Already when the first photos of the experimental PAK-FA were launched back in 2009, I decided to attempt modelling this plane. Unfortunately life got in the way as usual, and it was only in 2015 that I completed the model.
The goal was a plane fitting for realtime graphics, thus details had to be carefully balanced between mesh and texture.
The cockpit is ofcourse semi-speculative. Even though Sukhoi allowed a developer cockpit to leak into media early on, several year ago, we cannot be sure that it is the final configuration. It is probably certain that the two big LCDs will form the visuals and the big HUD is not going anywhere. The rest is up for debate. I did not accentuate too much on cockpit detail for this reason.
The engine exhausts have individually modelled wanes for a more realistic widening/narrowing action.
The so-called "fast weapon bay" is still very speculative. Is it really a bay or just some sort of pod?
The main armament AA missile of PAK-FA seems to fit with a centimeter to spare, if I measured correctly!
But ofcourse, something smaller is probably going in there.
The jet intakes are pretty much correct I think. The geometry was a bit complicated to sort out, but that's how it will look apparently. Evidently either the retractable deflector has to go down for covering the engine, or a turnable stealth shutter has to be inserted, or they will manage to magically add an S-shape to that last short stretch of the air channel.
The frontal winglets, so called LERXes seem to turn correctly. They must in fact be able to turn down that far, judging from the photos!
The internal compartments are purely speculative, just as the lowering mechanism, thus I did not do too much detailing in there. The missiles fit, and that is the important thing.
Making the landing gear retract and fit into the slim compartments by a turning action was a hairy business. But I pulled it off, with mere centimeters to spare. The big wheelpair rests flatly right beneath the top surface of the central body, in fact.
The semispeculative refueling probe was taken from an analogue on Mig-29. I suspect it is standardised anyway. The door opening is probably correct.
This is the prettiest angle of PAK-FA, in my opinion. Perhaps I need to give the pilot more headroom!
I've used a twin UV channel trick on PAK-FA, that I often use to simulate high-res detail on low-res texture space. Essentially I would have to have a 8192x8192 texture to accomplish same level of detail in single UV. Instead I get away with a 4096x4096 main texture and a 1024x1024 detail texture.
The top profile outline is dead certain - there are at least two high-res images that can be used to trace the correct shape. There is a tiny error on the modelling of the wingtips... se if you can spot it!
The missile ready to launch, the deflector is lowered for stealthiness. Ofcourse, with the bay doors open the stealthiness pretty much goes out the window! So it is probably a very quick maneuver.
The parachute pod with the parachute that has been used so far. I don't think it will change.
I've kept the two funny-looking directive elements in their spherical shells as I think they add a nice touch to the plane, and modelled in the top sidehole which probably exhausts heat from the onboard power generator turbo. It is far from certain that they will be around in the final configuration.
(This is a product on CGTrader: https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-models/aircraft/military/sukhoi-pak-fa-t-50-stealth-fighter-jet)
