Jump to content

MiG-29A in Luftwaffe Service


Madmax

Recommended Posts

Marcel, I hope Santa was as kind to you as he was to me! An Mi-24 will be the next Soviet project to drive me round the bend - literally :lol:.

 

I have already discovered that the Trumpeter Hind is not quite right - too straight. I'm not sure I will will have what it takes to tackle it quite like Misha did some years ago. Check this out...  

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Talking about going round the bend, every little modification has a knock on effect down the line with a styrene kit, and it is often this that drives me nuts!  The holidays have re-focused me however, and I have got quite a bit done in the meantime. The other half of the fuselage was filled and reshaped including some stressed skin as I did on the other side.

 

IMG_7862-XL.jpg

 

The louvre intakes are quite simplistic in the kit, so I added a bit more depth and detail to them so that they look moveable.

 

IMG_7869-XL.jpg

 

Then I discovered what cib2265 was talking about when he said he was curious about the lip on the front of the canopy. This lip...

 

IMG_7866-XL.jpg

 

Looks to me like a Trumpy engineer's fix for a poorly fitting windshield. The whole angle is actually too shallow and should parallel the panel line ahead of it.

 

IMG_7872-XL.jpg

 

I then decided to whittle away at the fuselage, but that was going to have a nasty knock-on effect. I should have ADDED styrene from the beginning instead :hmmm:. I eventually added quite a lot, including a lip to the canopy walls which actually exists on the real thing, as well as the bit that bends around the back and has the inflatable canopy seal on it. Not all bad in the end!

 

IMG_7880-XL.jpg

 

IMG_7881-XL.jpg

 

IMG_7888-XL.jpg

 

The panel lines on the starboard LERX (in the kit) are just a mirror copy of the left. In reality however the gun is on the left, and other goodies like avionics or nuclear stuff on the right - so, different panels.

 

IMG_7867-XL.jpg

 

At last, time to mate the halves of the beast! This is a 0.5mm shim to fatten the LERX a bit.

 

IMG_7875-XL.jpg

 

The profile of the forward fuselage is now a bit closer to how I perceive the shape of the real thing.

 

IMG_7879-XL.jpg

 

The lumps and bumps at the back are better too.

 

IMG_7876-XL.jpg

 

IMG_7885-XL.jpg

 

Although the wings are actually very "clean", there is this slightly odd strengthener plate near the tip. Could it be a later modification?

 

Wing%20reinf-XL.jpg

 

IMG_7883-XL.jpg

 

Now its time to so(L)der the remaining engine exhaust... :blink:

 

Cheers!

 

Sean

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Sean,

 

I've been following this built closely since the beginning. 

I like the way you grasped the Trumpeter issues and the remedies you made.

 

I will for sure use your modifications on mine 

 

Great skills indeed,

 

Cheers 

 

Eric

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/13/2019 at 7:59 PM, EricF said:

 

I will for sure use your modifications on mine 

 

Hi Eric,

 

Glad you are enjoying the build! You may well find that there are some of the modifications you can improve on or simplify, mine have happened organically as the plastic allowed. Look forward to seeing your build...

 

On 1/13/2019 at 9:50 PM, Marcel111 said:

 

With the forward fuselage shim, how are you ensuring that the back section doesn't site 0.5mm too low?

 

Good question Marcel,

 

I sanded the shim so that it tapers off at the wing LE/fuselage join. This way it doesn't affect anything rearwards of the wing LE. The fuselage halves are pretty big pieces of plastic and yield quite easily to some bending. You would also have noticed the brace to force the nose open and more round where it joins the slightly larger nosecone that I tinkered with right in the beginning. Hope your "C" is about to commence!

 

shim-XL.jpg

 

MrHelZa, mad is correct! :lol:

 

Thanks Karl, you don't get to see the stuff-ups. Glueing the two halves together was a solvent frenzy as there is so much area to join! Don't you also hate melted fingerprints?

 

The Fulcrum certainly is a spectacular jet Bevan. I have literally spent days marvelling at the photographs on airliners.net etc. :whistle: Guilty pleasures.

 

Cheers Matty, and thanks Brian for the unfailing support!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Squizzy and Ben, appreciate your interest!

 

As soon as the windshield is in place and the cockpit masked off, the model seems to accelerate. You can actually read the history of my fitting ****-up by the layers of styrene, much like the rings of a tree trunk!

 

IMG_7897-XL.jpg

 

It does sit nice and snug now, and an added bonus was that I had to squeeze the sides a bit to make it fit, which in turn pushed the profile up a bit from what was a slightly flat frame.

 

IMG_7898-XL.jpg

 

Some added depth to the rivets and panel lines at the fin "join" as well as some different fasteners to add interest to the surface. The static-wicks are from Profimodeller, but look a bit too long to me. The control surfaces have three skin layers, which I recall Karl replicating with actual layers! I just accentuated the first panel line to create an impression of depth - cheating...

 

IMG_7891-XL.jpg

 

The APU intake is mounted on some thin styrene card,

 

IMG_7901-XL.jpg

 

and these lifting handles created from the same 0.13mm sheet.

 

IMG_7907-XL.jpg

 

The chaff and flare dispensers need a bit of extra attention, and the side fairings really help the look. Stretched sprue for the weld seams and carefully fill and sand the cover to get it flat.

 

IMG_7908-XL.jpg

 

The kit photo-etch intake grilles really look the part.

 

IMG_7920-XL.jpg

 

Now at last some of the pedigree created in the Design Bureau is starting to show. What a shape...

 

IMG_7922-XL.jpg

 

IMG_7916-XL.jpg

 

Still no soldering :rolleyes:, back in a week...

 

Sean

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...