Dansk

Thanks for the great advice as usual chaps. I think you make the cover sound easier than it is Craig, but i guess with enough attempts maybe i could get something passable..maybe? If you do dig out the b-24 i would like to see it but only if its no stress/hassle. I’m sorry about your expert friend serge, how sad to hear 😞 But thank you again, I never knew about tungsten as an alternative so i will delve into local sources (particularly for that next mig-21 build). A trip to the local fishing gear store looks like it’s on the agenda. Much better than the nut and bolt 🔩 The online hobby store said that they will endeavour to get the gwh sprue and if not we get the pavla piece (as the pavla piece is not in stock they tell me now) so i’ll get something they are really nice - but just not sure when. 🤫 shhhhh - Don’t tell my wife it’s just between us three here - but I’ve ordered another gwh mig-29 as I’m simply too impatient. The replacement canopy from the hobbystore i can use on that kit later and use its canopy in this kit. If The replacement is the pavla i’ll have the cockpit open on kit#2 if the pavla fit it rubbish. (Or make a cover) Damn that was one expensive hairline crack! I spread white tack under the canopy on a previous build to stop such an accident but I forgot this time. 🤭 now i have learnt and thats a good thing i guess. Eduards new mustang came out today too so i bought that too, together with a few ‘bits and bobs’ while i was at it to save on shipping, (which expanded into more purchases as they have a 20-25% sale on today! so basically today completely cleaned me out 💶 but theres lots of goodies on their way (more brown cardboard boxes to hide from the wife) 😆😏

Denmark is quite rightly very environment conscious and Its very difficult to get lead here. But everyone has a bunch of old nuts and bolts and screws etc that they’ll never use in some box or jar right? So as a susbstitue (although not as dense unfortunately) this will help it from being a tail sitter. The shape is great for the nose too. Some white tack helps it from rattling. There’s protrusions moulded on every flying surface on this aircraft so i’ve taped them in a vain attempt to protect them a little from my clumsy mits! 👋 The instructions will have you join tons of parts simultaeneously on joining the upper and lower halves, (but in reality the slats can be added after). But the flaps and ailerons have male locating pins mating to females within the wings so they need to join at the same time as the fuselage, same for the elevators with their housings. Which means holding them in place with tape before / while joining. Apart from keeping the world’s peg manufacturers in business this dry fit showed me that the fit was like a glove, absolutely beautiful. Gwh kits have some great positive points along the way. Shame customer service cant echo that sentiment. Spoke to the online hobby store today and they suggest (reading in between the lines🤔) that they might have a nightmare dealing with lionroar also so they suggested sending me a pavla vac-canopy instead so thats good. great service! Happy customer 👍😁

Lets see if the shop come back 🤞 then i take it from there do you have a link for your build craig, I’d love to see it. How did you make the tarpaulin cover?

Yes it’s tiny right? but yes you’re right - really annoying when i tried my best with the rest of the cockpit. Thanks for the advice Craig I think i’ll bang an order in for a pavla canopy so the open option could be the way to go if the fit is rubbish. how handy that they are available I wasn’t aware of them before this build. The kit has some PE to run along the cokcpit edges for canopy-open scenarios so that could be handy in this case to detail up a bit. Gwh / lionroar are really not so good as you experienced - still no response after firing a few more mails off. It will definately make me think twice when contemplating another gwh kit. I have sent a mail to the sales store also - maybe they can sort something? not the end of the world though right? It can all work out good. i found some semi-covered canopy shots of fulcrums for the cover option to show my cockpit and cover the crack at the same time - could be fun to make but maybe feels like i’m cheating a bit though?

Awesome!

Thanks for your kind words craig - much appreciated. 👍 Heres a shot of the fracture - its really small but its there. I wrote to lionroar/gwh sunday afternoon CET but have not heard back yet. I don’t hold out much hope now from what you write.😞 I’m gonna continue meanwhile. In other news the PE HUD is on and the circuit breaker PE is now aligned again.

Great colour scheme!👌👍

Hi all The ‘cockpit to cockpit frame’ seams are now fixed (that i mentioned in the previous post) and the seat top too. A bit of ppp, a delicate sand and a microbrush sorted both ok-ish. (well you cant see them, through the canopy anyway - good enough for me) The shielded cables are added now behind the seat - i think the tiny copper wire and masking tape solution looks passable when comparing to the photo ref. The cockpit is nearly there now. Just need to make the Photoetch HUD I’ve just noticed the photoetch on the circuitbreaker box side is at an angle in the shot? Not sure how i missed seeing that? That will be have to be fixed next round. While masking the canopy i got a microfracture in it. Dammmnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn. 🤬😫 Its so micro that you can only see it from certain angles but its there. Does anyone know are gwh’s customer relations good in supplying new parts? I have dropped them a mail. 🤞 I built the vertical stabilizers and rudders also today so things are moving slowly onwards. Cheers

Looking great! Mitsubishi really should have christened this a ‘Japuar’ 😁

The rubber coated wires from electrical devices dont look as flexible like the real ones as the tape solution serge. The tape has a texture to it that feels right. Well more daily mig-29 news here. 😄 These babies are fitted (they were a beautiful fit).👌 The canon opening was fitted (beautifully moulded piece with no flash on those vents) 👌 All the gear bays are all in and i’ve been working on the nacelles, they still need more filling/sanding. (Im so crap at this) 💩 The cockpit tub is in - i had no real firm way of securing it firmly at the front really so i braced it underneath with an offcut of sprue and a sprue/glue mix. That tub again is an odd piece of kit design from gwh - there will always be a noticeable join in a prominent position - So this needs to be fixed. 👎 While i’m at it i need to fix that apparent join on the seat top - its annoying me.

Cheers Hewy 👍😎

Thanks. 👍 I have some russian cockpit colours from revell and vallejo but neither look like that PE colour.

Might also have to bag a few more of them myself if eduard have an upcoming sale Chris. The fantastic schemes alone warrant building a few. I have an smt on its way also where i will steal the decals for this build.

Thank you Craig I very much appreciate your advice - helps to keep things in perspective keep it coming

This chap arrived today for the GB 🤗 To my untrained eye the kits dark gray plastic details look great. There’s some funky moulding... Some nice eduardery goodness... Some really awesome schemes... And some... well, ... theres a lot of canopies?! And some... Oh My, this aircraft has a lot of stencil decals 😳 All-in-all it looks really exciting. 🤩

Thanks craig I’m trying what you suggest here - initially I’ve been wrapping tamiya tape and cheap masking tape around wire to efficiently achieve the look of those hoses I need to scratch. I think the cheap masking tape (second shot below) might do the trick its texture feels right and it will just need a wash rather than paint. What do you think? Cockpit tub is assembled now. My lack of experience has meant i didnt realise this join would be present between nose gear bay and fuselage. Damn I should have tested before. I thought it would be a hidden join. 🙄😣 So it means joining the bay and then attacking the problem after (stripping the area, sanding, filling, sanding priming, painting, wash/weathering).😬 I dont know why gwh did this actually as its dificult to paint and weather the whole bay after installing it - so its kinda necessary before. The join at the meeting point between outer skin and bay would have been better i think? Also while we’re on this the fuselage compared to the bay is warped so one can only glue one side at a time otherwise it wont join seamlessly on both sides simultaneously. So i’m waiting for the starboard side to cure before doing the port. (Or is it the other way round? 🙃)

...oh and the tiny decal is now in place in the nose wheel bay just for you serge 😉

Cheers Craig 😉 This evening i detailed the back of the Ejection Seat a little. Cross-referencing serges shots and my own. The red/brown tubing, when the seat is installed, lies down the rear of the seat back eminating from its top so i replicated this with copper wire (needed no paint to match the colour). And the home-made blue gas canister was detailed and fitted. I’m glad I held back and didnt go too far with all this as advised by you Craig as pretty much nothing can be seen really. So thanks for that 👍 oh well it didn't take long and was fun to do anyway. 😚 Now everything’s been given a matt coat and the tub I’ll construct next. One thing that really does need more detail is the circuit breaker box. (Ignoring the colour hue we have to live with that determined colour from the eduard PE) The tubes, and piping and ephemera from it are really obviously lacking and it sits in a very prominent position. 🤨 So I am excited about trying to scratch and suggest some of that detail in the next stages. 🤩 Thanks for reading.

Holy Moley That looks fantastic Craig!

Thanks for the info craig I will take a nosey around. I’ll be definately warmed up on MiG-21’s when the other GB comes around 😄

This evening i added some yellow and black to the nose gear bay roof details and a bit of warm dirt to parts where the photo ref suggested. (Mine looks warmer and darker grey in the photo but the phone camera kinda bleaches the reflective paper image in reality their hues match closer. Its hard to photograph). The stencil in the ref photo (that my thumb points too) - I found a decal similar colour shape and size that can I use there to replicate it. So the area’s been given some future ready for that decal. 👍 (Again sorry - near impossible to shoot the decals as the camera bleaches it out and makes it blurred / unclear / too contrasty) Dry fitted the seat for fun but found that eduards leg straps PE on the seat interfered with the control stick rubber sleeve at the base preventing the ejection seat from seating in the correct spot. 🤨 So that sleeve had to be shaved down, touched up, and the leg straps removed, repositioned, reattached and touched up. 🙄 Now it fits. 💪 hurrah!

Thanks Craig that’s really kind of you. I will make a conscious decision to resist over detailing. Thanks for the tip. We must keep serge happy though 😁

Might have to add one of those to the stash myself actually Chris, such a cool looking aircraft. 😎

By the way can anyone recommend me a visual reference book on the MiG-21 for this build?

Thanks Serge, you are my very own russian encyclopedia 🤓👍