I have bought - and made - the Academy B-29 kit as a Tu-4 Bull.
It is sold in Russia under the Modelist lable (IIRC) - where I purchased it
- but it is the Academy kit.
The only visual changes are replacing the .50 machine guns with 23mm cannon
- and of course, Russian stars!
I added underwing racks and two resin NeOmega KS-1 'Kometa' missiles under
the wings.
I can recommend the book by Yefim Gordon & Vladimir Rigmant - 'Tupolev Tu-4
Soviet Superfortress' - Number 7 in the Red Star series from Midland
Counties.
It outlines the history of the reverse-engineered B-29 and gives details of
all the Tu-4 variants produced by the Soviets - including the turboprop
testbeds and Chinese AWACS plus the Tu-70 airliner and Tu-85 bomber.
Happy Modelling
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ken Duffey - Flanker Freak & Russian Aviation Enthusiast
Flankers Website -
Dear TF; I just recieved in the mail today a kit of the TU-4/b-29 by a Russian
company called Modelist, sadly it is the Minicraft kit with russian decals, but
I Really don't think the russians changed anything except for the Engines &
machine guns on thier Bulls that is readly vivible on a 1/72 scale kit I got
the kit from a hobby shop in the ukraine thier email is
snipped-for-privacy@souvenirs.com.ua, the cost was $29.97 USD plus shipping, it took 3
weeks to get the kits. they even take credit cards. I hope this will help you
out. Cheers,Bob Kasza
Inside the cowlings you cannot tell the difference.
To make a Tu-4 from a B-29 all you need do is change the .50's to 23mm cannon -
just a bit thicker in 1:72 scale.
That and red stars plus a construction number is all you need to make a Tu-4.
You could add two KS-1 'Kometa' missiles from NeOmega - just to be different :-
formatting link
Although used operationally by the Tu-16KS, the KS-1 was also carried by the
Tu-4.
Ken
I remember hearing that when Stalin ordered captured B-29s reverse-engineering
to make the Tu-4, his engineers were so scared of him that they interpreted his
instructions for "total duplication" to the letter and included a couple of
patches applied over bullet holes.
-- John ___
__[xxx]__
(o - )
--------o00o--(_)--o00o-------
The history of things that didn't happen has never been written - Henry
Kissinger
Probably an urban legend. I've heard the "patch over holes" line applied to
everything from
aircraft to ships "acquired" by the Soviets from the West. They are nor stupid
people after
all. Recent documentaries on the Tu-4 story reveal as much.
WmB
To reply, get the HECK out of there
snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.net
cannon - just a bit thicker in 1:72 scale.
It always struck me that the top of the gun turrets were slightly different;
i.e. slightly flatter and less domed, but it's not too obvious.
Jon.
And the US military were so scared of Lyndon B Johnson that they were afraid to
contradict him when he called the Blackbird the SR-71 instead of the correct
RS-71.
The name was adopted as the official designation.
If you believe the Stalin story - why not believe that ???
And - if the Tu-4 was an 'exact copy' - why did it have Soviet engines and
armament
??
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ken Duffey - Flanker Freak & Russian Aviation Enthusiast
Flankers Website -
Weren't the engines & props reverse-engineered as well? I thought I read
that somewhere. Only real drawback to the Modelist kit being the Academy
kit would be if you wanted to open the bomb bay & 'bomb it up', you'd
need to round up appropriate USSR bombs. Neomega, IIRC, makes suitable
ones. Also, hopefully they included the Hamilton Standard props rather
than the Curtiss Electric.
No - th Tu-4 was powered by 4 x Shvetsov ASh-73TK 18-cylinder radials .
They were developments by the Soviets of licence-built Wright Twin Cyclones
- a sort of parallel line of development independently by the Soviets that
led to a similar engine to the Wright R-3350-23A on the B-29, so there was
no need to copy - they already had a similar engine..
The V3-A3 or V3B-A5 propellers were copies.
As for Soviet bombs - check out the range from Master Club :-
formatting link
I can recommend 'Tupolev Tu-4 - Soviet Superfortress' by Gordon & Rigmant -
Volume 7 in Midland Counties 'Red Star' series.
As well as detailing the development of the Tu-4 - it also gives a table of
the type of bombs used, which bay they were in and on which type of bomb
rack they were carried !!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ken Duffey - Flanker Freak & Russian Aviation Enthusiast
Flankers Website -
I have just been playing wiv my new digital camera - so I took some photos of my
Tu-4.
The results are at :-
formatting link
Let me know what the photos are like on your PC - they look very moired(?) on
mine - I may have compressed them too much.
Or else I need a better screen resolution.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ken Duffey - Flanker Freak & Russian Aviation Enthusiast
Flankers Website -
mine - I may have compressed them too much.
Or else I need a better screen resolution.<
I believe the effect is due to the compression in the jpeg.
I like the comparison of the Tu-95 to the Tu-4.
CB
Ken, the pics look a little dark to me. I'll have to try and get my
1/144th Tu-4 in front of the camera. The thicker barrels of the machine
guns in this scale may pass as 23 mm cannon.
I liked the Tu-4 - Tu-95 comparison too.
Bill Banaszak, MFE
I'm only using the built-in flash - just playing at the moment. I may buy a
proper flash later.
I have bought the Aacdemy 1:144 scale B-29 - to make as a Tu-4. I want to
try some forced perspective shots with the 1:72 scale version.
I also bought the 1:144 scale Tu-22M2 for the same reason.
Trouble is, I am so busy trying to get my An-22 finished for Yeovilton on
the 14th Feb that I haven't had time to play with the camera - and spending
time on this NG doesn't help !!
Ken
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ken Duffey - Flanker Freak & Russian Aviation Enthusiast
Flankers Website -
This reference dates back to a book from 1961,"Journey of the Giants,"
by Major Gene Gurney, USAF [later reprinted in 1963 as "B-29 Story:
The Plane that Won the War." It is internally inconsistent, however, as
the Soviets had three intact airframes to analyze, and they did not all
have the same ad hoc battle damage repairs. Unless someone has
photographic evidence of true Tu-4s with these anamolous patches, I
think this has to be written off as denigration of those 'copycat
commies, too dumb to engineer anything themselves.'
Mark Schynert
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