rom1 Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 (edited) Hello there!it's been awhile since my last WIP here.I want now to share some pictures of my current build.A few weeks before AMK announced a new Mig-25 kit, I decided to start my Kitty hawk kit.And this, because of my friend Christophe who did a nice job on his own build:http://fighters.forumactif.com/t75195-mig-25-foxbat-kitty-hawk-1-48I want to depict an Iraqi fighters from the first Gulf War:http://www.aviationgraphic.com/airplanes/335-mig-25pds-foxbat-25211-iraf-tc-206.htmlSo, maybe you know that this kit is controversial because of its many flaws:http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234950939-kitty-hawk-mig-25pdpds-detailing-corrections/Some of them are not that serious and easily fixable, others won't be treated at all...But, to my eyes there are some points that need serious work in order to depict the correct rendering of this brutal plane.Radome and exhausts are the most critical to me.I will start with the radome.Kitty hawk totally botched this area. The radome section is weird shaped, with a "square rounded" cross section instead of a perfectly round one.Also, the cross section at its base is more wide than high.Moreover, the profile is not symmetrical, and the radome seems to be "down curved ".So, based on scale drawing, I CAD designed a nose cone. While being maybe not 100% accurate, it will be more convincing. And perfectly round :rolleyes:/>/>/>Then, thanks to "Shapeways" https://www.shapeways.com/I ordered a 3D printed sample:The surface is pretty rough, and need some Surfacer to get smooth:Because of the weird cross section of the kit, I had to add material on top of the fuselage in order to get a circle section.Sanding is also needed to smooth down some angles.After sanding and surfacing:Some work is also needed here, in order to get a good fit to the cockpit section:After more scribing and cleaning job, the parts are ready for casting:Et voilà!Thats all for now.The cockpit is finished, pictures soon.For now Im painting the wheel bays.Do not hesitate to leave comments and critiques. Always welcome.CheersRomain Edited November 30, 2015 by rom1 19 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crobinsonh Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 Fantastic work - any chance you might sell a set of your castings as I have this one in my stash. Looking forward to the next update. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rom1 Posted November 22, 2015 Author Share Posted November 22, 2015 Thanks crobinsonh! Sorry but for now I dont have more than 1 casting (mine). Having not easy access to resin, I dont plan to do more castings right now. Cheers Romain 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 top work! nice resin parts! looks like a business to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Vader Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 Thanks crobinsonh!Sorry but for now I dont have more than 1 casting (mine).Having not easy access to resin, I dont plan to do more castings right now.CheersRomain That's a shame as I would be interested in one too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gondor44 Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 That's a shame as I would be interested in one too. Like wise Gondor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawty82 Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Hi Romaine Your build is certainly more interesting so far than a normal OOB effort like mine! Wish i had the time and skill to produce corrections such as the nose you have replaced. Can't wait to see the cockpit! Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rom1 Posted November 30, 2015 Author Share Posted November 30, 2015 Thanks guys! Can't wait to see the cockpit! Ok! here we go! Two years ago I found a neomega resin cockpit by a polish seller on a Model Show. It was what we can call a real bargain as I paid it 2 :)/> KittyHawk plastic parts are pretty good, but resin offers more relief. The lateral consoles were glued with just a drop of instant glue, and then I started dryfitting tests into the front fuselage. It will require some sanding to fit the resin cockpit (wich was released for the Revell Foxbat) into KH plastic. Then I made my own mix to get this particular Russian Interior Blue/green: I tried some zenithal effect by spraying lighter shade vertically. it will enlighten the top surfaces and details. Then I applied an oil wash: Details are painted with acrylics and a fin brush: Instruments on the front panel are decals cut in the Revell Foxbat decal sheet. Lighter wash and some drybrushing are also applied. Ejector handles are cut in masking tape and painted red. Final assembly: See you soon for wheel bays. Romain 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawty82 Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Awesome ☺ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Wonderful work on the nose and cockpit 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan71 Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Excellent work so far, really looking forward to seeing how this one turns out! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rom1 Posted December 2, 2015 Author Share Posted December 2, 2015 Thank you guys! More news soon with gear bays. Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rom1 Posted December 6, 2015 Author Share Posted December 6, 2015 (edited) Hello, here is some news about this build! I added Eduard photoetch parts in the wheel bays. Front bay: And some lead wire: Main bays: For the painting, I started with a black coat: Then I tried the new Vallejo Acrylic metal range: And this is a gret paint! I even mixed it with gunze grey. Washes are done with oil and AK engine oil mixed together: And after assembly: Edited December 6, 2015 by rom1 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rom1 Posted December 6, 2015 Author Share Posted December 6, 2015 After some fitting test, we can close the front fuselage. Cockpit must be adjusted to the wheel bay: And... Then the inner exhausts! KH made their right engine fan blades rotating in the wrong way. A friend of mine made a copy of the left part. Afterburner rings are also shaped in the wrong way. Eduard is a great help here: Afterburner cans are first painted black. The drybrushed and sprayed with tan streaks. Brown washes are also applied. Fan blades and AB rings are glued: And cans set in place in the lower fuselage: Some adjustments are needed before gluing. Next, we close the main fuselage! Cheers Romain 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 nice progress! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 I don't know very much about the shape nuances of the MiG-25, but that resin nose improvement looks beautiful. It'll be kind of a pity to cover it up with paint. The Trumpeter RA-5 Vigilante BTW, is in need of the same kind of "Help" so to speak. david Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 Impressive work in all three areas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IGKent Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 Looks nice! Interesting build! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rom1 Posted December 7, 2015 Author Share Posted December 7, 2015 Thanks guys for leaving comments! And sory David, I wont work on a Vigilante Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawty82 Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 Looking very good up until now. Particularly like the addition of lead wire and etch in the wheel bays 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rom1 Posted December 11, 2015 Author Share Posted December 11, 2015 Hi, Here are some news! After cockpit, wheel bays and exhausts are being glued in the fuselage, we can now close it. The major issue with upper and lower fuselage part is that they do not dryfit at all. Some warping may be the cause. So, to deal with it, I first glued the starboard side, let it dry a few minute, add some cyano, let dry again... ... before doing the other side. Finally, glued in force, the two halves show minor steps that need to be sanded: After sanding, I did some scribing work: On the upper side, at he rear, KH provides something that could be an airbrake. The problem is that the part leaves pretty huge gaps that need to be filled with plastic strips: Then we can plug the forward fuselage section to the body. The positioning is done with only two little horizontal strips on the top, and two more on the bottom. If it was the only way to attach the two big fuselage section together, it would certainly be not strong enough. But, the huge air intakes will secure the assembly. So, with tamiya thin cement first I glued the two pats. Be careful with the alignement! Then I strengthen it with cynao drops. I had to fill a gap on the rounded section at the top. I used plasticard and Cyano + silica dust (you can also use talc): Now we can add the big Intakes! I first dis some modifications. Some rivet lines are added, and I did not followed the instructions concerning the big plate that block the duct. I did as Gary Wickham did: My link at http://www.scalespot.com/onthebench/mig25/build.htm Then, with dryfit testing, I saw that intakes width was smaller than the space left for them. So 2 solutions: - A: stick the intake on the the front fuselage and fill the huge gap on the outer wall - B: do a perfect alignement on the outer intake wall, and leave a huge gap between front fuselage and the intake. I chose plan B, but the inner gap is first filled with plastic strips as shown: After drying and some sanding, we got pretty descent fit: Then the wings! KH provides two types of wing tip. One for interceptor, another for recce/bomber variant. Surprise! The fit is not good. And instead of using existing panel lines for joining, KH designed some "crenels", that needs more filling and sanding. Moreover, the tips are thicker than the wing... a looot of sanding again. Without speaking of complete scribing of this area... To finish, the main wing parts show some shrinkage on the surface. I will be visible under paint coat. So it is filled fil several layer of alclad surfacer then sanded smooth. And we can now plug the wing! And the fit is good here : And that's all for now. the mig is in standby to carry out a new project. thanks for watching! cheers Romain 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 looking great! don't let it rest for to long! (talking from experience!....) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 You're doing a great job there Rom... good to see the daddy of my Mig-31 being built before it gets superseded by another AMK beauty 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Wonderful work Romain. You clearly have considerable understanding of the subject and modelling 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rom1 Posted December 15, 2015 Author Share Posted December 15, 2015 Thanks guys! And yess Mike....next russian beast will be Amk's Mig31 or Kintmetic Su33 I guess the build would be more straightforward Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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