Tupolev G-1 based on Mikro-Mir TB-1 (Ant-4), 1/72nd scale

The release by Mikro-Mir of this kit made me very happy, since there are some civil versions that are very attractive, a couple of which are actually included in the kit.

The simple addition of a scratchbuilt canopy will render a few more versions, a couple of them with a very colorful decoration, and the addition of floats will further expand the possibilities.

In case this kit reminds you -as it did to me- of the ICM TB-3 (which I built long ago:

http://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2014/07/converted-172-icm-tupolev-tb-3.html

I must say this a different animal, much more refined in the molding.

This is a very complete kit as you can see in the photos, including decals, photo-etched parts, masks, good clear parts and comprehensive instructions.

The surface detail looks very good, and the parts are cleanly molded with minimal flash.

There is a large number of parts that will make the delights of modelers like myself, who like profusion of details and visually-appealing models.

"Strana Sovietov" (Land of the Soviets), the civil version included in the kit, flew from Russia via Seattle and San Francisco to New York in 1929, a remarkable feat accomplished by the second identical machine (the first crashed) alternating between wheels and floats. 

Congrats to Mikro-Mir for including a relevant civil version on the decal options.

The kit suggests silver or light grey for this airframe, but in the book "Tupolev, the man and his aircraft", it is stated that it was painted white as a peace symbol. All photos, though, show something that looks a lot like aluminium color.

I deem this as a fair deal for its price:

Good-looking decals for several versions, P.E. parts, masks, nice transparencies:

A couple of things arrived broken off the sprues, but in general you see care in the packaging:

A repeated sprue containing the parts that need duplication, like engine, skis, wheels and so on:

As you can see some fine details are provided:

The corrugated surface detail is sharp and fine:

Found what the broken part fragment belonged to:

 The detail is really good. All major parts were separated from the sprues to begin the little refining they need. The attachment points to the sprues are logical and small, which is welcome:

 The inner faces of the wings have locating devices for the spars and sub-spars:

 The broken part is easily fixed (the other two just separated themselves without damage). One is a landing gear leg. Considering the weight of the model, not sure these parts would do without re-enforcing them, we'll see:

 To be continued....