the interior s per the schematic didn't allow the two fuselage parts to merge properly. Managed to do it with a bit of patience and placing the cockpit a bit further down to the back.
6
August 13, 2024
Still thinking about the cammo patern, the two painted spoons in the center are so far my best fit but still looking into suitable options (Tamiya Khaki and Tamiya Dark Green).

Fuselage glued together without problems and the pilots look good for a 1:72 attempt. I used a wash afer painting to give them some realistic effects.
7
August 14, 2024
Fuselage assembly went well after managing to assemble the cockpit, but filling and sanding will be needed.
8
August 16, 2024
Masked the canopy and mounted it. The fit is very difficult, it took me hours to get it in place and I used filler near the canopy and at the engine intakes where it was needed more.
9
August 16, 2024
Before sanding and fixing the fitting.
10
August 16, 2024
11
August 16, 2024
Looks like an Alligator .
12
August 16, 2024
13
August 16, 2024
14
August 16, 2024
15
August 16, 2024
Model has been primed. I spotted a few imperfections which were normal after such a bad fit of the canopy which I will sand down tomorrow. Anyway it was a good day of work and the new spray booth is worth every penny, took all the smell out the window.
16
August 18, 2024
Second round of sanding done, rescribed the panel lines as well.
17
August 18, 2024
The belly of the Alligator has been painted. AK RC 239 Air Superiority Blue, lacquer paint.

40% paint (AK RC239) + 60% thinner (Mr. Color Leveling Thinner)
18
August 19, 2024
To my surprise, Tamiya Khaki
LP-73 looks better than I thought on the Alligator. Michael was right!

40% paint (LP-73) + 60% thinner (Mr. Color Leveling Thinner)
19
August 22, 2024
Working on the camouflage pattern, did also my first attemp as a test for freehand airbrushing. Looks great, next model won’t necessarily need masking putty as freehand painting looks nice and realistic.

Tamiya XF-61 Dark Green for the darker camouflage. It was thinned 1:1 with T-110 Aqueous Hobby Color Thinner
20
August 22, 2024
Working on the camouflage pattern, did also my first attemp as a test for freehand airbrushing. Looks great, next model won’t necessarily need masking putty as freehand painting looks nice and realistic.

Tamiya XF-61 Dark Green for the darker camouflage. It was thinned 1:1 with T-110 Aqueous Hobby Color Thinner
21
August 22, 2024
Looks like an Alligator 🙂
22
August 25, 2024
Improving the rocket launchers using my fine drill.

Left is before, right is after.
23
August 25, 2024
Painted the Aligator’s nose black and around the engines exhaust with MRP-005
24
August 29, 2024
I was trying to decide if I should keep the nose of the Alligator the same color as the belly, so I painted my option on a spoon and started thinking.
25
August 29, 2024
Then researching online I have found this photo, and the decision was clear. Even if the Air Superiority Blue from AK looked pretty good, I went for the realistic look where the nose hiding the Radar is made of a different material than the fuselage.
26
August 29, 2024
Masking the nose with all the antennas around it took some time…
27
August 29, 2024
But the result was worth it. I also painted the Aluminum zone in front of the 30mm gun and also on the vertical stabilizers on the back.
28
August 29, 2024
I feel like I’m getting close to finishing it.
29
August 29, 2024
1:72 is so small.

The belly and the color contrast with the nose.
30
August 29, 2024
Next step is gloss varnish, hopefully tomorrow. I want to finish these products so I can buy the Tamiya clear and gloss versions.
31
September 7, 2024
Gloss varnish applied, then a few days let to cure , decals and another coat of gloss varnish in preparation for weathering.
32
September 7, 2024
Working on the accessories.
33
September 27, 2024
We are almost there! Engine exhausts placed
34
September 27, 2024
And landing gear placed.
35
September 27, 2024
Almost there! Weathering done with this Italeri acrylic black wash, not the best but does its job. Next time I will try an enamel wash I think as that's easier to work with.

Komentarzy

34 28 July, 11:08

★ Starfish ★
Looks good so far! I think the Tamiya colors look fine!

14 August, 09:11

Cristian A
Thanks Michael for the input, the more I look at the two Tamiya colors the more inclined I get to use them, also I already have them and they are of good quality.

Will continue to post progress.

14 August, 11:22

Finn
Following

14 August, 14:24

Shar Dipree
Looks good so far. Following.
How good and detailed do you think the kit is?

16 August, 19:38

Cristian A
Hi Shar, the details are good enough for a 16 EUR kit but the build is not easy, struggled a lot with the canopy and cockpit. It's not a perfect representation of the real Alligator as it is built after the initial variant / prototype (EOP above, no camouflage scheme and paint references for it, no countermeasure system under the back landing gear and the nose is a bit different as well). The panel lines are recessed, so hopefully weathering will go smooth.

16 August, 20:22

Shar Dipree
Thanks Cristian. I wish you success.

16 August, 20:38

Cristian A
Thanks Shar, I wish you the same.

16 August, 22:08

Sergej I
Following with interest

16 August, 22:10

Ronan
Followiing too 😉

17 August, 09:20

Ekki
Watching.

17 August, 18:12

★ Starfish ★
That color looks awesome!

19 August, 21:31

Cristian A
Yes it does!!

Thanks a lot for encouraging me to use it. I was very close to buying this entire paint set instead:

HTK-CS86 Russian AF Helicopt.. 1, Hataka Hobby Orange Line , Acrylic Lacquer, 8x 17ml

19 August, 21:35

Shar Dipree
Looks great so far.
What kind of mixing ratio did you use for the ak paint?

20 August, 04:53

Oliver
following

20 August, 05:29

Cristian A
Hi Shar, around 40% paint + 60% thinner. I measure it in pipette drops - example 4 drops of paint, 6 drops of thinner.

20 August, 08:16

CaptGPF
Following!

29 August, 22:31

Guy Rump
Following as well. 👍

7 September, 18:37

Cristian A
Thanks, welcome Guy and CaptGPF. Alligator is almost ready

7 September, 22:07

Mr D
Very nice, how has the Zvezda kit built been ??
I got the Zvezda Mi-8.heli to build soon.
Like the job you've done 👌😃👍

27 September, 21:13

Cristian A
Thank you Mr D! This kit has a few challenges:
-The cockpit fit in the fuselage
-The landing gear assembly is s bit weird
-The rotor assembly doesn't go straight as per the instructions
-The Vikhr anti-tank missiles position

I suggest taking all the time for dry fitting these parts before gluing. Overall a challenging kit in my opinion especially if you will want to make the modification I've done for the search and tracking system (EOP bellow the fuselage).

I'm glad it worked out at the end. I could compare this to the newer Zvezda kits I've built and they were much more easier 🙂

28 September, 11:07

Mr D
Thanks for the feedback back Christian 👍.
Dry fit testing is important... sometimes easy to forget?
👍👍

28 September, 12:57

Cristian A
My pleasure 🙂 yes it's definitely easy to forget, but in this case the parts I mentioned just don't want to get in the correct position.

Looking forward to seeing this kit built by ★ Starfish ★, he's the GOAT

28 September, 13:54

★ Starfish ★
@Cristian, I'm watching you, so now stop exaggerating! 😄

28 September, 17:30

Ekki
Very good result! Well done!

28 September, 18:31

Cristian A
Hahaha @★ Starfish ★ really looking forward to seeing yours.. when you eventually get to it 🙂

Thanks Ekki, much appreciated.

In the following days I'm planning to make a final reveal album of the Alligator, stay tuned 🙂

29 September, 00:47

Project info

Ka-52 "Alligator" Bronze medal at BMT 2024

40 zdjęć/zdjęcia

1:72

Gotowe

No Tamiya Masking Tape Refill 10mm (Tamiya 87034)

No Plain Opaque White Polystyrene Sheet Assortment Pack (Evergreen Scale Models 9008)

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