TU-95 Variants
by Chris King

1/700 Unique Modern Russian TU-95 Variants (Skywave/Pitroad)

I built these 1/700 scale models of unique TU-95 variants by modifying Skywave/Pitroad TU-95 "Bear" kits. I had to use a custom-made fuselage for the TU-126 model, as the Tupolev TU-126 Moss airborne early warning aircraft were built using refurbished Aeroflot TU-114 Airliners (The TU-114 itself having been developed from the TU-95 Bear turboprop bomber first flown in the 1950s). The Tupolev Bear and derivatives have the distinction of being the fastest propeller driven aircraft in the world. First identified in 1968, the Moss is believed to have entered service in 1971, the exact number used by Soviet Forces being unknown. In the mid 1980s the Beriev A-50 Mainstay began replacing the TU-126 in service.

The TU-142MR is used for submarine communication relay, allowing national command authorities and strategic missile-carrying submarines to communicate. The underfuselage search radar has been removed, and the aircraft is equipped with an underfuselage winch pod for a several kilometer long trailing wire antenna. The Tu-142 (Bear J) maritime communications relay airplane, although designated by the Soviet Union as a separate type of airplane from the Tu-95, has a design essentially identical to the design of the Tu-95 heavy bomber.