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Airfix 1/72 MiG 15 'old tool' Built 11 years ago. (A bit rough)


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Hello folks!

I wasn't sure if I should post this, but what harm can it do (me, with my reputation, at 3 am.....).

 

Those that know me will know that I returned to the hobby briefly in 2003. At that time I hadn't built anything since a Star Trek Next Generation Enterprise in 1990. 

 

Moreover, I knew nothing of advanced or even the more fundamental techniques. Everything was hand painted, I only used enamels, only Humbrol filler, no scribing.

 

At that point the hobby was different. I got back into it to help me through a bereavement, but was saddened when told by a LHS owner that it was 'a dying hobby' :(.

 

Also told rhat this was the reason that they had hardly any models in stock, just a few dusty paints and no after market transfers. The chance of me getting after market wheels, etch, canopies, anything, seemed grimly remote after that.

 

I didn't really know how to use the internet for my hobby, so just used it to buy a few low cost kits. One of them was the now called 'old tool' Airfix MiG 15.

 

I built it absolutely OOB. I admit this model looks very rough, but I thought, why be embarrassed, just show what things look like when one is floundering, just bashing kits for fun (in my case to try to keep my marbles at the time), with very limited knowledge and resources.

 

I remember that the fuselage halves really didn't go together well at all. The few panel lines there were wouldn't line up if the locating pins were lined up. The halves had slightly different curvatures and sink marks. The cockpit didn't fit well (what there is of it). The airbrakes are too thick for the closed position. The canopy really doesn't fit at all, no matter what one does (or at least, what I did).

 

If left 'as is', looking in from the front intake, the model is completely hollow (no engine).

 

I filled all of the exterior with lashings of Humbrol filler and sanded, filled, sanded....for a couple of evenings.

 

I filled the inner fuselage void with dense kitchen foam pad sponge, dipped in black ink, then also stippled with Humbrol Matt black enamel paint.

 

It is actually painted in the exact colours called out by the instruction sheet, right where the sheet told me to. I'm pretty sure the black bits are all wrong, but I just went with what it advised. This is, indeed, painted in real Airfix 'Silver Fox' and Matt Black :).

 

The decals crumbled so I rescued what I could and painted the numbers (is 'Bort' the word?) using the Matt Black and a little masking tape (Halfords car masking tape with a bit of 'tack' taken off, cut into fine strips) to help me.

 

The pilot is improvised a little, I'm not sure they called out for a white helmet, but 'why not' was my attitude at the time.

 

The aerial wire is stretched sprue.

 

A bit of history.

 

Now Airfix, Eduard and Special Hobby all have newer tools of the MiG 15 out. Moreover it seems that back then, a KP kit would have been kinder to me, but this kit cost me 99p, and was painted with enamels I had had since 1975, so overall, great value for money.

 

At the end of these pictures is a link to Flickr, to a recently found set of pictures of nearly all the models I made between 2003 and 2006. They're all rough, but I liked them and thoroughly enjoyed building all of them ;).

 

After 2006 I had a gap until 2015. Now I'm trying airbrushes, acrylics, after market everything, but haven't finished a thing since I started trying it all. It's a big learning curve. I sometimes wonder if 'basic and rough but completed' was better? I suspect I'm attempting to cop out and avoid the fact that I should get on with these new fangled techniques and finish something again, like everyone else!

 

This model, and all but two others of all the ones I built, were destroyed during a move from England to Australia in 2008, so this RFI is 'virtual' in many ways.

 

A blast from the past. Don't worry, I know it's rough!

 

Best regards

TonyT

 

These are in artificial light as I was in a very poorly lit room, in December. The last few are the (dim) natural light:

 

Airfix MIG 15 old tool

 

Airfix MIG 15 old tool

 

Airfix MIG 15 old tool

 

Airfix MIG 15 old tool

 

Natural light:

 

Airfix MIG 15 old tool

 

Airfix MIG 15 old tool

 

Here's a link to some pictures of the others:

 

https://flickr.com/photos/144781950@N05/sets/72157678997310210

 

I hope you enjoyed this little truly historic build :lol:.

 

I may put a bright red Yak here too, if I'm brave enough. 

 

Thanks for looking

TonyTiger 🐯 

Edited by TonyTiger66
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Nice MiG Tony and a great collection on Flickr - memories eh?

Of course, given my current WiP, my eye was drawn to the Frog SB2 but there's some great and unusual subjects there all showing a nice attention to detail; great stuff.

Like you, when I returned to the hobby and before I discovered BM I knew nothing about scribing, airbrushing, weathering and all those 'advanced modelling' techniques - I just built kits as a pastime and a distraction from the 'daily grind'. 

Now I know more, and like PC, I'm wondering about how far to take 'the modelling' - the more I stretch my skills the less satisfied I am with the result and some things can become a chore.

Kit bashing with the occasional attempt at something more 'challenging' - I think that's the secret to a long and happy hobby for me. I'm happy to 'knock 'em out' and 'enjoy the ride' (fnaar fnaar). I like to admire the perfect models, produced by others on here, and to pick up a few tips I might try sometime, but I'm settling in to a sort of 'good enough for me, happy with that' attitude. I wouldn't be surprised if a few others join in too... we should form a gang... 

Go on, show us yer Yak!

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Thanks for sharing your classic Airfix Mig 15 with us Tony.

 

I love to see the old kits built as they were intended...........it is a mixture of nostalgia and the history of model kits.

 

I built that Airfix MIG 15 back in 1975, it was in one of the new Blister Packs with a full colour painting guide on the back. I smuggled it into the house and up to my room as my stepfather did not like me building models..............he thought there was always something more useful I should be doing.

 

I remember building a cockpit tub out of paper card and painting the completed model in a mixture of glossy greens which I concocted in to a stripey camouflage pattern with light blue undersurfaces. It was built very quickly in my bedroom....as a number of my models were back then.

 

Adrian

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Hi Tony,

 

I would not worry if I were you. At 3:00 AM I can't spell the word "reputation" any longer, along with a host of others.

I don't know what you are worried about. This MiG-15 is good! It reminds me of a Heller Cadet Vautour I did when I was not yet allowed to vote. Except mine was worse: my aluminium paint had been brushed so thick, any of the rare details had been obliterated. But it was smooth and that pleased me no end!!!

Then we become more finicky and that's where we lose ourselves. So to build an old timer OOB once in a while should be made compulsory!

 

Great show!

JR

PS: and I still have (and use...) Humbrol paint tinlets dating from many years before 1975 (or was it 1875?). These paints never die!!!

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Hello Tony,

Nice MiG to me, Nothing to worry about..

I still have an Henschel 129 at 1/72, don't remember the brand of it, dating from 1978

A Monogram 1/48 P-40 tiger shark, bought in Florida by a friend of mine

and bring in Kolwezi in then Zaire, I build her with Pattex glue (the yellow snoty one) glass repair putty There was NO hobby shop up there, I mean, in the whole country

and my friend Devon has bring me some Testors paint. all this in 1982.

Then I did some 3 to 4 kits in '88 or so

Now I'm back since let's say 2 years...

Old kits is a good way to look how you've improved your skill, and nostalgia is Something good after all, is'nt it ?

Sincerely.

Corsaircorp

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12 minutes ago, corsaircorp said:

 

A Monogram 1/48 P-40 tiger shark, bought in Florida by a friend of mine

and bring in Kolwezi in then Zaire, I build her with Pattex glue (the yellow snoty one) glass repair putty There was NO hobby shop up there, I mean, in the whole country

and my friend Devon has bring me some Testors paint. all this in 1982.

Corsaircorp, don't be too harsh on yourself.

Last year in Kolwezi there were still no hobby shops, and I doubt there would have been any Pattex either!!!

JR

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11 hours ago, DennisTheBear said:

Haha! I have that one in my stash! Got AM decals for it though. Very groovy!

 

Thanks for looking Dennis :)

For all I wrote about filler and so on, it's really not that bad. A lot easier to build than some modern 'short run'.

 

Its not covered in rivets and it's a lot of fun to build. I think an after market canopy (Falcon?) would make all the difference and one if these could look really good.

 

Go on, build it, you know you want to :lol:!

 

All the best

TonyT

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Thanks folks for the kind comments :blush: !

 

I've run out of 'likes' for the day, so I'm going to come back and reply to your kind comments when my 'like' account is full again :).

 

It looks like a lot of us still enjoy a good kitbash. This makes me want to do one now and not worry about the outcome too much :).

 

Happy modelling peeps!

TonyT

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My heart tells me to go and get an old Airfix kit from my stash and  just build and paint it from the box....................................

 

Unfortunately it won't happen while I have a 1/72 B-47 build for our Club project taking over my model table........................

 

Good to see other guys doing it though and I think this is a great escape from all the modern hi-tech and aftermarket-festooned models that are about................

 

all the best

 

Adrian

Edited by adey m
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Lovely Tony. :thumbsup2: I can still recall fiddling with this on a rainy afternoon in the late 70s, silver paint gradually spreading outwards in a slick of fingerprints across the kitchen table...

Tony

 

Let's see that Yak!

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Mignificent Tony! Given all the limitations of the kit you described your 15 turned out great. I have to admit to being guilty of not moving with the times modelwise and still use tube glue and brushpaint alot, but as the song says that's the way (aha aha) I like it :D. So good for you trying out new stuff. On occasion though it's good to go back to basics and finish one just like this. Looks grrrrreat ,

 

Cheers Greg

 

 

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On 23/02/2017 at 2:44 PM, Maverick231 said:

Nice 15 mate!

I'm in the process of getting one of these!

 

Thanks! Go for it and enjoy :). Lots of good colour schemes for them and I think the Russkies made a very attractive early jet here. 

 

All the best

TonyT

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On 23/02/2017 at 4:53 PM, CedB said:

I'm settling in to a sort of 'good enough for me, happy with that' attitude. I wouldn't be surprised if a few others join in too... we should form a gang... 

Go on, show us yer Yak!

 

It sounds like a good gang to be in Ced :).

 

We may have to make it clear at the outset that of any WIP that "This is a kitbash, old style" or "This is one where I'm going to get my brain out if the wrapper and try everything I'm unsure of".

 

I like how you really mix your builds, from the Airfix Liberator to Special Hobby to Valom limited runs to ICM to AZ. That's really great stuff.

 

I think as long as we mix our builds, our requirements, as you outline, we've cracked it for getting the best out of this great hobby :)

 

Thanks for your very very kind comments and looking at the old kits on Flickr :).

 

TonyT

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On 23/02/2017 at 6:07 PM, Ryan Hothersall said:

Nice build of an old kit. 

 

Many thanks Ryan. It was old even back then, about 40 to be precise, but it's a goodie (apart from the flipping canopy).

 

All the best

TonyT

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