4 July 1989, Russian MIG 23MF Flogger-B crash in Belgium.

[Guest DannyVM]

HI Guy's, with my little Corsair diorama closing to an end, i want to present you guy's my next project.

 

4th of July, 1989, is the day that a un-manned and out of control MIG 23 crashed into a farm house in Belgium. I think lot's of us guy's remembered that day, but for those who didn't know, here's the whole story.

 

https://theaviationist.com/2012/10/03/mig23-belgium/

 

I know that it was a MIG 23MF Flogger-B, and i know that it served with the 871e Fighter Regiment, based at Kolobrezg in Polen. The number under the cockpit was 29. That number was clearly called by the lead F-15 pilot who intercepted the MIG. What i don't know is, which color it was. A fellow modeler who manned that fatal day the Dutch Command & Control Station BANDBOX told me it could be yellow 29, but still we are not sure. If anyone can shed light on this, please, any help is greatly appreciated. 

 

I know, this build will be partially a what if scheme, because, there was not much left of the crashed jet. And, those day's where cold war day's, so not much info was given about the crashed airplane. But i will do my best to create a realistic possible appearance.

 

My goal is, to build the MIG 23, still at his base in Polen, with the pilot next to the aircraft, ready to board. One little extra will be added to the base-plate, and that's a piece of the cockpit of the ill-fated MIG.

 

 

For my build i bought some goodies, to give the Trumpeter kit the extra detail.

 

 

It consist of an Aires Cockpit, Aires exhaust and Aires wheelbay's.

 

 

Linden Hill decals, Eduard pe weapons set and Eduard pe cockpit.

 

 

Master pitot tube, Quickboost air scoops, Profimodeler Static electricity poles, Montex minimask and a Aerobonus Sovjet Pilot.

 

 

The only detail set i'm missing are the Zactomodels splitter plates, but these will be soon delivered.

 

For now, i have some questions according the research fase of this project :

 

1). like i said before, what color is the number 29 under the cockpit?

2). Do any of you guy's have photo's of a MIG 23MF in service with the 871e Fighter Regiment?

3). Are there walk around sites, with clear pic's of the MIG 23 cockpit. I have a few but they do not depict all area's.

4). What kind of helmet was use by the Sovjet's in those day's (1989). I have two types of helmets in my possession, modern an old style.

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[GusMac]

Nice Danny. I built that kit last time out as a Syrian aircraft over Lebanon in 1982. I think it's one of Trumpeter's best and goes together well - my only comment would be make sure you get the cogs for the swept wings well seated as if they are left too high the plane is left with a 'humpback'.

 

The Aires pit fits beautifully with minimal effort and the Linden Hill decals are excellent. Will be watching with interest!

[JeroenPeters]

Supercool piece of wreckage you have there...

[Guest DannyVM]

 

 

Nice Danny. I built that kit last time out as a Syrian aircraft over Lebanon in 1982. I think it's one of Trumpeter's best and goes together well - my only comment would be make sure you get the cogs for the swept wings well seated as if they are left too high the plane is left with a 'humpback'.

 

The Aires pit fits beautifully with minimal effort and the Linden Hill decals are excellent. Will be watching with interest! 

Thank's mate for the feedback regarding the construction of the kit. I will keep your advice close to me.  

 

 

 

Supercool piece of wreckage you have there...

Thank's Jeroen, yes indeed, it will give the whole project an extra dimension.

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[Guest DannyVM]

Ok guy's, time to show you some photo's.

 

i all ready had some hint's gaven by you guy's about the Aires cockpit, regarding the fit into the fuselage. When it comes to Aires stuff, i always am very careful, because you never now about the fit of the part's. In this case, it was a real joy. Only the casting block needed to be removed, the rest went like a dream. Also the amount of detail inside the cockpit tub is just astonishing. 

 

So after some minor sanding work, thing's began to look like a Flogger cockpit.

 

 

 

 

Like i said, the amount of detail is just great to look at.

 

 

 

 

 

Also, the KM-2 ejection seat is a real jewel on it's own.

 

 

 

And a dry-fit into the cockpit

 

 

 

Next step, the KM-2 seat-belt's   This was a real painstaking process. The complexity of the whole harness, and the very doubtful Aires instructions made the assembling of the seat-belt harness a time-consuming process.

 

But i think i've did it well, and this is the result.

 

 

 

 

So again, a dry-fit into the cockpit, and thing's look so much better.

 

 

 

 

 

I also tackled the wheelbay's, front and rear. 

 

The front went like a piece of cake into the fuselage, the rear wheelbay's needed some trimming.

 

First, there's a piece of plastic that is needed to cut of the kit part, the one marked with a black pencil needed to be cut.

 

 

After this was done, the Aires wheelbay's just felled into the kit part with no problem.

 

 

 

Only thing that needed to be removed was the casting block.

 

 

 

 

 

At the moment i'm waiting for a delivery of Mr. Paint, after i got it it's time for some painting.

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[GusMac]

Lovely result on the seatbelts Danny. I hate PE belts for modern aircraft but no-one seems keen to do fabric versions so I guess we're stuck with them.

 

The Aires wheel bays look excellent too.

[Guest DannyVM]

 

 

Lovely result on the seatbelts Danny. I hate PE belts for modern aircraft but no-one seems keen to do fabric versions so I guess we're stuck with them.

 

The Aires wheel bays look excellent too. 

Thank's mate, and yes, i have to admit, pe seat belt's are not the easiest thing's to work with but i like the result's.

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[Guest DannyVM]

At the moment i prepared all regarding the cockpit prior for painting.

 

First a coat of Mr. Surfacer black, after that wheelbay's and cockpit in their respectively colors.

 

 

Tomorrow i will start painting.

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[crazypoet]

Watching with interest!

[DocRob]

Impressive, I will follow.

With that piece of scrap you have the perfect source for the so much discussed interior color of the MIG. 

[Guest DannyVM]

 

 

With that piece of scrap you have the perfect source for the so much discussed interior color of the MIG. 

I used the Mr. Paint Turquoise color which i find very suitable for this purpose.

 

yesterday i started to paint the different cockpit and wheel bay part's.

 

First thing to do, the base color. For the wheel bay's and ejection seat i used the same color.

 

 

 

For the cockpit i used the well know Turquoise color.

 

 

 

Next, the detail painting of the KM-2 ejection seat. I hoped that Trumpeter included the decals regarding the text on the head-rest. And yes they did ........but..........in the wrong color 

I took the liberty to construct the kit's ejection seat, and i noticed that the seat cushion wasn't there?? Concluding, with the yellow text in mind that the guy's from Trumpeter used a early black KM-1 ejection seat as reference.

 

 

Ok, i don't have any blue printed text to my disposal, so i decided to go one without it.

 

Detail painting was done with Vallejo model color and Vallejo model air.

 

 

 

After that i put a wash on the ejection seat.

 

 

 

 

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[JeroenPeters]

Dang Danny!

Sweet upgrades and details!

[GusMac]

Nice looking seat Danny. The colour for the cockpit, barf blue or whatever you want to call it, looks great. I used a Citadel colour on mine that I'd seen recommended online but it looked too 'blue' to me, although I stuck with it. This looks far more correct to me - looks like MRP will be the way to go when the new Trumpy Mig-29A and Tan Su-33 come out, hopefully later this year. I can feel my wallet squeaking already! 

[Jorge Márquez]

Interesane the work table since it is a plane that I like a lot, I really liked the seat and those photographed belts looks very nice, I liked the color of the cabin and the bays of the landing gear, pending further advances And we will walk here to see them.

[Guest DannyVM]

GusMac & Jorge, thank's guy's for leaving a comment.  

 

Finally got the mold for the MIG nose cone. I hope i can make my first casting today.

 

Here are some pic's of the preparation to make the mold.

 

First i made a box from plastic card.

 

 

 

In here, the nose cone will be trapped.

 

 

With plasticine i made a base to put the nose cone on, and to hold it tight.

 

 

Then i made the rubber and poured it gently into the mold.

 

 

You can see the air bubbles rising to the surface.

 

After 8h00 to 24h00 the rubber mold is dryed.

 

This will be the bottom of the mold.

 

 

And the top, which is still covered by the plasticine.

 

 

The plasticine will be removed, and then comes the second part of the rubber mold.

The nose cone is still trapped into the mold and is filled with plasticine (sorry i forget to take pictures of it)

I take two pieces of sprue and place them onto the plasticine that's in the nose cone. Again i pour some liquid rubber into the mold.

 

 

When the rubber is cured i remove the plastic card from around the mold.

 

 

And also remove the two sprue's. Now i have my in and outlet for the later casting.

 

 

And finally, i have a two part mold for the nose cone casting.

 

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[JeroenPeters]

Wow! I've never done casting before, but this looks sweet.

I seem to have missed it, but why are you casting the nose cone again?

[Guest DannyVM]

 

Wow! I've never done casting before, but this looks sweet.

I seem to have missed it, but why are you casting the nose cone again?

Me neither, but it was necessary if i wanted a correct nose.

 

The nose cone of the MIG 23 is horribly wrong. Wrong shape and wrong dimensions. We call this a Pinocchio nose. There is no aftermarket manufacturer that makes a correct nose for the MIG 23 in 1/32 scale, so i needed to make one for myself. But first i needed a master, so i got a Trumpeter MIG 29 nose cone which strangely fit's onto the MIG 23 nose section after some minor adjustments. Also the shape and dimensions of the MIG 29 nose cone are correct for the MIG 23. But sadly it don't have the proper shape for the MIG 29 itself. Can you still follow Jeroen

 

So this week a fellow modeler from LSP send me a MIG 29 nose cone, sadly in a state which was beyond recognition (thank's to the postal services  )

 

 

 

So i needed to fix the problem, and i did. I corrected the nose back into shape, filled and sanded the cracks and gave it back it's nice round form.

 

 

For this i needed a master to put inside the MIG 29 nose cone, so i could keep it's round form during the casting proces..

 

At the moment i'm making everything ready for my very first cast, so i will keep you guy's updated.

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[Guest DannyVM]

My very first cast is a fact.

 

And very important, all went very wel. I got myself a resin MIG 29/23 nose cone. The resin nose is smooth and free from air bubbles. The only thing that is needed to do is to remove the part from the Trumpeter MIG 23 nose which i used to keep the MIG 29 in shape.

 

 

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[GusMac]

Nice result Danny. I've never tried casting, was it really as easy as this makes it look?

 

Funny that an 'incorrect' Mig-29 nose ends up being perfect for the -23. Looking forward to the new Mig-29s from Trumpeter and hopefully they've paid attention to the issues with the previous versions.

[Guest DannyVM]

 

Nice result Danny. I've never tried casting, was it really as easy as this makes it look?

 

Funny that an 'incorrect' Mig-29 nose ends up being perfect for the -23. Looking forward to the new Mig-29s from Trumpeter and hopefully they've paid attention to the issues with the previous versions.

To be honest, yes it was. But first i did some research regarding casting and mold making. There is also a video on Youtube, and i took this one as an example to make my first mold and casting. 

 

Here it is :

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj5Te8EqMHM

 

I used the same product and it's great stuff but regarding the mold for the nose cone there was only enough rubber for one mold. For casting i can make 8 resin nose cones. 

 

I still need to correct the fuselage of the MIG 23 to fit the new nose cone. Then the fuselage will be about 1 cm shorter, which isn't bad, because with the original nose it was to long. But it will have now a correct shape which is more important.

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[Jorge Márquez]

What better way to correct the wrong nose for a resin, I thought it was difficult to make molds and work the resin, you have made it easy to see the new advances of such great modeling project.

[Guest DannyVM]

 

 

What better way to correct the wrong nose for a resin, I thought it was difficult to make molds and work the resin, you have made it easy to see the new advances of such great modeling project.

Thank's Jorge. It is not difficult at all. Just need to research to technique and use good materials and you are of to go.

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[Guest DannyVM]

I did some dry-fit today of the nose cone onto the fuselage to see if all go's together well. Just remember it's a rough dry-fit, the fuselage and nose cone needs some more trimming and sanding so everything will be smooth when glued.

I think the shape look's very good and much better then the original nose cone from the MIG 23 kit.

 

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[Guest DannyVM]

Hi guy's,

 

time to get this topic back to the living. After some painstaking months of personal life. I lost my job last year due to an accident, and the search for a new job, i lost more or less my intrest into modeling, sadly, yes, it happens from time to time. 

 

For now, i have three weeks vacation, so i thought it was time to crack my Flogger project open for the next phase.

 

Stay tuned, more will follow.

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[DocRob]

Hi Danny, I'm sorry to hear about your fate. Sometimes real life gets between us and modelling and there is no more capacity and time for a hobby in such difficult times. Some years ago I had a very hard time personally and modelling helped me a little to got through that. Our hobby is time consuming and needs to focus on. The latter helps me to get my mind free again, after irritating phases in life. It is just a Hobby no more, no less, but a hobby might have implications in other (more important) parts of life.

I solved all the subjects I had by that time and now I'm happy and satisfied with my life. Maybe modelling kept me focused in finding solutions by that time. 

Good to see you back at the bench.

Cheers Rob