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Super-detailed Italeri MiG-29A 1/72 (USSR 1980s)


jrlx

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2 hours ago, Antoine said:

Highly interesting, Jaime, thanks.

I've plans to do this myself with the same kit one of these days.

Maybe a double/comparison build, together with a Trumpeter -29.

Thank you, Antoine!

 

That comparison would be interesting to see. I'd like to build one of the new Trumpeter 29s myself. 

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

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1 hour ago, exdraken said:

Great, bug not the easiest work!

Wow, all that resin! Hope all the effort pays off in the end!

:thumbsup:

 

Hi exdraken, thank your for your interest and support! I too hope it all ends well. This is my first big resin project. Before this one I only had used resin for exhausts is WWII aircraft.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

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Hi again,

 

This post makes thread up to date with the work done till now.

 

Early in August I received a set of static dischargers for MiG aircraft:

y4m-h2sWrFBL9MVIjgQbfnDWh782vb4Ag6RIht61

IMAG4888

 

They are really tiny metal bits. The following picture show them in detail. Note that the yellow lines on the cutting matt are 1 cm apart:

y4mtkvyCopR-QLUCqLCpI7UNBf6WyASIy2JQ8mNB

IMAG4889

 

The dischargers are installed on the tips of the wings (2 each), horizontal stabilisers (2 each) and on the top of each rudder. To determine the exact position on the wings and stabilisers, I downloaded a schematic diagram of the aircraft from the net and did a few calculations:

y4mCtwRIDqGV0YBGeo_Pn_W5JcWO3ypt4JAkJo4u

IMAG4890

 

Next, I marked the dischargers' positions on the stabilisers:

y4mZJhdfPkqz7Y_xvfTqbCZWjsD93KC9NYVnZkWC

IMAG4891

 

and on the wings:

y4myMDLpRVL6ho8Po7KMccl0XiZPrE8UP44TBqt0

IMAG4892

 

I didn't have time to proceed any further, since I was about to start my holidays. I only did a test fit of the fuselage and wings:

y4mrdmO9eG9ITEorlEvJnRfcTp9An3Cw7AGmjaZD

IMAG4893

 

Probably a bit of filler will be needed on the wing roots but nothing too out of the ordinary.

 

So, this is now up to date and I'm away from the bench till the end of the month.

 

Thanks for looking

 

Jaime

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WOW!! You have been very busy. Really nice work you're doing here and in 1/72nd scale as well. Those Static Discharges are tiny, hopefully you've hidden them from the carpet monster??

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Thanks for the kind words,  Rich! Fortunately I don't have a carpet on my modelling room :) but just to be sure, I'm keeping all small parts in the original packaging. 

 

Cheers 

 

Jaime

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While away from the bench, due to holidays, I've been researching the colours to use. Apparently each kit manufacturer has its own ideas about the correct colours. I've compared the colours in Italeri's, Trumpter's and Eduard's instructions, have looked at a lot of pictures and finally settled for the following colours (mainly aligned with Eduard's, as I'm using Gunze paints, but with a few corrections from pictures). All paint references are Gunze acrylics (H...) or Alclad II (ALC-...)

 

Interiors: H308 Grey FS36375

  • Cockpit
  • Instrument panel
  • Canopy
  • Airbrakes
  • Wheel wells
  • Wheel doors

 

Interiors: H12 Flat Black

  • Ejection seat
  • Instrument panel cowling
  • HUD

 

Interiors: H319 Light Green

  • Electronics bays (except the electronics boxes and cabling)

 

Exhausts: ALC-115 Polished Steel

  • Compressor faces
  • Exterior and interior of tubing behind the exhaust petals

 

Exhausts: ALC-113 Jet Exhaust

  • Exterior and interior of exhaust petals

 

Exhausts: H319 Light Green

  • Flame olders

 

Landing gear:

  • Legs: H308 Grey FS36375
  • Oleos: ALC-107 Chrome
  • Wheel Hubs: H319 Light Green
  • Tires: H77 Tire Black

 

Exterior details: H305 Grey FS36118

  • Nose cone
  • Dielectric panels
  • Tips of tail fins

 

Exterior details: H12 Flat Black

  • Anti-glare strip (between nose cone and wind shield)

 

Exterior details: ALC-107 Chrome

  • Pitot tube and probes

 

Camouflage:

  • Light colour: H324 Light Grey
  • Dark colour: 80% H325 (Grey FS26440) + 20% H320 (Dark Green)

 

Hope this is helpful but feel free to rectify any errors.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

 

 

 

 

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nice bit of research there Jamie, I found the same thing, nobody really seemed to agree on what colours to use. They all varied slightly and as you mentioned each manufacture had their own idea on the colour or shade of colour to use. Not help either by the variation in shades of the same colour between paint manufactures!

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi again,

 

This is an update with work done in the previous two weeks, since I returned home after my Summer holidays. I haven't had much time to post updates since and I've been working very slowly.

 

The first thing I did was cutting the inserts for the static dischargers. Here is one of the metal pieces next to the wing tip:

y4mLY6LiVYO4iiTkT_pKfyI9CJ6uopnKACKB_WCl

IMAG4909

 

The insert on the wing tip was cut out with a nº 11 blade:

y4mF0lkRiNXnnD11MVIQr8R-XK3xcg-bP098vFR0

IMAG4911

 

Next I cut the inserts inboard of the wing tips. Here we see the two wings with both inserts already cut:

y4m5zAV_ICAmoK_E3pCqokJSh_VJe8fS3HJVCyMA

IMAG4913

 

The metal piece is just placed on the wing tip insert but not yet glued in place:

y4mMH3J2hl2Y-LuWlkG3TP1daO7m7WofBXkuI6Fp

IMAG4914

 

Here it is just inserted into the slot:

y4msMOhwvIBcWPik06iKf_bAv_slzBYjKdJ_V-k4

IMAG4915

 

The inserts on the horizontal stabilisers were also cut out with a nº 11 blade:

y4m9P4kfBsVBekf3W09BF6H6dTm-k_HFfwHsD4Hc

IMAG4916

 

The metal piece was inserted into the slots, to check that the depth and width of the cuts were ok:

y4mt7EsfyxPsHfLNWg6dyQSsAoHqshM1oZZPjopH

IMAG4917

 

y4me2Z_WhVSAGwMTdeHmhFxKwMqEY24xZZQjjb-J

IMAG4918

 

The vertical fins were cut off the sprues and cleaned of flash:

y4mf2sePEhzdyBHOzJyVdZFzUeC_R0x7RyrAIu41

IMAG4933

 

There are static dischargers on the tops of the rudders. So, inserts were cut out there as well:

y4mAuFeuWwGt_eKEQY2UEjVHEdi4W1o1xXyaeKGw

IMAG4934

 

y4mEhbArSx1D0dcumoBZLNZySxJMxrcw4UwYsjJY

IMAG4936

 

I'm not sure what will I do to replicate the elaborately looking antenna that exists on the starboard fin:

1401433d1439067797-mig-29-fulcrum-balanc

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/commercial-vehicles/1401433d1439067797-mig-29-fulcrum-balance-rests-us-tail_detail.jpg

 

Having done all the inserts for the static dischargers, I moved on to cutting all the parts related to landing gears, wheels and wheel well doors off the sprues .

 

First, the main gear legs were cut off and cleaned of moulding marks. Here we see one of the legs cleaned (on the right) and the other just removed from the sprue:

y4m4rz8TBguPtj1hjUzO6TWdOhT9YQ8htAxtP59h

IMAG4937

 

y4mtY0WEWHW_Gzm478Hp3k3kY-tJJiFwNmZmuGMz

IMAG4938

 

I had to apply a bit of Perfect Plastic Putty (PPP) to fill in an ejector mark on one of the legs:

y4mI0EKptDr8l0esgv2tIZWOzvRi7l9DO86bTukp

IMAG4939

 

After drying for one day, I removed the excess with wet sand paper, which took off almost all putty:

y4mylupHbP7EwDhf1M4y9iHuSoj8LJwbUHfTiUn3

IMAG4940

 

The nose landing gear parts (the two on the left) and two parts that open the main landing gear doors were also removed from the sprues and cleaned:

y4mOCN__fJjAT74vwy3hzK-Ww2llzLHYQjqqsM9i

IMAG4941

 

The wheel well doors were all cut off the sprues and cleaned from flash:

y4mXpL6t26YD6-_GqyMWlp2q5-Kg6xnT7UQ3ttKT

IMAG4942

 

The nose and main wheels were taken care of next. There were some nasty ejector marks that were filled with PPP and left to dry:

y4my9mOn3NrXFbwO_27kYU--w2TX-8_Oe3hSW6he

IMAG4943

 

Finally, I removed the main intake parts from the sprues and cleaned the flash. Here they're just joined together without glue or masking tape. There will be some visible seams to take care of:

y4m87goq_cUXxOSdvvz9-azDxi8M5TkxxcQMYEfF

IMAG4944

 

I'll have to make FOD covers from plasticard sheets, as there's no inner detail or engine compressors to be seen.

 

I'm running out of time to finish the model until 1 October. During weekdays I have very little time available for modelling (only late at night) and I'm very tired then to do any challenging work. Only on weekends have I a bit more time but there's just two more until the GB's end date. I'll do what I can till then. Additionally, I'm very busy running the Flying boats and Floatplanes GB as host right now.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

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That's some awesome work with the static dischargers you are doing Jaime! 👏 

 

(I so far hesitated ordering a set for a SU-27: I thought I could never manage to drill a hole for them to fit in. Seeing your method of cutting a tiny slit now convinced me to buy them and try it myself 😀)

 

cheers 

holger 

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Thanks, holger, for the very kind words! In this case the trailing edges of wings and fins aren't thick enough to drill the holes, so I opted for the slits.

 

By the way, I also have a few sets of Su-27 dischargers for my future Flanker builds :)

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

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Thank you very much for your interest, delis! I'm running out of time to finish the build in the time frame of the GB but I'll keep going on, regardless.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

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Hi again,

 

Just a small update. Last night I managed to cut the bigger missiles (R-27 missiles, I think) off the sprues and cleaned them of moulding marks.

 

Here they are, the one closer to view already cleaned:

y4mvKZgoZjDUm7xjopmREgghXJqeaS9YNR19-prI

IMAG4945

 

That's all for now. Hopefully I'll take care of the four R-73 missiles and the six ejection racks tonight.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

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Hi again,

 

Last night I managed to take care of the R-73 missiles and pylons/ejector racks as planned.

 

Starting with the missiles, I removed them from the sprues and cleaned the moulding lines. Here we see one just off the sprue and the other already cleaned:

y4mp1z2T9K5nm_gGPb4zwoL0otzi-b6P_T5RnYzY

IMAG4946

 

The ejector racks were trickier to deal with. As shown in the following two pictures, there was a misalignment of the two halves of the mould resulting in a step between the two halves of the parts along the vertical plane. I had to use a combination of nº 11 blade and a flat file to remove the steps. The part closer to view in the pictures is already treated:

y4mW1P8bQ3fEtfpcH-ohYi_3sMFBQhRTJHA5wuRQ

IMAG4947

 

y4muNBbgIC1IMk0LryzsuEdZv5ou5l5bO-zaeDyP

IMAG4948

 

Finally, here are all the missiles:

y4mTl1Rj7Ruv1SX1VJuH6apO3NQ9j9pByWXd8hy5

IMAG4949

 

I still have to take care of the ejector marks on the sides of the missiles. I'll use diluted Squadron's white putty, applied with a brush, as the Perfect Plastic Putty tends to let itself completely removed by wet & dry:

y4msuzCrAf0cVfFZosRGEybj0kuVYcBKBetYawE6

IMAG4950

 

Here are all the pylons/ejector racks ready:

y4m4bMEMzO3OYvPdkpSAY7PG1ngLpPZEyhVRVYfN

IMAG4951

 

The excess PPP applied on the ejector marks on the wheels was removed with wet & dry and, as said above, I had to be careful not to completely remove PPP, as it seems to have very low adherence. I think I'll have another go at the marks with Squadron's putty this time, just to make sure, before priming the parts:

y4mjcAcZi00WHf-hEec6eG3kk2_g9mkzJ8eKPpZO

IMAG4952

 

That's all for the moment. Thanks for looking.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

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Thanks for the kind words, exdraken.

 

You're probably right regarding the missiles. I'm no expert on soviet weaponry, I may have misidentified them in Wikipedia.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

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Thanks for looking, Rich! I bought a few sets of dischargers for MiGs. Each comes with 14 parts. I'll need 10 for this MiG-29 but I already bent 2 while checking the slit sizes...

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

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Hi again,

 

I'm falling behind in my updates, so here is a new one, with work done last week. I'm working slowly as usual and don't have much time available for modelling (and when I have, I may not have the energy...). So, I won't finish the build till Sunday but I'll keep working on it till it's finished past the date.

 

Anyway, I proceeded the work by dealing with the ejector marks on the missiles. This time I used diluted Squadron White Putty, applied with a nº 1 detail brush:

y4msfXQpZx2f3RF2hvr9hzMyna3T_JoxPE3Ebupk

IMAG4953

 

y4mpU9WEyQG4pqbgvTrqF0qnWW7Jiioi0F5FvhZr

IMAG4954

 

I also applied the diluted putty to the ejector marks on the wheels, as I wasn't sure the PPP had been effective:

y4mOKHYmNXLxyJnRR2fMQlSEA4BBWoINjhXVvCn0

IMAG4955

 

Next, I sawed the canopy and wind shield off the sprue, using a micro-saw:

y4mpzUhv58LYvG5Sihe5a5zt6aQWji8JpyTNcF8w

IMAG4956

 

The stubs and flash were removed with a nº 11 blade, followed by sanding and polishing with sanding sticks:

y4m8HwhRb9hPIiWUK687zdSQlwGGvgPIeLxbc_dI

IMAG4957

 

Unfortunately, I wasn't careful enough and damaged the interior face of the transparent area of the wind shield with the nº 11 blade, just next to the rim. To solve this, I started by sanding the damaged area with successively finer grits of wet & dry sand paper (without water), resulting in this:

y4mH6bBoAIza6k_jEaXoAg8vBEyO8yTgxERXyktY

IMAG4958

 

After two complete cycles of sanding with my set of micromesh pads, I achieved this:

y4midulthVsiNzdP67PkZ6u3-BT6A5z2WNlnwiED

IMAG4959

 

The other transparent parts were also removed from the sprue and cleaned of flash:

y4mECACigR6IlxKUms8AH7YExLgI2j0tBNTWMIRH

IMAG4961

 

All transparent parts were, then, washed in warm water with dishwasher detergent and left to dry overnight.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Jaime

 

 

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Excellent work on the canopies Jaime!

Amazing to see the difference between the photo of the front canopy with the sprue connection (sorry, but I don't know how to call that in English, I am referring to photo IMAG4956) and the later ones without it!! As if it was never there 😄

Cheers 

Holger

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Hi Holger,

 

Thank you very much for your interest and very kind words. I still have to post several pictures to update the thread with all the work done. However, I show here how the canopy and wind shield are right now, after a bath of Alcald Aqua Gloss:

y4mcNbu1lQU35YzErQrHVOBVwuJTkAf09aYI8oa3

IMAG4999

 

I think the transparency and brilliance is much better.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

 

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Nice work on the canopy Jamie and a nice save on it as well.

 

It's perfectly understandable if you don't make it in time, it's best not to rush things. Look forward to future updates as they come.

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