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The Raduga Kh-55 series of cruise
missiles is the Russian equivalent of
the US Tomahawk cruise
missile. The Kh-55M has conformal
tanks for increased range.
There are 50 parts spread over five
trees. As is typical for Amodel, the
parts are molded in white using very
soft styrene like plastic. There is a fair amount of
flash with almost all parts having
seams. Panel lines are engraved. There
is one wing and one engine included
for use on the Kh-55 version, which
comes with a clear stand to mount it in
flight. The Kh-55M has no wing or
engine and is intended to be mounted on the towing trailer.
Parts fit was again typical Amodel. Most of the build time was spent in scraping and sanding flash and
seams. Joining the missile halves together left prominent seams even after I had sanded the joining
surfaces against some sandpaper mounted on a flat surface. Since the plastic is soft, my scraping and sanding
removed the engraved panel lines, which I rescribed afterward.
There is the option to have folded rear control surfaces, which requires the builder to cut some of the
supplied unfolded parts (parts 11, 12 & 13) and then adding the folded tips (parts 10, 14 & 15).
The trailer is poorly molded with edges that are not very straight. Where possible I sanded the parts with
sandpaper mounted to a flat surface. Even with all the sanding, the trailer still had surfaces that exhibit a
slight curvature - most noticeably the front and rear cross members. The only way to get a nice and
straight trailer would be to measure the parts and replace them with scratch built items. More work than I
wanted to do!
For the Kh-55M version I constructed the missing wing from some plastic sheet and an engine from some
plastic tube.
Both missiles were primed with multiple coats of Floquil Reefer White. Sanding and fixing imperfections
was done between coats. The finishing coats consisted of Testors Gloss White. The trailer was painted
with Aeromaster Russian Green and flat coated with Aeromaster acrylic flat.
The decal sheet has a plethora of images. They are glossy and well printed but they are tiny and fragile.
The instructions are a bit vague in their placement. The decals had a tendency to roll up on themselves, or
split apart when handled too much, so I used only some of the more prominent images on my missiles and
replaced the lines running around the body with spare decals.
To display the Kh-55 in flight, I did not use the supplied clear stand. Instead I bent a piece of piano wire,
attaching one end to a Games Workshop large monster base, while the other end was glued into a small
hole drilled into the rear of the missile. I placed the Kh-55M on the trailer.
Conclusion
These two little missiles, which I had hoped would be quick builds, turned out to consume as
much time as building larger, much more complex kits.
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