Supertom

Good to know I'm not the only one having issues with the exhaust bulges. I thought I was going stark raving mad.

Sorry guys, it's slowed down quite a bit. Problems I've encountered: 1) The nice scratchbuilt bits I made fell out when I tried to close out the fuselage. Also, it's dark in there, so don't bother. 2) They say measure twice, cut once. In this case, it should have been measure thrice times infinity, cut a few times. For some reason, everything fit together during the test fitting, but when it was time to commit glue to it, nothing fit and the interior suddenly grew an extra 2mm. 3) One of the rear engine nacelle bits is offset by 1mm, enough to spot with the naked eye. I've had to take it off and shave off more material in order to get it to fit. Dry fit was perfect, but once I put the glue on, the nacelle crept out again. I chalked it up to not making precise enough cuts, but even after I took the offending nacelle off and opened up the cut even more, the nacelle kept creeping back into the wrong spot. It's quite baffling. 4) The bulges on the forward engine nacelles that shroud the exhaust don't quite match up to the exhaust bulges on the rear engine nacelles. Shape and position are quite off. I've had to sand one side off, then build up with Milliput on the other. I'm also having issues with getting the shapes of the bulge to match up. Real life issues also butted in, so that kinda killed off any enthusiasm I had to just about do anything in general. We're slowly getting back on our feet so production at Supertom Pretend Aviation Megacorp (S.P.A.M.) will pick up again soon! I'll pick it up again once I get some calipers so I can get the exhaust bulges to shape and size up correctly. I'd really like to have this done by mid-March.

Well, I've tried, with not very good results. The problem is that it looks like I tried to fill it with putty. You can fill it and scribe the lines, though it requires a fair amount of precision. I did just remember, though that Attack Squadron (attacksquadron.pl) makes the closed louvres in resin, and the Italeri set comes with the nose correction too: http://www.armahobby.com/mig-29a-radome-and-closed-upper-jet-intakes-set-for-italeri.html Here's the Trumpeter set: http://www.armahobby.com/mig-29a-closed-upper-jet-intakes-set-for-trumpeter.html And there's the PTB-1500 tank: http://www.armahobby.com/mig-29-ptb-1500-fuel-tank-for-italeri.html Nozzles for the Italeri job: http://www.armahobby.com/mig-29-engine-nozzles-set.html And ooooooh! Bits for the Polish upgrade. Totally getting a set of those: http://www.armahobby.com/mig-29-engine-nozzles-set.html

At the moment, there are only two -29 kits that have the options to do close louvres/open intake doors - the Fujimi 9-12 and the new Zvezda 9-13. The Zvezda kit has a stand too, I believe. Unfortunately, Fujimi also botched the dimensions on the kit so it builds up nicely, but if you want something that really captures that sleek look, Zvezda is the way to go.

Thanks Chris!

He likes Spitfires too?!?!?!?! What a coincidence!!!!!

Have you uh, I mean, your associate, ahem, started on yours I mean his yet?

"Coke-bottle waisted intake trunks split along an irregular seam line? What could possibly go wrong?!" I say to myself.

Thank you Evert! I've been having trouble matching the colours and this would be a great help!

Thanks Ed! I have the TUDM bird on my build list too. I take it you're using the Trumpeter kit? Feel free to contact me if you have questions about the kit. Anyway I started the Zvezda last night (at 11pm...why do I do this to myself?) I will be doing the unique two-tone green White 44 from Damgarten AB in 1994, using the Begemot sheet. Does anyone know if 773 IAP's primary mission was air-to-air or air-to-ground? Interestingly enough, construction does not begin with that cockpit (that's in the middle), but rather the landing gear wells... And of course, being a Zvezda kit, I had to fill ejector pin marks literally from the very beginning! So I suspect the build will be a little more finicky in the fit and finish department, but the engineering suggests that it should be a fairly straightforward build. If anything, this kit has a significantly smaller parts count than the Trumpeter kit, and with fewer parts with significant potential to break off (like the tail fins).

Hi everyone, Does anyone have this sheet? I need the colour callouts for White 44 that was from 773 IAP at Damsgarten in 1993.

Alright, calling this one done. So far, of all the kits, the Trumpy is certainly the most complex. I would have completed it sooner but with my grandma falling ill, modelling took a break while we cared for her. This would make it 4 MiG-29s completed for this year. Also, the new photobooth got destroyed by accident, so rather than wait on getting it rebuilt, I'll just show it from the workbench until I have a moment to do it properly: Next up, the Zvezda.

Sweet! So what's next?

Thanks guys. I had hoped to finish it last night but I found a few paint chips and needed to touch up the paint. I did get the burner cans painted and weathered though. When weathering burner cans and/or hot/distressed metal, inks, washes and stains are your friend. I'm a big fan of Citadel's washes - while expensive, you only need one or two drops at a time for each treatment. However I've also been experimenting with other brands. The only ones I've not had good luck with are the major bottled brands. The rule of thumb is to use stuff for figure painting, specifically formulated as a wash. Burner cans after painting (using Alclad Aluminium and Steel): After weathering:

That Fencer is looking good, Ed. Sorry to hear that you don't get along with the MIL. For cleaning the airbrush, I run Iwata's Airbrush Cleaning solution through it, then a little laquer, and a few drops of the cleaning solution again right before I spray again. It's not the cheap, but a bottle has lasted me 6 months now and I've only used half of it, and you can get a bottle with the 40% coupon from Hobby Lobby.I'll definitely have to look into the windshield wiper tip though.

Well, almost done. The majority of the dangly bits are done. All I need left are the blade antenna, that little pitot on the side of the nose, nose probe, tailplanes, burner cans and a little touch-up paint! And if you've wondered, I left the tailplanes off because they mount on a pin, and I figured it would break off easily.

Well, I tried to get it finished by the end of the year but drying time and some other unexpected stuff slowed me down. The lovely landing gear lights, all shiny and clear, were marred by seam lines right down the middle... Though, after sanding and polishing with Novus Plastic Polish, it looks pretty decent... Geez I really didn't clean up the gear door did I?

Comrades! Add me as well!!!

9-13. Blue 44, in a similar paint scheme to this one...

True, it's my model, but every now and then I get a little obsessive over silly little details. Plus, all the Trumpeter kits only have one set of each missile, which really annoyed me since the majority of the loadouts I've seen have been 4 of the same short range AAM. I'm building an early Ukrainian bird, so most likely it would have had the R-73s.

Aw shucks, Ed Anyway.... As predicted, got a little burned out on the -29 (it's the landing gear) and so I started on the AlleyCat AC-47T, and got burned out on that also, so I'm back on the 29. Good news, everyone! The landing gear is now on! It took me all night as it's the most complex landing gear assembly I've ever done. It looks great, and the main legs look like it shouldn't work, but it does. Drop tanks, pylons and maybe the canopy tonight.

Ah, so the rule of thumb being two missiles. So I could get away with 2x PTB-1150 2x R-73 & 2x R-60. Thanks guys!

Oh yeah, forgot to post. The source information is just the charts, but no references. I found this on one of the Key Forum threads I stumbled upon. There are a couple more too: http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?55570-Weapons-Charts

If anyone's wondering, apparently you can mount an R-60 and an R-73 on the same wing. I think I read somewhere that you can't. Anyway on this chart below, check out the second page, 8 rows down:

Why does it seem to me that this would be something Jeremy Clarkson would fly ? CLARKSON: "Isn't this fantastic?" MAY: "There is a gentleman's sausage attached to your plane." CLARKSON: "It is not a gentleman's sausage!" MAY: "Well it certainly does look like one" CLARKSON: "Well you're a pedantic idiot." HAMMOND: "Oy! Your plane has a gentleman's sausage!"