Phantome
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Posts posted by Phantome
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Last thing I did last night were the decals. They were TERRIBLE. Printed by Cartograph but definitely showing their age (the kit is from the mid 90s) they invariably silvered, didn't stick particularly well, and only partly susceptible to Micro Sol. Sadly, I know of no other decals for a Norm 87 plane except from HaHen which are ridiculously expensive. Here's hoping someone delivers in the next couple of years before I itch for another crack at this wonderful scheme.
Tempted to use some other more detailed Revel markings for the stencils I refrained since I insisted this was a "test build". As such, no "no step" stencils (which the kit does not provide in their correct form) and no walkways. I also think I made a mistake and put the 43+45 markings far too forward for Norm 87 (since I did not have the Italeri decals I based some of the decal placements on the Modeldecal Norm 76 scheme). Sue me
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This weekend
Did most of the painting and decalling yesterday. But first some Tamiya primer and once dry, pre-shading. I'm a post-shader btw and usually give my models a triple tone coat (base color, lighter coat spread out randomly, darker coat along panels). No time for this now.
I was a bit concerned about using Revell Aqua colors as I had not had good experiences in the past but was willing to give them another chance. The basalt gray (RAL 7012) was Revell 77 and the green-gray (RAL 7009) was Revell 67. Lo and behold, they sprayed like a charm, although the 77 annihilated the pre-shade. Due to time I also sprayed freehand.
Trickiest bit was the gray-blue (RAL 5008) as it has no Revell equivalent (the Tornado SIG has Revell 351 but I did not find this anywhere). However, the color did not seem particularly difficult to mix and I bet on Tamiya XF-24 (Dark Grey) and XF-17 (Sea Blue) in a 50/50 ratio. It very much looks the part!
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Last weekend:
Started on the cockpit only last Sunday. The cockpit is super detailed but a bit of a pain to paint in this scale because the buttons and levers are too small and bunched up. I gave it an oil wash instead. Paint was Gunze H317 for FS 36231 which seems a bit too dark vs the real thing.
Sub assemblies built. Fit is generally good although there are some issues with the front section. I was a bit disappointed at the surface detail in the lower front which is awful. The panel lines are barely perceptible and no rivet detail. The contrast with the beautiful rear section is noticeable but due to time issues I did not rescribe.
All joined together. The swivelling pylons are interesting although will make painting tricky. Same with the moving tailplanes. Why Revell makes you burn the plastic for this part is strange. I have painted the interior bits Gunze H332 (BS 627) but it was too dark for the Tornado light gray which looks practically white in pictures. Scale effect doesn't help either.
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Hello,
I started this build last week as a last minute entry, alas between busy at work and no internet at home (I've resorted to USB tethering which is painfully slow) I have not been able to post anything until today when my build is in its final stages. However, I have taken pics from the start. I will leave it to the GB Gods™ to decide whether this still within the rules and eligible for admission, if not, no biggie as I already have a MiG-29.
The kit
The 1/72 Revell kit of course, specifically the ECR version that has the correct Kormoran pylons (same as those used for HARMs). Had never built it despite having 5 in the stash. It looks great in the box with very fine panel lining and rivets but... (more on this later)
The plane
My first dilemma was whether to build a Lizard Scheme or Marineflieger plane. I sent some pics to the girlfriend to decide and she seemed to like the navy one. Who can blame her? The MFG birds had some of the most menacing camo schemes ever seen on a NATO plane. Now, I had a spare set of MFG decals from the Italeri "Strike Fighter" set but I suspected they would be problematic (I was to be proved right). However, the only other option was to use the Modeldecal set which has one from the older Norm 76 scheme. I was going to decide at the last minute but when I saw that someone else in this GB was building a Norm 76 plane I decided for Norm 87 so as to not repeat.
The build was started on Sunday and I decided from the start that this would be a "test build", to check out any potential pitfalls of the Revell kit, test the camo scheme and take a big risk with the decals. As such I deliberately cut a few corners for the sake of meeting the Aug. 14th deadline.
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Hi people,
I have decided at the very last moment to build a Marineflieger Tornado with the Norm '87 scheme for the 80s NATO vs Warsaw Pact group build. I was wondering if anyone had a copy of the Italeri 1/72 "Strike Fighter" kit which has said scheme and would kindly scan the instructions. I am only interested in the decal placement pages since I have the decals and just want to make sure they go in the right place and I have no other reference for a MFG aircraft in that scheme. Thanks!
This is the kit just in case you're wondering:
https://www.scalemates.com/kits/148565-italeri-171-panavia-tornado
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Hi folks, I have decided at the very last moment to build a Marineflieger Tornado with the Norm '87 scheme. I was wondering if anyone had a copy of the Italeri 1/72 "Strike Fighter" kit which has said scheme and would kindly scan the instructions. I am only interested in the decal placement pages since I have the decals and just want to make sure they go in the right place. Thanks!
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FYI, all modern US cockpits are 36231.
Both Vallejo 70991 and Gunze H317 look the part as far as acrylics go
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Great stuff! Curious what paints you used for that scheme
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I actually prefer this. On a picture of a real MiG-29 that scales out to 1/72nd, how many rivets do you see..?
I'd have to agree with you on the intake louvres, though. It could have been an insert.
Cheers,
Andre
Most 1/72 kits should not have rivets then, but they do. There seems now to be a divergence into extremes: Zvezda's no-rivet route vs Trumpeter/Eduard's mold-every-rivet-it-has.
Frankly I prefer the Hasegawa/Tamiya style of having rivets only where they add to the detail but are not overdone. Still, I prefer many rivets to no rivets, if they are fine enough to not be intrusive. I think Trumpeter's MiG-29 surface detail is fantastic in this regard.
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As everyone else has said, Academy is the only game in town for a -18A/C/D.
Keep an eye out for the nose assembly as it comes in four parts and can be tricky to get right since fit is also not great by Academy standards. My suggestion is to create makeshift tabs in the nose parts (by gluing plasticard on the inside of the narrower bits) so that they align because some don't.
It's a gorgeous kit once finished though.
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Love the Spangdahlem bird in Euro One camo. Shame there are no more decal sets that do them and one must resort to Hase's older kit to source them (which I have been planning to do as well)
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Very nice! Will you enter anymore models? Probably get through 5-6 more at this rate
Haha tempted. This is NOT my usual build speed, not by a long shot.
Would love to build an early Flanker but not sure I can get my hands on the relevant AKAN paint set so quickly since I would only have 2 weeks to finish it off
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Ok, copying the gallery pics here just for reference
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Here's my entry, a 1/72 Trumpeter MiG-29 built in record time (for me)... less than a week. Built entirely OOB with Hi-Decals for the Red 46 and Guards markings (kit decals for all the rest)
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Monday
And so we finish. I am incredibly proud that I finished this at such a breakneck speed. It helped that aside from the nose issues, the kit was relatively easy to build and did not need much in the way of putty or sanding. The AKAN paints were a delight to use as well and I did the entire paint job in one sitting (another rarity!)
Here's with the missiles done and only awaiting a coat of Vallejo matte
And the finished thing
I'm going to take some more flattering pics with natural light for the finished gallery.
Thinking of having a go at the Zvezda 9.13 although am a bit annoyed at the closed top air intakes which for me is a classic Fulcrum feature. Maybe will go for Trumpeter yet again and turning it into a Ukrainian bird with that lovely light blue camo. Decisions decisions
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Looks excellent, especially considered the speed of your build, top stuff! Sorry to hear about the decals, I used some Mig-21 decals from Hi-decal and Techmod and conversely they were pretty darn good, thanks for a heads up on the Mig-29 ones though!
My experience with Techmod was that they were extremely thin and delicate and the larger ones practically disintegrated/curled-into-oblivion if they were heavy on carrier film. They also did not conform to panel lines or rivets at all even with lavish use of Microsol. Specifically this refers to one of their F4U Corsair sets.
On the positive side, the quality of printing is excellent, you can practically read the tiny stencils.
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It's decal time. First off, a coat of Future to make things shiny and chrome (Mad Max Fury Road reference)
First, the Hi-Decal decals for Red 46. I have to say, Hi-Decal are AWFUL. They silvered despite lavish use of Microset. They are also quite thick. Between this and bad experiences with Techmod decals I think I will avoid any from Eastern Europe if possible. Although the 46s, guards emblem and fin stars ended up relatively ok, the wing stars silvered too much to my liking and so I removed them with tape and used the kit decals which I think are a bit too big for USSR-era stars. Will have to live with that. On the positive side, the kit has extensive stenciling but I was also not too pleased with the decal quality. Although thinner than Hi-Decals, there was some silvering as well.
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Wow, you are certainly cracking on with this one Phantome and it is looking good
Cliff
Thanks! For some silly reason thought that the deadline was next Sunday but just noticed it's August 14th, hence the "need-to-finish-at-all-costs" marathon run
(Did have time to enjoy the sun though)
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Time for painting. I have a set of AKAN paints for the MiG-29, specifically to get that unique green-gray which no other manufacturer produces and can't seem to replicate otherwise.
I have to say, AKAN paints are f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c. They spray similar to Tamiya (very fine, very dry, and very matte) but have far superior brush painting qualities, which makes it great for smaller pieces. It is a bloody shame they are not more widely sold (I got mine from a Hong Kong seller on eBay).
This is the base light gray with some post-shading (random lighter shade, then a darker shade on the main panel lines)
Here's with the green-gray, sprayed freehand
And finally, the radome gray and and black
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Saturday
Built the fuselage. Fit is relatively good and goes down well. I was worried about the intakes since those were horrible on the old Italeri but went without a hitch after some light sanding to get them to align.
However, there is a rather annoying fit problem with the nose. Because the only sensible panel line join (just under the leading edge extensions) occurs after the nose profile begins narrowing, it is impossible to engineer without slide molding. Zvezda seems to have overcome this by making the nose a separate two-piece component that joins from the top/bottom. However, Trumpeter has taken the route of every other MiG kit before it and joined it where in real life there is no panel line. This would not be a huge problem if the fit were perfect. Unfortunately, it is the only part of the fuselage that the fit is rather bad: the edge shows some molding wear, and the top and bottom pieces do not align perfectly (top half is slightly wider). This requires sanding and putty and the sanding inevitably gets rid of some of the very fine detailing.
This is, to me, the only serious flaw in the kit. Were I to build this kit again I would use plastic sprue on the inside to create a tab so that the two halves lock into place. I've done this on other kits where there's a similar problem (such as the Academy F/A-18).
Primed with Tamiya gray primer.
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Awesome, that is great news. Hope they don't take too long since they are not known for cranking out variants one after another.
I am currently building a Trumpeter MiG-29 for the 80's NATO/WP group build and despite some annoyances, its coming out great and not so sure that Zvezda's is really the definitive Fulcrum. I am increasingly frustrated by their choice not to include *any* rivet detail which gives the Trumpeter a clear edge in surface detail. Zvezda's decision to mold the top air intakes closed is also puzzling. Yes, they're closed when the engine is not in operation but it's one of the distinctive features of the Fulcrum and they could have at least given an option to do it open or closed.
Sadly it seems that we still do not have "the" MiG-29 in 1/72, but at least have two very very good options.
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New(ish) to this site and eager to participate in my first group build.
This is the Trumpeter MiG-29 (9.12) which I have been aching to build since it came out since the MiG-29 is my favorite jet of all time (aesthetically speaking) and only now do we have decent kits in The One True Scale.
This will be Red 46 of a Guards regiment as depicted in a Hi Decals set from 1990. A reasonable assumption to assume this was a Frontal Aviation unit in the late 80s?
I started this kit on Friday but have not had time to post pics until now.
Friday
After a lot of checking with online images, I used Vallejo Model Color 905 as a close approximation of MiG-29 cockpit. Sometimes it appears as a light gray, sometimes as a brighter blue but sources suggest a blue-gray. I was very convinced at the result.
One of my initial criticisms of this kit is that the cockpit tapers back in the second half quite noticeably, rather than being more oval shaped as in the real thing. Zvezda has it right, as did Italeri before it. The implication therefore is that the curvature of the front fuselage is probably incorrect to some degree.
Trumpeter provides decals for the panels which is a bit of a shame. They also come printed with an outline which is also somewhat strange and makes it look cartoonish. The main instrument panel decal cannot be used directly, it needs to be cut up into various pieces so it can fit in nicely which is rather annoying.
Could look better I guess. Then again, Zvezda also uses decals for the cockpit so no huge disadvantage.
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A big problem with the Hasegawa that nobody seems to mention but is evident in the pics (and personal experience since I recently built it) is that the RAM decals are a color that does not match the real thing - they are a blue-gray shade that would make the plane look hideously wrong if you dared paint the rest in colors that would match it.
A decal company whose name I forget is planning to release RAM panel decals for the Academy kit which would therefore solve its only major issue. It is indeed true that any raised RAM detail is unrealistic but it's not as bad in the Academy as in the Italeri
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Zvezda will release 9.12 and 9.51, but release date is unknown, 9.19 as i know will release in 2017.
Would be great if Zvezda released a 9.12. Where's your evidence for this?
1/72 Revell Marineflieger Tornado (Norm 87) - Finished
in 80's NATO Europe vs Warsaw Pact GB
Posted
Yes, both of the Revell colors I used looked the part. I am not particularly pedantic about modern Luftwaffe color accuracy but I was pleased both how they came out and how well they sprayed (very matte). My only complaint was that 77 came on quite heavy and obscured the pre-shading (67 did not) but I gave a post-shade treatment of extra-thinned Tamiya Smoke to give it some depth. FYI, Tamiya Smoke is EXCELLENT for post-shading and saves a lot of time for multi-color camo schemes, particularly darker ones.