SB Lim-2, Polish Air Force (Polish-built MiG 15UTI)

[R Palimaka]

Been out of touch for several months, dealing with "life things". I'm looking forward to catching up with what everyone has been doing here.

 

After finally finishing my 1/24 Mustang after a four-year build (which I still have to photograph), I thought I should try something out of the box to relax and enjoy. Something simple, no fuss. Well, that's what I thought.

 

Instead I found an article that kit-bashed the Trumpeter 1/32 MiG-15 and FT-5 trainer together, to create a MiG-15UTI trainer. Having a soft spot for the Polish Air Force it would have to be the SB Lim-2 version, which had subtle differences and was used in different roles. I've never built a large scale jet, but this aircraft has always appealed to me, especially when painted in some of the wild and weathered camouflage schemes worn at the end of their service with the Polish Air Force. Having seen examples on a visit to Poland, it's been in the back of my mind for a while.

 

I know the Trumpeter kit has received a good bashing in reviews for inaccuracies and poor fit. At the same time, I was able to buy both kits and all the after-market bits for less than $100. So I'll just attempt to improve and refine what I can, and be happy with the result. I don't think I'm willing to put in the time to do a silver aircraft. Besides, I just find the camouflage schemes interesting (and able to hide a lot of faults).

 

So, here I go again. It doesn't fit into any of the upcoming group builds, so no pressure...

 

Richard

 

 

 

(hope it's ok to post this photo for this use, with credit to photographer)

 

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by R Palimaka

[R Palimaka]

Here is what I've managed to gather for the build:

 

The kit itself:

 

The additional bits. The forward fuselage and canopy for the two-seater, PART photoetch sets for interior, exterior, and airbrakes, Grey Matter vertical tail correction, G-Factor landing gear, and Cutting Edge intake splitter, wheels and two cockpit interior sets. 

Edited November 26, 2022 by R Palimaka

[R Palimaka]

The research material: two articles dealing with building the kit, and the conversion. The 4+ Publication on the MiG 15, and copies of the enclosed plans enlarged to 1/32 scale. 

 

 

And the research and decals for the markings. Some of the camouflage profile drawings are maybe a bit suspect, I'd like to confirm them with photos first. The stencil decal sheet is meant for silver lacquered aircraft, so I'm not sure how many would be used on the camouflaged versions. More research required.

Edited November 26, 2022 by R Palimaka

[Alex]

That’s a unique and very cool project!  I’m looking forward to following your build.

[Paul in Napier]

I do like the camo on the pictured 6010. I don't think any two were the same (same as their Lim-6 / MiG-17)

[KiwiZac]

Oh, that colour scheme is cool! I'm excited to follow along with your build! I never got to see it in person but we had a warbird Midget in NZ in the late 1990s so I've long harboured a soft spot for it over the single-seater.

[R Palimaka]

12 hours ago, Alex said:

That’s a unique and very cool project!  I’m looking forward to following your build.

 

Thank you Alex! I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew.

 

12 hours ago, MARU5137 said:

Well, This will be an extremely exciting  build to follow as I have never heard of  or seen this unique  looking aircraft.

Super research material you have there too.

 

Thanks Maru! It's essentially a two-seat MiG-15, and they were used all over the world. The Polish Air Force used them in a number of roles, including artillery spotting and Forward Air Control. After being phased out of service a number of them are in private hands now, including one here in Canada not far from me. 

[R Palimaka]

4 hours ago, Paul in Napier said:

I do like the camo on the pictured 6010. I don't think any two were the same (same as their Lim-6 / MiG-17)

 

It certainly seems to be the case. It looks like there was no actual pattern, or even official colour call-outs. And they are all so delightfully weathered and worn. That will be another challenge for me. And interestingly, there are enough parts leftover from the Trumpeter FT-5 kit to build a Lim-6...

 

4 hours ago, KiwiZac said:

Oh, that colour scheme is cool! I'm excited to follow along with your build! I never got to see it in person but we had a warbird Midget in NZ in the late 1990s so I've long harboured a soft spot for it over the single-seater.

 

Thank you, I've always liked this aircraft, something pugnacious about its stance. There is one in Waterloo, Ontario, not too far away. Only $6000 for a flight experience...

Edited November 27, 2022 by R Palimaka

[thierry laurent]

This is funny.  I did exactly the same thing as one month ago I found both kits in France for 25 euros!

As you, I saw Meindert's article (some years ago) and had for long in a corner of my mind the intention to make a MiG-15UTI! Mine will be a Russian one used by North Vietnam with a green-brown camo. I also considered a plane with camouflage colors to be easier with that kit. Note you made a great choice as the Polish camo looks exquisite, even better than the Vietnamese one.

 

I also did the same with regard to the aftermarket but even if I found comparable sets, mine are fully different!: Eduard, HAD, Profimodeller, Master and Reskit! Alas I did not find G-factor legs.

 

And I also retrieved my books including the 4+ booklet to enlarge the plans...! 

 

I'm curious to know what are the main differences between the resin tail and the kit one. I thought that if the Trumpeter MiG-17 tail was total fantasy, the 15 one was rather correct. Last, take care with the Cutting Edge splitter plate as it copies a major boo-boo of the kit! Indeed, the front section of the landing gear well should be deep enough for the front wheel whereas the kit and resin parts are unfortunately far too shallow for that! 

 

I will keep a close look at this build for sure! 

[MikeMaben]

Cool Richard 

[R Palimaka]

8 hours ago, thierry laurent said:

This is funny.  I did exactly the same thing as one month ago I found both kits in France for 25 euros!

As you, I saw Meindert's article (some years ago) and had for long in a corner of my mind the intention to make a MiG-15UTI! Mine will be a Russian one used by North Vietnam with a green-brown camo. I also considered a plane with camouflage colors to be easier with that kit. Note you made a great choice as the Polish camo looks exquisite, even better than the Vietnamese one.

 

I also did the same with regard to the aftermarket but even if I found comparable sets, mine are fully different!: Eduard, HAD, Profimodeller, Master and Reskit! Alas I did not find G-factor legs.

 

And I also retrieved my books including the 4+ booklet to enlarge the plans...! 

 

I'm curious to know what are the main differences between the resin tail and the kit one. I thought that if the Trumpeter MiG-17 tail was total fantasy, the 15 one was rather correct. Last, take care with the Cutting Edge splitter plate as it copies a major boo-boo of the kit! Indeed, the front section of the landing gear well should be deep enough for the front wheel whereas the kit and resin parts are unfortunately far too shallow for that! 

 

I will keep a close look at this build for sure! 

 

Thank you Thierry! Your advice is very welcome, especially about the splitter plate, as I've only started looking at and researching the aircraft in detail over the last week. I did notice that the nose wheel well would never fit the landing gear! Still trying to sort out the all differences and changes. Not many of the reviews have been any help describing corrections.

 

That's funny that we've both thought about the same project the same way! The only other thing I might order is the Quinta 3D printed interior. It will just save a lot of time, and will look so much better than what I could do with the photoetch parts. I'm guessing it will all be a combination of all the aftermarket parts, or what I find useful (or manageable with my 64-year old eyes).

 

As for the tail, the correction part is different, broader chord and the sweepback is not as steep. I have to compare it to drawings to see if it actually is a correction. I'll take photos later so you can see the difference. The one issue is that the correction part will have to be secured by pins or tabs of some sort, the base is only a butt joint. 

 

Still organizing and planning, but hope to start cutting plastic soon.

 

Thanks again!
 

Richard

 

 

[thierry laurent]

Actually, if the kit is a little bit rough and basic, the detail sets solve a lot of the small issues. The main point for which we are on our own is the too shallow landing gear bays. It is a good idea to mix and match the parts to get an UTI as all the Trumpeter kits of the MiG-17 family are very, very bad. In comparison, the 15 is far better. I started correcting a 17 years ago. I still have to go back to that kit but if something is sure, I will never build another one (even from the leftover parts of that Frankenstein project)! I was asking about the tail as I have the MiG-17 one. I assessed how to use and finally decided to correct the kit parts because of the difficulty to mate correctly that part and the fuselage. I think I choose the most acceptable evil!

[R Palimaka]

10 hours ago, thierry laurent said:

Actually, if the kit is a little bit rough and basic, the detail sets solve a lot of the small issues. The main point for which we are on our own is the too shallow landing gear bays. It is a good idea to mix and match the parts to get an UTI as all the Trumpeter kits of the MiG-17 family are very, very bad. In comparison, the 15 is far better. I started correcting a 17 years ago. I still have to go back to that kit but if something is sure, I will never build another one (even from the leftover parts of that Frankenstein project)! I was asking about the tail as I have the MiG-17 one. I assessed how to use and finally decided to correct the kit parts because of the difficulty to mate correctly that part and the fuselage. I think I choose the most acceptable evil!

 

Thank you again. That's the impression I'm getting about the Trumpeter MiG-17 kits, that it would take a lot of work to make it accurate. My plan was to do as Meindert did and build a Mig-17...or Lim-5/6...out of what was left. We'll see how I feel after I finish this one. 

 

I can understand what you're saying about correcting the tail. I've seen a correction to the MiG-15 tail just using plastic card and Milliput and it didn't look that difficult. Maybe you did choose the path that causes less stress.

 

This is a quick phone photo of the MiG-15 kit tail posed on top of the resin correction from Grey Matter. The base of both vertical tails match exactly from leading edge to rudder hinge-line. The kit tail however starts to sweep back more and becomes narrow at the top, and slightly short. Also causes the horizontal stabilizers to be too far back. The resin tail dimensions match the drawings, and look more like the photos. Have to say though, that the resin correction is missing some panel lines, rivet lines and a couple of small panels. Nothing some time with a scribing tool won't fix. There's still the matter of the best way to attach it securely to the fuselage, and align all of it. But...are we not modellers? Or mere assemblers lol. 

 

 

Edited November 28, 2022 by R Palimaka

[R Palimaka]

19 hours ago, MARU5137 said:

Richard,

Thanks for the information  on the Aircraft. 

Nice!

are you able to take photographs  of the real one in order to help you with yoyr build... you know like  cockpit,  wheels, canopy etc..

Keep us posted with your work.

 

 

You're welcome Maru! As for getting photos of the privately owned one, I may do that. I don't know how much the cockpit has been modernized with new avionics, but the detail shots of the structure would be useful. It's interesting, the one in Waterloo, Ontario is actually a Polish-built version. When they bought it and brought it to Canada it was in Soviet/Russian markings. When the Russians invaded Ukraine, the organization repainted it in Polish Air Force markings before this year's airshow season. 

 

And when I said it was "not far from me", I meant it in the Canadian way...it's only a 360 km/four-hour drive from here. 

 

Richard

Edited November 28, 2022 by R Palimaka

[thierry laurent]

5 hours ago, R Palimaka said:

 

Thank you again. That's the impression I'm getting about the Trumpeter MiG-17 kits, that it would take a lot of work to make it accurate. My plan was to do as Meindert did and build a Mig-17...or Lim-5/6...out of what was left. We'll see how I feel after I finish this one. 

 

I can understand what you're saying about correcting the tail. I've seen a correction to the MiG-15 tail just using plastic card and Milliput and it didn't look that difficult. Maybe you did choose the path that causes less stress.

 

This is a quick phone photo of the MiG-15 kit tail posed on top of the resin correction from Grey Matter. The base of both vertical tails match exactly from leading edge to rudder hinge-line. The kit tail however starts to sweep back more and becomes narrow at the top, and slightly short. Also causes the horizontal stabilizers to be too far back. The resin tail dimensions match the drawings, and look more like the photos. Have to say though, that the resin correction is missing some panel lines, rivet lines and a couple of small panels. Nothing some time with a scribing tool won't fix. There's still the matter of the best way to attach it securely to the fuselage, and align all of it. But...are we not modellers? Or mere assemblers lol. 

 

 

Ouch! The situation is clearly worse than I remembered. I will have to assess that more closely.