Tupolev Tu-160

I recently purchased the Master Club Tu-160 kit - the following is a brief look at the kit, before I start making it.

The kit comes in a plain, stout cardboard box with a B&W photo of a Tu-160 on the front. Inside, the parts are packaged in a large plastic bag, inside of which are a number of poly-seal bags containing the smaller parts - all very professionally done !

The major components are the main fuselage upper and lower halves in a soft, almost polythene like resin :-

The surface detail is superb, with fine engraved panel lines. The wings are single-piece, left & right and are packaged in their own plastic bag with a cardboard spine to prevent them being bent. Also in their own bag are the two halves of the tailplane, the upper fin and the two sections of wing that fold upwards when the wings sweep back.

Above : The wings have pivot holes and the instructions give details of how to make them sweep - although it looks like it may take some figuring out on how to do it !

Above : It took some head scratching to work out what this piece was ! It is the upper rear fuselage and lower fin - moulded as a single piece that has to be separated along the groove.

The engine nacelles are in their own poly bag and come complete with intakes, exhausts and fan faces.

The cockpit is in another poly bag - with instrument panel complete with engraved detail, two K-36 ejection seats (courtesy of Neomega) and two control columns and their plinths.

Another poly bag with nosewheel bay and front undercarriage leg.

Above : Components of the main undercarriage - with detailed bays, doors and multi-part legs.

Resin wheels - all 14 of them and not a bubble in sight !

Two vacformed canopies - plus a part that I haven't yet figured out !
I think it is neoprene and can be used in making the working wing sweep.

Want to know how big a Tu-160 is compared to a B-1 ??
The black silhouette is the B-1.

Instruction sheet - a little crude, but once the Cyrilic is translated using my handy dictionary, it all seem to make sense - except for the wing sweep, that needs a little more thought !


My ideas for the wing-fold mechanism. Using trial & error, I have made a test version from plastic card
to get the correct dimensions etc - and it works !  I now need to make the 'real' one using sheet brass
for the top & bottom plates. The advantage of this method is that a working wing sweep can be made
OUTSIDE the model - and once it is thoroughly tested, it can then be placed into the fuselage.
I have added a drawing showing a complete side-profile in 1:72 scale, complete with the relevant cross-sections for those who have the kit and wish to add the bulkheads.

All in all this is a very well produced kit, with superb detail and presentation. There is no painting guide, nor decals, but I am aiming for an all-white scheme with the Illya Mouromets logo - I can't wait to get started.  I will report progress as I go along.......

Progress report .............

The kit is very expensive - but worth it IMHO.
You can order from Master Club in Moscow at Tushino Aviapress
or in the US -   Linden Hill
or from the UK  -  Modelspot

For some pics of the real thing, as well as details of the names given to some of the Tu-160's and some close-up & interior details, go here.