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Playing in the Sandbox Group Build Sept 1, 2024 - Jn 1, 2025

What the Fox Bat?? Decals and missiles


GazzaS

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Excellent news, fellas!  Thank you very much!  I started on the cans last weekend, but then came four days of uninterrupted work.  I hope to have a small update sometime tomorrow.

 

Gaz

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With a few hours to spare, here is an update on the MiG:

 

I'm not a complete stranger to Ukrainian plastic.  For size comparison I present my build of the UM Bf109G-14 in 1/48:

9Yr9QW.jpg

The port side landing gear attaches at three points and consists of five parts.  The starboard side looks just the same minus glue/paint thumbprint.

enD5tP.jpg

 

For those of you hoping for a detailed engine...  This is all there is.

nkm7xY.jpg

The white plastic is sheet I used to solidify an unsupported seam.  The kind where one side will bow if you have to sand it.

Looking up the cans:

21MQUG.jpg

0LkJlI.jpg

I should have worked a little harder on ejector pin marks.  But, I missed some.

Then there is this seam on one of the vanes....

AGO3s9.jpg

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Gaz

 

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Another update...

    I'd better slow down before they raise my quota....

 

Anyway...  The day started with gluing the large fuselage Dorsal section to cans and bracing frames. 

I had started on the twin rudders yesterday and had them puttied ready for sanding today.  When first dry fitted, they showed some warpage:

eeif6m.jpg

Each one also had an intake which needed a bit of work to make look neat:

axRfB9.jpg

 

I had also closed up the nose cone with a 32g sinker glued in place with CA.

Dry fitting showed a small bit of trimming was required:

oNwfi0.jpg

 

I tried cold-bending the rudders, but with seconds, there was a seam pop.  So, I went with the hair dryer.  Seems a little straighter.

d2P0O8.jpg

Hopefully the angles and dihedral are right...Anyone wanna input?  There is room to squeeze the rudders closer...  or I'll have to add a fillet.

Back view:

3UOCcX.jpg

 

A side shot... She's big!

6mqyUT.jpg

Takes up more space than a 1/32 109.

 

Anyway...  all input appreciated.  Hopefully I can find a useful plan drawing somewhere...

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Gaz

 

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An operation has begun to save the MiG from the garbage bin.

Due to an unfortunate drop, the right nacelle inner parts, which are part of the fuselage module became detached alongside the fuselage.  AS part of a separate module, they had been glued under-pressure.  I should have just pared away some plastic before I glued it in place!

Trying to re-attach them became impossible due to angles inside the nacelle-fuselage joint.  Thus far, I have had to cut away the forward third of the starboard outer engine panel, and detach the two inner walls of the starboard forward intake itself.  Cutting away those pieces saw that the released pressure in the fuselage-intake joint opened a visible angle where the upper, inner sleeve of the intake diverged away from the fuselage.

So, now I have re-glued the inner intake parts and am using pressure to realign the upper intake surface with the fuselage.  This part passes deeply into the plane, and freeing it completely for re-shaping would have necessitated completely removing the upper carapace.

Here it sits now:

7XSeQe.jpg

While we're here I'll update on other efforts:

For some strange reason on this newly released kit, there is raised detail mixed with recessed detail.  I can't imagine why they would have done it, but I strove to replace the raised details with various scribing tools.

Drs5x1.jpg

xoufIJ.jpg

VRXN5k.jpg

UKqyNH.jpg

A lament I have seen in other jet-fighter build threads is the poor fit of the nose cone.  This one required some work to mate cleanly around the area forward of the cockpit.

iwAhtB.jpg

I'll have to research the four probes and see how thin they should actually be.  More scribing to do!

 

While we're on the nose:

ap6N9A.jpg

 

Anyway...  the glue is drying. 

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Gaz

 

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"NO MiG LEFT BEHIND." Just sayin'...

Upper SRO IFF transponder aerials: elliptic cross section, appr. 0.1 mm thick in 48th scale, dull alumnium finish.
(upper blade antenna just aft of the radome = SO-69 ATC transponder of PD/PDS a/c)

hzLy9sP.jpg

uYVNAsi.jpg

i16KYgO.jpg


Lower SRZ IFF interrogator antenna:
4rJ6WV7.jpg

Somewhat crude, but the shape is largely correct. On actual PD/PDS aircraft the SRZ antenna is located further to the right. Roughly 2 mm in 48th scale. Technically speaking...

pAWudU1.jpg

Colouring:
LZnzIbp.jpg

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Ivan,

    Thank you for the great and informative photos.  They really show so much detail not incorporated onto the surface of the model.  This plane really needs a large scale representative!   ...or somebody better at scribing than me.  My panel lines look like they were drawn by an ECG machine.

 

Phil,

   Thank you!

 

Gaz

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Well Comrades...

     It's been a while since my last update.  And while I haven't had as much times as I'd like to work on the MiG, I have advanced a bit.  Under the forward intakes, some reshaping and detail replacement was required.  Though some of the fit issues of the kit can be managed by trimming the inside of the parts, the last bit had to be done from the outside.  At one point, while using a beading tool to replace a rivet, it went clean through the remaining plastic.

I also received my portable photo booth with LED lighting strips.  Sop these three photos are the first taken within.  It has three background colors, peach, white, and black.

8RPhrS.jpg

The hubs are Tamiya matte green mixed with Tamiya matte white and then sprayed with Future.  The leading edges are painted with Spastix Chrome which I hope I can eventually weather into a passable steel.  The black-primed areas near the engines will be given the Chrome treatment as well and then weathered to hopefully give an often-heated steel look.

HlfZe4.jpg

oMIPsW.jpg

The area of both intakes took quite an effort to get together successfully.  You might notice a bit of putty here and there.

 

Thanks for looking!

 

GAz

 

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Nie progress, Gaz, the bat is coming together. If you want to go steel finish, I can recommend Uschi van der Rosten pigments. Rubbed onto a primed surface gives a very convincing steel effect. There are only Iron, Steel and Chrome available, pity. These are the finest grained pigments I ever used.

Congrats to your new booth, seems to be a Havox, right? I got the 80cm brother and will add two more LED strips to enhance lighting. Pity I can't get them here on my island, so this has to wait till my next visit in Germany.

Cheers Rob

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Thank everyone for their kind thoughts and likes.

 

Well, April Fool's day has come and gone.  And I'm still working on this beast.  Today I added more parts and then puttied all of the 90-degree joints that needed it with an acrylic based putty that can  be removed with a damp Q-tip or cloth.  Unfortunately, the Spaztix, though acting like a lacquer, is easily affected by a little water and cotton.  Go figure!  I fear what will happen when I mask it.  Anyway....

 

Here are some current photos taken in my foto booth with the light diffuser in place.  Hardcore comparison photos will be taken once I have a weathered model to shoot.  At this point, the gray details don't show...

iqSwv6.jpg

uFlfeu.jpg

ENGsrh.jpg

 

i2C4r9.jpg

IGZAav.jpg

 

Looking at these photos, I have to say I'm not overly keen on the diffuser.  but we'll see.

 

Gaz

 

 

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It's coming together quite nicely, Gaz.

The unpainted steel structures on actual MiG-25 aircraft only hold a rather dull and greyish metallic sheen. Except for the area immediately in front of the afterburner nozzles - titanium alloys, not steel.

On aircraft with partially unpainted wing leading edges the unpainted area comprised only a few centimetres of the leading edge - approximately 4-5 cm on the top and appr. 3-4 cm on the underside. Certain batches of the MiG-25PD/PDS featured a slightly different leading edge assembly similar to RB and BM aircraft. You'll find PD/PDS aircraft with completely painted wings just as frequently. The leading edges of the stabilators were generally unpainted.

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4 minutes ago, Ivan Ivanovich said:

It's coming together quite nicely, Gaz.

The unpainted steel structures on actual MiG-25 aircraft only hold a rather dull and greyish metallic sheen. Except for the area immediately in front of the afterburner nozzles - titanium alloys, not steel.

On aircraft with partially unpainted wing leading edges the unpainted area comprised only a few centimetres of the leading edge - approximately 4-5 cm on the top and appr. 3-4 cm on the underside. Certain batches of the MiG-25PD/PDS featured a slightly different leading edge assembly similar to RB and BM aircraft. You'll find PD/PDS aircraft with completely painted wings just as frequently. The leading edges of the stabilators were generally unpainted.

HI Ivan,

    Thank you!  I was planning on making all of the bare metal parts as dull/weathered/heated using pictures from online to guide me.  For the leading edge of the wing, I just went with the panel lines provided...  I may change it...  The paint I used though acting like lacquer paint, is very fragile.

 

Gaz

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Thank you, Martin!  If I only had the will to copy all of that detail that isn't on the model.   An d if only ICM hadn't worked so hard to screw some things up.  Still...  It's a plane I've always wanted to model.

 

Gaz

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