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MiG-23ML in Angola


Madmax

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Hi Zero!

 

Kagemusha, in the early 1990's the Angolan government turned to a private military company called "Executive Outcomes" for help in combatting the UNITA rebel forces. In a strange twist of fate, EO employed ex South African military personnel who had been fighting against the Angolan government forces up until 1989. Peace is a relative term here in Africa.

 

Iain, I also found the front of the cockpit a bit fiddly. I have the Linden Hill Decals, but am contemplating begging my friend Nick to try cut some masks instead.

 

Tim, I would love to visit Cuba too. A colleague of mine is corresponding with a Cuban pilot who did three tours in Angola flying MiG-21 and MiG-23. His stories are fascinating, and very human. It is wonderful to hear about the same war from the other side. I have slowly been gaining an insight into the larger political stage on which our conflict was fought. Your kids are going to have to find out from you.

 

Greetings MARU, sandokan, Kevin and RNoAF!

 

blackbetty, here comes your answer..

If you do go, they have some fascinating museums and displays in Havana. As well as the best Mojitos on the planet IMHO. We also did some great diving in the Bay of Pigs. My advise is go soon before it gets completely overtaken by mass tourism. And as an aside, on arrival I got patted down by a young female customs official wearing a miniskirt and fishnet stockings!!

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Hi reconspit and Gaz, thanks for looking in.

 

blackbetty, the plans I used are from the 4+ publication "MiG-23" - a very useful resource for this project (The draughtsman's signature looks like an M in a circle).

 

Tim, great story - now I really better get there in a hurry  :whistle:

 

shark64, not just highly skilled, funny too!

Edited by Madmax
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hi 

a very interested thread , that I will follow , I am not an expert , but i've heard that there is an issue with the intakes , not enough " curved " , I think that "Zacto" made correct resin intakes .. did you used Zacto's sets or fixed the kit parts ..thanks 

Alain  

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Greetings Alain,

 

Zactoman has produced wonderful corrections for this kit, but I chose to modify it myself. The result is not quite the same, but acceptable to me. The problem is that the kit intake is very "square", especially at the top. I just sanded it to shape, but others have added a small triangular wedge which they then shape round. Here is an image of the real thing.

 

photo77-M.jpg

 

Hello again blackbetty,

 

The build, although ahead of my posts, is not actually complete - it isn't even primed yet. I am very interested to hear what you have discovered with the kit!

 

I think that prospective builders stand to learn from these discussions, and I certainly gained a lot from this one: https://intscalemodeller.com/viewtopic.php?t=10266

 

Sean

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ok, so here you go: the probelms with the nose are because trumpy seemes to have used the 4+ drawings that are wrong. there is a russian publication  with the best drawings that are availible. i can send you a pdf (pm me with your email if inetrrested, i can send them via wetransfer)

this is my thread: https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=66537&hl=

most of the info (and the resin nose) are from Florin: https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=51107&hl=%2Bflogger+%2Bdone+%2Bright

hope this helps

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hi

 

 

 

 

ok, so here you go: the probelms with the nose are because trumpy seemes to have used the 4+ drawings that are wrong. there is a russian publication  with the best drawings that are availible. i can send you a pdf (pm me with your email if inetrrested, i can send them via wetransfer)

this is my thread: https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=66537&hl=

most of the info (and the resin nose) are from Florin: https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=51107&hl=%2Bflogger+%2Bdone+%2Bright

hope this helps

 

so,I presume that every trumpy Mig 23 have the same wrong nose cone that must be fixed ????? ( I have the MF version) ,  

Alain

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mine is the MF too, this nose has been dubbed the "pinnochio nose" due to it (wrong) length

if you want you can too have the pdf with the russion drawings. S, MF, MLD all seem to have different noses. since i dont have the MLD kit i cant comment on its accuracy

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Greetings Martin, Marcel and Mr b!

 

blackbetty is right.

 

Somehow the draughtsman with the M in the circle got the nose wrong, by quite a bit. Trumpeter clearly used the 4+ drawings, and before now I would have too. They look so good.

 

This morning I was hoping to get some primer onto this fairly sizeable model, but then Karl's information stopped me in my tracks. I was very curious to verify that the 4+ drawing was in fact off the mark, and got onto a photograph of that fantastic ML on its side in Sinsheim. I blew it up and got this...

 

MiG-23_%286029875026%29_%282%29-XL.jpg

 

I then traced its outline in red pencil over the 4+ drawing.

 

IMG_7043-XL.jpg

 

Then an email arrived from blackbetty, which confirmed the actual shape of the nose. Notice the length of the pitot too.

 

IMG_7045-XL.jpg

 

This is what the nose looked like, with the profimodeller pitot tube in place.

 

IMG_7042-XL.jpg

So I got to work with a file...

 

IMG_7046-XL.jpg

 

and sandpaper. Now the nose looks like this (with a vastly extended pitot tube to boot) - much better. Thanks Karl!

 

IMG_7047-XL.jpg

 

IMG_7051-XL.jpg

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Now to catch up on some other aspects of the build so far.

 

Despite some niggly fit issues with the sides of the Aires cockpit, it is definitely worth the effort. You can see the styrene shims that I used to fill the gaps, and they will become the inflating rubber seals for the canopy.

 

IMG_6950-XL.jpg

 

IMG_6960-XL.jpg

 

Having joined the nose halves, I could pay attention to the fit of the intakes. The fuselage is made up of three sections and the join between each of these requires much dry-fitting and planning. In order to get the back of the intakes flush with the central section, they require a shim of about a half a millimetre - here you can see my effort in sheet styrene.

 

IMG_6953-XL.jpg

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